An alarm jerked Dyani from the pleasant dream, although the details of it escaped her as she sat up. The sun was just beginning to peek through the curtains of the room. It took her a moment to gain her bearings, feeling the memory of the previous swimming to the forefront of her mind. Dyani smiled and laid back against her pillows with a smile. Her first night of being introduced into the magical world went much better than she had expected. Never in her dreams had she thought that she would have been welcomed into the fold of what seemed to be a close-knit group.

A different tone pinged as the stirrings of her roommates met her ears. Dyani frowned before diving for her PMA. She had forgotten all about the messages from the previous night. Recalling the moment of Britt's full-bellied laugh at her message had Dyani smiling.

"What's got you so happy first thing in the morning?" Mari's voice was groggy as she walked past Dyani's bed. She whipped her head up and raised an eyebrow. Mari paused and gave her a knowing look. "You look like someone who received a very pleasant message."

Dyani flushed, knowing that the look had been caused by recalling the laugh of her teacher. Noemi sat up in her bed with a giggle, hair wild around her shoulders. Mari and Dyani took one look at the teen before bursting into peals of laughter. The girl gave them a look of horror, the purpose behind their laughter dawning on her before she tore out of the bed to the bathroom. Mari continued to laugh as a message pinged on Dyani's PMA that drew her attention away from the antics of her new roommates.

There were multiple messages from Britt and her group from the previous evening. The newest message caused the ones from Britt to be the first ones in her inbox. She scrolled through the messages from the previous evening to see what he had responded with. Dyani had wanted to read them last night but the panic of distracting the Headmistress from guessing the origin of his laughter prevented her from doing just that.

She had only hoped he would respond with the first one, not actually going through with it.

Britt: You're the one fishing since I am such a catch.

The second was just after she had received the messages from her friends.

Britt: You're incredibly smart, but don't think that you've fooled her. She knew we were talking in the first place. Quick thinking, Dyani. Don't lose that.

Dyani spent the rest of the time laughing at the incredibly horrible pickup line. His sense of humor was one of the reasons that they got along in the first place, although this was the first time that either of them toed the taboo line of student-teacher relations.

"Dyani?"

The girl hummed in acknowledgment while reading the message that had just come in.

Britt: Good Morning. I hope that you've settled in the dorms okay. Let me know when you're headed for breakfast. I'll meet you there.

"Dyani?"

The smile couldn't be wiped from her face as she looked up to see her roommates standing before her. Mari seemed interested but on the reserved side. They had gotten on well enough to be how Noemi acts with Dyani, but the girl tended to stay on the private side of affairs. She didn't pry where Noemi loved to learn new things.

"Are you okay? You're really happy this morning and you've been laughing at your phone for the past ten minutes."

Dyani grinned and held out the phone for the girls to read. As their eyes roamed over the texts, Dyani watched their eyebrows climb higher. They were giggling at the first message before ending with cooing at the sweet morning message.

"Girl, I'm so jealous of you. How did you two end up so close anyway? He normally stays very far away from the students."

The grin that came over Dyani told the girls that it would be a good story, "So we met on the first day that I woke up from the coma. I had no idea where I was or why I was there. When I first woke up, the Healers were around the bed. After settling me in, that was when the Headmistress and the President came in. Britt was one of the teachers who had volunteered to help ease me into the idea of the magical world, so he tagged along with the Headmistress."

Mari and Noemi were sitting on the floor in their pajamas, not bothering to change out of them. The previous night, they talked about everything they could, mostly about the magical world.

"We hit it off right away. It helps that I am much older than most of the teenagers and children that he teaches."

"You did tell us that you were well above the age of consent in our world," Mari trailed off.

Dyani spluttered, "Excuse me?"

Their eyebrows raised and Noemi's giggled. "Seriously! You’re only older than us by a year, though I believe that Kavan turns twenty-four in a few months. Besides, Master Briggens is a catch. I told you so."

"Yeah, it's rough knowing that the age group that I normally would be learning with has reached the Apprenticeship age. I’m stuck in the high school stages of learning. That doesn’t mean I should get with my teachers, though, even if I am of age."

"Well, not exactly," Noemi interjected. "Dalition teaches students up until they are around twenty-five. This ensures that the general education and some specialization in subjects have been rounded out. Some Masters will accept those who are geniuses or prodigies at their crafts if they are over twenty. Most start to dip their toes around the age you are. You’re not quite that far behind. Most take a break after graduating from the higher levels, but many continue with Apprenticeships early. That’s what we chose to do."

Dyani's eyebrows raised in surprise. She had not known that their education lasted much longer than the average American high school. She looked at her PMA to realize what time it was. "Shouldn't we be heading to breakfast? It's getting close to the time that we said we'd go down."

Mari took the stance of no-nonsense, one hip out and arms crossed. “Oh, you are so not getting out of this missy. Either it’s here and now, or you can tell us in front of Master Briggens. Don’t think I didn’t notice your diversion tactic.”

Good morning to you too. I've settled in nicely with the others. We'll be heading to breakfast soon. Dyani grinned as she sent the text back to him. Mari cleared her throat and tapped her bare foot against the wood floor to catch her attention. The older girl chuckled at the two enthusiastic roommates.

"And?" Noemi prompted.

Dyani knew exactly what they wanted to know but she wanted them to work for it, "And what?"

Both of them groaned and gave her a glare in return for the comment.

"Fine. We want to know exactly what you think of him and if you think that you two will hook up."

Dyani's grin slipped from her face, "You know that nothing can happen between the two of us. He's a teacher here, and while I am well over the age, it's still the principle of it."

The two girls deflated before Noemi eyed the PMA at Dyani's side that had just gone off. A slow smirk worked its way over her lips and she stood up. As Dyani picked up the device, she patted her on the shoulder, "If that's what you'll tell yourself to sleep at night."

Noemi cackled as she dodged a swipe from Dyani. Mari laughed while she dashed to her side of the room, though she stopped to smirk at Dyani.

"Don't think that you've gotten out of it. You will be telling us later tonight after shopping."

Dyani huffed and focused her attention on her PMA, proving their unsaid point. Two messages had come through while they were bantering.

Britt: I'm glad that you are settling in. The age gap will not make it easy to find friends. At least the group you’ve got there is your age. Not many stick around that long.

Britt: Are you done getting ready yet? I'm starving and have been up for the past hour.

Dyani snorted, typing out a response, knowing that he was exaggerating.

Dyani: You've been up for all of twenty minutes since you sent your morning message, Britt. Stop being a baby. I'm leaving in twenty, okay?

The PMA was tossed gently onto the bed and stood up to get her things together. The other girls were in the middle of pulling on pants or a shirt when the realization of how little clothing she had hit her. Dyani had two sets of clothes and had not really thought of them during the summer. Her focus on learning as much as she could trumped the comfort of having clothes. Dyani snorted at her thoughts. It was typical that she felt that studies were more important than necessities.

The shopping trip crossed her mind because they were getting up this early in the first place. She turned to Noemi to ask a question before bursting into laughter. Noemi was caught in her shirt, head and arms tangled while struggling to pull it down. Mari was trying to help her but was making it worse. Dyani shook her head and gave them a look as they paused at her attention.

"Don't you know some spell or something to help?"

The look of realization had Dyani rolling her eyes before turning back to getting dressed. She'd just ask Britt later on about working with the scholarship money. It did not take long for them to finish dressing and gathering their things for the trip to the Marketplace. Dyani flushed as she did not even own a satchel or purse to carry. Although, she did not have anything other than the PMA and her wallet to carry with her. She needed extra funds because she was lacking in many necessary things.

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Dyani: We're on our way down now.

It took only a few seconds for her PMA to ding.

Britt: Thank the Goddess. I will see you in a few.

Dyani: See you.

"You have it so bad for him. More than the girls that he teaches."

Dyani whirled around to punch Noemi in the shoulder. The blonde winced and dashed to walk on the other side of Mari with a hurt expression on her face. It was fake, but they played it up.

"Did you have to hit me so hard?"

"If you weren't saying things like that, I wouldn't have to hit you."

There was an indignant huff, and Mari patted the 'injured' girl sympathetically. They walked through the hallway, with Dyani taking the time to look at the school. She had wandered through but there was something new to be found each time she did.

"You make it very easy to sneak up on you, Dyani." A deep, melodic voice whispered in her ear.

Dyani let out a scream of fright and turned with a hand on her chest. Her heart beat wildly as Dyani swung at the handsome teacher, who dodged it with ease. He laughed at her, emerald eyes sparkling with delight. Dyani growled low in her throat, "Don't do that. You know how easily I startle when I'm distracted."

"That's precisely why I do it."

"You're an asshole, you know that? It's worse in the morning, too."

"You know you love it."

"I like you, not your sense of humor at this time in the morning."

Mari and Noemi's heads were moving back and forth between the two as they bantered. There was a lull in the conversation that allowed Britt to look over at the two girls.

"Good morning to you both."

They giggled and responded at the same time, "Morning."

Dyani stared at them with a disbelieving stare, not expecting them to do exactly what they were teasing her for doing. Black hair swung as she shook her head in amusement.

"Let's get something to eat and then head out. I realized how much I need to get this morning."

A single eyebrow lifted and Dyani shook her head slightly to dissuade further questions from him. His brows furrowed before he gave a minute nod back. There were shouts coming down from the other side of the hall, the boys laughing and horsing around with each other. Caleb hopped onto Jorge's back and gave him a set of knuckles on top of his head while Kavan doubled over, laughing himself red.

The girls stopped to stare at them while Dyani and Britt grinned. He knew exactly what she was thinking. It was nice to have those in her age range around for entertainment because the summer had dragged on with only other, much older teachers. Dyani and Britt were the closest in age, having only ten years apart at most. She had not asked him his age and felt that it was pushing over that line if she had.

"Come on, let's get something to eat while they goof around. I'm hungry." Britt touched Dyani's back and guided her into the hallway. Mari and Noemi followed behind, with the slightest snickers reaching Dyani's ears. The black-haired girl shot them a look of irritation, knowing the source of their amusement.

"You're such a baby, Britt. Stop complaining, we are right here and you can stuff your face soon enough."

The group soon occupied one of the larger tables, the guys giving their greetings as they sat down. Britt was focused on eating, though Dyani marveled at how he could eat that mass amount of food piled on his plate with the grace that he did. At times like these, Dyani wondered just what his background was, because no matter how much food he had, he ate with such highly cultured manners. Her nose wrinkled in disgust as the guys across from her were the exact opposite. They shoveled food in fast and with vigor.

Mari and Noemi were much better, though they still were eating with relish. The only one who had not begun to eat was Dyani. She felt nervous about being out of the building for the first time since she arrived in this world. Britt must have sensed her nervousness and placed a discreet hand on her knee, squeezing to comfort her before taking it back. The gesture was enough to get her to let out a breath of relief and pick out a meal to eat.

It was a companionable morning once Dyani began to eat with the others. It didn't take long for others to join the breakfast feast. Those that did come in paused briefly at the sight of Britt sitting with Dyani and the others. After it happened a few times Dyani set her fork down and gave the group of girls that had stared for a minute or two in shock a dirty look.

"Don't worry about them. They are not used to me leaving the teacher's table."

Dyani leaned back and raised a single eyebrow at his casual dismissal. He had not even glanced at them, choosing to continue eating his French toast with a pleased expression.

"Aw, I'm honored. You'd leave the stick up your ass as a teacher to sit with my lowly student ass."

The table burst into laughter, especially once Kavan snorted orange juice out of his nose. The guys were howling with laughter since they had not seen the messages of teasing like Mari and Noemi had. Still, it was enough to get Britt to drop his fork in surprise at her response.

"You're toeing a line, Dyani."

"Really? I don't see one."

Britt ignored the chuckling teenagers in favor of taking the maple syrup before him to pour a strip of it between his and Dyani's plates.

"Would you look at that? There's a line."

Dyani snorted, took a piece of his french toast using his fork, and stuck it in the syrup. She licked her lips as she popped the piece into her mouth.

"Oh? That's a tasty line."

Britt sighed as the group continued to laugh at their interaction. His lips quirked at the corners, trying his best not to join in the contagious happiness. Dyani had succumbed to her own giggling as she chewed on the stolen food. Britt's eyes roamed around the room as he let a few chuckles escape.

The other teachers watched the table with amusement, though some frowned in disappointment. The one that he did not feel surprised at the clear disapproval was the Headmistress, whose brows were pulled together in a frown. The tables of students around them were staring at the joyous group with curious expressions.

The group had settled down, but there was an occasional chuckle as Dyani snuck food off of Britt's plate. Once she had started, it was hard to stop. His food tasted better than hers did, though she figured it was because it didn't belong here in the first place. A tolling of a bell reached their ear and Noemi pulled out her PMA with a sheepish smile.

"I set an alarm for nine so that we know to head out soon. I didn't want to be caught in the traffic of the Marketplace."

Heads bounced in agreement, taking a few minutes to finish off the rest of their plates. Dyani sat back with a smile, placing a hand on her stomach. She felt content. She was sure that she couldn't eat until later that evening. The silent support from Britt had eased away all of her nerves. Dyani leaned close to Britt, the question from earlier popping into mind.

"Britt?" She whispered hesitantly.

He raised an eyebrow but remained facing forward. The man hummed and sipped his coffee while waiting for her to ask the question.

"There are things that I need outside of school supplies. The Headmistress told me that the funds the school could give were limited."

"Don't worry about that. Worry about what you need, okay?"

Dyani frowned at his sharp tone. Something was being left unsaid but she did not know what it was. His eyes flickered ever so slightly to the teacher's table and her mind clicked with the subtle hint. They would discuss it later when there weren't ears around. Kavan, who had sat next to Dyani that morning, frowned at the exchange. He would pull Noemi aside as they walked out to speak to her about it.

The temperature was cool outside, but their casual t-shirt and jeans were still warm enough. Dyani was laughing at something that Britt had said while the others tagged along just behind them. Two heads were bowed together and furious whispers were exchanged. Small groups of students were going down before and behind them, but it was few and far between. Most of the students had just begun to arrive for breakfast as they left, some not leaving their casual sleepwear.

Something that Dyani marveled at as they walked on the grounds of the campus was the sheer size of it. There were multiple buildings linked together. Each one held a purpose and strongly reminded her of her college campus. Britt was silent beside her, taking his time in watching her reaction to seeing the rest of the campus for the first time. The group walked close together as Dyani slowed down. There was a large set of buildings close together but they were not like the others. These were stores within each little section, most of them the basics. Dyani turned to Britt with a scowl.

"I thought that the Marketplace was something to behold."

Jorge snorted as he shook his head at her. Britt tilted his head forward and stared at her for a brief moment.

"These are the school stores. It's where you can pick up the basics if they are needed. However, some of the classes require you to leave the campus to get the books. That is why we have the campus set up with a Dysc."

They turned the corner to find a large platform with a round set of blue screens surrounding it. A large blue oval glowed with magic as a person stepped up. They touched a spot on the screen and disappeared the moment after their finger left. Dyani gaped at the sheer complexity of magic being displayed. Everyone seemed indifferent to the magic, but Dyani couldn't help the awe. Britt watched as Dyani's face changed to show her excitement and curiosity, which he knew was her academic side kicking in. She would want to know how a feat like this could be achieved.

"It's a combination of a few things. I don't understand most of it, though I know that it's Technomancy, Runic rituals, and a few other things. It runs off of the ley lines that run throughout the world."

Dyani turned to Britt, who smiled at her eager expression, "Can I learn to do anything like this?"

"That's the first thing that you want to know? Yes, of course, you can. It will take years of learning and practice. You can get there eventually if that is something that you want to achieve."

Her shoulders deflated at the idea of spending years of research and learning to get close to anything of that caliber. She did not know which area she was interested in as everything seemed inspiring to her at the moment. Britt threaded an arm through hers and guided her over to the Dysc.

"You still have years to decide. Now, let's get on and get to the Marketplace. I assume you want to get as many things as possible.

"Oh yes, I've run out of books to read."

The entire group burst into various degrees of laughter, though Britt's laugh was the loudest as he understood just how quickly she was devouring the material. There was a slight hesitation as their turn to use it came up and Britt squeezed her elbow to ease her nerves.

"I will be here the entire time. We've all used this many times before. You have nothing to fear."

"I'm not afraid," Dyani protested, though the others knew it was the opposite. It was her way of gathering her courage. Britt gave her a side glance that had Dyani tensing. She couldn't be weak, especially in front of him. It had happened enough times, and she didn't want to keep being like that. Now, it was time for her to shine.

Dyani was the first to take the step onto the Dysc and the gasp could not be contained as the screens came to life before her. The entire East Coast of the United States was laid out before her. There were large concentrations of blue dots closer to the cities and she could see that they would flicker occasionally. Britt stepped up behind her while the girls took up beside her. The boys crammed in behind the others and waited patiently for their teacher to explain what he was doing with the Dysc.

"When you step onto one of these, as you can see, a map is displayed. Usually, you use these to go short distances. There are others that can handle the longer distances. For this purpose, we want to go to the Marketplace."

At the mention of the Marketplace, one of the dots in the middle of Washington D.C. lit up a bright red color. Britt reached around Dyani to touch the screen. Dyani was overcome with a sense of moving when his finger pulled up. It was like a combination of shooting up on an airplane and going down a rollercoaster. The sensation was very disorienting and the girl stumbled backward. Her breathing sped up and she slammed into the ground when they stopped. Britt's arms wrapped around her as she slid to the ground. The others crowded around with worried questions. Others close to the Dysc also ran over to where they had arrived. Dyani turned her head to the side and released the contents of her stomach.

"I've never seen someone react that badly to a Dysc before," someone in the crowd muttered as people looked on. Britt snuck an arm underneath her shoulders and knees before lifting her from the ground. Dyani felt her head tilt back as her body went limp. Her vision blacked and the last thing that she heard was Britt calling her name.