Going to the Fyron Dormitory, I checked the front desk, and Farrah sat there diligently working on homework.

"Hey, can I talk to you real quick?" I asked.

Farrah slowly lifted her head and debated on asking me to leave." Do you need something for your room?"

"No, but I'll make it quick. Look, you have every right to be mad at me, and I totally get why. I don't have siblings of my own. But I get that it's wrong of me to judge your brother when truthfully, he hasn't done anything against me. So I get that the brother-sister relationship can be complicated sometimes. I'm sorry if it seemed like I was insulting your brother, but I didn't mean to. And I promise I'll be better about it next time."

"Hey, can I get a roll of toilet paper?" some kid asked to the left of me.

"Sure thing," Farrah said as she reached underneath the counter and jotted down the kid's room number.

I couldn't explain how awkward I felt other than the burning desire to sprint far away.

Did that kid seriously hear the entire speech that I gave?

What made the situation even worse was Farrah not saying anything. I wanted to ask her if she heard me, but I felt that would have been dumb. She listened to every word I had to say. Perhaps it wasn't enough. I was about to turn around, but Farrah had walked out of the front desk area and approached me, wrapping her arms around me.

"I accept your apology," Farrah said.

Relief flowed from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. A weight had been lifted, and my sadness felt cured.

"Thank you so much. You have no idea how bummed out I was." I rubbed her back, and we exchanged a pecking kiss, and she went back behind the desk as another kid approached, asking to reserve the lounge for a club meeting.

As the rest of the semester went on, my Dragonstryke team beat the Glaciens, and we made it to the finals against the Voltruns in the playoffs. Whoever won that game would play the winner of the British school from Loxton and whoever won the playoff championship for them.

It was annoying to see Houston lead his team to victory. Seeing him in the hallways or anywhere else on campus was also irritating. Not that I saw him often, but when I did, someone congratulated him and told him how amazing he was.

Since the weather was warm outside, I felt like I no longer needed my bright red Fyron cloak to keep me magically warm. The spring air was perfect weather for a t-shirt and a light jacket. On a Sunday in the middle of May, Farrah and I went for a walk away from campus, but I wasn't wearing my Fyron cloak. Instead, I was wearing the denim jacket, which surprised her.

"Rollie! I'm so happy to see you're wearing the jacket I got you, but I'm not sure if you're allowed to be wearing that on campus," Farrah said.

"What do you mean? Are one of the patches offensive or something?"

Farrah giggled. "No, not at all, but I think there's a pretty strict dress code where all students must wear their designated cloak at all times outside of the dormitories."

"Yeah, but I've never seen anyone try and challenge it before. I figured I would see how long I could go without being told to put the cloak back on." I shrugged. "I want to be able to enjoy the gift you got me because I really do love it. It's exactly my style and everything."

Farrah beamed.

All day Sunday, as we hung out, I never had anyone tell me to put my cloak back on. Some people gave me dirty looks as I walked past them, but it wasn't anything new. I figured I would keep my luck going the following days since no one said a word to me. I felt like with the denim jacket alone, I had more confidence in my step and could relax my shoulders a little more.

At breakfast, no one said a word. Not even Farrah's friends mentioned it. I started feeling invincible, but then I went to the Education Hall. It was crowded and filled with people. I worried once I started seeing the professors waiting outside their classrooms.

One professor, in particular, made the hair on my neck stand up.

Professor Hawthorne.

He spotted me like a hawk from the crowd, and his eyes widened and blinked numerous times. Marching through the group of students, he pointed at me, sneered, and said, "Follow me."

We went off to the side near his classroom, and he studied my denim jacket, curling his nose and furrowing his brow. "I can't believe what I'm seeing, but then again, we are well acquainted, so I can't say I'm all that surprised. Where is your cloak, young man?"

I didn't say anything. I tightened my lips. That bastard blamed me for the destruction of the Unity Statue.

"Answer me, boy! Where is your cloak? You are aware that sauntering around campus without one is a school code violation, correct?"

I didn't know what sauntering meant, but I could figure it out.

"You know, your silence is very telling." His face leaned closer to mine, and he pointed his finger at me. "Here, you know what? I have a brilliant idea. Why don't you––"

"Hello, Professor Hawthorne. Is everything going all right?" Jonathan had come by my side to save me. The tension melted away.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

Professor Hawthorne paused and smirked. "How wonderful, someone from the principal's inner circle is here to weigh in on this blatant disregard of our sacred school code."

"And that is?" Jonathan said.

"Do not see what is wrong with this display?" Professor Hawthorne raised his voice.

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at me. "Ah, you're missing your cloak, Rollie. Technically that is a violation of school rules."

"Sorry, sir, I just wanted to be able to express myself for once. In my home world, we don't have dress codes at school. It's pretty dumb if you ask me."

Professor Hawthorne scoffed. "Unbelievable. You're lucky to even be wearing that obnoxious hairstyle around campus. You ungrateful rat!"

"Now, Professor Hawthorne, I think you better excuse yourself. I'll handle the situation from here," Jonathan gestured for him to leave.

Professor Hawthorne scowled at Jonathan and at me but nodded respectfully at him. "Sorry, sir." Professor Hawthorne spun around and strode away.

"I'll have to talk with him later. He shouldn't be talking to you like that. Or any student, for that matter." Jonathan shook his head.

I shrugged. "It's just who he is."

Jonathan cleared his throat." Rollie, I'm sorry, but you should put your cloak on. I understand that in your home world, it's much different, but please, it's part of school tradition and an important rule to follow on campus." Jonathan had a firmer tone than usual, part of me wanted to debate how dumb the campus law was, but I nodded.

"I'll go back to my room real quick and put it on," I said.

"If it happens again, unfortunately, it would result in a detention. I'm letting you off with a warning, but I shouldn't be so lenient. Next time, I won't be."

"Thanks, Counselor Jonathan."

I returned to my dorm and put on the cloak. It was pretty hilarious how riled up people got just by wearing a different set of clothes.

The rest of the day, I went through the motions of class, meals, and studying in the evening in the cozy upstairs lounge with a fireplace and wooden tables all around. Farrah was there with me, and she helped me learn while also studying her own materials. Final exams were coming, and I wanted to ace them with flying colors. My grades were okay, they probably would have been worse without Farrah's help, but I was determined to finish the semester with a bang.

As the weather got warmer and the end of school came near, Professor Shia told me to wait after class one day. At first, I was concerned, but I hadn't done anything wrong. There was no reason to be nervous.

"Hey, Rollie, don't worry, you're not in trouble," Professor Shia started, "I just wanted to talk to you about your unique discovery weeks ago. I wanted to let you know I tried your different method of throwing a fire bolt. While I didn't have the same accuracy as usual, I figured it was from not being used to throwing fire bolts in that fashion. But I was able to get it to aim somewhat well. However, when I tried using your technique on a fire strike or fire blast, it didn't work very well at all. In fact, it kept ruining the elemental magic, and I couldn't even shoot off any projectile. So while I think it's wonderful that you made this discovery, I still need you to keep working on the standard method of shooting a fire bolt since the same steps will apply to the higher-level elemental attacks. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah!" I said a little too enthusiastically. "Sorry, I thought I was in trouble, so I'm relieved and excited that it worked well for you too."

"But like I said, I want you to stick with the traditional methods for your schooling. If you want to practice the other way in your free time, go for it, but in this class, I have to grade you on how well you do with the Attleton standards."

"I hear ya, loud and clear." I saluted.

I continued practicing my abilities with how I was taught in class. Shooting fire bolts in the practice target ranges was always fun, but it was still tricky for me to aim by shoving the firebolt forward instead of chucking it like a football.

At the end of May came the graduation for all 7th-year students. All students were invited to watch the graduation on the main path between the Education Hall and the Unity Statue. They had a stage set up on the field and rows of chairs for everyone graduating. Each 7th year sat next to another person from a different mage ability. They all appeared like a bunch of multicolored marbles scattered across the grass.

I didn't want to attend. I knew I would see Richmond and Patrick, those stupid criminals, walk across the stage. It would be too upsetting to hear their name called off and hear people clap for them. It was perfect because it was optional to go, but I ended up attending after all.

The only reason I went was to prove to everyone that I couldn't be blamed if something went wrong or if one of those jerks tried to pull off an evil stunt. I would sit in the crowd, and everyone would know I attended and sat still, clapping the whole time.

As I saw Patrick and Richmond go to the edge of the stage to walk across, I wanted to boo and holler. But instead, I turned in the other direction, watching the birds flying in the distance on the beautiful sunny day for the graduation ceremony.

I was so thankful by the time it was done.

The following two weeks, the 7th-year students were gone, but the campus felt relatively quiet. A few more tables opened up in the dining hall, and the rec hall seemed a little more chill, but it was still full of students.

I prepared for my exams, although staying indoors was challenging as the sun was out and many people played games around the campus areas between buildings.

When I did my exams, I felt pretty good about them. There was a sneaking fear in my head that I would fail, and it kept me up at night. I had to walk around campus at late hours just to settle my mind. But when I got the results back at the end of the week of the last week of school, I had passed all of my classes.

I think Farrah was happier than she was about her own success. Farrah had passed all of her classes with very high marks. I was proud of her and a little jealous, she didn't have to study as hard as I did but she was always sweet and supportive of me.

As I packed up my belongings on move-out day, my roommate and suite mates asked if I wanted to be with them again the following year. I couldn't believe they invited me back to stay with them, but we had a decent setup and some familiarity. Although I wasn't their friendliest and most outgoing roommate, perhaps they liked having someone who was never around. I accepted their invitation to come back and live with them.

After my first year, everyone was leaving campus to return to their homes. I was going to stay with my grandpa for the summer, and I was really looking forward to it. But I enjoyed my last stroll around campus before heading back.

The Winderon Dormitory was a futuristic-looking building with a sleek, aerodynamic design resembling a wind turbine. Its exterior was made of metallic panels in shades of silver and white, giving it a modern and clean appearance.

Then I wandered by the Voltrun Dormitory, which had a unique, retro-futuristic design that blended elements of the past and future. Its exterior was made of sleek, metallic materials in shades of chrome and black, with neon lights outlining the edges of the building.

The Glacien Dormitory was a stunning, crystalline structure that resembled a giant ice palace. Its exterior was made of gleaming, translucent ice-like panels, which glimmered in the sunlight.

Going by the Aquaso Dormitory was fun because kids played in the water surrounding their castle-like Dormitory. It had a sandy-colored exterior with spires of royal blue wavy rooftops.

I also loved the Venomaus Dormitory, with its gothic-like structure. But my home was the Fyron tower, which I had grown to love.

The rec hall, the Clocktower, the Education Hall, and all the other mage dormitories sat peacefully and relaxed. There was no rush on campus, except for all the kids preparing to move back home for the summer.