Back in the lobby of the Fyron dormitory, everyone seemed preoccupied with their conversations or books. No one gawked at me, my mohawk, or my black eye, which was a bit of a relief.

"Hello!" a chipper voice said as I walked past the counter.

I stopped and looked at the girl who was working at the desk. She smiled at me, and my heart fluttered. Her ponytail of blonde hair and bright blue eyes stunned me. Smiling back, I barely said, "Uh, hi."

"So you're the new kid, huh?" She was folding up some piece of paper, slightly preoccupied.

"Yeah, that's me." My hands were deep in my cloak pockets, and I stood there like a statue.

"This must be tough for you. This is the worst day you could have possibly started."

"Yeah, it's been weird. I've been thinking a lot about the kid who got attacked. Bradley."

The girl frowned. "Yeah, it's a real shame. I've never seen everyone so shaken up like this. We shouldn't have classes today, but they're optional, so that's cool. But there's still some pressure that comes with that, you know?" She seemed annoyed.

"Sure, sure."

"My name is Farrah, by the way," she said, sticking her hand out.

We shook hands. She had a firm grasp.

Shoving my hands back in my pockets, I said, "My name is Rollie. It's nice to meet you. So what are you doing here?"

She seemed confused by my question, and I was about to melt down. But then realization struck her. "Oh, I get to work the front desk. Helping people when I need to, but I mostly just handle mail. Or if someone has an issue with their room, they'll notify me, and I will pass it along to the proper channels."

"Do you get paid for doing that?"

"Not really. Technically I'm a house leader, but it's just something that looks good on your resume if you're trying for a career with the Lementum Establishment in any way. I'm not sure if that's what I want to do, but no matter what, people are always impressed by someone being a house leader. But you don't have to do much, to be honest." She giggled. "Most of the time, I'm just doing my homework. Rarely are there ever issues. In fact, I haven't had any popup, but then again, I've only been working here for a month."

"What year are you in?"

"I'm a second year."

"You've enjoyed your first year, though?"

She nodded. "Absolutely. What classes are you taking this semester?"

I unraveled my scroll and handed it to her. "What can you tell me about any of those professors? Anything I need to watch out for?" I chuckled.

Farrah grimaced. "Well, good news is, I think you'll love three out of four of your professors."

"Oh yeah?"

"I don't know. I shouldn't be telling you this. You should be forming your own opinions. Because, personally, I liked Professor Hawthorne, but apparently, many people don't like him."

I arched my brow." Noted." I wished I could think of anything else to say, but my mind was blank.

"Hawthorne is strict. He knows what he wants out of his students and expects everyone to share the same enthusiasm. It wasn't an issue for me because I love all my classes, but when students are apathetic, he takes it personally."

"Thank you for the heads up. I'll try and be on my best behavior." I smirked. "It's been really nice chatting with you, by the way. You're the first one I feel like that hasn't commented on my black eye or mohawk."

Farrah's lip curved up. "I think the mohawk looks cool, and I hope that the black eye wasn't anything too serious."

Part of me wanted to lie and say it was an accident, but of all the people I had met so far, she seemed like the closest thing I had as a friend. "It's a long story."

"You've got time before your first afternoon class, that is, if you're going to your afternoon class. Don't feel pressured to go."

"Nah, I should. I already missed a month, so there's a lot to catch up on."

Farrah nodded. "Well, let me know if you ever need help with anything."

I pointed at her." I hope you're not saying that just to be nice because I will take you up on that offer."

"Please do." Farrah's voice and smile felt sincere. "What about that long story?"

I weighed the idea in my head. "Perhaps another time. I think I'm gonna walk around campus a little bit. It was nice chatting with you."

"You're going to walk out there even with what happened this morning?"

I shrugged. "They said officers are out there supervising. I figure I'll be all right. I could use some fresh air, though."

"You seem a little... Melancholy since we started talking about classes. Is everything all right?"

I didn't realize my tone had shifted. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Okay, well, if you wanna join my table for dinner, you're more than welcome to. Jasmine and I usually have a spot open."

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Thanks," I said, and I recovered my smile. "I'll see you later." I waved and left the lounge. Still grinning to myself as I entered the beautifully gray overcast day.

Everywhere around the campus, two adults were standing somewhere in sight together. They must've been Mage Force Officers, they wore cloaks similar to mine in shape, but they were silver-colored. Gazing at the sky, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary. No menacing hellions flying around. I only saw a few students walking around campus, but they were further away and weren't moseying like I was. I probably looked like a madman to the Officers surveying the area alone. But I admired the beauty of the autumn leaves, the golds, reds, and oranges. Time flew by. Eventually, I glanced at the Clock Tower, which was 15 minutes before the start of my first class. People exited their dormitory buildings, and the pathways became a little crowded. I headed straight towards the pillared marvel that housed all of the classes. Following the notes on my scroll, the classroom was labeled A15.

Going down the first hallway where I went yesterday, there was no way to get to the courtyard like before. It was walled off. I wondered how they got those walls up so quickly. Nevertheless, I found my classroom with relative ease, the organization of the rooms made perfect sense. Going inside room A15, I noticed only one other student wearing wireframe glasses and sitting in the front row. He wore a maize cloak, a Voltrun.

The professor sat in the corner at a wooden desk, reading a textbook and making notes with a marble pen. I approached him and stood there momentarily, unsure what to say. Something about him made me feel on edge. Perhaps it was his bushy eyebrows and cold gray eyes. He was about the same height I was and had short gray hair but didn't have too many wrinkles. He wore a light blue cloak, a Glacien.

"Excuse me, Professor Hawthorne?" I said.

"Yes?" He looked up from his textbook. I wasn't sure if he was glaring at me or if that was his resting face.

"Hi, I'm the new student in class. My name is Rollie Magpie, and I wanted to see if you had a textbook for me or something? I don't have many materials with me."

He narrowed his eyes. "A new student? You know, I wasn't prepared to take another pupil a month into the semester."

"Uh, I know I'm a little late, but it's not my fault. I promise. If I could have started on time, I would have, but that's why I'm here a little early today. Doesn't it mean something that I came today when I didn't have to?"

He sighed. "Class starts in 10 minutes. I don't think I can prepare your materials in time. Why didn't do come earlier?" His eyes flicked up at my mohawk, tightening his brow.

"I'm sorry. I thought this might be early enough." My throat tightened up on me. "You see, where I'm from, in the non-magical world or the Nomagi World, it only takes a few seconds to give someone a textbook and the materials they need if a new kid comes into class." I shrugged.

"Yes, well, this is a different world, and we can't all conform to the normalcies and operations of your world's rate of expediting."

I had no idea what he meant by that, but I knew his tone was rude and disrespectful. "Sorry." That's all I could muster.

Professor Hawthorne laughed in a quick burst, but it wasn't charming. "Sure, sure, you're sorry." He mocked. "Let's try and retrieve your materials. What year are you in?"

"This is my first year."

Professor Hawthorne stood up, marched to the back of the class, and inspected the cabinets lining the wall before opening one. There was a row of textbooks, all of which had the same spine: The Study of Lementum's Land. He stared at my black eye and mohawk, then focused back on the shelf. One book sat off to the side, tattered and worn out. Professor Hawthorne pulled it off the shelf, instead of the others in perfect condition, and handed it to me.

Every part of me wanted to respond with, "Are you serious?"

And so, I did.

Professor Hawthorne's eyes bulged until I thought they would explode. "Is there a problem, Mr. Magpie?"

"You gave me the crappiest book when there are a bunch of others in great condition." I pointed.

Professor Hawthorne exhaled. "Well, if your face indicates how you treat your possessions, I think I made the rational decision. Had I given you one of my well-kept copies, I'd imagine they'd look just as hideous as the one in your hand."

I snickered. I couldn't believe what I had heard. I felt like a bull, and he was waving a red flag in front of me. "Haven't you ever heard the phrase don't judge a book by its cover?" I said.

Professor Hawthorne smirked. "I have. Using your own metric, why should you judge the book in your hand? It contains the same knowledge as the others, no?"

We glared at each other, practically having a staring contest, but neither of us blinked.

"Good afternoon, Professor Hawthorne!" a bubbly voice said.

I turned around and saw a girl bouncing into the classroom with a broad grin and yellow cloak.

"Hello, Adeline. Glad to see you came to class today. I'm afraid we may have low attendance, but I know that there are two of you who care about their education.

"Three, sir," I said.

Professor Hawthorne tightened his lip. "Sit wherever you like, Mr. Magpie. I've noticed students who sit in the front have better grades." He returned to the corner and continued his note-taking at his desk.

I took a seat near the back of the classroom.

More students filed in, But by the time 1:00 p.m. came, there were only 10 other kids in the room. Half Fyrons, half Voltruns. I was the only one who sat in the back of the class. Part of me regretted it, but another part felt proud to stick it to Professor Hawthorne. The regret came from hardly being able to follow the lesson.

Professor Hawthorne lectured and scribbled paragraphs of notes on the chalkboard. None of it made much sense to me. When he finished his lecture, it looked like a madman had drawn up a conspiracy map with lines connecting to scattered circles. At one point, I wanted to close my eyes. Still, I tried following his rambling, which kept evolving into different subjects at blinking speeds. The other 10 kids took notes, except for Adeline and another kid. Perhaps they didn't need to jot down anything. I felt like I should have, but I didn't have any paper to write on, nor was I going to ask Professor Hawthorne for it.

"A gracious thank you to all students attending today's lecture. I know it was practically canceled with Principal Pine's announcement, but as a reward, tonight's regularly assigned chapter reading will be postponed. Unless you're Mr. Magpie, in which case I recommend you read as much as you can. Any questions at all before we leave?" Professor Hawthorne asked.

My blood boiled.

Why did he have to single me out like that?

No one seemed to notice or care, but that wasn't the point. The entire class stood up and left, but I took my time, lagging behind. I turned around as I was about to go and said, "Sorry if I was disrespectful earlier. Let's try a fresh start tomorrow. Sound good?"

"Perhaps if you dress with some respect, I'll give you some respect. That mohawk of yours is an unsightly distraction, and the same goes for the black eye, but that's not going away overnight. Not to mention, you're wearing a band t-shirt underneath your cloak."

I wanted to stand there and argue. My instinct was to yell, but I didn't.

"And I recommend you take notes next time. Not once did I see your writing utensil in hand," Professor Hawthorne said.

"Thanks. See you tomorrow," I said, slamming the door shut on my way out. I meandered down the hallway. Other kids walked around, but not as many as I thought I'd see. Then I heard a door swing open.

"Mr. Magpie!" Professor Hawthorne shouted.

I stopped and turned around and stared at him unafraid.

"You are not to go around throwing doors shut like that! Do you understand me? This is a warning, but I won't let you off so easily next time." He pointed at me like I was a misbehaved dog.

"Roger that," I said, turning back around and joining the crowd of students shuffling between classrooms. Unraveling my schedule, I saw I had my next class soon, but I decided to leave the education building altogether. Even though it was still cloudy outside, the breeze felt gentle and cool. Walking along the marble path and gazing at the beautiful trees, I noticed Mage Force Officers wearing their silver cloaks patrolling the campus. Checking the Clock Tower, my next class had just started.

I decided to go to the Medical Hall.