When I woke up in the morning, the sun shined into my room, and I could see the autumn-colored trees with half their leaves missing outside. My body felt rested and completely rejuvenated. I wasn't awake long before Head Medic Susan came in.

"Hello, Rollie. How are we feeling this fine morning?"

"Ready to go back to class," I said and smiled.

The head medic beamed. "That's excellent news! Glad to hear it. Someone wants to say a word to you before you head out of here." Susan left the room, and in came Principal Pine.

"Rollie, my dear boy, how are you feeling?"

It was getting annoying answering that question already. "I'm all good to go, sir. How are you feeling?"

Principal Pine laughed sincerely. "I'm not too concerned about me. I'm worried about you. But I am doing just fine. Thank you, Rollie. I should have visited you last night, but I had to talk with our staff and officers. I was worried about you all night. I couldn't sleep. The fact that there was a second hellion attack just boggles my mind." Principal Pine shook his head. "Good news, though. I wanted to tell you that you no longer have to serve a detention for me. I can imagine you did enough reflection in the past 24 hours, and I believe that you are a good person, Rollie. Always trust your gut feeling; my gut feeling tells me you understand the gravity of what you did, and it won't happen again."

I felt relieved. "Thank you, Principal Pine. That means a lot. You're right. It's not going to happen again, I promise. I already regret ever having the idea cross my mind."

"I thought just as much. Well, now that you're feeling better and looking tremendous, it's time to go back to class if you are feeling up for it mentally as well? I understand if you need more of a––"

"I don't need a break. I want to get back in the classroom and keep working on my skills."

"Wonderful. I'm glad to hear that, but I would also understand if you needed more time off."

"I appreciate that, Principal Pine."

"Allow me to escort you back to the Fyron Dormitory. There isn't a mage on campus more powerful than I." Principal Pine’s lip curled up.

I had a hard time imagining Principal Pine as a ruthless mage. He had a charming and calm aura to him. Just a kind-hearted old man.

I returned to my room and got ready for another day in classes. The following weeks were busy, but I finally launched a fire bolt! Although, it was terribly inaccurate. The fire bolt just shot off in a corkscrew and hit the ceiling. I was worried some students in the class would laugh at me, but that wasn't the case. In fact, none of them noticed, and Professor Shia said I was making tremendous progress and she was proud of me. The aim being off was irritating, but it was a huge relief to be on pace with the rest of the class, developing and perfecting our fire bolts.

Even if my class did watch my horrible aim with the fire bolt, I don't think anyone would have laughed or said anything. When I returned to classes immediately following the Halloween hospitalization, some Fyrons approached me and asked how I was doing. Even my recent Dragonstryke rival, Arthur, saw me in the hallway and said, "Hey man, sorry to hear about what happened. You feeling okay?"

I nodded, and he shook his head and grinned.

"Well, that's great. I guess my position on the Dragonstryke team still isn't secure." Arthur walked away, and we mostly ignored each other at practice. Coach Florence didn't pit us against each other, which I was okay with, but I would have been up for the challenge to race him again. Or even out-maneuver him since I became more of a pro with the dragon bike.

Farrah and I kept hanging out whenever I was free, and she was free, which was about once a week, but we sat together at her table in the dining hall every day. When we hung out, we walked around the campus and talked about how things were going with classes, and she always knew of some gossip going on with other people. It focused on "who liked who" and who might be asking who out to the winter dance. It wasn't the most exciting conversation, and I didn't have much to add. Still, it was delightful being in her presence, and enjoyable to be included and in the loop about what my peers were up to for once. On the football team back in my home world, I would hear guys talking about girls, but they never looped me in on what was happening. It always seemed like they were all friends, and I was just there as an outsider.

By the time Autumn break came, I had mixed feelings. I had a good schedule with school, Dragonstryke, and living on campus. Returning to my home world felt odd and unnatural. It was emotionally confusing, and I wasn't sure if I was excited to go back home.

Tuesday night was the big travel night. Classes finished, and then a certain number of students were taken to Port Harbor, where they would take a transfer to their home island. Three boats went docked at the port in Attleton, and most of the students piled in. A few stayed back on campus; my roommate Mortimer may have been one since I never saw him leave his bed. He was still in our room when I went for dinner.

I saw Patrick in the dining hall the Sunday before the break. We hadn't been meeting together, but it didn't bother me too much. Patrick seemed irritated about the whole mentorship program anyway. Although it would have been nice if we got along better or were closer friends. He's one of the few people who knew me and didn't ask how I recovered from the hellion attack. In the dining hall, I approached him as he was getting up to move to put away his dishes.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Hey, Patrick, I have a quick question for you."

"Make it fast," he said.

I wanted to give him a tough time, but I also wanted an answer from him first. "Are you going back to the home world for break?"

Patrick laughed smugly. "That's funny. I thought I told you before that I have a family here I visit that adopted me."

"I can't remember."

"Either way, I have no interest in going back to your home world."

"Well, technically, it's our home world still, but if you're trying to cut off from there, I understand, but you don't have to be rude about it. And by being rude about it, it's no longer a quick question."

Patrick had a look of fury in his eyes, like seeing a storm in the distance. I felt safe, but I was getting close to something dangerous. I paused, waiting for him to respond.

"Well? What's your question?" he barked.

"I just want to know how you used to get home for autumn break?"

"Talk to Jonathan!" He scoffed and walked past me.

Kids around the dining tables stared at me and fell silent.

"I just asked him a simple question. I don't know what his problem is," I said to the audience of nosy students.

I went to Jonathan's office later that evening and knocked on his door.

"Yes, Rollie?" He welcomed me in, and I sat down across from him.

"How would I get back home for autumn break?"

"I'll take you to the place we went last time at Port Harbor. It shouldn't be an issue. In fact, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you about returning to your parent's house for Autumn break because I wanted to personally escort you there."

"Why?"

"Because, with the incident on campus, I feel it's only right to inform them you were attacked by a hellion. How would you feel about that?"

My eyes widened. "Uh, I'd feel pretty horrible if you did that."

Jonathan looked at me, confused. "What makes you say that?"

"Are you kidding? Think about it. If I tell my parents I was attacked by some monster and I passed out and had to be rushed to the medical building on campus, they would never allow me to come back."

Jonathan tapped his fingers together. "I understand. You know your parents better than I do, but at the same time, it does feel wrong to not inform them. That's our policy here at Attleton. If an incident happens to a student, we alert their parent or guardian. And unfortunately, since you are from the United States, and that's where all of your family is located, we couldn't contact anyone."

"Yeah, but I'm fine now. It's not a big deal anymore. They fixed me up in no time, so it doesn't matter."

Jonathan shook his head. "It does matter because we care about our students. And we also want to give parents the right to remove a student if they want to. If they felt they were in danger. Like Bradley, for instance."

My grip on the arms of the chair tightened. ”Please, I beg of you. You can escort me home, I would appreciate that, but I can't have my parents knowing about that."

Jonathan took a breath. ”All right, Mr. Magpie. If you insist. This goes against how we do things, but I know it's probably in your best interest to stay here. You belong here, Rollie, you really do."

"Thanks. I'll see you on Tuesday night, then?"

"I'll come get you at the Fyron Dormitory." Jonathan smiled.

I wanted to tell him that Daniel paid me a visit in the middle of the night, but it didn't feel like the right time. The conversation already had an awkward feel to it. I left the room, went back to the Fyron lounge, and did some reading from my textbooks, which I was pretty proud of myself about. I wouldn’t have done that back at home.

On Tuesday evening, I met with Jonathan, and we went to one of the boats on the dock. I wanted to go with Farrah and her friends, but I figured it was best to go with Jonathan. The lead professor from each dormitory escorted all the students on the massive wooden ships. We had a pleasant evening sailing to Port Harbor.

"I'm surprised we're traveling at night," I said to Jonathan as we sat by a window inside the massive cabin. "You know since hellion attacks happen more often."

"It may seem surprising, but it's nothing to worry about, Rollie. The sea captain does a check every dusk, and through the afternoon, he must not have spotted many. Not only that, hellions never attack large boats. They're smart enough to know that a few can't overtake a boat full of mages."

"What if there was a boat full of hellions?"

"Then the sea captain would have already warned us. Besides, we've never seen that many fly around together at once. They travel in small groups, and I guess the occasional singular one that pops up on campus." Jonathan sighed.

There was a silent pause between us, but the rest of the boat was filled with laughing students and nonstop chatter about autumn break plans.

"Rollie, don't feel like you have to keep me company. You can go ahead and chat with your friends."

I shrugged. "I only hang out with Farrah, and she and her friends are on another boat."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. We could have changed ships if you wanted."

"It's not a big deal. So what's autumn break like for you?"

Jonathan laughed dryly. "I don't really know anymore. And I know that's a bad way to answer the question, but my family can be pretty hard to be around. But I should attend this year's celebration because I missed last year's." He shook his head. "I don't get why my parents or siblings can’t respect the fact that I'm not like them, and I don't want anything to do with the family business. Yet, every time I go there for some holiday get-together, the conversation inevitably leads to my career and why I would want to waste my prime as ‘an errand boy for the school.’" Jonathan shook his head, and his knee started bouncing rapidly. “Well, I'm not an errand boy! I'm more than that!" Jonathan snapped.

I had never heard him raise his voice before, which was frightening. He was such a nice, calm, and charming guy. I would have never expected him to get upset like that. Even though he got a little loud, no one around us seemed to notice. It was loud inside the boat. Everyone was wrapped up in their own conversation.

Jonathan shook his head and frowned. "Rollie, I'm sorry for that reply. That's not who I am. I don't want you to think I hold any hate or disdain in my heart. I love my family. They've done an incredible amount to make my life wonderful. I just wish I had their support for my dreams. It's hard to hear the same thing every year, and they can't let me be happy with that. Going to school at Attleton holds some of my favorite memories in life. It's an honor to continue working there and mentoring young individuals like yourself."

"It's all right, man. I totally get it. I got into a fistfight with my dad last year. They can be cool sometimes, but mostly they're a drag, and they drive me up a wall." I chuckled.

Jonathan's eyes bulged. "You got into a fistfight with your dad?"

I laughed at his shock. "Yeah, just a few punches. He popped me in the jaw pretty good, and we stopped. He felt terrible about it, and we haven't done it since, but it happens." I shrugged. I immediately regretted telling him the story. I could hear my mom scold me in the back of my head. She told me never to tell anyone about that story, and the look of shock on Jonathan's face was the reason why. "Seriously, it wasn't that big of a deal. We got over it."

"Well, I just want what's best for you. When we go to your house, I'm going to wait outside and make sure everything's okay, and if you want to come back to campus and stay in the Fyron Dormitory, you're welcome to do that too."

"Thanks, I appreciate that."