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“I’ll review my schedule and get a list of my available times to you tomorrow,” Niall said, his slight accent more prominent this time.
“Okay, thank you. I appreciate you helping me.”
He eyed me up and down before turning and stomping out of the tower. He sure was friendly. At least he hadn’t told me he refused to tutor me. It might not be very fun to study with him, but that wasn’t what mattered. I’d be caught up soon.
I headed up the stairs, weaving between the students coming down. I glanced into the classroom on the second floor. I was in the right place. I couldn’t see Air, Space, or Fire needing the spotted pots of dirt, pictures of mountains, and plants along the windows.
An empty desk sat in the second to last row, so I slid in just before a girl wearing a long flowing skirt and a blouse with equally flowy sleeves took the open desk next to me. She pushed her wild, golden-brown curls over her shoulder and smiled at me. “You’re the new girl I heard about.”
It wasn’t a question, Hannah was right. Word already spread. “I’m Saige.”
She smiled. “I’m Saffron.”
I almost laughed. That name fit, given her tanned skin and hair color. Even her eyes had an unusual orangish tint to match.
“I know. I live up to the name. Trust me, I’ve heard all the jokes.” She didn’t seem upset about it at least. “I’m sure you know all the spice jokes too.”
“Yup.” My hands went to my hair, finding three small sections and braiding before I could stop myself.
“Really, don’t worry. If it bugged me, I’d go by my middle name or something.” She sighed contently. “I heard you haven’t had any training.”
“That’s right.” Again, she wasn’t asking.
“Well, from what I’ve seen with other affinities, Earth comes the most naturally, so you should be able to learn what you need quickly.”
That was a relief. I smiled at her as the teacher strolled in.
“Good afternoon, for those of you that don’t know me, I’m Mr. Beckerman.” He instantly reminded me of Indiana Jones with his tan pants, a beige button-up, and brown hat he took off to reveal thinning brown hair. “This year will be different from your previous Earth studies because we will divide into groups based on your innate talents and the skills you gravitate toward.”
Excited chatter started up among most of the students, but his announcement only made me more nervous.
“As you know, Earth is a rather broad affinity with several specialties. Most of you don’t have the capacity for all of them, which is normal. Some of you may have two, and very few of you will have three, and I can almost guarantee none of you will have all four.”
He handed a stack of papers to the closest student, who immediately stood and began passing them out. I read over the syllabus. Mr. Beckerman would test us this week and sort us into groups to work together on projects and examinations, only passing if everyone did. He would help, but we would learn mostly on our own.
“You should all know this from your previous courses, so who can tell me what the four specialties are?” He scanned the room. His eyes paused on me for a second, and I froze before he stopped on Saffron. “Ms. Abrams, if you will?”
She sat up straight. “Controlling and manipulating vegetation, healing, changing the seasons, and controlling and manipulating earth itself.”
“Correct,” Mr. Beckerman affirmed. “And most of you already know what your strengths are, but throughout the week, I will be testing each of you to assign you to your group or groups. If you have more than one, it will be up to you to balance your time and make sure you are doing your share. Come up with an arrangement that your entire group agrees to. Those of you with vegetation will be in the greenhouse this year, so plan for that.”
He stepped around behind his podium and looked down. “We’ll start now with Ms. Abrams.”
She gave me a small smile and headed to the front of the class. The teacher didn’t give any other instructions, so I watched along with the rest of the class as he directed her to the corner and told her to place her hand on an orb. Was that a crystal ball? Was he telling her future?
“Vegetation and healing,” he said while writing down her results.
She seemed pleased as she walked back toward me.
“Mr. Anderson,” he bellowed from the front, and a short, brown-haired guy stood from the front row and went to the corner. He put his hand on the orb and returned to his seat moments later after Mr. Beckerman announced, “Seasons.”
Small groups formed as he worked his way through the roll, but since I had to wait until the end, I opened my notebook and wrote the four strengths. I was certain I had Earth manipulation since I caused a few earthquakes, but I wasn’t sure if there was anything else. Healing would be cool. How did it differ from what vampires could do? I wanted to ask, but Saffron moved to the other side of the room with the other vegetation specialists, so I decided to wait it out. Once I got my textbooks, I’d look it up.
We only made it through the H’s before Mr. Beckerman dismissed us. Once I was outside, I sent a text to Hannah asking if she wanted to meet at the library before following the path in that direction.
I checked my phone to see if she responded when someone slammed into me from the front, then the back. I tripped, but strong hands grasped my arms, keeping me upright.
“I’m so sorry,” a silky-smooth voice said close to my ear. “Aston, be more careful!”
