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“Youturn them into an art project,” I muttered, rubbing my temples and squinting at my notes.
I’d been at this stupid assignment for three hours, and I still couldn’t figure out where I’d gone wrong. My notes were starting to blur together.
“May I? I’m trying to cheer up a friend. You remember Helena, who I told you about?” She launched into a soliloquy about the trials of her friend Helena.
I zoned out as I stared dully at my latest pebble, a simple piece of granite I’d snagged on a trip toBooks and Brews.If I could just manage to turn it to quartz…
Ayla’s voice cut into my thoughts. “—Ezric, so now half the academy knows.”
“Ezric?” My head snapped up. “Ezric the slayer?”
Ayla rolled her eyes. “I prefer using his other name—Tall, Dark and Douchy. The dude really has a hard time taking no for an answer.”
“I know another guy with the same issue,” I said absently, rolling the pebble between my fingers.
“Are you talking about Amadeus Koidos?” She jolted up, staring at me under the fringe of bangs she’d cut in front of our bathroom mirror the night before. “I know you were paired with him for a project, but are you hanging out with him?”
More like on top of him, pressing against him as though we were trying to meld our skins together.
My cheeks burned. “Uh, yeah.”
“Oh my goddess, you have acrushon him,” Ayla gasped.
I let my hair fall in front of my face, trying to hide my telltale blush.
“Seta, he’s like your exact opposite!” She clapped her hands together. “He is soperfectfor you. Have you told him how you feel?”
“I plead the fifth.” I set my books on the floor and scooted under my covers. If she wasn’t going to let me study my alchemy, I might as well get some sleep.
“Seta, you cannotleave me hanging like that!”
“Yes, I can.” I playfully stuck out my tongue and reached for my headphones.
Ayla was used to my introverted ways by now and had grown good at ignoring my boundaries and protests.
She fluttered her eyelashes. “Have you two kissed yet?”
Ignoring the question, I lay down and stretched out. It had taken long enough, but I was getting used to human beds, though studying until I was exhausted helped, too.
“Fine, be a meanie.”
I cracked open an eyelid and caught Ayla’s exaggerated pout and twinkling eyes. “So, do you want help doing your hair tomorrow? I can help you with a dress, or paint your nails, or—”
“I’ll think about it.” I smiled and let her voice fade away as the sounds of the ocean filled my ears.
* * *
“Come study with me,”Amadeus offered when I confided my alchemy frustrations to him. “I’ve got a whole group that studies together. We do alchemy, academic writing, philosophy of combat—”
“I study best on my own.”
We were stretched out in the window seat atBooks and Brews, which meant I had to sit and talk like a self-respecting adult instead of doing what I really longed to do—cling to him like an octopus… or more accurately, like a Kraken.
The man was wearing a tight-fitting navy tee, and his glow was giving him the ‘magical tan’ that made his perfect teeth seem even whiter.
“I know.” He gave me an indulgent smile over the top of his latte macchiato. “But someone might have a method that speaks to you. Rock transformations will be part of the midterm exam, for sure.”
“I know.” Groaning, I let my head thump back against the wall. “I can recite the principles back to front, but my practical abilities suck.”
