"Everyone cover your mouths!" Mr. Lonte shouts over the screams of the class.
I quickly cover my mouth with my jacket sleeve. Then, I look around for the girl but come up empty-handed.
"Find your way out of the classroom." He shouts out to us again.
I grab my wand and do the best I can to maneuver through the thick smoke. People beside me push me away, trying to escape the unknown smoke. I hear a thud next to me, only vaguely seeing a young boy who had passed out from inhaling too much smoke. It would be wrong to leave him in the classroom, so I hurry to pick him up. Unfortunately, I'm just as weak as him. My arms wrap up and around the base of his chest. I slowly drag him out of the classroom as I hold my breath.
Eventually, we make it out of the classroom, where the rest of the class tries to get gasps of air into their lungs. Mr. Lente is focused on counting the number of students. Soon enough, he sees me holding the small boy in my arms, and he rushes over.
"Are you two alright?"
I nod my head. It feels like it's spinning but not enough to pass out from. I must have inhaled some of the smoke while carrying the student out of the room.
"Shit. I need to get a nurse down here. I don't know what kind of smoke this is." Before he can get up from the ground, I grab his shirt sleeve.
"It's Valeomile root."
He looks at me, confused, before he sighs. "I'll deal with you later." he then gets up from the floor and puts his wand up to his lips.
A light blue glow radiates from it. "Attention, all available nurses and doctors, I need to help on the fifth floor. There has been a valeomile root leak, and four students are certainly passed out." his voice echos through the hallways.
Suddenly the girl from before bends down towards me. "Holy shit, dude! What happened?"
My eyes glance at my wand. "I don't know exactly." She yanks my hand up and inspects it carefully. "What are you doing?"
"That was some insane magic back there, and you're a newbie. I wouldn't be surprised if you have massive energy levels just sitting in your body." Her fingers trace along the palm of my hand.
I pull it away from her. "I, um, didn't get your name."
"Oh yeah. It's Juniper Calreese." She tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear with a sense of pride.
"I'm Mako Sato."
She giggles. "I know who you are. I read the newspaper article about you before the magical council took it down and wiped everyone's memories on it."
My body tenses. She knows.
"Don't look so worried. It happened six months ago. If I wanted to tell people, I would have."
"How do you still remember what happened?"
She leans in closer to me. "You'll find that magic users don't like their memories being tampered with, and there are plenty of ways to get around the magical council's tricks."
My mind wanders. If someone like her knows about it. Then I'm sure plenty of other people didn't have their minds swept. It's fine. It's like she said, it was six months ago. If people wanted to expose me, they would have.
A horde of nurses rushes past me, distracting me from my thoughts. One of them slides down by my side and begins to assist the boy in my arms. The nurse calls for another nurse to come down beside them. One of them does so, and together they lift the boy.
With the boy gone, I get up from the floor. Juniper follows in my stead. As I look around, I see the pure chaos in the hallway around me. Nurses rush to get passed out students off the ground, and others check still conscious ones to make sure they're okay. Close-by classrooms have people peaking their heads out of doors, trying to understand the situation.
Mr. Lonte and the Doctor lady who helped me before converse before they stick out their wands toward the smoke. They're too far to hear the words coming from their mouth, but I can see their lips move as they wave their wands at the smoke. A burst of energy plumes out from the wands, pushing the smoke back into a corner of the classroom. Mr. Lonte controls the smoke in the corner as the doctor quickly opens one of the windows. Then, the smoke rushes out the window.
Now that the smoke is gone, the room looks in much more disarray than before. Massive Valeomile roots stretch across the room, engulfing chairs, desks, and walls. As they gaze into the room, it seems to catch everyone's attention.
"Jesus, Mako." Juniper remarks as she looks into the room. "I've never seen a valeomile root this big." She goes closer to the room. Her fingers poke at the root closest to the doorway.
The bell rings, and a pile of students barrels out of their classrooms in an attempt to get a closer look at the plant. There aren't enough people to control the group, and Juniper and I are separated in seconds.
The only thing I have with me is my wand. Students from other classrooms push me out of the way just to get closer.
When I realize there's no point in staying here, I turn around and book it to the stairwell. I don't know where to go, but I know that it would be best to get away from the crowd. I zoom down the stairs, almost tripping at many different points. When I reach the bottom, my body stops. It's the same place where Jiro threw the powder on me. A student opens the door and stares at me awkwardly. I continue to stand there as I have no clue where I want to go right now. Eventually, he keeps walking. He keeps his eyes on me, nervous about what I might do to him.
I go through the door once he gets far enough up the stairs. There are plenty of upperclassmen students casually walking to get to their classes on the first floor hallway. Some of them look at me blankly, confused about why someone like me would be on this floor. I do my best to ignore them, but their gaze on the back of my neck feels heavy.
Suddenly, a large arm wraps around my back. "I thought I told you I would come to get you after class?" The voice is all too familiar.
I turn my head to find Merlin grinning widely at me.
"What's wrong with you? It looks like someone punched you in the gut."
My head is filled with so many words, yet my mouth can't find any to use. Merlin kisses my cheek, catching me by surprise. I want to push him away, but I don't.
"Don't worry about it, honey. Let's just get you to your next class." He whips me around to go back to the stairs.
My feet stop me. I shake my head at him. I can't go to my next class. Merlin stares at me with a blank face. "I… I don't want to go to my next class." The words spill out of me.
Merlin shrugs. "Alright. I was starting to get hungry anyway." He grabs my hand gently and interlocks them with his.
I want to yank my hand away, but it feels warm and nice. Plus, there's no harm in letting it stay like this for a bit.
Merlin guides me out of the main building and to a corner of the campus. It looks like the gymnasium's equipment closet. His open hand bangs on the door four times in a rhythmic pattern. The door pops open a few seconds later, and a long black-haired girl grins at Merlin.
"Thought you said that you weren't going to skip anymore."
He shrugs and pushes the door open even more. "Yeah, but I'm a sucker for love." He pulls my hand up to show her our interlocked hands.
She rolls her eyes. "I thought we agreed that you wouldn't bring your playthings around here anymore."
Merlin pulls me through the doorway. "He's different. Plus, he's my roommate, so it's not the same as the others."
Inside are makeshift seats out of bags of balls and gymnastic pads. In the corner are two girls making out with each other uncaring of the things around them.
"You said that last time, but the girl tried to pick a fight with me because she thought I was in love with you."
I turn my head to Merlin. "I thought you said you were gay."
He looks over at me. "Pansexual." he pulls me over to a 'chair' that looks like it could fit two people. We sit down together, but the seat is s bit too small, and my legs feel cramped against his. He wraps his arm around me and pulls me in closer to him.
The girl sighs and looks over to a guy who looks asleep on one of the pads. "Jiro, would you help me with him."
My eyes light up with excitement. "Jiro's here?"
I feel Merlin's lips press against my ears. "Don't be so excited to see him instead of me." He whispers in a low tone.
It tickles, and I push him away a little bit. "Stop that. We are just friends."
He grunts at me in a playful tone.
The girl shakes Jiro until he rolls over and off onto the ground. He stays there for a few seconds before getting up.
"Merl, stop bringing new people here. The last girl—" he stops mid-sentence and stares at me. "Get out." He begins to walk over to me at a hurried pace.
I try to get up from the chair, but Merlin stops me. "Calm down, Jiro. I want him to stay."
Jiro's face turns to anger. "I need to talk to you and Hua outside."
Merlin sighs in annoyance and gets up from the chair. He turns back and grabs my hand softly. "Stay here. I'll deal with this."
The three of them walk out of the door, and I'm left with the two girls kissing in the corner.
They don't seem to notice me, so instead, I grab my wand from my jacket's inner pocket. My fingers glide across the wood, feeling every part of it.
The classroom fills my head. I wonder if they were able to get everything under control. Mr. Lonte's voice reminds me that they're probably looking for me now. I don't want to go back just yet.
I think about Queenbrook. My old classroom and my old friends laughing and having fun. I want to go back to the way things were. I don't want to be able to use magic. I don't like it. The sounds of explosions fill my head. The blood and officers. The screams. The way they felt as though they stabbed my eardrums. I can't think straight anymore. It all feels like a jumbled mess inside my head.
I don't want to be alone again, but I don't want to hurt anyone either. My eyes fill with tears, and my vision becomes blurry. I shouldn't be here. My legs pull me up from the chair, and I make my way to the door. None of them want me here anyway, and Merlin is only messing with me. Like the Hua girl said, I'm only a plaything to him.
I grip the knob to the door and swing it open.
"Merlin, he's dangerous. We all know what happened at that school." Hua finishes her sentence and turns her body to look at me.
I forgot to wipe my tears. Merlin jogs over to me. "What's wrong?" His hands go to wipe my tears away, but I push them down before he can do so.
I put a fake smile on my face. "I'm fine. It's just that I'm tired. Your friends aren't comfortable with me either, so I'm just going to head back to the dorm and get some rest there." Merlin tries to grab me, but I walk away.
"Mako, wait, you can stay here with us."
I turn back to the three of them. "It was nice meeting you, Hua; you're beautiful." I say nothing to Jiro as I don't want to bother him any more than I already have.
As I walk away, I can still feel their stares.