“There you are!”

  As students were moving to their designated classrooms, the stubby girl from earlier found Maya again and rushed towards her.

  “Sorry, I lost you down in the courtyard. I was gazing around and didn’t even notice we got separated.”

  Surprised to see her again and have another chance to make a friend after it didn’t go quite well with her classmate, Maya was delighted. Elena continued forward, uninterested.

  “No worries. I was also distracted,” Maya said, glad the girl remembered talking to her. Then she glanced at the group of students that were with her.

  “I was so excited, I forgot to ask for your name. I’m Andrea.”

  With a smile, Maya introduced herself to Andrea and the group.

  Compared to the very sociable Andrea, the rest seemed quite the opposite. There was a strange shy duo of a plain-looking guy named Isaac and a rather tall Asian girl referred to as Linda. They both smiled politely at Maya. And finally, there was an exceptionally pretty blond girl named Sarah who showed no interest in Maya whatsoever.

  “I felt bad for losing you. Especially after you told me you just got here yesterday and must not yet know anyone. But what was that about in the auditorium? Do you know the Headmistress personally?”

  Andrea clasped Maya’s hands. It seems Andrea was a very tactile person as well as a chatty one.

  “Um… No. It was my first time meeting her,” Maya gave a shy and honest answer.

  “Andrea, I don’t want to be late for our first class.” It was Sarah who voiced her complaint. It looked like she truly didn’t want to be here.

  Despite her being grumpy at the moment, Sarah seemed like an otherwise confident cheerleader type. If not yet, she would become very popular at school, Maya concluded.

  “Fine, fine,” Andrea said to Sarah. “Which group are you in?” she asked Maya continuing their conversation.

  “Zeta.”

  “We’re Beta. I hope I’ll see you around.”

  “Likewise.”

  Sarah practically dragged Andrea away before she could say anything else. Now Maya was alone in the hallway, realizing the class must have already started. She ran quickly searching for the right room and entered in a rush.

  Their classroom was situated in the east wing on the second floor. It was an old room, yet well-maintained. As Maya entered, the scent of aged wooden furniture enveloped her. The space exuded an old-fashioned charm, with numerous artefacts displayed in glass cabinets lining the walls. Heavy wooden desks stood in neat rows, appearing as permanent fixtures. Maya sensed this room was full of history.

  Twenty settled-in faces turned to stare as Maya burst through the entrance at the back of the classroom. Seeking escape from their scrutiny, her gaze found Elena sitting right by the door. It was no use. Since all desks were individual, the only empty seat remaining was at the front of the classroom. Maya held her head low and made her way there.

  As a studious person, Maya didn't mind sitting in the front row, but arriving late made her feel self-conscious about this prominent placement.

  Glancing at her classmates, she made an unexpected observation. Excluding Elena, most students at Amellan Academy gave off an air of prestige and ambition, with their immaculate appearances proudly displaying their status. Yet Zeta Class disagreed with that image.

  They were a strange bunch. Most of them didn’t wear their uniforms properly and had unfriendly or aloof expressions. Her eyes caught a short girl with a messy bottled-blonde bob, wearing running shorts under her skirt and worn-out sneakers, an unsociable-looking boy in a wrinkled uniform nodding to music in his headphones, and another student in plain blue jeans ignoring the dress code entirely.

  No one looked eager to study here, making Maya feel like an odd one out.

  Fortunately, the teacher hadn’t arrived yet. There was Leo, perched on the teacher’s desk, looking at her from under his brow tutting at her, as if he was the teacher catching her tardiness—looking to get a laugh from Maya.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  ‘Crap! What if I’d actually laughed? The whole class would think I’m insane.’

  Just as she sat down, the teacher entered from the cabinet situated behind the blackboard, almost ceremoniously, as if he was peeking and waiting for the perfect moment.

  “Settle down,” he quieted the class first. “I am Professor Crumpet. I’ll be your homeroom teacher.”

  Prof. Crumpet was looking fairly young for a person whose hair was already partially greying out. Either he had exceptional genes that kept him looking youthful or was unfortunate enough to already start to grey out in his twenties. He had a faded British accent and introduced himself as a history teacher. However, today as their homeroom teacher he would introduce them to the curriculum.

  As he named the subjects they would be learning, Maya found them quite mundane. It wasn’t too different from what they would study in high school back in the old world, only a couple of odd ones that would be considered essential for new witches. Like Element Theory, History of Witchcraft, Herbology and Magical Creatures. Fortunately, this would only be the case during the first trimester, allowing them to adjust gradually to life in Mellgrah.

  From the second trimester, students would start picking the subjects according to their own sensibilities. From there on, they could get introduced to subjects such as Astrology and the affect celestial bodies have on their powers, Alchemy, Latin, Comparative Symbology, Ceremonial Magic, and so on.

  Maya couldn’t follow all those magical terms, but she got excited about them. His relaxed manner of speaking and his apparent desire to connect with students made the professor seem very approachable.

  A knock on the door interrupted the class and another student, or perhaps the teacher’s assistant, entered, asking for Maya Watergate.

  Startled by her own name unexpectedly being called, Maya sheepishly raised her hand to answer.

  With the teacher’s approval, he approached Maya and handed her some documents, speaking quietly to inform her they were from the Headmistress. Despite his hushed tone, the silent classroom meant everyone overheard. Maya could feel her classmates' stares and hear their whispers.

  “The headmistress again?”

  “What’s this girl to the headmistress?”

  “Thank you, Kasper,” Prof. Crumpet said. “Let me finish my introduction and we’ll come right over.”

  *‘*Why am I becoming associated with the headmistress? It was just some papers to complete my file.’

  Maya looked over the papers she received while the teacher continued speaking. She had brought the file she had received yesterday as she never found a chance to look over that as well.

  ‘Would you look at that…’

  Maya discovered she would have benefited greatly if she looked at her file before and been much better prepared for today. With both files combined, she had everything she needed. There was her school schedule as well as classes and groups she was in, joined by the names of teachers, supervisors and mentors. There was also a guardian system where each student had an adult responsible for them and it was a name she recognized — Daria Zdunowski.

  There were also rudimentary academy floor diagrams with all locations of interest marked, such as classrooms, teacher cabinets, cafeteria, library, etc. It was apparent it was a huge complex and would be quite hard to find your way without these pointers. The next one was a scheme of the entire town with similar pointers.

  There were written guidelines and basic information for someone who has just found themselves in this new and foreign world. Everything that would be so useful to her if she’d only looked in there.

  Being so absorbed in the new information she discovered in her file, Maya almost missed when the class started getting up to follow Prof. Crumpet outside. He was doing his best to familiarize them with the academy and it seems he was taking them to visit the Student Council.

  “…Generally all student activities go through them and whatever advice you need, they are your first stop,” he was speaking. “Of course, as your homeroom teacher, I provide any counselling you may need, and if you have difficulty you’re always welcome to my office. However, students often choose to come here first if they have a problem, and if a matter is simple enough the council will handle it. You can always recognise council members by their golden academy emblem.”

  Prof. Crumpet led them inside of student council room where they were expectedly received by the members who were present inside.

  “This young man is your year’s representative,” the professor suggested to Kasper, the boy who dropped Maya’s papers earlier. “I imagine he is quite overworked today and could use more members so feel free to sign up if you believe council work is something you’re interested in.”

  Kasper greeted them politely. However, the attention was stolen elsewhere. Among the council members, there was a particularly handsome student, acknowledged by whispers of Maya’s classmates. It was Keith, Elena’s boyfriend.

  Seemingly oblivious to the attention, he unexpectedly smiled and nodded at Maya.

  Uncertain whether this small gesture was meant for her, Maya quickly glanced behind herself. She wasn't mistaken—Elena wasn’t standing there. In fact, Elena wasn’t with the group at all.

  ‘Where did she go? Come to think of it, several students are missing from our class. Was this tour optional?’

  “So she’s dating a council member,” Leo chimed in, whispering near Maya’s ear as if someone could hear him. “No matter how you look at it, she seems to be a person to stir up trouble. How did that come to be?”

  Maya caught herself nodding absently at Leo’s words before mentally shaking herself.

  ‘Focus,’ she thought, determined to pay attention on this important first day.

  Pushing Leo’s distracting presence from her mind, she positioned herself at the front of the group as Prof. Crumpet began leading them through the academy’s winding corridors.