Alchemist Academy: Book 1 (21 page)

The Blues oohed and awed, exchanging high fives as the girl emerged from the Blues surrounding her.

I knew that voice. My heart stopped and I walked closer to the action. I had to be wrong.

“Is that…?” Mark began to ask.

I looked at him and shook my head in complete disbelief.

There, dressed in her tight Tetons shirt with her Friday F-me T-strap heels, stood my worst enemy. She faced Jackie with the same expression she’d given me for the last few years.

“Bridget?”

She did a double take and some of the bitchiness left her face.

“Allie? What are you doing here? Mark?”

“You two know each other?” Jackie said with her hands on her hips.

“Yeah, we go to high school together,” I said with a transfixed gaze. Had she let go of her high school ways and adopted a new attitude toward me?

“Well,
I
go to school.
You
more or less loiter around with your stench,” Bridget said and looked back at the Blues.

Nope.

“Hey, Mark. Good to see you, though. Is this where you two have been? The cops were at school today, asking about you. They think you two ran away together.”

“Why are you here?” I interrupted her conversation.

“Same reason you are, I’m sure. We’re alchemists, right?”

“
You’re
an alchemist?”

“What, did you think you have to be all emo to be special? Oh, you did, didn’t you?” She leaned forward, putting her hands on her knees and pushing out her bottom lip.

I wanted to jump over the fence and punch her in the throat. I didn’t want to hear any more words coming out of that face. My body shook, and I felt Mark putting his hands on me. I had felt wonderful coming here; it was a place where I could get away from my past and have a new fresh start, where I was special. A person like Bridget couldn’t be the same as me.

“Oh, my, this is just sad,” Jackie said. She reached into her pocket and threw a stone at Bridget, striking her in the neck. Choking, Bridget clutched her throat and struggled to get her next breath. After a minute of the Reds gathering to laugh at the spectacle, Bridget got to her feet and sneered at Jackie.

“Real mature, Jackie,” Leo said, throwing a stone at me. I saw the black object flying at my face. Mark jumped in the way and it struck him on the chest. The rock broke and black goo spread over his shirt. Mark yelled and ripped off his shirt, flinging it to the ground.

“Oh my god,” I heard Bridget say.

Turning to see what her codfish face was gawking at, I saw Mark picking his shirt up off the ground. I stared, much in the same way as Bridget. Those abs and chest. Ms. Duval had said, “Stay strong,” but this was Photoshop strong. Even the guys were lowering their brows, and probably questioning themselves.

“Put on your shirt, Malki. You’re ruining every pair of panties in this place,” Jackie blurted. “And probably some briefs as well.”

Prying my eyes away from Mark, I looked at Bridget and we made eye contact. I thought I saw some of the hate leave her face and I hoped maybe my being the only person she knew here might smooth out the distance between us. Then she flipped me off and turned to the group of laughing Blues.

“What a skank,” Jackie said with her hands on her hips and her head tilted. “She’ll fit right in with the Blues.”

I wished for a favor from the Almighty then.
Please retire Bridget tomorrow.

Deegan was wearing his sash with the stones in class the next day. He jumped at each sound and kept looking at the ceiling while reaching for one of his stones. “As you know, the Academy was breached yesterday by a dark alchemist. Who knows how many would have gotten in here if not for Verity jumping us to a new location.” He tugged on his sash. “In light of this, we’re going to train room ten in some basic self-defense.”

The class rumbled with enthusiasm. My stomach knotted up, thinking about that kid and his dad in the storage room. I was also worried about the impending retirement and Bridget being in the same building as me. The Blues seemed to know it as well. They didn’t have the same spunk they usually did.

“Jackie, I hear you have a good throw. Can you come up here?”

The Reds applauded her as she stood up from her chair. She took a deep bow and then walked over to the teacher.

“Here, put on a glove.”

Jackie slid on a thin glove and held it up for the Reds to see. She turned back to Deegan. “Who do I get to peg?” She glanced at Leo sitting in the middle of the Blues.

“We’re not hitting anyone. In fact, if we’re attacked on a large scale, I expect all of you”—he gestured across the entire class—“to act as a unit.”

“That’s fine. I think most of the Blues are already a eunuch.”

“No, I said….” Deegan shook his head and took a deep breath, then walked to the far side of the room. He pulled down a long sheet of paper with an outline of a human printed on it. “This represents a typical person. They will have their hands, face, arms and neck exposed. It’s your task to hit them in the vulnerable areas.”

Deegan walked back to Jackie and handed her a stone. “This is a practice stone. It doesn’t do anything.”

Jackie inspected the stone and then threw it at the paper target. The stone went through the paper and left a hole where its mouth would have been.

“Nicely done,” Deegan said. Looking around the room, he said, “Let’s get a Blue up here, Leo.”

The Blues cheered and Leo took his time getting to the front of the class as Jackie took her seat. She leaned back in her chair and booed. He’d passed by her, touching her shoulder as he rounded the corner.

Leo threw and struck the neck. The Blues cheered at his accomplishment.

“Very good. Why don’t we see what our special can do?” Deegan pointed at me.

I raised an eyebrow and he confirmed his point.

“Come on up, Allie.”

The Reds applauded while the Blues jeered. I got up from my desk and knocked a spoon to the floor. After picking it up and placing it back on my desk, I made my way up to a toe-tapping Deegan.

“Okay, Allie. You can make stones, but can you use them? Sometimes it’s more about the throw than the mix.”

“Okay.” I looked back with wide eyes at the Reds. Mark smiled and gave me a nod.

Deegan took my hand and put a stone in it. “Just do your best.”

I gripped the golf-ball-sized stone and stared at the paper person on the wall, a mere outline of a person with two holes in it already. I glanced at the Blues. They were already snickering. I saw it in their stupid faces. I closed my eyes, as I really didn’t want to see them watching me throw. The term “throwing like a girl” had been coined exclusively for me.

“Come on, you got this. Hit the thing in its paper balls,” Jackie said.

I stared at the crotch area, reeled back and threw the stone. Maybe some divine intervention might happen and I’d strike the target … but no. It streaked across the room and struck a glass bowl five feet to the right of the paper man. The bowl shattered, and the pieces fell onto a stack of glass vials, breaking them and sending a million shards to the floor.

I winced and crunched up my shoulders at each of the horrific sounds. The Blues laughed and I couldn’t bear to look at the Reds. Looking at the floor, I found my way back to my desk.

The rest of the class took a turn at the paper target and most made contact with it in some way. The target was a tattered mess by the time Deegan called Mark.

“I guess we should see what Mark can do,” he said on a long exhale.

I alone started the clapping for him. The rest of the Reds joined in with a couple of soft claps before stopping.

Mark took the dummy stone in a gloved hand. “Name your part?” Mark asked.

Deegan rolled his eyes. “Fine. Right ear.”

“His right, I assume?”

“Yes, his right.”

Mark stood sideways. His eyes narrowed and I leaned forward. No one else had called out a target, and the ear was just a tiny bump on the outline of the paper man. Mark hurled the stone and it struck the paper with such force that it rippled. I couldn’t see if he’d struck the ear or not.

The whole class leaned toward the shaking paper. Once it steadied, we could all see that what had been the right ear was now a hole.

“Very, very impressive.”

No one in the room responded, but the Reds watched Mark walk back to his desk and for the first time, I saw something they had never given Mark before … respect.

“Nice throw,” I whispered.

“I liked yours better,” he replied, and I giggled.

The intercom warbled to life and I looked at the speaker on the wall. “All students, report to the hub for a retirement ceremony,” Verity said in an upbeat tone.

Jackie clapped her hands and jumped up from her desk. The Blues slumped in their chairs at first, but Leo stood and soon the rest followed.

The Reds left the room first and I walked behind Mark. I didn’t really think about the ceremony much now that I’d heard it was going to be a Blue. I didn’t really know any Blues, besides the few horrible encounters I had had with them. I knew it would be wishful thinking to have Bridget be the one retired.

The hub filled up with students, divided by color. I rubbed the red scarf wrapped over my wrist. Some of the girls tied it in their hair or wore it as a kerchief, but the guys mostly wore it on their wrists.

Mark and Carly stood next to me. I wasn’t sure where Jackie had gone, but I could hear her starting chants, taunting the Blues.

“It isn’t normal to have two retirements so close together,” Carly said. “They have to be doing this for the dad stuffed in the back room.”

She had stated the obvious, and I definitely didn’t want everyone around us hearing what we knew. If they needed to take a life, would the retirement be the life? If that was true, the person would be killed inside the globe, and not transported back home. If that was the case, everything in this place would be a sham. I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself otherwise.

I held my hand over my chest.

The crowd silenced and a few people mentioned Verity’s name.

The crowd parted and gave her a clear path to the globe. She looked weary, but her quick steps didn’t show it. Jumping up onto the edge of the stone wall surrounding the fountain, she waved.

“We have another joyous day as another student retires and goes back home.”

The Reds clapped and I heard one screaming out, “It’d better be Leo.”

I rubbed my hands together. I didn’t want this happening to anyone, but the cheers drowned out my rational thoughts and I fought the urge to yell as well. I jammed my eyes shut and forced myself to think about what was right. This person, whoever it was, might be killed inside the globe.

Leo was standing near the front with his arms crossed. He seemed taller than all the others around him. Then I saw her. A few feet behind Leo stood Bridget. She hadn’t noticed me, and it gave me a second to study her. She was wearing her blue in her hair, off to one side. Dammit, I hated that it looked cute. Would they pick Bridget after one day? Would they choose me after one day? The thought terrified me. Even if you truly went home through the globe, I didn’t want to, not yet.

“Now, let’s put our hands together for the lucky person.” Verity leaned forward with her bright face.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. How many of these ceremonies had Jackie seen? How many friends had she seen going into the globe?

“Ira Murray,” Verity said with a big smile.

“Bullshit! It should have been a Blue!” Jackie yelled.

The Blues cheered as Leo stood with his arms in the air, turning to face them in triumph.

“Ira Murray, please come up here while I get the globe ready.” Verity turned and threw a stone into the water. The water erupted around the globe and she threw another stone, freezing the water up onto the body of the woman holding the globe on her shoulder.

The globe opened up in slices again. Verity turned back around as Ira reached the fountain.

“Step right up, dear.”

Ira took tiny steps, shuffling her feet. She kept looking back, blinking her eyes. I was standing in the back, but I thought they held tears.
Please, let me be wrong. Please, let Ira be going home.

“Ira Murray has been an exemplary student and we all should strive to be more like her. Ira, we thank you for the time you spent here and we hope when you go back to the world, you can make it just a bit better than it was without you. Are you ready to go home?”

Ira looked back again. I took a few steps and she focused on me. I kept walking toward her and she kept watching.

“I … I don’t want to go in there.” She turned and ran toward me.

I met her halfway and she looked up at me. Her sheet-white face greeted me and her hands were shaking. She glanced back at an advancing Verity. I didn’t know what to do, so I hugged her tight.

Ira whispered in my ear, “Please, take care of Sir Joffrey.” Tears filled her eyes.

“I will.”

My heart leapt into my throat and I held her hand. Her eyes went from panic to a blank calmness. I looked behind her to Verity’s hand on the back of her neck. Ira’s limp hand slipped from mine.

“Ira?”

She didn’t answer. Verity eyed me for a moment before turning Ira around and walking her to the fountain. She walked close to Ira and whispered in her ear as they reached the globe.

“She’s ready,” Verity called out.

Ira took the black bag and walked into the globe.

It closed around her and I gasped. I should have done something for Ira. I hadn’t even gotten to say goodbye. I thought of her little pet hidden away in her room, her best friend, probably.

The globe vibrated, and streaks of light flew out from the small cracks. I rushed forward, close to Verity as she leaned near the silver boot of the woman holding the world. She reached to the boot and the stone fell into her bag.

Was that the final element they needed for the life stone? Thinking it could be Ira in that stone sent pains to my stomach. I looked around for a wastebasket as nausea washed over me. I pushed against my stomach and held it down.

“Thank you all for celebrating Ira’s retirement. There will be no more classes today.” Verity eyed me and hopped down from the wall. Her gaze didn’t leave mine and I stepped back, hoping she wanted the person behind me.

“Allie, can I speak to you in my office?”

“I—”

“Now.” Her big bright smile might have warmed most people, but to me it looked like a lion inviting a gazelle over for dinner.