Paranormal Public (Paranormal Public Series) (4 page)

“I understand,” said Sip, nodding. “And the professors here think you’re a mage, too.”

“But I’ve never done any magic,” I protested. I tried to remember movies where I saw kids waving their hands while silver fire poured out or whatever. None of that had ever happened to me. I had never moved things with my mind or made stuff disappear.

“You just haven’t been trained,” Sip assured me. “It will come, with time and the proper professors. Your mom had magic, so there’s a good chance that you do too.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed her, but I didn’t argue. I liked the idea of following in my mother’s footsteps.

“So, what now?” I asked. “I mean, I should probably head home soon.” Not that my stepdad misses me, I thought to myself, but I still had packing to do for college. “But maybe I can visit again?”

Sip was shaking her head. “You got here late, so you have a lot to do. Classes start tomorrow, and tonight is the Demonstration. Starters demonstrate their paranormal abilities for their dorms. Besides, you need to see the campus. We can do that now, I guess. There is SO much for you to do! Basically, you aren’t going home.”

“But what about my college?” I demanded, panic starting to rise in me.

“You’re still going to college,” Sip pointed out. “The subjects you’ll be taking in the first semester will probably just be a little different than at your other school.”

“Do I have a choice?” I asked. “About all this?” I waved my hand to include the Infirmary room, but I really meant the whole paranormal/magic completely changing my life plan thing. I was supposed to start normal college. I had packed for it. There was nothing normal about Paranormal Public University.

Sip grinned. “Not technically. Untrained paranormals are dangerous. The professors don’t take kindly to rogue mages. Besides, you’ll like it here. I promise.”

I thought that might turn out to be true. Being about to start paranormal college was way more exciting than starting normal school. Besides, this couldn’t be worse than what I was leaving. My stepdad wouldn’t even miss me and Ricky was already more mature than I was.

“So, I’m staying here? What about my stepdad? My brother?” I wanted to know. This all sounded well and good, but I wasn’t sure it could really happen. Sure, my mom had told me about magic, but when she died the idea that I might be a mage had died with her.

“You need to be trained,” said Sip gently. “I’m a Starter too and we are going to be roommates. That’s why I’m here now. They wanted you to see a friendly face and get to know someone.” Sip was a friendly face all right. I’d bet she could sell coal to miners.

She continued, “I know it can be hard, but your stepdad has already been told that you left early and will call when you have a chance.”

That might be what someone told him, but he wouldn’t believe it. He’d know the truth, and what was worse was the fact that he’d be happy to get rid of me. He’d be much better off with just himself and Ricky anyway, I thought.

Suddenly it hit me: I wouldn’t be going home that night or any night soon. No more stepdad ignoring me, no more brother who got everything he wanted. I was sad, but I wasn’t that sad.

I started to smile.

Then I took a deep breath. This was crazy. I knew this was crazy, but somehow all the bad feelings I’d had for the past couple of weeks were gone. With every breath I took I felt more relaxed and happy than I’d felt in years, at least since I lost my mom. It felt good to be doing something my mom would want me to do. I’d been so busy with school and avoiding my stepdad that I hadn’t had much time for anything else.

“What if I suck and can’t do any magic,” I started to ask. “And are there really vampires?”

“You won’t suck. How can you suck at your destiny?” she said. “And yeah, there are really vampires, and elementals and pixies and fallen angels. They have their own dorms.”

“Which are you?” I asked. I couldn’t tell just by looking at her.

“Werewolf,” she said smiling.

“I don’t really know what that means,” I said.

Sip’s grin got bigger. “No, you don’t, but trust me, by the end of this first semester you will.”

She paused, looking at me carefully. “Do you need a little time?” Sip offered.

I didn’t. I knew my answer.

I squared my shoulders. “No. I’m ready.” I told Sip. “I’m staying. What do I need to know?”

Sip clapped her hands together in glee. “Awesome. You are going to love it here.”

“Yeah,” I said drily. “Once I know anything about it.”

“Let’s start with the basics,” she said, making herself more comfortable on my bed. “Here’s the deal. Tonight you’re going to join your dorm. It’s a big deal. You will be in Airlee Dorm and I will be your roommate. Awesomeness.”

I grinned.

“So, what types of paranormals are here?” I asked. She was a werewolf, and I was a mage, and there must be vampires, but who else was here?

“There are five dorms: one is Cruor, which is Latin for blood; it’s the vampire dorm. Aurum
(shining dawn) is for fallen angels, Volans (flying) is for pixies, and Astra (stars) is for elementals, but there aren’t any more of those, so Astra is empty.”

She sounded sad about that, but I had so many other questions racing through my mind that I didn’t get a chance to ask why.

“What does ‘Airlee’ stand for?”

Sip sighed. “It doesn’t stand for anything. They just named it that when they decided they needed another dorm. Paranormal Public started out with just vampires, fallen angels, elementals, and pixies. They didn’t want to mix the paranormal types, they don’t get along, so when werewolves and mages came into the mix they realized they needed another dorm.

“Airlee is a newer dorm and is therefore considered lesser by
some
.”
She said the word as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

“Because Airlee has werewolves, mages, and anyone else with an ability that isn’t vampire, fallen angel or pixie, everyone in those dorms looks down on us.”

“Oh,” I said.

Apparently there was a hierarchy to paranormals and I was in the dorm that was at the bottom of it.

“We have to work really hard to prove ourselves, but it’s going to be SO great,” said Sip. Apparently nothing bothered her.

The door opened and in bustled a woman dressed in something like what I thought a nurse on crack would wear. She wore a rainbow of colors with bright pink-rimmed glasses almost falling off her nose.

“Oh, darling, you’re awake! Isn’t that lovely?” the nurse said to me, barely looking at Sip. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling much better,” I told her honestly. “My head feels fine.”

“Lovely, lovely. I’m Nurse Tabby,” she said. “If you need anything, just come by. My door is always open, so to speak.”

“Now, do you remember much about what happened?” She pushed her pink glasses higher up on her nose.

“Just that I hit my head,” I said.

“You did indeed. Nasty bump, but I think we mended it just fine. You do have a hard skull, I think. Lucky.” She poked me on the tip of my nose as she giggled.

“Um, thanks,” I said, rubbing the tip of my nose where she’d tapped it.

“Oh, that’s alright darling. Now, Sip,” said Nurse Tabby, turning to my new roommate. “Take her to dinner and make sure she eats lots of fruits and vegetables.”

Sip nodded, but her hair stayed perfectly in place. “Of course.”

“You girls have a good night,” said Nurse Tabby, bustling out and closing the door behind her.

I felt like my head was spinning.

“We should get you food,” said Sip seriously. “You look like you could use something to eat.”

My stomach grumbled.

“So, when’s dinner?” I asked.

Sip laughed. “Right now.”

I looked around for my clothes, but they were nowhere to be seen. “Um, do we have a uniform or anything?”

“No,” said Sip, grinning.

“You wear that,” she said, pointing to a plain white shirt and jeans. “It’s pretty casual around here until you can get some of your own clothes.”

I got out of bed. Sip headed out the door with a vague comment about having to do something before we went to dinner. After she left I got dressed.

I felt strange. Just a few hours ago – or so it felt – my life had been normal. I’d been working and waiting for college to start. My worst problem was whether to have a separate suitcase for my movie collection. The summer had been boring. Its biggest highlight had been hanging out with Ricky. I had known those days were numbered and I had wanted to spend as much time with him as I could. Now, suddenly I was in a paranormal college with a werewolf for a roommate, and she was telling me that I was a mage and about to start college with vampires.

And I had thought going to normal college would be stressful.

Of course, in reality, nothing had been exactly normal since my mother died, and even this summer, especially since the dog and the mist had shown up, “normal” had been a relative term that I wasn’t very familiar with.

I wondered what had happened to Cale. I had been surprised at how nice it was to see him.

I sighed. My life had been turned upside-down. Again.

Once I was dressed I went out into the hall. It looked like your average dorm, only cleaner, which made sense if it was the Infirmary. Sip was waiting for me outside the door, and we headed off to wherever she was taking me.

We didn’t see anyone as we walked through the halls. Sip explained that all the other students were probably in their own dorms, getting ready for dinner and the ceremony. The walls were covered with pictures of different paranormals. Some were vampires transforming, or werewolves brawling.

When we stepped outside it turned out that I hadn’t been in a dorm at all, but in one wing of an ultramodern building.

“So, the University is housed in this building,” said Sip. She pointed upwards at the glass and steel structure stretching into the sky. “Each dorm is detached and scattered around the grounds. And the professors and the President have their offices in a house over there.” She pointed away towards the trees.

I stretched my neck up. All I could see were walls of glass. It was breathtaking. Each glass panel shimmered with a different colored light.

“See,” said Sip, “we have classes in the tower part. All those floors are classrooms, and the dining hall is on the first floor.” I looked around. Surrounding the building with the tower were several smaller buildings, each made of colored glass and steal. Green grass, trees, and stone paths stretched around the campus as far as I could see.

“Isn’t someone worried a stone will go through a window and bring the whole thing crashing down?” I asked.

Sip laughed. “I’d like to see someone try to use a stone to take down the Tower.”

“Hey Sip,” said a boy walking towards her. I stopped craning my neck upward so that I could focus on the guy. His cheeks were round and red, like he was always blushing.

“Hey, Lough,” said Sip, grinning. “This is my new roommate, Charlotte.” Lough stuck out his round hand and smiled. “Are you a Starter too?” he asked. He had blond hair and his hand was warm and calloused. I liked him instantly.

“Yeah,” I said. “Just got here.”

“I’ve been here a week now,” said Lough. “Did they have a hard time finding you?”