I left the kitchen, found a nice pool of water, and jumped in and began to swim. Why hadn’t I ever decided to swim in the pond before? The temperature was perfect, and I was swimming faster than I ever had.
The water, warm and easy to glide through, rushed over my skin. I lifted one arm after the other, slicing through the water with a perfect freestyle stroke. The faster I swam, the more myarms seemed to move, propelling me forward through the pond.
But then a strong pair of arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me upward, out of the warm water. Something was shoved into my mouth, and a few moments later, my breathing slowed.
There were clumps of soil all around my feet. I looked at my hands and cried out. They were covered in dirt, and it was caked underneath my fingernails.
“What… what happened?”
Professor East’s face was as smooth as stone. “You tried to swim in the flower beds.”
“No, that’s not right. I was swimming in the—” I glanced toward the pond, realizing it was at least half a mile away. And I wasn’t at all wet.
“Unfortunately, this means you’re affected by poisons, like most people. I even took a few sips myself, just to be sure, but nothing happened to me. This is most peculiar.”
My brain was still foggy from the effects of the poison and the rapid removal of it from my system by whatever he had slipped into my mouth, but understanding was beginning to dawn. “So I don’t have an affinity for defensive plants?”
Professor East shook his head.
But if that were true, and I’d failed all the other tests… was I not a magical botanist after all?
Thirty minutes later,I sat in Professor East’s office. He’d sent me ahead and now walked in with two plates of a greenish-colored cake-like substance.
“Eat this. It will help draw out the rest of the poison and settle your stomach.”
“I thought the poison didn’t affect you?” I looked toward the cake on his plate.
“I just like the taste.” He smiled softly.
I ate a few bites then voiced the question I had been wondering about since I’d come out of the hallucination. “If I don’t have any affinities, then was this all a mistake?”
“It is… unusual. But there was no mistake. What you saw under the microscope cannot be seen by a non-magical eye. And the fact that your charged gemstone allows you to see the true nature of the academy can’t be ignored. But that kind of power is baseline to all magical botanists and not specific to any affinity.”
I contemplated his words for a moment. Did that mean that I was a magical botanistwithoutany affinity powers? If so, what did that mean in practice? “So… is there still a reason for me to attend school here?”
My words came out as barely more than a whisper. I wasn’t sure whether I would prefer him to say yes or no. It was clear that I was out of place, especially if I had no affinity power.
If I didn’t belong here, I could go back to my normal life, in which all I was worried about was getting into art school and handling the midmorning rush at Vera’s Café. But there was a part of me that had been getting used to the idea of belonging here one day. I felt like I was barely scratching the surface of thisworld. All of that had been hinging on me having an affinity power.
My mind roved over everything I’d seen at the academy, like a montage playing through my head. Every white stone wall covered with creeping plants, the floor-to-ceiling windows through which sunlight lit the living things both inside and out, each gazebo, greenhouse, and pond… They had seemingly sprung to life out of a fairy tale, and my desire to draw had never been as strong as it was here.
Every night before bed, I sketched the rare and exotic plants I’d encountered here. I didn’t know I’d become so attached to this place in so short a time, but now that the prospect of it being taken away was on the table, the idea was devastating.
“Of course there is still a reason for you to attend. All magical botanists are welcome here, no matter how many”—he looked at me pointedly—“or how few affinities they have. Now keep in mind, classes may be more challenging for you without any affinities. You may have to work harder than the other students. But I know you’re capable of that.”
My chest relaxed in relief, despite the warning of more hard work to come. I didn’t know if I would be successful at Evergreen Academy in the long term, but for now, at least, I was allowed to stay. And I was going to work my hardest to ensure that didn’t change.
“I’ll do my best, Professor East.”
“Good. Now, enjoy your weekend. On Monday, the real fun begins.”
Chapter Twenty-One
The following Monday, my history and algebra classes at SCC passed uneventfully, though my mind kept wandering to Evergreen Academy and what was in store for me with my first classes.
Yasmin greeted me with a smile in Art, and I was finally able to relax as we worked on drawing faces.
I completely tuned out all thoughts of plant powers, affinity tests, and Evergreen Academy itself as I sketched, pouring all my energy into capturing the tiniest of details—the curve of the jaw, the fullness of the lashes. I jumped when the instructor said that it was time to clean up.
