“Whatever.” She turned back to her textbooks, but she didn’t kick me out or turn the music back on. And when I slid under my unicorn and rainbow sheets that night, the Tupperware container was empty.
Small victories. That’s what I told myself. Today was rough, but tomorrow classes started, and things would start to get better. I’d learn more about magic, find my place, maybe even join one of those fraternities before the semester was over. That seemed like a good way to find my friend and start fitting in.
I’d figure this out. I always did.
Chapter 2: Everly
Day two started with a spider on my pillow.
Notnearmy pillow—on it, inches from my face, close enough that when I opened my eyes it was the first thing I saw. Fat, hairy, and staring at me with what I swear was malicious intent.
I screamed and launched myself backward, hitting the wall hard enough to rattle the window blinds.
"Calm down," Brittany said from her bed, not even looking up from her phone. "That's just Herbert."
"There is a spider on my pillow!"
"I said calm down." She finally glanced over, looking more annoyed than concerned. Then she held out her hand toward the spider and made a small gesture with her fingers.
The spider turned toward her. And then—I swear I'm not imagining this—it walked off my pillow, climbed down the side of my bed, crossed the floor in a perfectly straight line, and disappeared under Brittany's bed frame.
I stared. "Did you just..."
"Blood magic." She went back to her phone. "Everything with blood in it can be influenced, if you know what you're doing. Herbert's my practice subject. He lives under my bed."
"You have a pet spider that you control with blood magic."
"He's not a pet. He's a familiar. There's a difference." She still wasn't looking at me. "He probably just got curious about the new roommate. I'll tell him to stay on my side from now on."
"You'll... tell him."
"Through the blood link, yeah. It's not like he speaks English." Now she did look up, one eyebrow raised. "You going to freak outabout this, or are you going to get dressed? You've got class in forty minutes."
I looked at the space under her bed where Herbert had vanished. Then at Brittany, who was already back to scrolling on her phone like nothing unusual had happened.
Blood magic. Right. This was my life now.
"I'm going to get dressed," I said.
"Smart choice."
I pulled on the same purple sundress from yesterday—I really needed to do laundry—and tried to make myself presentable. Brittany watched me struggle with my hair in the tiny mirror on my closet door.
"You're wearing that again?"
"I didn't realize there was a dress code."
"There isn't. Officially." She went back to her phone. "Unofficially, you look like a target."
I looked down at myself. Purple and yellow and pink, bright as a tropical bird in a room full of ravens. "I'm just being myself."
"Yeah. That's the problem."
My first class was Introduction to Magical Theory, held in a dim lecture hall that smelled like old paper and chalk dust. I sat in the front row, dead center—visible, approachable, ready to make a good impression. That's what I always did. Put yourself where people can see you, and eventually they'll start to see you as someone worth knowing.
No one sat near me.
The seats to my left and right stayed empty even as the room filled up behind me, students flowing around my row like I wassurrounded by an invisible fence. I could hear them settling in, whispering, laughing with each other. None of it was directed at me, but that almost made it worse.
