Chatoyant College, Book 13: The Teeth

Chapter 83: Last Day

Monday, May 29

It was their last day on campus. Dawn didn't really remember that until she was on her way back from breakfast. She'd gotten up at her usual time and gone to the dining hall for breakfast as though she were going to class, even though she knew she'd already taken her psychology exam and the class was over.

But she didn't have psychology class—or trance or sociology, like she had all the rest of the semester. All she had to do today was finish packing (okay, do all her packing, since she'd spent all day yesterday with Rico instead of packing) and go to the assembly.

When she returned to her room, she was pleasantly surprised to find an email from the administration. But it didn't announce that the killer had been caught. Instead, it urged anyone still on campus to go to the assembly that afternoon, as important information would be shared.

Dawn had been planning to go anyway, but now she wouldn't miss it, and she would make sure all her friends went, as well. She hoped they would announce that the killer had been caught, but even if that wasn't the important information, she really wanted to see what was so important.

She was getting up and turning to her closet to start folding things when Naomi walked into the room. "Hey," Dawn said. "Did you see this email about the assembly?"

Naomi wrinkled her nose and nodded. "As though we don't have enough to do, they want us to go to some assembly? I already know what they're going to tell us, anyway."

"They might not just be telling us that the killer was caught," Dawn pointed out. "Actually, it has to be more than that. It would be a lot easier to write an email saying that the killer was caught than to write an email telling us to go to an assembly, and then have the assembly."

"Sure." Naomi picked up her backpack from the floor and threw it onto her bed. "But they were going to have the assembly anyway. It's probably to tell us to be good over the summer, not forget everything we learned, all that sort of thing."

"Or maybe they're going to cast a spell on us to make sure we don't tell the whole world about magic and flood the school with new applicants."

Naomi snorted, but she was smiling as she threw what appeared to Dawn to be an entirely random selection of items into her backpack. "It's pretty late for that. We've already had a bunch of breaks in which we could spread the knowledge far and wide."

"True. So come to the assembly, okay? It seems like it might be important."

Naomi turned to face her fully. "I guess, if you care so much about it. Why do you care so much about it?"

Dawn shrugged. "Well, they said it's important, and I guess I believe them. But also, Roe told us the other day about a vision she had that seemed to be taking place at the assembly. So maybe Professor Lal is going to say something important. I want everyone to get to hear what it is."

"Huh. Maybe she really is going to cast a spell on us."

"You're just trying to get out of going."

"Well, if a spell is going to be cast, shouldn't someone who knows what's going on get out of its way?" Naomi grinned.

Dawn shook her head, grinning back. "They wouldn't try to cast a spell on everyone by doing it at the assembly. Too many people have gone home already, and it's not like they're forcing us to be at the assembly. There's just as much of a chance that they're going to cast a spell on the people who don't go to the assembly."

Naomi groaned theatrically and threw a crumpled-up shirt at Dawn. Dawn dodged, but it wouldn't have hit her anyway. "Fine," Naomi said, "I'll come to the assembly."

"We'd better get packing, then, if we're going to have time to go to that." Dawn's parents weren't coming until later that afternoon, but there wouldn't be much time to finish the packing between the end of the assembly and when she expected them to arrive, and she knew her mom would say something annoying if she wasn't ready to go when they were ready to take her home.

She suited actions to words and got to it.