Sophie still couldn't believe she had to be seen in a blue pleated skirt with black leggings and a shirt-vest-cape combo. The outfit was just as horrible as she remembered it.
When the chimes rang and Dex was standing in the doorway in his complimenting uniform, Sophie couldn't help but laugh.
"This is still better than human clothes." Dex insisted.
"I highly HIGHLY doubt that." She added emphasis on the second highly.
"Hey, you're wearing the Ruewen crest," Dex said, pointing to the triangle patch sewn where her cape hung over her heart: a scarlet eagle soaring with a white rose in its talons. His patch was square and looked like a bunch of chemistry equipment twisted into a tree. "We wear our family's crest on our uniform. If Grady and Edaline are letting you wear theirs, they must be serious. Are they adopting you?"
"As of this moment, I have no idea, but I hope so." She ran her hand over the patch.
"Hey, they will, okay?" Dex tried to assure her. He pointed to hundreds of crystals hanging in a round chandelier. "The Leapmaster 500. You're lucky. My parents aren't nobility, so they're only authorized to have the 250—it's missing tons of cool places. Foxfire!" he shouted.
The crystals rotated until one lowered, casting a beam of light toward the ground.
"You ready?" he asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be." Sophie relaxed as the warm feathers pulled her away to her first day at Foxfire.
———
Thousands of bells chimed in an intricate pattern, and everyone faced the far wall, which now showed a close-up of Dame Alina, a stunning beauty with porcelain skin and fragile features. Sophie felt her entire body tense just at the sight of her.
She smoothed her caramel-colored hair and pursed her lips. "Good morning, prodigies. First and foremost, whoever put reekrod in my desk over the weekend will— It's not funny!" she snapped as everyone cracked up. Her eyes narrowed. "Mark my words—whoever it was will be punished to the fullest extent of my abilities."
She let the threat dangle before she continued. "Last week we had fourteen prodigies detect special abilities—a new record." She clapped and everyone joined her.
"Dex, I have to leave now."
"What do you-"
Sophie leaped out of her seat and made her way to the exit, but not before a spotlight hit her in the face.
"And—last but not least—where is she.. . Ah, there!"
Sophie held her breath waiting for Alina to introduce her, but the spotlight moved on, searching the crowd.
"Well, I'm sure she's here somewhere." Dame Alina continued once Sophie could not be found. "Everyone, please welcome Sophie Foster—a Level Two prodigy, starting her first day at Foxfire."
By then Sophie had made it out of the exit. She could hear Alina scold everyone for whispering about her and clapping soon followed suite.
Dex burst through the exit she escaped through. "How did you know she was going to do that?"
"I didn't." Sophie lied, walking down the hall while Dex scrambled to catch up.
"You had to have known, why else would you have left?"
"I didn't feel good. First day nerves."
Dex seemed satisfied with that answer. He led her into the main building, which was divided into six different wings by the towers, one wing for each lower grade level. The walls of the Level Two wing were the same blue as her uniform, and the banners bore a halcyon in midflight.
Dex switched halls so many times, but Sophie soon realized they were heading to her locker once they entered an enormous quad with glittering crystal trees scattered throughout the room. A statue of a halcyon filled the center, sparkling like it was carved from sapphire instead of stone. Prodigies chatted as they put books and supplies into the narrow doorways lining the walls, but everyone fell silent when they noticed Sophie.
"Okay, this is the atrium," Dex explained, ignoring the spectacle they were creating. He checked her schedule and led her toward the far wall, to a door marked with a rune she couldn't read. "This is your locker. See that silver strip?" He pointed to a shiny mirrored rectangle just underneath the symbol. "Lick it. The lock uses your DNA."
She didn't hesitate and the locker swung open. "Oh, do me a favor and don't open your locker."
Dex raised his eyebrows, "Why?"
"There's a Muskog in it. I just heard Stina say she put it there." Sophie shrugged and placed her items in her locker. She hasn't quite realized why she was risking a lot just to tell him that. His embarrassment would have been worth her silence. Besides, nothing became of it the last time.
"How did you-? Never mind. I believe you... I think." Dex shook his head confused.
Lady Alexine passed through the wall and Stina and her friends stopped snickering and faced the other way.
"Look, Dex. I can prove it." Sophie closed her locker and ran over to Lady Alexine.
The slender woman in a deep blue gown and cape stopped to face her. "You must be Sophie! It's not often that we get a new prod-"
"Yeah, that's me." Sophie interrupted. "Those girls-" she gestured to Stina, "-placed something in his locker and he's supposed to be my guide around Foxfire, but he can't get his stuff out and I don't want to be late for class."
It was possibly the lamest excuse Sophie could have come up with but Lady Alexine listened. "Miss Heks! Come here right now."
The hallway got impossibly quiet as Stina left her group and walked over. "Yes, Lady Alexine?"
"Is there something in this locker?"
"I don't know."
"So if I have Dex open his locker, nothing with being there?"
"I would think so, Lady Alexine."
Lady Alexine directed Dex to unlock his locker. "Alright, Miss Heks. Open it."
Stina hesitated.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Dex called out, receiving a harsh glare from Alexine.
Stina sighed and moved out of the way before swinging his locker open. Sure enough, a muskog escaped from it, sending other prodigies in the hallway running.
"That is enough, Miss Heks. There will be a week of lunch detention in your future. How dare you lie to a teacher and do this in front of our new prodigy!" She turned to Sophie. "I'm sorry you had to see this."
"He put balding serum in my lushberry juice on Friday!" Stina retorted.
"It'll now be two weeks. I expect you to find that rogue muskog and put it back wherever it came from. Dex, please refrain from doing anything to Stina again. And, Stina? You seem to have some strange hairs on your chin. You might want to have Elwin check them."
Dex cracked up and Stina turned beet red. She covered her beard with her hand and stalked off, followed by her minions. Lady Alexine swept across the atrium, disappearing through the far wall.
"See what I mean?" Dex asked as he kicked his locker. "She's evil. You might want to stay away from here or you'll be smelling like muskog all day."
"You don't have to tell me twice." Sophie was already backing away from his locker. She made her way to her first session.
"Hey, you're the prodigy Dame Alina told us about, right? The new one?" a small boy asked, catching up with her as she set off through the halls. He was a couple of inches shorter than her, with messy brown hair and a very round face.
"Sophie," she corrected.
"I'm Jensi—whoa—you have really weird eyes—cool—anyway—so—everyone wants to talk to you—but they're all afraid—so I decided to show them how it's done."
"Okay, well to answer all their questions- I haven't been at Foxfire because I've been living with humans. I prefer to be called Sophie not 'Human Girl'. My eyes are brown and no it's not contacts." She continued walking to her class.
Jensi followed her. "Where are we going?"
"Elementalism." She didn't miss the fact that he used the word we. "I believe this is it." She pointed to the door and smiled at Jensi, hoping he'd take the hint and leave. "I should head in...."
"Oh okay—and be careful—I'd hate you to get zapped on your first day!"
"Thanks, Jensi!" She took a deep breath as she closed the warped wooden door behind her.