The next day, Keefe and I met up with Fitz, Biana, and Sophie before classes started. We were waiting for them in front of the main, U-shaped Foxfire building. I was incredibly excited to show my best friends my new ability.
Keefe had been teasing me all morning about how thrilled and happy I was. In his defense, I was literally jumping up and down like a very enthusiastic baby bunny.
"Could you tone it down? I swear Dad didn't come to breakfast this morning so that he wouldn't be grinning all week," Keefe joked. He'd been complaining to me about all of the 'positive vibes' I was sending him through his empathy.
"This is good for you," I informed him. "Happiness is great for your heart." Keefe rolled his eyes.
"My heart is FINE," he informed me. I smirked at my brother. Time to mess with him a little.
"Yeah, fine and totally the property of a certain... Sophie Foster!" I teased. Keefe turned bright red, and I didn't need to be an Empath to know what he was feeling.
"You should totally tell her you like her, I think she likes you too," I went on, ignoring the death glare Keefe was giving me. I'd caught Sophie staring at Keefe multiple times. True, I'd also seen her staring at Fitz, but I mean, Keefe's my brother.
"Absolutely not," Keefe said from behind me. He'd moved, probably so I couldn't see his face. I laughed.
"If you don't tell her, I will," I threatened in a singsong. I turned around, and Keefe had turned from red to pale. Fitz, Biana, and Sophie had just arrived behind us.
"Fitz, Biana, Sophie!" I called as smoothly as I could. "Run over here-holding hands!" The trio instantly grabbed each other's hands-Sophie holding Biana's hand instead of Fitz's, I noted with satisfaction-and sprinted to where Keefe and I were standing. Fitz blinked, confused.
"Wha-" He looked down at his hand. "What?" He looked at me. Sophie and Biana were staring, too. I grinned like a complete idiot. Keefe was laughing.
"You can let go now," I told them, and their hands dropped to their sides.
"Guess what? I manifested!" Keefe started smiling, and I thought he was picking up my happiness. Then I realized he was looking at Sophie, who was ignoring him.
"Woah," Biana breathed. "You're a Beguiler?" I nodded.
"Yeah, last night I..." I looked at Keefe, who shook his head. "I, um, I told Keefe to do something as a joke, and he actually did it." Sophie looked confused.
"What's a Beguiler?" she asked me. Sophie really doesn't know much about the elvin world yet, does she?
"A Beguiler can make a person do something willingly, through our voices. It's a pretty rare ability. I only know one Beguiler," I explained to her. Fitz looked at me.
"Cass, do you realize what this means? You're going to have a class with Dame Alina!" he said with wide eyes.
Dame Alina is the principal of Foxfire, a tall, beautiful woman with brown hair and caramel highlights. I've never heard of anyone having a class with her, but it made sense. She's the only Beguiler I know of, none of the Mentors were.
"Okay, woah. Woah, that's... really cool," I said slowly. "Do you guys know if she's taught any other Beguilers before?" Fitz shook his head.
"I don't think so." Biana shrugged. Just then, I noticed someone walking toward me out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw-
"Dame Alina!" I exclaimed. She smiled at me. Suddenly, I felt incredibly nervous.
" I hear there's another Beguiler at Foxfire today," Dame Alina said to me in a cheerful tone. I smiled hesitantly. Keefe popped up next to me.
"Yep, that's her! I know because she's been acting like a queen all day just 'cause she told me to do one little thing last night," he chimed in. I rolled my eyes and turned back to Dame Alina.
"Don't listen to him. I found out I was a Beguiler when I told him to stop talking, and I've just been excited to tell my friends," I explained to her.
"I understand," she told me. "I manifested when I accidentally made my best friend do my homework for me." Keefe and I laughed. Fitz, Biana, and Sophie were lurking behind us awkwardly, looking for an opportunity to join the conversation.
"Classes start soon, Miss Sencen. I look forward to our time together. Meet me in my office during the time you previously spent in Ability Detecting. And as for you, Mr. Sencen..." She rounded on Keefe. "You'll be spending your lunch hour in detention for the reekrood you put in my desk." And with that, the principal of Foxfire walked away, heading toward her office in the main building. Keefe smirked.
"Took her long enough to figure it out," he said, turning back to Fitz, Biana, and Sophie, who were laughing.
"Keefe, you've got to stop pranking Dame Alina, especially now that she's my Mentor," I told him sternly. He rolled his eyes and mussed my hair.
"Not the hair, Keefe! That took Mom half an hour!" I glowered at him, taking out my compact to see if he did any real damage to it. Keefe grinned.
"You sound like me," he observed. He was right. Keefe was in love with his hair. He spent hours on it and most of his lusters. Once, I switched his shampoo for black hair dye with rainbow sparkles, and he didn't speak to me for a week. Mom and Father thought it was a fashion statement.
"Come on, Cass, you don't want to be late for announcements," Biana reminded me. Right. Dame Alina would announce that I had manifested! I started pushing everyone toward the entrance to Foxfire, determined to make it on time.
"Let's go let's go let's go let's go!" I babbled excitedly. Keefe turned to Fitz.
"Were we that annoying when we manifested?" he asked. Fitz smirked.
"Maybe you were, but I definitely wasn't," Fitz informed him. Keefe snorted.
"Uh, dude, do you not remember literally begging me for permission to read my mind every ten seconds?" Keefe shook his head at Fitz. Sophie laughed.
"Guys, quit it. Let her enjoy herself today," Biana scolded them. They all ignored the fact that we were about to be late for announcements. Wow.
"Well, I'm going, see you all later!" I shouted as I ran to the main building. Sophie followed me into the enormous room.
"Oh hey, what's up, Sophie?" She tugged on an eyelash, and I resisted the urge to Beguile her into stopping that horrible habit. How did doing that not hurt her?
"I wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine," Sophie told me, grabbing the arm of a short boy with strawberry-blond hair. "Dex, this is Cassia. Cass, this is my best friend, Dex," She continued nervously. I smiled at Dex, who looked extremely uncomfortable for some reason.
"Hi, Dex! How do you know Sophie?" I wanted to break the ice, since I am an extroverted person by nature. Being nice to everyone is almost a hobby of mine by now.
"She... came into my dad's shop when she first got here," Dex answered lamely.
"My guardians are related to Dex's parents, so we're kind of cousins, but not really," Sophie explained. How interesting. So the two of them were practically family. I knew the shop Dex's father owned, Slurps and Burps. I had never set foot inside it, the place looks simply ridiculous, so my parents would never shop there. Dex's parents were also a bad match, so that added to it as well. I also knew that Dex had triplet siblings. This had all been told to me by my mother. Keefe loved Slurps and Burps, though. That was where he got his pranking supplies.
"Cool!" I said, trying not to sound fake. "I met her at the Vack-" But just then, Dame Alina appeared on the wall, beaming at us. It was time. I was so excited!
"Good morning, Prodigies! Today I only have one announcement. For the first time since I became principal of Foxfire, please congratulate our new Beguiler, Cassia Sencen!" A spotlight appeared on me, and a thunderous roar of clapping came with it. I basked in the blinding light. Finally, I was the center of attention. That was all I wanted, what I felt like I needed. Keefe's constant troublemaking schemes, good looks, and uniqueness made him everyone's focus. My job was to get good grades and make alliances with useful people, to be paraded around as an example of how great my parents are. I hoped that this feeling lasted forever. I understood Keefe now.
"That concludes today's announcements," Dame Alina continued, her voice sounding as though it was very far away. "Have a wonderful day, everybody!" The image of her blinked out, and the cheers subsided. And just like that, the moment was gone. Ordinary, normal for other people. Entirely unforgettable for me. I've always wished to be my brother. My deepest, darkest wish is to stand up to my parents and become the opposite of what they want me to be. So as everyone else headed to their sessions, talking amongst themselves, I stayed in the enormous room. Alone. Except for the one person I look up to the most.
Keefe must have sensed something strange from me, because he didn't talk to me as we walked out and into the gigantic halls. My first class was nowhere near his, but he walked me there anyway. Once we were standing in front of the doorway, I gave Keefe a huge hug. He let out an "Oof!" but put his arms around me.
"I love you, Keefe," I told my big brother. I could almost feel him smiling.
"Love you too, Cass."
Cover: Fitz Vacker