I leaned over to whisper to Yasmin. “Did that feel ominous to you?”
She nodded. “And we have another visitor from the board.”
“They seem to be rotating through. That’s Hollis’s dad. I met him at the gingerbread competition yesterday.”
“He talked to you?”
“He said he hoped Hollis could give me a tour of the fern conservatory.”
Yasmin nearly choked on her drink. “Guess he doesn’t know you’re basically taken. If the undertones weren’t so possessive, I would encourage you to take him up on the offer.”
“All the interest from the board is givingme the creepy-crawlies. Can’t they just focus on saving the Earth or something like that?”
“I think that’s what they’re all hoping to getyoufor,” Yasmin said pointedly.
We didn’t discuss it further as students reached for the bounty on the table, and the feast began. I listened to the conversations of those around me while occasionally shooting glances in Callan’s direction.
With the verdant shield recharging happening tonight, I couldn’t help but remember with a spark of excitement and longing that it was exactly a year ago that my magical powers had been identified. I thought about my field studies with Petra and the dozens of antidotes we had tried. If we could only find one that worked, I could experience that magic here on campus again.
“Boy, if you say that one more time!” Coral roared with laughter, and I saw that her mirth was directed at Waylon, who was shaking his head with a self-satisfied grin on his face.
“Looks like things are going okay between those two?” Yasmin whispered. I glanced over and saw Coral’s hand on Waylon’s arm, their legs pressed together under the table.
“Seems like it,” I said.
“I guess it’s just us three,” Yasmin said a few minutes later as we noticed Coral and Waylon head to the pools together.
I glanced toward the other end of the table to see Callan, Hollis, and Meadow breaking from the other students, presumably off to charge the shield.
I tried not to let a hint of unnecessary jealousy creep in at not being part of that particular group. They were a tiny percentage of the student population at Evergreen Academy. I was hardly the only one left out. And besides, wasn’t I just bemoaning being the center of a board member’s attention? Staying away would put space between me and Nash, who I had been avoiding all night.
Once at the pools, we changed into our bathing suits in thetrees then climbed into the whirling springs, steam and citrus filling the night air around us. I let my body relax into the warm, bubbling water.
“Let’s hear everyone’s New Year’s resolutions,” Yasmin said before rattling off items on a list of her own, all of which were practical and attainable. “And finally, I want to drink more green tea. The health benefits are unmatched.”
I smiled at that one. As if the students at this school couldn’t drink the English under the table with their tea habits.
“Mine’s to keep the cartography club open. We’ve put together a thick file to justify it, but I’m nervous,” Aurielle said.
“There’s no way they could deny that your documentation of the microecosystems around campus isn’t valuable,” Yasmin said. “I think you have a really good chance of approval. Apothecary Arts, on the other hand? Depends who from the board evaluates their evidence and if they care about skin care or not.”
We all sighed, and I sank deeper into the hot spring, letting it massage my shoulders.
“B, did I tell you that we found another of those fairy doors? That’s three total so far,” Aurielle said.
“You did?” I asked, keeping my voice casually interested.
“Let me guess. There was moss growing around each of them in a cute little arch?” Yasmin asked.
Aurielle nodded.
“Had to be created by the mosses. Maybe it was an art installation one year,” Yasmin said.
I considered Aurielle’s findings, not letting on how invested I was. If the pattern held with this one, that “fairy door” was another petal portal and another entrance to the academy that very few knew anything about. Even the Root and Vine Society had only been aware of one portal until our initiation. How many were there? And did the Board of Regents know about them?
“Did you include those in your evidence for the submission tothe board?” I asked, hoping the twinge of anxiety in my voice didn’t come through.
“No, do you think I should? I thought they might find that too fanciful and have a reason not to approve us. I kept it very scientific and ecosystem based.”
