Yet his manifestation wasn't a secret. Ms. Rhodes asked my opinion of his newfound powers the day after he'd knocked us all down in practice. Then she changed his schedule. Accordingto Aspen, that put him in her Control and Focus class. Needless to say, people noticed, and we were all worried about the attacks.
So when Aspen and I left our math class and heard, "Pascal, you icy freak!" we moved to help.
"Got a problem with ice?" Aspen demanded as she rounded the corner, shoving up into some guy's face.
It was the most aggressive I'd ever seen her! My girlfriend had always been a bit erratic in her reactions, but this was the complete opposite. She wasn't having a mood or acting on a whim. When she shoved herself between some college guy and Pascal, she looked truly terrifying - in the best way I could imagine.
"I..." The guy shook his head, clearly confused.
But Pascal gently clasped Aspen's shoulder, easing her back. "It's ok, Aspen."
"I... He..." The guy looked from Pascal to me, then over to Aspen. "He's got Winter magic now," he finished lamely.
"And I'm pretty happy with it," Pascal said. "Aspen, this is Finch, one of my friends."
"Oh." She stepped back. "Sorry."
"Nope, all good," Finch told her. "I didn't even think about it. I mean, we all know Winter's been getting shit lately. Hell, didn't you get jumped already, Pas?"
"Once," Pascal agreed. "My queen saved my ass. And to think, I'm supposed to be the one guarding her!"
"Shit," Finch chuckled, jerking his chin at me to make it clear I was included. "I think these two ladies can handle their own, bro. I'd say it sucks that you're in freshman-level magic courses, but I bet that's better than all combat all the time."
"I dunno, I like combat," I pointed out.
"Butmagic," Finch reminded me with a wink.
"And not all of us get private lessons with the dean, Rain." Pascal bumped my shoulder. "I got taken out of tracking, but I think I can live with it."
"Now to play catch-up," I teased. "Been there. Done that.Soworth it."
"Which gives me hope," Pascal said as he stepped back. "Now don't be late, you two. I've spent more time in the office than I care for."
But Aspen turned to me with a grin. "I expected that to be bullying. Instead, they'rehappyfor him, Rain!"
Sadly, our classes didn't slow down because of everything else going on. The court had already been excused from more than we should've been, and we knew better than to push it. Torian made it clear we would not use our positions to our advantage. If we wanted others to respect us, we had to work as hard as they did.
That sounded great right up until our math class announced a test on Monday. In unison, Aspen and I groaned - and we weren't the only ones. Our teacher sent a list of what would be covered to all of our tablets. Unfortunately, math was my hardest class.
So Friday night, Aspen and I pulled out some paper, pencils, our phones to use as calculators, and our tablets. Loaded down, we headed to the girls' lounge to actually get some studying in. At first, I was doing ok, and my answers to the practice problems actually matched. Aspen wasn't having as much luck, and I had no clue how to explain the bits I wasn't even quite sure I really knew.
But at the group of couches behind us, a girl's snarl of profanity made us both look over.
"It's ok, Zinnia," her friend soothed. "This part is supposed to be hard."
That caught my attention, so I paused to watch. Across from me, Aspen's brow was furrowed as the girl who'd been called Zinnia grew a large glob of glowing green stuff, then tried to warp it into something. I couldn't tell what, because just as a shape began to form, the ball popped, sending shimmering lime-colored sparkles into the air around them.
"I'm going to fail this class, Mira! She said this is a requirement to move into the next section!"
"We've got all weekend," Mira assured Zinnia. "Look, you just have to push harder."
"Um?" Aspen lifted up and paused somewhere between sitting and standing.
It was enough to make the pair look over. "Sorry," Zinnia mumbled, reaching for her stuff like she was about to leave.
"I was going to offer to help," she said.
"It's a Summer enchantment," Mira pointed out. "We all knowyou'renot Summer."
