Light Fae Academy: Year Two Page 2

  “Who is that?” I murmur more to myself than anyone else.

  Bay shrugs. “Don’t ask me.”

  “Why don’t you go find out?” I ask her.

  She shrugs. “I’m going to go get settled in our cottage.”

  I lift my eyebrows.

  Bay grins as she slowly starts to fly away backward. "What can I say? I called ahead and made arrangements for you and your friends and me to all be in the same cottage."

  “You did? When?”

  “You should be thanking me,” she says, still flying backward, urging me to fly toward her to hear her. “They were going to split you all up, but I convinced them otherwise.”

  “Convinced them how?” I ask suspiciously.

  She winks at me and giggles, sounding more and more like the old Bay. “See? I told you. You’re just like Mom.”

  “I am not!”

  “Maybe you are.” She looks toward the dark angel then back at me. With a wink, she turns around and flies off.

  Bay’s ridiculous. I don’t even know his name. Yes, he’s hot and mysterious, but so what? Sage is the fairy of my dreams. At least, I thought he was. If he can’t forgive me, then we’ll never work out.

  Chapter 3

  I shake my head, do not fly over to the dark fairy, and trail behind Bay to our cottage. She seems to know the way. At least, I hope she knows the way. As for the new guy, it’s really not fair for me to think of him as dark just because he has dark hair, eyes, and wings. One of the darkest fairies to have ever lived had white hair and white wings, although her wings had been rumored to be made of fairies. Most fairies don’t have feathered wings, not anymore.

  Sure enough, once Bay lands in front of a cottage, I spy our trunks waiting for us on the small wraparound porch. “If you still want to room with that fairy…”

  “Orchid,” I supply.

  “Yes, her. You can room with her. It’s enough for me that we’re in the same cottage.”

  I grin, but then the corners of my lips curl downward. “Bay?”

  “Yeah?” She takes one look at me and scowls. “I don’t need your pity.”

  “Weren’t most of your friends last year third years?”

  “Not all of them. Thistle was, though.”

  “I know,” I say almost too quickly.

  Thistle started out as Bay’s friend. He has green hair, and he’s super skinny.

  He also has a crush on me.

  It's not flattering, not really. At least, I didn't want any attention from him. It felt weird having attention from one guy and not from the one I actually wanted to notice me. We became friends, though, and we worked together on a project. We haven't spoken at all over the break, and I realize he never told me what he was going to be up to now that he's graduated. He didn't volunteer the info either, which makes me wonder if he's undecided. His past probably isn't helping him any. He used the fairy dust drug Bay smuggled on campus, and he hinted that he at least had access to other stuff as well.

  “You don’t have to worry about me,” Bay says dryly. “I’ll make new friends, and like I said, some are still around.”

  “Great,” I mumble.

  She grins. “You really can’t help being a worrywart, can you?”

  “I just want you to make smart choices.”

  “Oh, I think all of my choices through, all right. I just might have a balancing scale that’s a little skewed.”

  I shake my head disapprovingly, but I can’t hold my stern expression for long before I burst out laughing.

  “Don’t you worry about Thistle, though,” Bay says slyly. “You might be seeing him again.”

  She lugs her trunk inside, moving too quickly for me to ask her to clarify. Did he fail a subject and need to repeat it?

  I follow suit, bring my luggage to the common area, and leave it there to fly around and see who all is here. It doesn't take me long to realize that Bay and I are the first ones here. It also doesn't escape my notice that her room is the largest one.

  She’s sprawled out hovering above the bed, arms crossed beneath her head.

  She looks so peaceful and content for once that I leave her to it and return to my trunk.

  The door opens, and in flies Orchid. Her black eyes flash, and her purple hair whips around to hit my shoulder as she gives me a huge hug.

  “It’s so good to be back, don’t you think?” she asks, her eyes shining.

  I let out a squeal.

  Orchid giggles. “I take that as yes, you’re excited.”

  “I am. This year is going to be amazing. I’m sure of it.”

  “I hope so.” She grins and touches the crescent moon pendant Bay gave me. “You deserve your chance to have everything you want.”

  “I don’t deserve it any more than anyone else.”

  I wave her words away, but my heart sinks. It took a month or so for everyone to move past what happened between Sprint and me and for people to treat me like normal. It’s not going to start up all over again, is it? I really hope not.

  “Do you want to see the room I picked out for us?” I ask eagerly.

  “Sure. Who else is here?”

  “We’re among the first,” I say slowly.

  “Who else?” she presses.

  Bay floats into the room. “I heard someone arrived.”

  Orchid appraises Bay and turns to me. “Your sister. Please don’t tell me—”

  “Why, yes, I’m in this cottage. Isn’t that just swell?” Bay beams, her tone sugary sweet.

  “Perfect,” Orchid deadpans.

  “Come on.” I tug on Orchid’s arm. “Our room?”

  “You sure you don’t want to room with your sister so you can keep her in check?” Orchid demands.

  “Look,” Bay snaps. “I didn’t know Spring was the one—”

  "You sold her fairy dust. You sold her so much that she ran out of money and started to steal items, including something of mine. Do you really think that she had that much dough to just dish out on your drug? I don't know what happened that she is so light and you are so dark, but you need to—"

  “You need to watch your mouth,” Bay says evenly, her expression cold before warming up as she gives Orchid a wicked smirk. “Besides. With Rosemary being so light and all, do you really want her to spend even more time on me? Considering I’m such a bad influence. I’m so very dark.”

  As if to prove her point, Bay spreads out her wings as much as possible. She’s casting a shadow from the light coursing through the window behind her, creating an illusion that darkens her wings, the light almost like a halo of shadows around her.

  “Look, ladies, we can all get along,” I say desperately.

  Bay grins. “Of course. So long as your friend here doesn’t run her trap.”

  “Of course,” Orchid echoes. “So long as your sister here doesn’t do or sell any drugs here.”

  Bay sniffs, wiggles her fingers in a mocking wave to Orchid, and blows me an air-kiss.

  But I’m ignoring them, my gaze fixed on the window. A certain fairy is flying nearby. A fairy with longish brown hair, maybe a little longer than last year, his eyes as green as ever. He’s still sporting a bit of stubble on his face, and it makes him look so damn sexy.

  Orchid shifts to stand behind me, and Bay hovers over my shoulder a minute later. It’s clear to me that they want to see what I’m seeing.

  After a moment, I turn around to eye them.

  Bay grins at me. “You know what I think?”

  “Oh, here we go,” Orchid mumbles under her breath.

  “It’s a new year, right? New year, new beau. That would be best for you.”

  Orchid makes a scoffing sound. “Of course that’s what you would suggest.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Bay asks, hand on hip.

  “You treat guys like they’re crumbled-up twenties. You’ll use them, spend them, drop them, pull out another. You act like guys are disposable.”

  “I do nothing of the sort,” Bay says,
nose in the air.

  “Ah, yeah, you do.” Orchid crosses her arms.

  “Let’s not fight, okay?” I plead.

  Orchid turns slightly so that her back is somewhat to Bay as my friend focuses on me. “You should try again with Sage. He’s had time to think and forgive.”

  “He should’ve forgiven her from the start,” Bay says with a snort.

  “Maybe,” Orchid allows, “but you were drawn to him from the very start, right? Why not see where that path ends?”

  “Maybe the path is too bumpy,” I say miserably.

  “You know what I think?” Orchid glances at Bay. “I think you’re afraid to try again. You’re worried he’ll keep you in the friend zone.”

  I cough slightly. “Let’s… Let’s not talk about this right now. My sex life isn’t up for discussion.”

  “Sex life,” Bay muses, almost singing the words. Her grin is more a teasing smirk.

  I heave a dramatic sigh just for her benefit. “You’re going to make me regret living with you, aren’t you?”

  “I just want you to relax and have fun, but not too much fun.” She wags a finger, looking just like Mom. “You have to keep your grades up after all.”

  We burst out laughing, but Orchid isn’t amused.

  “Rosemary, seriously, if you don’t try again with Sage, you’ll always wonder what might have been. It’s not too much to put yourself out there again, is it?”

  “It might be,” Bay says. “Heartache isn’t any fun. Trust me on that.”

  I gape at Bay as she flies out the window. Heartache? Who broke her heart? I didn’t think she had any boyfriend break up with her. She was the queen of leaving a trail of broken hearts in her wake.

  Not that she dates a lot. She mostly just teases boys. She doesn’t date all that often. Yes, she’s had sex before, but I’m not even sure who with.

  Dad’s not the only one in the family keeping secrets.

  Chapter 4

  Sage is still flying outside, talking to a few other fairies. Bay’s flown off away from him.

  “Go to him,” Orchid urges, pushing me toward the window.

  “I don’t know,” I tell her. “Maybe later.”

  “If you don’t go now, you’ll use classes and homework and assignments as an excuse, and you’ll never talk to him.” Orchid gives me a look. “You know it’s true.”

  “Yes, but…”

  “You really will regret it if you don’t.”

  She has a point, as much as I hate to admit it, but maybe Bay’s right too. Why should I be hung up over a guy who doesn’t give a wing about me?

  Where we left things… Well, after everything with Spring and her thievery and fires, Sage finally admitted that his nickname for me, Daredevil, is well earned. That I’m the daredevil one, not Bay. If you would’ve told me years ago that my nickname would be Daredevil, I would’ve assumed you mistook me for Bay. In any case, going up against Spring had been terrifying, and I had been scared out of my wings, but I guess the point is that I went ahead and faced her anyhow.

  So, yes, he still calls me Daredevil, although that nickname is the biggest reason why I didn’t realize earlier that he thought I was Bay. But he knew that I tried to act like Bay to get him to like me, and I’ve thought about his words many times since he uttered them.

  “You said that you don’t know who you are, and if you don’t… how am I supposed to know you?”

  He said we could be friends for now, but I even told him that daredevils don’t need friends, that we crave adrenaline. He told me to give him a call if I found something to give me an adrenaline rush.

  I never called.

  A coward. I do not deny it, but I also don't know what would cause an adrenaline rush. If it requires being as terrified as I had been with everything with Spring, then no thank you.

  Honestly, though, the thought of talking to Sage right now is giving me so much anxiety that my hands are shaking, my wings fluttering involuntarily.

  “It’s not as if he made an effort to talk to me much,” I mumble.

  "It's not as if you gave him many opportunities," she points out. "You were always with your friends or me, never alone. I get it. You put yourself out there for the first time with the guy. He rejected you, and it hurt. Sometimes, you just have to follow your gut."

  “I prefer to follow magic,” I say dryly.

  “Most magic won’t lead the way to love,” she says dryly.

  I just lift my eyebrows. Considering her great-grandma successfully made a love potion, she can’t talk.

  “A connection like that shouldn’t be ignored,” she says.

  I roll my eyes. "Maybe it was just lust and wishful thinking."

  Orchid bites her lower lip. “My great-grandma used to say that we have more than one soul mate, that soul mates have nothing to do with romantic love. Soul mates are the people who come into your life and touch your heart and irrevocably change you. Sage very well could be one of your soul mates, and that’s why you felt drawn to him immediately.”

  “Nah, pretty sure it was just lust, and I’m just a stupid fairy who got my feelings all jumbled up.”

  “You’ll only be a stupid fairy if you don’t at least see if you two can be friends. Real friends. Not this pretend whatever it is you two are now.”

  I grin and give her a hug. “If I talk to him and it goes badly, I’m going to come back and cry on your shoulder.”

  "No, you aren't," she says dryly. "I'll make sure we have a decent stash of chocolate and ice cream for you, though."

  I wink and take off, flying out the window. The fairies near Sage are flying away as I approach. It’s not until I almost in front of him that he notices me.

  He doesn’t say a word, just takes in my outfit. I’m wearing my favorite pair of jeans with the same twin black with white dots belts near the button and zipper dangling against my upper thigh and wrapping around to attach in the back that I wore several times last year. My top is white and reveals about an inch of skin. My hair is down, no fancy updo today, and I feel rather free and light and good about my appearance. I didn’t specifically get dressed to impress. I wasn’t certain I would see Sage today, and I definitely didn’t think I would be talking to him today, but here I am.

  “Daredevil,” he says slowly, but I hate that there’s a slight question to his tone.

  “Sage.” I eye him, waiting, stalling, trying desperately to think about what I should say next.

  What’s worse is that he doesn’t say anything either.

  I clear my throat. “How was your break?”

  “Not too bad,” he says.

  “That’s it?” I pout. “No details?”

  “I can provide plenty if you want to be bored to tears.”

  “Sometimes it’s good to cry,” I quip. “Heals the soul and all that.”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “It’s true.” I nod emphatically even though I feel ridiculous. “Some girls can cry and look beautiful. Others look hideous. I’m pretty sure I fall into the hideous camp.”

  “You don’t,” he says.

  I wave my hand. “I wasn’t fishing for a compliment.”

  He nods a few times, and I get the feeling he doesn’t want to be here, that he doesn’t want to talk to me. Maybe I’m reading into things, but this doesn’t seem to be going well at all.

  Oh, forget this. I might as well make sure without a shadow of a doubt that he knows who I am.

  “When Bay cries, which isn’t often, but when she does, she looks so beautiful. Everything about her is beautiful.”

  “That’s a bit egotistical, don’t you think?”

  “What? Just because we’re nearly identical twins doesn’t mean we look exactly the same. We don’t cry the same way. With her, it’s just a tear here or there. No sobbing, no ruining makeup, no…” I snap my mouth shut. Mentioning a snotty nose would not paint a pretty picture in his head.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do.” I ru
b the back of my neck. “So… what courses are you taking this year? I have to say I’m a bit bummed that I’m not taking Illumination until next year.”

  “Really? I’m taking it this year.”

  I wrinkle my nose, disappointed. “Oh, well, that’s great. Maybe you could tell me about it sometime.”

  “Maybe.”

  An awkward silence falls. I’m wracking my brain to think of something else to talk about and wince. Before, it had been so easy for us to talk to one another. At first, I had to constantly think about Bay and how she would react to be able to flirt with him, but with practice, it began to feel more natural, to flow naturally. Maybe I just needed some self-confidence to be able to flirt with him, but if that’s the case, then my self-confidence is shot.

  And it’s all because of him. Maybe Bay is right. Not necessarily about that new fairy, but just that I should start to look and see about other options.

  “What are your other courses?” I finally ask. “Or are you worried we’ll have at least once class together?” And because I’ve started to talk, I just can’t help myself and add, “And if you don’t want to be friends, just tell me. We won’t talk again.”

  His grimace has me wishing I could fall to the ground to be swallowed up. “No, no. I’m sorry. I had to deal with a bunch of stuff lately, and it’s…” He holds a hand up to his head. “I don’t really have a clear head right now.”

  I nod slowly but don’t bother to ask what he’s going through. If he wants me to know, he’ll volunteer the information.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I offer.

  “So, yeah, Illumination, Plant Healing, Nature Magic, Oneirokinresis, and History.”

  “History? That sounds boring as all get out, but Oneirokinesis, I hope to take that next year.”

  "You want to learn dream infiltration?" he asks. "Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."

  “Well, if you aren’t already dreaming about me, that would be one way to get you to,” I say lightly.

  “I’m going to learn how to protect myself from it as well as to learn how to do it, so my mind will be safe. Yours, though…” He gives the tiniest of grins.