Ember From A Forgotten Flame

Chapter 2- A Very Unusual Wand

I woke up to the early morning light streaming in from the window. I propped myself on my elbow and looked at the old clock that hung by the door. 6:30. I was used to waking up at five so you could consider this sleeping in. I slipped out of my bed and went to my wardrobe. I quietly flipped through my clothes, trying to not disturb the still sleeping Hayden. After some back and forth, I decided on a deep red dress. It was a simple, homemade dress, but the color was one of my absolute favorites.

I slipped into the bathroom and got ready. Silently, I got dressed and braided my hair into one long fishtail braid. Back home, I was always up before all of my siblings to help my parents. I got used to getting ready in silence so as to not wake my younger siblings sleeping three feet away.

When I emerged back into the main room, Hayden was awake and sifting through her wardrobe.

"Good morning," I greeted, putting away my nightgown.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Hayden asked.

I nodded despite her back being towards me. "I did. How about you?"

"I slept okay. My first couple nights in a new place are always a little rough," Hayden replied. Her voice was softer than it had been yesterday. She stared into her wardrobe for a few more seconds before pulling out a light yellow dress. She dashed into the bathroom.

I organized my messenger bag as Hayden got ready. She returned a few minutes later. She appeared tense.

"Nervous?" I questioned. She jumped a little, giving me an answer.

"I guess I am."

I gave a soft smile and said, "It will be okay. You're not the only one who's nervous." I was a little nervous myself, but excitement was overshadowing it.

"I know." Hayden let out a long sigh. "Shall we get some breakfast?" I had a feeling she needed a distraction.

"Sure. I'm ready when you are," I replied. A couple minutes later, we were out the door.

Campus had a large dining hall over by the Front Plaza. Inside, there was a long breakfast buffet set up. My eyes went wide as soon as it was in sight. I had never seen so much food before. It took every fiber of my being to not run over and take everything. Hayden and I joined the line and filled our plate. The buffet was filled with every kind of breakfast food you could think of. Fruit, yogurt, meat, cheese, eggs, bread, pastries. An entire section was dedicated to drinks. I forced myself to go slowly and limit what I took. The last thing I needed was to make myself sick on the first day.

As we ate, I barely talked. My energy was focused on not inhaling all the food on my plate. Hayden was more talkative than me, but she was still pretty quiet as we enjoyed our breakfast. She mentioned how fresh fruit was really hard to come by in the mountains. Which explained why three fourths of her plate was entirely fruit.

Even though we forced ourselves to eat slowly, we finished in record time. We had about twenty minutes before class started. We slowly walked through the Front Plaza and into the Commons. The early morning air was cool, but it would warm up fast with the sun already shining brightly in the cloudless sky.

We decided to head to the classroom early to grab ourselves good seats. We were not the first ones there. There were about half a dozen other students. I guessed that the classroom could hold around fifty students. Hayden and I went and picked out two seats near the middle of the right side. We both agreed that it would be hard to hear in the back of a classroom this big, and that sitting in the front was terrifying.

The two of us talked in hushed whispers as we waited. The classroom slowly filled up as it approached the top of the hour. Mrs. Ashbel entered right before the bell in the Front Plaza's clock tower signaled that it was eight o'clock.