The Magic Academy

2015 Ch. 7

"I've been wondering," I said as the three of us dashed down the halls. "'EMU' isn't a literal term, is it?"
"What do you mean?" asked Jay.
"Like, it's just a slang word, right?"
"Are you seriously asking that question?" I guess my answer was yes. Jay had been right about the hallways getting crowded. It took us ten minutes to get to the dining hall's massive wooden doors, which were wide open. I could smell a variety of amazing fumes before we even stepped in. Everywhere, there were kids at round tables, catching up with friends they hadn't seen all summer. We made our way through the people until we saw Raidan sitting at a table with some other boys. We sat at the table, me between Kyle and two empty seats. More boys, I thought. Great.
When the table was full, I was in a better mood. Three other girls had sat down, two of them in the seats next to me. "Thank god," I muttered.
The girl to my right looked at me and laughed. "It gets better, don't worry," she smiled. "I'm Summer, and this is Kara," she said, pointing to the girl next to her.
"I'm Julia," I replied.
"Are you the new emu?" asked Kara.
"Wow, news spreads fast around here, doesn't it?" I sighed. This was going to be an interesting night.
"Sorry," she said with a chuckle.
"Well, it's obvious what your power is, so we might as well tell you what ours are," said Summer, clapping her hands together. "I use illusion magic, which is pretty self explanatory."
"I use stationary transformation magic," said Kara. Then, noticing my confused look, explained. "I can transform into any inanimate object, if I know what it looks like."
"That makes more sense," I said with a laugh. I looked around the table. "So... who is everyone else?"
"Ok. The boy next to Raidan is Thomas. He uses super speed. Then it's Zach and my brother Alex," said Summer, pointing to each person in turn.
"Zach uses canis transformation magic, which means he can turn into any kind of dog, and Alex has super strength," added Kara. The girls told me about everyone at the table.
"What about her?" I asked, glancing at a quiet girl at the opposite side of the table.
"That's Marina," said Summer. "I don't know what kind of magic she uses," She put a finger on her chin. "We don't know much about her at all. She's new, like you."
"Wasn't it telephonitis? Or technologisis or something?" said Kara.
Summer snapped her fingers. "Telekinesis! The ability to move objects with your mind! I think," she cried. "I feel like it'd be awkward if we just bluntly asked her, though."
"True," I said, leaning on the table. "By the way, when do we eat?"
"Right now!" said a chipper voice from behind us. We turned around to see a woman who had to be in her early twenties. Her straight blond hair was tied back and she had warm smile on her face. "What can I get you guys to drink?"
"I'll have a lemonade," said Summer.
"Me too," said Kara.
"Does it come in pink?" I asked.
"Yes," laughed the waitress. She wrote in her tiny notepad and made her way around the table. When she saw Jay, she cried out. "It's my little brother! How're ya doin', Jay-Jay?" I snickered. Jay heard me and scowled, which made me want to laugh even more.
"I told you not to call me that, Sarah," he muttered.
Sarah laughed. "What do you want to drink, Jay?"
Sarah left once she had everyone's drink down. Summer and Kara were filling me in on some of the teachers we would have when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I turned around and saw her. I knew it wouldn't be long before I did. "Excuse me, but this is my seat." She had long, wavy blond hair, blue eyes, way too much make up, and a group of girls behind her.
The mean girl.
"I don't see your name on it," I replied, keeping my face clear of emotion. I could hear a series of Oohs behind me, but didn't turn away from the girl.
She scoffed. "Do you know who I am?" Before I could answer, she said, "I'm Jessica, the prettiest, most popular girl at this academy. Who are you to have an attitude with me?"
"I'm Julia, and I have an attitude anyone and everyone. You're no exception." I gave her a bored look before turning back to Summer.
"I'm not done with you," said Jessica. I turned back around and sighed.
"If you wanted this seat so bad, you should have gotten here earlier. Besides, no matter how skinny you get, your whole posse isn't going to fit in this one chair. I don't know what your problem is, but you are super annoying. Why should I get up for someone like you?" There was another series of oohing, and even a "you get 'em, tiger!". All the while, Jessica's face contorted with rage. Then, a smile slipped onto her face. "Oh, you're so naïve," she giggled. Then she put a hand on my shoulder (I had to restrain my self from biting one I her fingers off) and pointed in Jay's direction. "You see that boy over there with the blue eyes and blond hair? That's my boyfriend. All of his friends," she said, motioning around the table. "are my friends. You are new, and you are not part of our friend group. So you can pick yourself up and move, or suffer. Your choice." She looked at me pointedly, as if she had won. She wasn't even close.
"What about her?" I asked, jutting my thumb back at Marina.
She grinned. "I like her more than you,"
I was about to retort when someone spoke from behind. "Can you just stop, Jessica? We don't need her burning anymore tables," groaned Raidan. I turned to him. When he saw me glaring at him, he smirked. This was about to get really awkward.
"Oh, we have anger management issues, do we now?" said Jessica slyly. The girls with her began to giggle. Still, I somehow managed to keep my face expressionless. What was I supposed to say?
"Wait. Can we backtrack? Jay is your boyfriend?" I asked.
"Yah. Jealous much?" she sneered.
"Since when have we been dating?!" Jay shouted.
I looked at Jessica. She looked as if she was about to throw a fit. "Some boyfriend, huh?" I muttered.
"It's not like you have one!" she cried. "Stop trying to look better than me!" You don't belong here, you little-" I held up my hand and cocked an eyebrow. I looked directly into her eyes and said, "I have anger management issues? Go look in a mirror to see what that looks like." I turned back towards the table, then looked at Summer, who was staring at me with wide eyes. Jessica kept talking, but I ignored her, and she eventually stormed off. The boys at the table gave me nervous looks every now and then, but it was nothing compared to how the girls reacted.
"I'd applaud you if it weren't in front of everyone," Summer whispered in my ear. I laughed.
"Not to dampen the mood, but you realize you just got on the bad side of the most popular girl in school, right?" Asked Kara worriedly.
"Yep," I said with a grin.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" laughed Summer. Soon we were all laughing. The two continued to fill me in on the academy while we ate, and soon enough, dinner was over.
I got up to leave with Raidan, Kyle, and Jay when I heard Summer call, "See tomorrow at breakfast, 'kay?"
"Okay!" I waved, and walked back to our dorm with the boys.
When we got inside, they all sat down the couch and turned on their Xbox. Real nice, I thought. I began to walk to my room to get settled, when I remembered that I hadn't brought my suitcase with me to the room in first place. "Hey guys, have you seen my-" Suddenly, the baggage hit me square in the chest and sent me crashing to the ground. "Nevermind," I wheezed. I sat up, shoving the luggage off of me, to see a portal closing. I dragged the thing into my room an opened it. Almost instantly, things began to fly out and place themselves neatly on shelves and in drawers. When everything was out, I pushed it to the side, collapsed onto the bed, and fell asleep.