Concealed (Unbound, Book 4)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

As students filled the hallway from the four entrances leading into the towers at the corners, I felt their eyes fall upon me. I kept my gaze cast down, not wanting to see the myriad of emotions—confusion, disbelief, awe, fear—they couldn't seem to hide. Not many students wandered into the back of the hallway, which felt good. The farther I went, the less I felt, even with the shield erected.

When I reached room 172, I walked in, hesitating at the front of the classroom.

"Welcome! Take a seat wherever you want," the teacher said as he walked towards to the door. "I don't make assignments."

I looked around, feeling like weights had been strapped to my ankles to keep my feet from moving. Even though I hadn't seen many students headed this way, the class was nearly full, and I didn't want to be stuck in the front row as I had in Mrs. Hendrey's class.

"Hey, Nora!"

I looked at the corner and smiled. The weight lifted and I took a breath, starting in the direction Maible had called me from only to pause. There were no empty seats around her. Looking back, I sighed, realizing that the only space available was in fact in the front row.

"Come on, Nora," Calin called from beside Maible. "Chad will move for you. Right, Chad?"

"Aw, Calin, I don't want to—"

I glanced back and the boy who was speaking halted mid-sentence. His gaze caught mine and he appeared to suck in a breath, looking like a deer in headlights.

"Yeah, okay." He nodded, grabbing his books. "I'll move. You can have my seat."

"What? I—no." I shook my head. "I can sit up front. It's not a big deal."

"No, no." He hurried up the aisle and sat down, taking the argument away from me.

"See?" Calin asked, and I turned to glare at him. "Now, you can sit back here with us."

I sighed and hurried to take the spot before the teacher yelled at me for interrupting his class. Sitting at the desk, I put my bag on the floor and cast another glare at Calin before focusing my attention to the front of the room.

The teacher shut the door and then turned to the students, clapping his hands in front of him. "Hello! I'm Mr. Pernacle. You can call me Mr. P. I will be your teacher for WC-10 this semester. Now, we will have a lot to go over and you'll find the syllabus quite heavy, but since this is an advanced class, you all need to have a certain breadth of knowledge before you can understand what we are going to discuss. For this reason, I like to give a bit of a review quiz on the first day to make sure we are all on the same page." He looked around. "Are you ready for that?"

Almost everybody groaned, and I raised my hand.

"Yes?" Mr. P pointed at me, and I lowered my arm. "Noreena, right?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's Nora, actually."

He smiled. "You have a question?"

"Yeah, uh..." I looked around, then settled on Mr. P again. "What does WC-10 stand for? I was in the first class, which was for beginners, but what does this abbreviation mean?"

A few of the students snickered, and I raised my head, trying to ignore them. Obviously, I had earned my placement. It didn't make me any less intelligent than they were to not know what the class was titled.

"WC-10 is Advanced Witchcraft. Each level before is catered to a different segment within the Craft, but this acts like a bridge between what you learn in school and what you will encounter in the real world," he said. "It also helps to identify those who will move on to study in the Masters' program for specialized skills."