Young Writers Society

STORYBOOK BASICS

Magic romance school and a 100 year war for the magic dimensions.

Here at spirits Acadime we teach you how to use the magic you were born with.

You can be elves, giants, dwarves, mers, humans, fairies, leshi, or half human half animal,


and learn at our school!
Dorms include Sun, Moon, Earth, AIR

AGES BETWEEN 13-19

years you can pick or grades is 1-6

please try to keep the ratio of boys to girls evenish

Anyone Is welcome.



IN this storybook YOU can go to class, Fight others in Duals, Go to war with your race or others (later on) And live a 'normal' life most of the time.



MEMBERS SO FAR





ALSO heres Our Collab things if you in our SB already or trying to join!


Hope you like this change dont know if yall will see it

Another year here. Spirits Acadime...


It was lame last year. Until I met parker.. but enough of that. I get to Join Air dorms today!!!!


I pulled my backpack straps more over my shoulders and continued Walking onto the schools campus. Random people were walking around me Many you could tell were Fresh off the 'I just started here' Bus.

None my friends though. I saw Groups forming and you could tell who was joining where. The kids You knew were going to Earth Had a lot of muscles. Sun Kids Were always overly happy and bubbly. Moon kids.... Only one word..... EMO.....
AND my Dorm AIR lets just say it was the odd ones out. Ok Everyone has a wide variety of people. Our was just bigger! there was no one race in ours no majority either.

I looked around. Adam was here, Caleb, Sam, Alison, a few Randoms...… AHHHH HA!

"PARKER!!!!!" I ran at my boyfriend and jumped on him. He turned just in time and caught my thighs.

"hi Blake.. i missed you. How was your family?" he asked kissing my cheek.

"It was good you know. Fight with my sister. Mom yells at me. Dad drinks most of the time. Brothers Make messes and don't clean it... But i missed yooouuuuuu".
HE set me down and introduced me to A TINY girl standing next to him.
"this is Maddi she's a pixie... there was another one here um What was her name again ????"
The pixie girl, I mean Maddi, smiled. "she saw a Sixth year she wanted to show her 'around' and left after Her".

We all talked for a while and i got to know my new underclassmen. A lot of the kids who were on the smaller side chose AIR dorm because we are the most open to everyone.

"hey babe... I got to go Mrs. April asked me to show a Halfy around today.. they have never been at a real school so.." I said after a while. I had 20 minutes to get though the front office and 10 after that to show the Halfy (term ment for Half human Half Animal people) Around.

"OK got it babe. Also before you go I got our Room together this year!" he told me. YAY!

"ok love you" I quickly sped off to the main office.

*Vicky*

I looked around my new school and hefted my backpack further up my back. This was going to be a great year! I would make new friends, learn more stuff!!! Mom said I was going to be a third year in the moon dorm... whatever that meant. I walked through the large double doors at the entrance to the school and looked up, wow! I walked up to a tall person. “Excuse me?” They didn’t respond. I tugged on his sleeve, “excuse me?” The tall person looked down,

“What?” He said.

“Where do I go? I am in the 3rd room moon dorm thing.”

He opened his mouth to respond when another tall person jumped on his back. Whatever, I will find a different person. I wandered off and saw a really tall person, “woah” I stopped staring and tugged at her sleeve, “where do I go, I am a third year moon dorm person.”

The super tall girl pointed towards a group of people, “follow them, they are moon dorm as well.” I turned to look. Oh no. Here I was my favorite bright yellow sun dress, and they are wearing, black, all of them. Well, not necessarily black... but really dark colors. This might be a harder year than I thought.

Ruel

I threw my stuff on the dorm floor and laid down on my bed letting my feet hang off the edge by the knees. I stared at the ceiling knowing that for the fourth time I’ve parted ways with her without knowing when I’d see her again. I might have ‘Sun’ powers (not that anyone even knows what my powers really are) but she is my sunlight. On the drive here I’d blasted her music, but I could still feel the parts of her that she had given me slipping away. I was becoming myself again. Screw myself.
I would have to buy a phone. I’ll be eighteen by the end of this, my third year, so my parents confiscated every luxury they thought I hadn’t fully earned. I wouldn’t go back home soon.
She wasn’t going to college. She would travel the west coast, relying on her parent's money and the help of strangers. She was looking for adventure and romance. Enough of which I wasn’t. I get it. I can’t afford that kind of adventure and I sure suck at romance.
When she’s gone I’m consumed with doubts. Does she love me? Did she ever love me? Why won’t she respond?
At this point, I’m up and pacing. I grab my weighty pillow and throw it at the wall. The impact I see is satisfying enough to cool me off. The door opens and I sit down again.
“Heeyy, Ruel!” My man Andrew walks through the door.
We’ve been friends for a long time. He’s a few years younger, but we specially arranged to room together anyway.
“Let’s go to Maverick.” I’m eager to get out. I myself have an adventure quota to fill, and I would rather not stew.
“I’m out.” Andrew gets $500 a month from his parents for school, but they had sent him up a couple weeks early.
“Already?”
“I made some special investments” he said, pulling out a PlayStation 5 and setting it on the table.
“We’ll set it up later.” It might be even harder not to spend on the kid now that we lived together.
We headed outside in our baseball caps, jeans and t shirts just like we have every summer for the last four years. But this year is different. It could be me, fretting like usual, or maybe he’s acting weird, but I suspect something’s off with him. I try to place it.
I head perpendicular from our apartment towards the parking lot, but Andrew doesn’t follow. I turn to see him heading for a bike stand with two bikes locked up by one chain. To my surprise he undoes the chain and waves me over. “I bought you this” he says.
If we weren’t bros I’d hug him.

Okay, take a few deep breaths... alright. I walked towards the group of dark people and one by one they stopped talking to each other and stared at me. Clearly making my way towards them. By the time I got there a tall person had come to the front of the group facing me; the only person who would penetrate their invisible barrier where only the dark people go. They weren’t all tall people, but a lot of them were and some of them were huge, but they all looked really sad or angry.

“Umm,I am supposed to be in the moon dorm, year three?”

The tall guy in front said, “You?” As if he has never seen someone brightly dressed. Or short. Or maybe both. A couple of them groaned as if this was going to be an even worse year now that I was here.

“Yes, that is what I said.” I was nervous. Were they going to eat me? I heard in a story that sometimes giants eat people.

“What is your name?” He asked.

That was a good sign, people don’t usually ask their dinner’s name, right? “My name is Victoria Potts, but I usually go by Vicky.”

The tall man child turned to the rest of the dismal looking people. “Who has a ‘Victoria Potts’ as their dorm mate.”

An absolutely massive person, probably a literal giant stepped forwards. “Me”

“Alright then,” said the man child to the big man. “you are in charge of making sure that Vicky doesn’t get lost or die to soon.”

That was less promising but at that point everyone turned again and talked amongst themselves. I stood awkwardly to the side until someone rung a bell and everyone started moving toward various hallways. Luckily the moon dorm people don’t move too fast and I followed them towards my first dorm.

I walked into the strangest room I have ever seen. First came the door, it was a huge door with a little cutout door in the bottom. Inside there was one massive bed in a massive room and then a little curtain in the wall led into a me sized room. There were two bathrooms with similar size differences, I could easily crouch down underneath the man’s bed. I could live comfortably in his closet. But I did like my own little room. Hmm, this would be strange.

*

Welp, it is the first day of classes and it started with another bell rung with the sound coming from everywhere but nowhere in particular. Weird. My roommate, who said his name is Clyde stepped out the door. And I followed close behind. We made it out to a huge room, truly massive. There were a bunch of tables there and it looked very strange, huge tables took up about a third of the room which slowly worked down to differently sized tables. I looked at them till I found one that looked my size and I started towards it. Here there were dwarves, tall fairies, smaller elves and probably some mixed ones, like me.

After a buffet style breakfast I asked one of the small elves sitting next to me how to get to my first class, water magic. She told me to follow the moon dorm people again as they all apparently had water magic class. Why does that make them so weird looking?

It was easy to pick out my dorm mates as dark figures began filing out once they had finished breakfast. When Clyde stood up to leave and walked with his large strides to a the hallway everyone else was leaving down, I hurried to catch up with him.



I followed him to a crowd of moon dormers gathered outside a doorway, a huge doorway with a couple other doors inside the door, door-ception. We probably waited there for 5 or so minutes, when finally a frazzled looking but still gorgeous half-mermaid-half-human opened the door.

“Welcome moon dormer’s new and old to Water Magic Class.” She let us through the doorway. Inside the classroom, it was the typical height for this school (all of the rooms here being larger than expected, large enough to fit big giants). The walls were aquariums with no fish in them and the floor was a tight mesh net that held us above roiling water, possibly part of the moat I had seen on my way into school. Since it was practically outside because of the unique flooring, the classroom, if you could call it that, was cold and wet, but it thankfully was not yet winter. I was last to enter and my jaw dropped from the view of the classroom as the mer-human’s face brightened a little from noticing that one of her students did not look so incredibly emo.

The office was Quiet... Not many teachers roamed at this early hour. I hummed as i walked excited to meet the only other halfy at school. I managed to get to the principal's office without running into any teachers and Quickly knocked.

"Come in Blake"

I opened the door and saw the smallest girl i have ever seen.

"hello sir is this the new student?"..... wow i just ok. of course shes the new student who else would she be!
"Yes this is Emily she's a bunny halfy but since your the only other one who goes here i thought you should be able to show her around!" she was so happy when saying this.

"hewwo Im Emily" the girl said turning red. I Starred for a second.

"SO CUTE!!" i yelled picking her up and leaving the room to show her around.


------AFTER SHOWING EMILY AROUND------


Emily was in the Air dorm like me but only a first year so she got the worst rooms in the dorm. I smiled knowing she would end up with the Tallest roomie they could find to even out their size.

After dropping her off at her room i made my way Up to my room and smiled when i walked in. It had the perfect amount of room and considering that my boyfriend was 6'2 it made sense that the bedrooms were different. MY room was made for the short size i was and had everything from last year in it. That's why I love this school. They teleport all of your last year things you left into your new room.

After i left my dorm room I went to see parker at his first class. He had water.... first weird right AIR dorm normally has air first then whatever class they pick. Ok not entirely true I also had Water first but on Day two not day one. if i think about it my schedule was wacky. Most people had at most 4 classes a day. I had Six each day. Either Air or Water for first then my other classes fell into place after that.

Parkers class wasn't maxed out like normal and had a few people from the other dorms mostly from Moon though. I smiled at parker when he walked up to the smallest girl in the room. I walked over to him and her. The classroom always amazed my the way it mad it look like an Aquarium all the time was So cool and absolutely brilliant.

The teacher talked to them. I wasn't supposed to be here but why not. The teachers Knew that i wasn't going to leave yet because i wanted to introduce myself to them. It was a very common thing among the teachers to have The HALFY introduce themselves to the classes. I watched as one girl looked around in amaze... She's with the moon dorm... whys she so Cheery???

I left Parker and Alinia's (the very small girl) group and walked over to her.

"Hello.... im Blake A halfy... your very pretty........." I waited for her to answer.

"OH hi im Vicky!"... wow very bright person... to bad shes in Moon.....

I looked around and stood as close as I could to a corner, there was nothing to hold onto except the net and there were a lot of people weighing down on that. What if it breaks? I see a tall person come into the room that doesn’t look like a moon dormer and walk over to another group with someone I must of missed earlier who also did not look emo. Wait. He is coming towards me.

“ Hello.... im Blake A halfy... your very pretty.........” Blake said.

“Oh hi! I’m Vicky!” I blurted over the roaring water. I stuck out my hand like momma said. “Nice to meet you!”.

*Clyde*

I arrived at Spirits Acadime. After travelling for hours and hours, I finally arrived. I waved my mom goodbye.
Let me tell you, Spirits Acadime was no joke. There were big buildings and lakes everywhere. Dorms were multiple in number including the lakes as the school had to separate boys and girls. And of course, I was lost. I am not the person who would come to say hi to you if I saw you in public, imagining me going from person to person to ask for directions. I didn't have the confidence, so I moved back and forth, circling the same buildings. Fortunately, a lady approached me noticing my awkward behaviour. She started questioning me-
"Hmm... so you have to go to moon dorm?"
"Yes, ma'am"
"I think you have to turn left from here and keep going straight, then you'll reach the building"
"Thank you, ma'am. See you-"
"Wait- what is your name again?"
"Clyde Maree, ma'am"
"Hmm... No wonder you look so pretty. You are a half mermaid, right?
My face turned red. I quietly answered yes.
"I will be going now."
I sprinted away from her, I was embarrassed. Not because she complimented me, but because she kept looking at me suspiciously.
I quickly went into the huge building of Moon Dorm. There was a lake like dorms for mermaids to live in. Beautiful girls were playing in the lake. I introduced myself to them, they excitedly asked me if I was half mermaid. I shouldn't have said yes, because the next moment, they pulled me in the water. My blue-green fins appeared.
My temper cooled down quickly, and I was soon playing with them.
One of them was Fiona, I swear she didn't ever stop laughing.
The other one was Tina, she was like Fiona too except for the fact that their hair colour was different and that Tina had a green tail while Fiona had pink.
When I went to classes with them, I pitied them because they had to write notes while sitting in the aquarium which was quite difficult.
Our teacher was the same lady that I met yesterday, who guided me directions, Mrs Leith. There was also this one older guy, Blake, who disrupted the water class to visit his boyfriend Parker. This reminded me of my mom who pretty much gave a lecture to not get in a relationship with any boy.
Blake introduced himself to the class even though wasn't in the class. Then he and a girl kept talking as I chatted with my two mermaid friends. The teacher gave us a free period because it was the first day of school.
YAYYY!

I lay on my bed and stared at the ceiling. “My” bed. In reality, it was just a bed; my bed was thousands and thousands of kilometres away, across the sea. And I hadn’t even slept in it for years, all so I could stay with my family. So I wouldn’t need to be where I was right then.

Yet there I was anyway.

As it had been doing for hours already, my mind replayed the moment of Baba’s departure: We stood underneath a dark blue sky, vast plains behind us and the sprawling academy grounds before us. Distant chirping suggested the approach of dawn. Baba’s voice sounded distant too, yet he stood right beside me. “Be strong. Be safe. I love you.” Then the words struck me like thunder after the flash. We embraced. Time did not count the seconds, for he was there forever; I blinked, and then he was gone.

The gaping emptiness of the grasslands reached to the horizon and into my heart. Nothing was familiar — not the air, not the clothes on my body, and certainly not the knowledge that I’d be truly alone for the first time. I stared at the ceiling because there was nothing else to do. I wanted to move, but there was nowhere to go.

Three sharp knocks echoed off the door.

I sighed. No, there was somewhere to go. But moving within a cage was as good as not moving at all. If I had a say, I wouldn’t move for hours more, not until hunger drove me out of the room. Of course, I did not have a say — the cage was proof.

I rolled off the bed, my limbs like lead. One would really have thought I would be given a day to adjust, but no, imperial bureaucracy had to delay my arrival until the day class actually started. I sighed heavily. It was absolutely some kind of power trip. After all, I’d caused the empire years of frustration. They would pay me back in full.

Yalean diinahum.

I approached the door and listlessly marched through. As I pulled it shut behind me, I shot the guard on my right a deadpan glance and dismissively flicked my free hand away from my body. “Yalla.”

Whether he understood or not, he and a comrade fell in step behind me. I had no idea which way the headmaster’s office was, of course, so the third of the three guards strode past and led the way. Contrary to when I’d first been escorted to my room, the other students of Air were awake and lively. That is, until one after the other, they scattered before us and fell silent in disbelief. Half-animals were rare enough outside Jazzah, but I was under no illusion about the particulars of my variety. That’s, well… the problem with being one of a kind.

Half-animals typically had animalistic ears and tails. In the eyes of most citizens of the empire, that was bad enough. Then my generation came along. With fur. And muzzles. And practically no resemblance to humans whatsoever. As the first ever “fully therianthropic” half-lycaon, I’d been born to near-universal adoration from my community, and near-universal scorn from everyone else. My three years as a political refugee from the empire made its opinion of me clear enough.

I impassively watched the faces of the shocked students as we walked past them. Some looked away, and most stared, but none of them seemed disgusted. None of them even whispered once they fell out of sight — my radar-dish-like ears would have detected their gossip. I almost wondered if Umm and Baba were mistaken, but I was not naive; their warning would be validated soon enough. Perhaps the students of the Air dorms were more open-minded, but if that was true for everyone, stories of half-animal derision outside Jazzah wouldn’t be as prevalent as they were.

Once outside, the guards led me in a ten-minute walk to the main administrative building. We didn’t encounter too many students along the way, but about half of them reacted in accordance with my expectations: they were frightened, angered, unnerved, or some combination of those. It was a new experience for me, but the ample preparation beforehand protected my against their narrow-mindedness. I simply hoped it would continue doing so in the years to come.

It was odd seeing such stark architecture. In Jazzah, all buildings and rooms had personality and vibrance: Beige and apricot walls lined the streets, with horseshoe arches often leading to courtyards containing palms and gurgling fountains to splash green and blue against the tan tiling. Moving from one room to another, the most glamorous of them decorated with ornate mozaics, sometimes felt like a journey if you took notice of the barrel vaults covering the passageways. And if you gazed out the window, you’d always spy innumerable minarets and golden domes glittering underneath the sunny sky… At Spirits Academy, though, everything sported some shade of white or black, and every building was hewn in sharp, rigid lines. It created the impression of enforcing discipline, and I realised that was probably the point.

The interior design of the main administrative building followed the same style, evidently intended to appear ordered and firm, not welcoming and warm. Even the blue carpet leading to the headmaster’s office, while a welcome relief, seemed only to indicate status. It was disappointing.

The guards stopped outside the office and moved to the side of hallway, as the doors were already flanked by a stationary pair of guards. Out of the five guards now present, I figured at least one was an elf, but since only one of them had a darker shade of skin, I wouldn’t have been able to guess which. I shrugged mentally. So far, the academy’s student population had seemed diverse enough, so at least worries about racial homogeneity wouldn’t weigh on my mind.

I entered the office. To my surprise, it was decorated more richly, with dark brown furniture and panelling creating an elegant yet comfortable ambience. The same carpet as outside led to the desk, with that cool, noble blue accentuating other parts of the office too. The headmaster — or rather, headmistress — awaited me, with one of the two seats opposite her already taken by a short girl.

“Master Al-Amin!” the pale-skinned headmistress cheerfully proclaimed, beckoning me closer.

I noticed a fraction of a second’s hesitation in her cyan eyes; she must have seen pictures of me prior to my arrival, but being a bipedal canine, I couldn’t have been the most inconspicuous of sights. But to her credit, her surprise was incredibly well hidden.

The girl turned in her seat at the announcement. Her jaw positively dropped to the floor. She had elongated animal ears, but if I hadn’t seen pictures of a rabbit before, I wouldn’t have been able to identify the species. She seemed incredibly young, but to be attending the academy, she had to be at least thirteen.

“I’m delighted to see you’ve arrived safely. I understand this must be a great adjustment for you.”

“Obviously,” I said, my expression stony.

She was briefly taken aback, but a veneer of calm rolled over her face and she planted on her best smile. “Of course, my apologies for being insensitive. I am Constance April, and though we have protocols for managing student complaints, I will do my best to personally hear you out, should you wish to address me directly and I am not engaged in a meeting.”

Which would be always. So… never, then.

She indicated the girl, who still gaped at me. “This is Miss Emily Woodstock. She is one of two other halfies here at the academy. Both of you are new arrivals.”

Emily remembered her manners and closed her mouth to offer me a close-lipped yet bright smile. “Hello! Your fur is very pretty. What’s your name?”

My eyebrows slightly lifted and my ears went from being pointed forwards to standing erect. “Karim,” I said. I went down on my haunches to be at her level and offered a weak smile. I extended my hand. “It is good to meet you, Emily.”

Her smile turned into a grin and she shook my hand energetically. “It’s good to meet you too! I’ve never seen a halfy like you before. But you’re not a wolf, are you? You look painted, and your ears are much larger.”

“Yes. I am a…” I paused in an attempt to remember the Romaveki word. “Lycaon. A half-lycaon.”

“I’ve never heard of it!” she said, her voice full of awe.

“You only find lycaons south of the deserts of Jazzah, so you won’t find half-lycaons anywhere else.”

“Is that why you sound so elo… so elakwi… elegant?”

I frowned. “I don’t… I suppose. If you mean my accent.”

“Yeah!”

Headmistress April cleared her throat, prompting Emily to turn in her seat again and me to stand. “It’s wonderful to see you two getting along, but I just needed to inform you that the other halfy is on his way. He will be here shortly to show you around the campus, after which you will be free to attend class. And speaking of which, here is your schedule, Master Al-Amin.”

She handed me a laminated card displaying a roster, each cell detailing the name and location of the class. Each subject was even assigned a pastel colour.

“It is uncommon, but not unheard of, for students to have more than four classes a day, and as it stands, you and Master Carver will both have six. And since you’re both in Air Dorm, your class schedules will overlap considerably. Today, for instance, you have all the same classes except for Illusions, during which he has Water.”

I inspected the day’s classes: Air, Illusions, Earth, Fire, Abjuration, and Alteration. I had opted in for all the classes that had interested me with the hopes of learning as much at the empire’s expense as I cared to, while also avoiding extensive contact with the other students during my free time. Spending almost the entire day with one who also happened to be in my dormitories was extremely counterproductive to that goal.

“It is quite fortunate you had agreed with our recommendation to place you in Air, rather than Earth, as it means you and Master Carver will have ample opportunity to get to know each other.”

I gave the headmistress a deadpan stare.

She grew mildly uncomfortable, so she added, “The teachers here at the academy wish to foster an open and accepting environment, so every year, the willing halfies introduce themselves to all of the classes. Master Carver has taken to the tradition quite readily. I think it would be beneficial if you joined him.”

“And you say he’ll be here soon?”

“He ought to arrive any moment, yes.” She brightened, as if she believed I would willingly parade myself around the menagerie of students.

I inclined my head backwards while lifting my chin and raising my eyebrows. Her brow furrowed, since the habit was unknown to her, but she probably guessed it wasn’t a satisfied response. Before she could say anything, I interjected with, “Farewell,” and exited the office, not allowing her time to recover from her surprise.

“Yalla,” I said, echoing my departure from earlier.

The guards immediately fell into formation around me and escorted me back to the dormitories. Once we neared the building, though, they stopped, bringing me to a sudden halt with them.

The guard leading us turned around and said, “Your first class is Air. Follow the other students and don’t get lost.” Without waiting for a reply, he nodded and marched off with the other two.

I lifted an eyebrow as I watched them leave, but I didn’t mind. I already felt like a prisoner — I didn’t need a formal escort to reinforce the feeling.

I returned to my room, but that time, the other students managed to maintain some semblance of normalcy as I passed. Only the ones who hadn’t seen me before gawked. I flopped down onto my bed and wished I could just melt away into the sheets. As far as I understood, I was allowed to have the entire room to myself, but it felt too good to be true. My possessions stood in the corner, still packed away, while the other side of the room stood completely empty. I’d shared a room with many other children and teenagers during my three years on the run, so the lack of privacy wouldn’t bother me. But none of those children had been very fazed at seeing a half-animal like me.

I closed my eyes and groaned. I simply lay on the bed again, but for the moment, irritation at my circumstances kept away any thoughts of home and my parents. Unfortunately, it couldn’t keep away a knock at the door. I decided to ignore it, but the person knocked again, saying, “Hey, I’m sorry to bother you, but you’re new here, right? Class is going to start in a bit, so we were wondering if you wanted to walk along. Campus can be a bit overwhelming at first.”

I slowly exhaled through my nose. I guess it was time to leave.

I rose and opened the door, surprising the boy on the other side. He looked about my age, with light skin, crimson hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears. He took a step back and grimaced, his gaze passing over me.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you come closer.” He ran his hand through his hair and grinned nervously before extending it. “I’m Adam.”

I hesitated for a moment, my expression blank, before shaking it. “Karim.”

Some confidence filtered into Adam’s grin. “That’s an epic name.” He paused. “I’ve… never seen a halfy like you before.”

“Nobody has.”

His grin turned nervous and his hand once again moved to his hair. “Riiiiight, you must get that pretty often. Umm, the others are this way.”

He started down the hall, but he turned back when he noticed I was still in the doorway. “You, err… coming?”

“Do I need to bring anything? Do we just leave the doors unlocked?”

“Oh, yeah, we do. And no, you don’t need to bring anything. Classes are mostly practical, and if you need to read something, you can go to the library. There are loads of copies of everything.”

I sighed and closed the door behind me. “All right.”

I was in no mood to interact with people, but Baba had told me to be strong: and nobody was strong without support.

Classes were uninteresting, and I’d ended up living for the time I spent with Andrew; I needed new friends. Some students took to me in my first and fourth period, but it's my third period class that interested me. It's earth, literally, and I was supposed to be learning how to control earth like other good students. I could care less about the class, but a moody walking wolf caught my attention. He had an air of mystery and nobility that the curious, sometimes derisive student body couldn’t squash.
“Hey Karim.” I said, sitting next to him. Anxiety gave a little kick when he looked at me uninterestedly.
“Hey, Ruel, right?”
“How would you like to go on a drive with my friends and I? I could hook you up if you’re interested.”
Karim looked surprised and confused, but subtly, as always.
“I mean with a girl. How old are you? I know a cute halfy, somein', Woodstock? You probably met, there’s hardly any halfies around here.”
“I’m fifteen.” Said Karim, smirking.
It was odd to see an animal face try on a human expression, just off in an unnerving way.
Karim caught my reaction, so I smiled and said, “dang, your almost my age. Anyway, 3:00, we head for the mountains. We’ve got an extra seat, and you seem like good company.”
“Thanks.” He said frowning, “But I can’t. Sorry.”
“No problem, man. Anytime.”

Andrew went with Emily Woodstock, so I brought a girl from first, Kendra. I drove, so things got pretty crazy. Andrew and Emily bonded over their dislike for my driving and their similar affinities for fire manipulation. Together, they made some pretty cool fireworks. We drove down whatever road seemed the most exciting and ended up on the top of a ridge looking out over the school. We sat on the top of my car chatted and ate a pizza from a local pizzeria we had passed. Kendra was hard to talk to, she seemed like she was caught up in her own world, but I did my best. She ended up giving me a peck anyways, so we dropped her off first and went just the three of us to a new superhero movie at the on campus theater. I saw Andrew holding this girl's hand, and after we dropped her off at her dorm, harassed him about her.
“Bro, she looks like a ten year old.”
“She's fifteen! And Ruel, she’s special.”
Whenever he used my name, I knew he was serious.
“Okay, if you get married you owe me.” I had set them up.
“What?” He laughed. “I’ll find you a date and pay you back.”
He was so high off that date that it reminded me of my girl back home. I was somber for a minute or so, until we got to the room. We joked and crashed.

The next morning I woke up to a knock at the door. I opened it to see a plate of cookies from Kendra and her roomies. I almost felt guilty for dropping her off early. Then I noticed Karim being escorted down the hall by three middle aged guys in heavy duty uniforms. Why exactly couldn’t he come yesterday? I wondered. I closed the door and Andrew woke up.
“Mmm.”
“Kendra ding dong ditched these.” I held out the plate, then set it on the counter.
“Dang, she's crazy.”
I shrugged.
“Krispy Kreme is hiring again. We could work together.”
“Nah man, I’m gonna spend some time with Emily this trimester, see how it goes.”
Young love always struck too soon. Now I really need new friends.


PS AstralHunter, I really love your character, I hope you don’t mind the liberties I took with him. And cool signature.
To clear up any confusion, I get that Emily is first year, I figure a fifteen year old could easily end up at SA late.
I figured that Karim would be escorted regularly, and that he wouldn’t be allowed off campus. If that wasn’t what you expected, I can edit this post.
And lastly, Krispy Kreme and PS5s, okay yes?

Blake opened his mouth to speak but the teacher at that point stood up and caught our attention. Everyone quieted down and the mermaids stopped playing and splashing people. The teacher called Blake. “Come introduce yourself so I can get on in my class.” After he did, the teacher introduced herself as Mrs.Markham and just basically introduced her class and what we would be doing that year. Another bell sound came from everywhere and nowhere in particular. People started heading out of the classroom. I edged along the side of the net, then gained confidence and bounded across it, to Mrs.Markham.
“Excuse me Miss!” Mom always said to be polite.
She looked up from her papers, then after not seeing anything there, looking down at me. “Yes?”
“How do I get to illusions? It is my next class!”
She handed me a map of the school and traced the way from water class to illusions class. And I skipped out the door, glad to be on solid ground again. I tried following the line Mrs.Markham drew, but I am pretty sure I got lost. Then I saw a helpful looking tall person who probably knew where stuff was. I skipped up to him. “Excuse me! Mr. Lycaon,” I said, recognizing the species of the halfy from his gorgeous fur. “Where can I find illusions class? Here is a map,” I handed him the map. “but I can’t find where it is! I think I’m lost.”
He looked at the map and then back at Vicky, “You know what I am?” He said in a surprised sounding voice.
Vicky looked up at the tall person again. "You are a Lycaon, correct? Well not a full Lycaon, you are a halfy, and I am rambling aren't I?" Immediately stops talking and instead gives a huge smile...
He gives a small smile. “Yes, and… yes. I was warned to expect ignorance and less polite names.” He looks down at the map again and then back to Vicky. “I’m on my way to Illusions now. You can come with me.”
"Cool! I have never met a halfy in real life, well except for in last class. There was a halfy there too. How could someone not know about Lycaons? Your fur is so beautiful !" I said, moving my hands a lot as I talked. "So you know your way to illusion? Thank goodness!"
His expression turns neutral and unreadable. “Apparently, he missed the class he was actually supposed to attend.” He jerks his head in the direction that he was walking and hands the map back to Vicky. “Yal— Let’s go.”
"Ummm, okay!" And Vicky skipped along after the Lycaon. "Oh yeah, what's your name? My name's Vicky."
He looks at her, says, “Karim,” and looks ahead again.
At that point Karim had got to a door that had bright words floating above the door that said "Illusions". it seemed like the right place. The door was open so we walked in.
I went and sat in one of the only remaining seats. Karin walked up to the teacher then went and sat down. It was time for illusions.

When class ended, Parker and I left quickly. I followed him through the halls to his next class, not willing to go back to Water for my class.

I held his hand as we walked in. He sat next to Caleb, an older dwarf boy who was his best friend, so I sat on his other side, watching the teacher as the students came in.

“Blake, you ok?” Parker asked, a frown evident on his face.

I looked to my left at him and nodded. “Yes, just thinking about my introduction. You know he and all the other teachers are going to make me do it myself.” I smiled lightly when he poked my cheek.

“Calm down. You got it.”

I nodded and continued watching the students who walked in. Vicky came in with a halfy who looked more animal than boy. He looked like a wolf, but his fur was tan and mottled, with bright patches of black and white all over his body and face. I couldn’t help but notice that his fur looked really soft. He was unlike anything or anyone I’d ever seen before. He went to the teacher and then to his seat. Wow.

“Hey, Parker, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Going to talk to the teacher about my introduction.” My mind was racing with thoughts about the new boy and my introduction.

He nodded, excusing himself to Caleb before getting up and walking over to Vicky. The halfy boy had gone to sit next to Adam, and Sam and Alison sat nearby them. I felt a little jealous. Did they already know him? That was so unfair!

Up by the teacher, I asked, “Do you want me to introduce myself to them?” I looked in the direction of the other students to get the meaning across. My eyes stopped at the halfy and Adam for a second before I looked back at the teacher.

He shook his head. “Not this time, Blake. A lot of them are from last year, so they won’t need you to.”

I nodded, appreciating that he didn't make me do it. Every teacher made me do the introduction if they had new students that weren’t there before. This was a nice change of pace. I flicked my tail as I walked back to Parker. He was back at our seats, talking to Caleb.

“So, did Vicky happen to say what the boy she walked in with was?” Caleb asked him as I sat down.

“Yep, he’s something called a Lycaon-Halfy, so he’s kinda like Blake.” His voice held a light hint of admiration. I flicked my tail a little more in slight annoyance, but held it still when his voice changed to a calming tone. “Blake, calm down, ok? You’re fine. Nothing is wrong.”

Parker always seemed to know what I was thinking the moment he looked at me, but, “We should go talk to him,” was all I said in return.

Caleb stayed seated as Parker and I walked over to the lycaon. I noticed the teacher’s eyes following us as we moved through the group of students, but I quickly looked away. Parker took the lead, asking Adam to move over so we could sit on either side of the halfy.

“Hello, I'm Parker,” he said, smiling happily. “That's Blake.”

The boy scowled at Parker and then at me. “Is it… customary to interrupt a conversation and then surround someone for an introduction? Nobody else has done this.”

“Oh, sorry,” I said. “It's a bad habit.” I tried hiding my annoyance behind an apology. Parker, still smiling, gave me a reassuring look.

The other halfy didn’t notice and frowned. “It is not customary? Hmm.” His expression turned impassive and he stared at me for a couple seconds. He then turned in his seat and faced Parker again. “Adam told me about you and Blake.” He paused for a brief moment, thinking something I couldn’t guess, before continuing, “My name is Karim.”

Parker’s face seemed to light up when Karim started talking to him, but it annoyed me beyond comparison that Karim dismissed me so easily. “So, Karim, where do you come from?” Parker asked him with a spark of curiosity.

I grumbled lightly under my breath at them. “Yes, Karim, tell us where you come from.”

Karim’s one ear twitched. “Desiya in Jazzah.” Turning his head to look at me over his shoulder, he said, “You may want to consider moving to the desk in front of me so I can see both of you.” He turned away again without waiting to see if I would respond.

Parker looked past Karim for a moment to nod me towards the desk in front of Karim. My tail twitched only a little as I got up and went to the desk. His words seemed to have calmed me down without meaning to.

“Jazzah?” Parker said with a confused voice. “Isn’t that just a desert? Like hot weather and sand only?”

Karim’s face continued to show no emotion. “There is also the Muta’aliq Delta. The people who first lived there invented irrigation. The province has the second largest population in Romavek.”

“Sorry.” Parker gave Karim an apologetic look. “What was your favorite part of Jazzah? Or do you not have one?”

“No, I do not. I love all of Jazzah. I will miss it, but I am here now, so I try not to think of it too much.”

These words saddened me in a way. “How about we be your friends and we’ll keep your mind off of your home for now?” I asked, trying to lighten his mood.

He said nothing for a second, but then he answered, “You are Adam’s friends, so that would be convenient.”

I was still very curious about Karim. His personality and looks made him stick out, even though he clearly didn’t want to. Karim also made me jealous. His instant connection with Parker bothered me. But he seemed to be a good person. I hoped he would be a good friend too.

Walking into the lounge where some of the students waited — fewer than before, seeing as some had already started leaving for class — Adam led me over to a pair of girls. They were talking softly, but they stopped when we approached. One seemed like she came from the northern provinces on account of her pale skin, fair hair, and blue eyes. She smiled in a mild manner, her shoulders relaxed. The other one, with midnight-black hair and green eyes sparkling with mischievous energy, grinned more excitedly.

“Hello!” She stepped forwards. “My name is Alison. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”

“Sam,” the other girl said, raising her hand in greeting.

Alison’s gaze felt the tiniest bit scrutinising, as if evaluating the worth I would contribute to her life in future. My ears and tail remained perfectly still and I nodded back. Sam didn’t think anything of it, but Alison’s grin became somewhat of a cheerful smile worn out of politeness. Her eyes sparkled less brightly.

“…This is Karim!” Adam offered after a beat passed without any further exchange. His nervous grin still intact, he continued, “He’s agreed to walk with us.”

“Wonderful!” Alison said. I couldn’t tell if she was being sincere or not.

“Cool,” Sam agreed. “You wanna go now?”

I shrugged.

Adam nodded. “Let’s go!”

After we exited the building, Alison ventured a question. “Karim, which class do you think will be your favourite?”

I pulled out my card and checked the classes again, just in case I forgot any. “I can’t say. I’ve never been to a school. It could be all or none of them.”

“Which ones d’you have?” Sam asked, leaning over to inspect my card. She raised an eyebrow. “Hmm, that’s a lot. Blake’ll like you.”

I almost groaned. Headmistress April had already said I would spend most of my day with Blake. Did I somehow manage to avoid him and meet his friends instead?

“Well?” Alison asked in a sweet, sing-songy voice. She walked ahead of us while Sam and Adam flanked me.

“Same as me and then some,” Sam answered. “Not a lot of overlap, though.”

“We share many classes too!” Adam added enthusiastically. “Except for Enchantment, from what I can see.”

“Have any experience,” Alison asked, peering at me over her shoulder, “or is this your first time?”

“No, it’s not.”

She looked forwards again and sang, “Excellent!”

“The teachers here tend to take things kinda slowly,” Sam said, “so you won’t have trouble catching up. And if you’re far enough ahead, they’ll give you extra work so you don’t get bored.”

“Nothing here is really boring, though” Adam said reassuringly. “Magic does have rules, but it’s a more emotional, instinctive thing than a hard system with fixed rules.”

“I think that depends on the magic type,” I replied.

“Oh!” He blushed a little and smiled sheepishly. “Yes, of course, you’re right. I was just speaking generally.”

“Abjuration’s kinda concrete,” Sam said, looking thoughtful. “There are definite limits to what your protective spells can do.” She shrugged. “But it’s hard putting a number on these types of things. It’s weirdly abstract that way.”

“Air is certainly abstract!” Alison proclaimed, gesturing dramatically at the building in front of us. “Why, it’s probably the most emotional of all the elements!”

I noticed the building lacked doors and simply had a wide arch for an entrance. I felt a twinge of excitement at the sudden sense of familiarity. Once we stepped inside, my suspicion was confirmed: the building lacked doors completely. Adam tried saying something to me, but seeing that my mind was elsewhere, he quickly stopped and simply walked along in silence. The walls were still a cold grey, but animated and varied voices filtered through the corridors as we walked. They gave some life to the otherwise drab environment.

Some students were already in the class when we arrived a few minutes later. A man of considerable size sat at a fittingly large desk to the side of the room. Upon noticing me, he rose and beckoned me closer. He stood taller than two metres, and he emanated a sense of strength and stability. He could have been a giant, but even if he was not, the size, dark brown skin, and mountainous stature would convince anyone if he desired it.

“We’ll be right with you,” Adam told the girls.

They nodded and split off to claim some seats. I lifted an eyebrow at Adam.

“Oh, I have something I want to say to him,” Adam answered, grimacing. “But I can wait until you’re done, if you prefer.”

I very slightly shook my head. “No need; it’s fine.”

“Okay!” he said, looking relieved, and gestured with his head for me to follow him.

“Welcome,” the man said in a rich voice, bowing without breaking eye contact. “I am Sefu, your instructor for this class. I am pleased to see you have met Adam. He is a good student and a better friend.”

Adam blushed fiercely and looked at his feet before giving me a sideways glance and joking, “Sefu is this polite towards everyone, even as he tells us to call him by name.”

Sefu nodded slowly. “Indeed. This class fosters an atmosphere of respect and acceptance. Please, what is your name?”

“Karim al-Amin,” I said and bowed, humbled by the man’s gentle authority.

He smiled, and I got the impression of the sun shining golden at sunset. “I hope you feel welcome here, Karim. The first day is preferred as a day of relaxation and conversation for most students, so this is what today will be. Instruction begins tomorrow.”

I nodded. “I understand.”

Adam beamed, but I could tell his gaze also acted as a reminder of his question. I left to sit near Sam and Alison.

“He’s magnificent, isn’t he?” Alison asked, sighing dreamily at Sefu. “He’s a giant from Nyaribet. We love to request stories from him, and he always has a new one to tell.”

“They’re often simpler than you’d expect,” Sam added. “About people he knew or places he’s seen. They’re usually funny or meaningful. Sometimes both.”

“Always profound,” Alison said, nodding.

When Adam returned and heard about the topic, he recounted one of Sefu’s stories, the others joining in and all of them taking turns until the class was over. I looked forward to hearing him tell his anecdotes himself.

The first class, lack of actual teaching aside, hadn’t been as bad as I had feared. And the instructor was someone I could actually consider trusting. But even so, a good start meant very little. Much could still go wrong — the day would be long, and the year longer still.

“You’ll love Mister Howe!” Alison declared.

“He takes a very practical approach to the application of illusions,” Sam added.

“We’ve never seen him wear the same outfit even once,” Alison continued, “and most of the time, we can’t tell which part is illusory and which isn’t.”

“Maybe he’s just that good at fooling you.”

After all, I had spent three years hiding from the empire. I knew a few things about fooling people, and if the illusions teacher was as skilled as my new acquaintances wanted me to believe, he could convince them of anything.

Alison sighed heavily and made a show of rolling her eyes. “Obviously he’s that good at fooling us! That’s the whole point!”

“He won’t only create the appearance of new pieces of clothing,” Adam said, smiling in a way that showed his desire to be helpful. “He often changes the colour of the things he wears, but he can also change the texture and size if he wants to.”

“It makes it all the more exciting when he lets you feel the leather of his jacket and the silk of his robes!”

Alison was star-struck, absorbed in her own world. Her descriptions were probably more for the sake of expressing her adoration than informing me of the next teacher. She led the way to the class as she had done previously, and I found myself annoyed.

“It’s safe to assume he’s tricking you most of the time,” Sam said, “but if he tells you he’s being straight, he probably is.”

“Unless he’s maintaining a straight face,” Adam added, chuckling. “Then he’s messing with you.”

“Go on ahead,” I said, lifting my chin and tilting my head backwards in a pointing gesture. “I’ll meet you at the class.”

“Oh!” Genuine surprise covered Adam’s face. It then gave way to concern as he asked, “Is everything all right?”

Nothing was wrong, but I hadn’t spent this much time making small talk with my peers since… ever. I was still tired from my arrival. The company drained my energy more than would normally be the case, and Alison in particular was proving to be an irritation.

“He just needs some space,” Sam said. She winked when she met my surprised gaze.

“No problem!” Adam said, sounding both reassuring and disappointed. “Last year was an adjustment for me too. Will you remember the way?”

He had explained how to reach Illusions after we left Air, and it turned out that I had passed it on my way to the admin building earlier.

“Yes.”

“See ya, then,” Sam said.

Adam echoed her, but Alison just made a vague, cheerful noise. I slowed down so they could break away, and then I turned off course and simply wandered for a bit. The environment was still as stark and monotonous as before, but it felt just the tiniest bit more familiar — enough that I could clear my mind and walk for a full few minutes while encountering only the minimum number of students.

The peace didn’t last, of course. A short, elven girl skipped up to me.

“Excuse me, Mister Lycaon! Where can I find Illusions class? Here is a map—” She stuffed an open map into my hands. “—but I can’t find where it is! I think I’m lost.”

I blinked and stared down at the map, wondering what just happened, before looking at the girl. She gazed at me with big, brown eyes, an almost pleading look shining in them.

“…You know what I am?”

I was too confused to make a more polite reply.

“You’re a lycaon, correct? Well, not a full lycaon — you’re a halfy, since a full lycaon would just be a regular animal, even if they’re gorgeous, and I’m rambling, aren’t I?”

Her honesty made a small smile creep onto my face. “Yes, and… yes.” My smile faded slightly. “I was warned to expect ignorance and… less polite names.” I looked at the map and back to her. “I’m on my way to Illusions now. You can come with me.”

The girl was yet another decent person. Oddly, it seemed as if those weren’t as rare as I had been told.

[To be continued shortly]