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I spent most of the rest of the week sleeping.
In all of the excitement of finally breaking through to my magic, I hadn’t realised exactly how exhausted I was.
I’d realised my exhaustion on the day after I’d broken through, when I’d found myself barely able to make it to the toilet without passing out.
Thankfully, Auntie Jess kept me fed and supplied me with frequent healing and restorative potions, so that by Monday morning, I was still a little unsteady on my feet, but I was more than ready to return to classes.
Especially if I was going to start learning magic.
Gail came to pick me up that morning – just a little while before breakfast – and lead me through to my new dormitory building.
“How are you feeling this morning?”
“Still a little weak, but I’m fine to be in classes.”
She nodded. “Well, be sure to eat, and when you ask for drinks, ask for them with a hint of restorative potion. You’re probably sick of it, but you won’t notice the taste of a little in your coffee and it will keep you on your feet.” She sighed. “In all honesty, I would prefer that you take another day or two to rest, but if you’re as stubborn as your aunt, I doubt you’ll agree to wait.”
I shrugged, having to admit that she was right there. “So, you two have known each other a long time?”
“Since we were children.”
I got the sense that she didn’t want to elaborate more, and we reached the dormitory building before I could ask any more questions.
“This building should open for you now, and the other one won’t without an invitation. Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
I nodded and we headed inside. I breathed a sigh of relief as we passed a few students in the corridors, and most of them were around my age.
I hadn’t wanted to use the social spaces in the other dormitory building when all the other students had seemed twelve at most.
Gail brought me up to a room on the second floor before knocking on the door.
“Just a minute.”
A moment later, Natalie opened the door, her shoes in her hand.
Gail smiled. “Natalie. As we discussed, Amelia will be your new roommate.”
Natalie stared at her for a moment before responding. “When none of her things were moved into the room, I assumed that she’d said no to the idea.”
“Ah, apologies, I should have confirmed. No, I simply chose to wait until Amelia was back on her feet before moving her things. That isn’t a problem, is it?”
“No. Of course not.”
“Then I shall leave you two and let you get to breakfast.”
She turned and left, and I rocked back and forth on my heels, waiting for Natalie to say something.
Thankfully, she opened the door and allowed me in.
“I guess I should introduce you to the room.” Natalie shrugged. “It’s probably the same as your old room, to be honest.” She nodded to the bed by the window. “That one’s yours, but could you keep the blinds closed? The windows are treated to prevent me from burning – and I have a sunblock potion to deal with being outside – but prolonged exposure still isn’t good for me.”
I nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”
She smiled, though it was muted, even for her.
“Something wrong?”
“Huh? Oh, no. Nothing. Just...” She bit her lip. “Amelia, are you sure that you’re okay with sharing a room? It’s not too weird or anything?”
I shrugged. “No, we’re friends. Why would it be weird?”
In truth, I suspected what she was trying to hint at.
That it might be awkward, given our past... encounter.
But we’d agreed to forget that, hadn’t we?
Or at least, we’d agreed to just be friends, and neither of us had even really acknowledged what had happened out loud.
We’d acknowledged that something had happened, but neither of us had given it form beyond that.
Which seemed as good as agreeing to forget it.
But being awkward about sharing a room wasn’t forgetting it.
It was the opposite of that.
So, which was it?
What did Natalie actually want here?
To talk about it?
I wasn’t sure that I could handle that...
But Natalie just frowned at me for several moments before nodding.
“Okay. Fine. It’s not weird. Come on, let’s go down to breakfast.”
#
SINCE I’D BROKEN THROUGH, most of the time I wasn’t sleeping, I was eating.
I had hoped that that would slow down – or that my ADHD medication would start suppressing my appetite again – but I found myself piling my plate with more food than I would have contemplated eating in the past.
I frowned, a little embarrassed at that, until I turned to see Natalie’s plate, piled similarly high.
Did she usually eat that much?
I looked around at the plates of the other girls, and while the younger ones had reasonable portions, everyone older was eating about the same as me.
I decided to just accept my mountain of food – or rather, my growling stomach decided to accept it – and we made our way over to our usual table.
Lena grinned as we approached. “Someone’s magical metabolism has kicked in. Willow said you broke through, but no one else has heard anything but rumours.”
I frowned as I sat down. “Didn’t Natalie tell you?”
Lena turned to her friend with an accusatory glare. “No, she said that we shouldn’t speculate until we knew more.”
I turned to Natalie. “But you had to know that I had broken through if Ms Griffin suggested that I should be your roommate.”
“That was only after I’d spoken to Lena, and I spent the weekend at home.”
Lena’s glare lifted as she smiled. “Wait, you two are sharing a room? Nice! Natalie’s been missing a nicer roommate. Plus, me and Charlotte share a room, which means that we can all hang out in each other’s rooms without worrying about roommates getting annoyed.”
Charlotte turned to me. “So, how do you feel? Breaking through can be quite strenuous.”
I shrugged as I focused on my food. “I’m exhausted, but I’m sure that I’ll be fine. Especially once I start magical classes this afternoon.”
Before anyone could ask me anything else, Willow approached the table.
My mouth went dry and I tried to ignore my heart thundering in my chest.
Her suppression magic was up again, but I still remembered how she looked without it, and it was a difficult vision to shake.
She gave me a small smile and it was like being hit by lightning. “Amelia. Hey. I wanted to see if you were okay after last week.”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak coherently if I opened my mouth.
“Right,” Willow said, looking away. “Okay, well, I just wanted to see if you were okay, and I guess you are. I’ll see you around.”
I failed to suppress a groan as she turned and left.
Could I have acted any more like a fool?
Lena raised an eyebrow. “Someone caught our half-Elf friend with her suppression down, didn’t they?”
My cheeks burned as I picked up my coffee. “That obvious, huh?”
“Yup. What happened?”
I shrugged. “Nothing, just... I panicked when I broke through and she was worried about me exhausting myself. She thought it was the best way to get my attention.”
Natalie frowned. “She shouldn’t have done that. Amelia, be careful with her, okay? Whatever you feel for her now... It’s not real and if she tries to pretend that it is, she’s just toying with you.”
I glared at her. What was she implying? That I liked Willow.
Was she just assuming that because I’d kissed her once when I was drunk, I would fall for every girl who smiled at me?
One drunken kiss didn’t mean that liking other girls was something I did regularly.
Or at all.
This was just weird Elf-magic, and it hadn’t even affected me like that at all.
These butterflies in my stomach were for other, non-crush-y reasons...
Literally any other reason.
“I don’t feel anything for her,” I eventually said, cursing Natalie for bringing this up in front of the others, where I couldn’t just say what was on my mind without admitting to what had happened over the summer. “It’s nothing, I was just unsettled by it, that’s all.” I sighed. “Can we just talk about something else? Please?”
Thankfully, Natalie nodded, letting it go.