Page 29 of Evergreen Academy (Society of Magical Botanists #1)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

O n Halloween, after weeks of a relentless pace of SCC classes, Evergreen Academy courses, and studying both on my own and with Callan, I was ready for a fun night out.

Alex had invited me to a Halloween party, and I’d accepted.

I’d been excited all week, not completely sure if I was attending as his date or just as a friend.

Either way, it promised to be a fun evening and change of pace.

Plus, I’d always loved creating themed outfits, and Halloween was the ultimate dress-up occasion.

On my way out the door, my aunt tromped up the stairs, a small potted oak branch in her hands.

“What’s that?” I asked, pausing to look at it.

“The town did the annual autumn tree cutting of Frank today. I grabbed us one of the cuttings, since you seem to be into plants lately.”

I swallowed, glad her words were innocent enough. I’d been careful not to leave my Evergreen Academy books lying around where she could find them, but I supposed I was talking about plants much more than usual.

“Awesome. Shall we name him Frankie?” The town had been taking cuttings of Frank, the oak that had one of the letter boxes on the Wildflower Trail, for decades.

“How creative,” my aunt teased. “It’s perfect. Heading to the Halloween party?” She eyed my outfit. “Maybe you should take Frankie with you. It goes with the theme.”

“Let’s let Frankie adjust to his new environment before taking him to house parties, shall we?”

We had lined the steps to our apartment with carved pumpkins, and the candles inside were glimmering in the late evening light as I passed them.

I pulled carefully out of the parking lot, catching glimpses of children in costumes, trick-or-treating with their parents. I could practically feel the magic in the air, real or imagined.

I stopped by Maci’s house to pick her up. Jace and Mitchell were planning to meet us there. As it turned out, those two had some overlapping friends with Alex, and we’d all been invited to the same party.

Maci looked stunning as she climbed into the car, long black boots stretching out in the passenger seat. She’d dressed as a pirate, with a short black-and-red dress and large captain’s hat.

“Wow,” she said, looking me over. “I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out when you said you were dressing as a plant lady, but you look totally adorable. The watering can is a nice touch.”

I laughed. I was wearing a brown velvet jumper dress and had stuck plant leaves and vines all over my arms and hair.

While I didn’t have the power to have the plants twine around me, as many of the students at school did, I had gotten quite good at collecting plant specimens without damaging them, and I was proud of the display I’d crafted.

I wore potted plant earrings and had shimmering dark green powder dusted at the corners of my eyes, matching my emerald ring. My daisy-printed backpack was on my back, stuffed with a few essentials and my notebooks, which I hardly went anywhere without.

When we arrived at the house party, we could already hear music blaring from the street. I debated what the chances were that the cops wouldn’t get called this evening and decided the odds weren’t great.

Inside, I couldn’t help but compare the dingy, sparse surroundings with the bright, warm atmosphere of the Evergreen Academy. Still, I had to give the guys who rented the house credit for taping a few Halloween decorations to the wall and getting an orange-and-black LED disco ball spinning.

“You made it!”

I heard Alex’s voice and spun to see him wearing a baseball jersey from a Southern California team, black smudges of paint under his eyes.

“Nice outfit. Wonder where you got it,” I teased.

“This was all I had in my closet that could be considered a costume,” he said with a grin. “Are you… poison ivy?”

“A crazy plant lady, but poison ivy works too.”

“Isn’t she precious?” Maci said, and I couldn’t help but feel slightly put off by her comment. But as I introduced my two friends, Alex slung an arm over my shoulder, and the feeling was quickly replaced by a flutter of nerves in my stomach. Maybe this was a date, after all.

“I’m going to go find Jace. He said he and Mitchell are here already,” Maci said.

“Want me to come with you?”

“You two have fun.” She wiggled her eyebrows and disappeared into the crowd.

“Let’s put your backpack down in the coat closet,” Alex suggested.

“Oh, it’s fine. I can leave it on.”

“It’s no big deal. I want you to be comfortable. It’s pretty crowded in here.”

“Okay, sure,” I said, not wanting to argue the point. Alex led me down a hallway to a coat closet, and we set my backpack up on a shelf.

“Let me introduce you to some friends,” Alex said, and I followed him into the kitchen. “Fellas, this is Briar.”

They took turns introducing themselves, usually adding their major. I wondered if it was an inside joke.

“Colin. Engineering.”

“Aron. Chemistry.”

“River. Political Science.”

“How about you, Briar?” Colin asked. “What’s your major?”

“Art,” I said brightly.

“For now,” Alex said with a grin as he cracked open a bottle of beer.

I turned toward him. “What do you mean?”

“No one actually majors in art, right?”

“I plan to,” I said firmly, suddenly indignant. He’d known I was majoring in art. It had come up during our lunches together. So why was he changing his tune now, in front of his friends? He was ranging awfully closely to echoing the thoughts Maci had put more delicately over the last few months.

I could hear her voice in my head. All I’m saying is don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Art isn’t that reliable of a career, is it? Maybe you should at least choose a high-demand minor.

Alex put his hands up. “Sorry, Poison Ivy. No offense meant.”

I nodded, and the conversation changed directions to talk of baseball, but an unsettled feeling remained in my gut.

The next hour was a swirl of unfamiliar faces, people laughing loudly, and turning down offers of beer. Finally, I’d wised up and filled a red Solo cup with soda so people would stop offering.

As the party progressed and the voices grew louder, I couldn’t help but feel out of place. This was nothing like the garden party I’d attended with my friends at Evergreen Academy. After doing my best to socialize in the hot, crowded room, I decided I needed some air.

“I’m gonna look for Maci,” I leaned over and said loudly in Alex’s ear. It was hard to hear anything clearly over the pounding music. He nodded, and I began to search the house.

When I didn’t find Maci inside, I went to the backyard, where a large portion of the party had gathered. Almost immediately, I spotted a familiar pirate’s hat. That was when I realized that Maci was shouting. I moved toward her to see that she was arguing with Jace.

Oh boy. Trouble in paradise—again. As I took a step forward to join them and support my friend, a familiar voice spoke near my ear. “I see you decided to go on the nose with your costume.”

I jumped and swiveled in shock to see Callan. I recovered, ready to assess his costume. But… he wasn’t wearing one. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, looking like a model from a magazine, as always. “At least I have a costume! Didn’t you get the memo that this was a Halloween party?”

He put his hands up. “I wasn’t criticizing. You look… delightful.”

I eyed him skeptically. So far that night, I’d been called adorable, precious, and delightful, and it all felt condescending. Couldn’t one wear a cute, clever costume that wasn’t sexy?

“Okay, why do you look pissed?”

I tried to relax my scowl. Callan had no way of knowing the odd feeling I’d been fighting that whole night. I’d always fit in in social situations in high school, but for some reason, I didn’t feel like I fit in here at all.

I assumed that it might have just been because I’d been so put off by Alex’s words about my major. But then, one of Alex’s friends had been openly flirting with me and Alex hadn’t seemed to mind.

In fact, he’d left me alone a few times, even though I’d come to the party to hang out with him.

And throughout the night, I couldn’t stop comparing my interactions here with those at the garden parties at Evergreen.

The warm and fuzzy feelings I had at those gatherings weren’t presenting themselves here.

Callan’s expression had tightened, his eyebrows furrowed. He put his hands on my arms, and I tried to focus on what he was asking me. “Are you okay? Did something happen? ”

I shook my head. “No, I’m fine. I just… I’m not sure that I really like being here.”

“Then let’s go.”

I really looked at him then. “Wait, why are you here anyway?”

“Never been to a Halloween party. Decided to see what all the fuss is about. I can see the appeal because I get to see you with all this foliage in your hair.” He touched one of my curls gently, and I shivered at the proximity.

“Ha ha,” I said sarcastically, swatting his hand away to break whatever connection I was feeling toward him in that moment.

This was Callan Rhodes, after all. Founder’s descendant.

Most powerful magical botanist in school.

I was sure there was a reason he was here, and I was equally sure that reason had nothing to do with me.

“But aside from your costume, I’m not sure what else it has going for it. The drinks are laughable. I think it’s more rubbing alcohol than plant distillation. I can’t imagine the headaches all these people are going to have tomorrow morning.”

“You’re not wrong about that.”

“Personally, I’ve seen enough. I need some food to wash down the sip of poison I just tried. Come with me?”

I glanced over at Maci. She was no longer yelling. Now, she was sitting on Jace’s lap. I had no idea where Alex was. I still wasn’t sure why Callan was asking me, but going with him suddenly felt infinitely better than the alternative.

Even if he was about to make me run some math drills or grill me on botanical trivia, maybe I would prefer it to spending the rest of the evening here. “Yeah, okay. Let me just say bye to my friend. ”

I approached Maci and Jace. “Hey, Maci. Is everything okay?”

She stood up and hugged me. “Everything is fine. Did you see us arguing? Turned out to be nothing… I think.” She looked past me then and spotted Callan. “Oh my god, it’s the hottie who tutors you. Did you know he was going to be here? Do you have two dates? You little boy magnet!”

I tried to shush her, wondering how much she’d had to drink. “No, I didn’t know he was going to be here. I am ready to leave, though. Do you want to come with me? I can drive you home.”

“No, we’re all going to walk back to Jace’s place after this.”

I glanced at Jace and noticed that he seemed fairly sober, so I nodded. “Okay, but text me when you get there. If you end up needing a ride, call me.”

She hugged me again and whispered in my ear, “Be careful, B. Managing two boys is fun, but eventually you’re going to have to choose.”

“What? I’m not—” I began to defend myself, but she laughed and pushed me gently away.

“Ready?” Callan asked when I returned to his side.

“I have to get my backpack and say goodbye to one more person. I just need to find him.”

“Him?”

“A friend from SCC.”

“I’ll come with you.”

We searched the yard and house for Alex, and I’d almost given up on finding him when I saw him emerge from the hallway .

“Hey, Alex, I’m leaving. Thanks for inviting me.” I went to move past him, heading for the coat closet.

“Leaving so soon?”

“Yes,” I said, making to move for the coat closet again, but Alex blocked the way.

“But the party is just getting started. We can—” At that moment, he noticed Callan behind me, and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “What are you?—”

“See you later, Alex,” I insisted, taking his moment of distraction to push past him and snag my backpack from the closet.

I couldn’t fault the guy for disappearing for a while and having fun at his own party.

There was nothing official between us, anyway.

We were just friends who hung out and did psychology homework together sometimes.

I wasn’t sure why I’d felt like I was coming as his date when clearly that wasn’t the case.

Once I stepped outside into the crisp evening air, I took a deep breath, feeling ten pounds lighter already.

I went to slip my backpack on my shoulders and frowned.

It was halfway unzipped. I was sure it had been zipped all the way when I’d put it in the closet.

Had it gotten jostled when I took it from the shelf?

“Who was that guy?” Callan asked, leading me to a black truck while flipping a set of keys in his hands. He opened the passenger seat for me, and I climbed inside.

“Just someone from school. SCC, I mean.” I zipped the backpack closed and set it on the floor.

“Hmm.” Callan’s expression was tight, but I was used to the serious aura he carried with him .

“So, where are you planning to eat? There’s nothing open this late around here except fast food.”

“Oh, ye of little faith.”

I glanced at him skeptically as he cruised away from the house. “I grew up here, remember? I know nothing is open past eleven.”

A smile touched his lips, but he flicked on the radio—which was set to a pop-punk station—and kept driving.

“Maybe there’s a thing or two about this town you don’t know, local .”