Page 31 of Evergreen Academy (Society of Magical Botanists #1)
Chapter Thirty
T he next week, Callan wasn’t available to tutor me. He was away on a field study that was typically reserved for second-years.
I didn’t like to admit it, but I felt a pang of disappointment when he didn’t show up in my math class at SCC, and I missed our nights together in the tree house, studying by lantern light.
“Did you have fun at the party?” Alex asked, as we packed up our materials at the end of psychology class on Tuesday. I’d been worried it would be awkward to see him, given how things had left off between us at his party, but he seemed his normal, confident self.
I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer. The party hadn’t been my cup of tea, but the evening afterward, with Callan, had been one of the best nights of my life. “It was interesting,” I said, deciding that was true enough.
“Sorry if it felt like I ditched you or anything. It got busier than I expected.” He was watching my face closely, and I squirmed in my seat.
“No big deal.”
“Lunch?” he asked, nodding toward the cafeteria.
I gathered my courage and shook my head. “Sorry, need to get going. Thanks again for the invite this weekend.”
“Anytime. See you.”
I watched him walk away for a moment and decided I wouldn’t be accepting any invitations to hang out beyond our simple lunch and homework sessions.
As much as I’d thought I was interested in his contagious, upbeat personality for months, everything had shifted at the Halloween party. We wouldn’t be a good fit—that had become clear. But he was still fun, friendly Alex, and I didn’t want our friendship to change if it didn’t have to.
I thought of Maci’s drunken words at the party—“Managing two boys is fun, but eventually you’re going to have to choose.”
I shook my head at the absurdity of her assumptions. It looked like the choice, if there ever had been one, was going to be neither because Alex was just a friend, and Callan Rhodes was entirely out of my league.
When I got to Evergreen Academy, I took my usual seat at a lab table with Yasmin, Coral, and Aurielle.
“Let’s try this again,” I said, preparing to get a Floracantus to work for me for once. We were practicing a supposedly basic task of getting our affinity plants to speed up their rates of photosynthesis without sunlight present.
“ Accelerare comdere ,” I whispered to a fern. Since I didn’t have an affinity power, I tended to use the plants that Yasmin, Coral, and Aurielle were working with. My three friends were already jotting down notes. “ Accelerare comdere ,” I said again, more firmly this time.
“How do you know if it’s working?” I asked, not for the first time.
“You sense it,” Yasmin said. It was the explanation they always gave.
According to Professor East, I should still be able to do basic Floracantus like these, but I never felt the results that seemed to come naturally to my friends.
A tiny voice in the back of my head continued to tell me that perhaps this was all a mistake and I wasn’t a magical botanist after all.
I let out a breath of frustration and tried to focus on the scientific aspects of the project. My understanding of photosynthesis at the molecular level had increased beyond any I’d ever imagined having, and terms like “cytochrome complex” and “ferredoxin” now came to me with ease.
But the Floracantus were a different story, and I wondered if I would ever be able to conduct a simple spell. We cleaned up from class, and I left in a rush, not wanting to explain to my friends that I’d failed at using a Floracantus once again.
When I got home that evening, my aunt Vera was there with her boyfriend, Bryce. He greeted me warmly but quickly said goodbye once they both seemed to sense my sour mood.
“Sorry, Aunt Vera. I hope I didn’t scare him off. It’s just been a rough week.”
“Is everything okay, love?”
“I should be further along than I am in my work at Evergreen Academy. I’m just a little frustrated with myself.”
“I’ve seen how hard you’re working. I was just thinking how I never see you studying at the counter in the café anymore, since you’re always out at the academy. Has it become too much?”
I shook my head. “I can handle it.”
Aunt Vera kissed my forehead. “Of course you can. Now, let’s watch some trashy TV and forget all our problems.”
We made heavily salted popcorn, and I smiled as we took our usual spots on the couch. At least, at the end of a hard week, I had this to come home to.