Page 43 of Evergreen Academy (Society of Magical Botanists #1)

Chapter Forty-Two

I was prepping my snowboard gear on Sunday when I got a call from Maci. “This is really last minute, but you invited some friends, and I also invited someone to come with us, and I wanted to make sure it was okay with you.”

“Sure. Who?” I asked because I knew that she and Jace had ended things shortly before Thanksgiving, and she hadn’t mentioned anybody new. Plus, she and Jace were constantly on and off. I figured it was only a matter of time before they were on again.

There was a hesitation on the other end of the phone, and I sharpened my focus. “Maci?”

“It’s… Alex. I invited Alex.”

Alex? The guy who had briefly been a person of attraction for me but who I no longer saw since psychology class had ended? That Alex? My thoughts began to spiral. Since when were Maci and Alex friends? But all I could manage to say was, “Alex who? ”

“ You know , Alex. The one whose Halloween party we went to. We have a class together this semester and ended up sitting together, since we already kind of knew each other. He’s just so fun to be around.”

I couldn’t deny that. Alex was fun to be around, at least at school. A strange tension twisted in my stomach. There was no reason to say no. Alex and I had ended our minor flirtation on good terms. Any feelings I might have been developing for him had long ago fizzled out.

“Of course he can come.” I tried to put more enthusiasm in my voice than I felt. With Callan and Nevah joining us, this was going to be an interesting crew.

“Great! We’re going to have a whole group. I can’t believe I’m going to meet some of your friends from the Evergreen Academy. One of them is your hot tutor, right?”

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn’t see me. “I better not hear those words come out of your mouth in front of him, Mace. I’m on my way to pick you up. See you in ten.”

An hour later, Alex met Maci and me at the ski park, and we all exchanged hellos in the parking lot. Alex greeted me warmly, and I was glad that there didn’t seem to be any strangeness between us. His familiar, friendly smile was back in place.

“Where are your friends?” Maci asked when Alex had finished buying his lift ticket.

“I’m not sure.” But as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt a touch of air breeze across the back of my neck, and I turned to see Callan and Nevah, decked out in ski gear, walking toward us.

We did a round of introductions, with Callan introducing Nevah to me, me introducing Callan and Nevah to my friends, and Maci jumping in and introducing herself and Alex. Callan’s face seemed to sharpen when he recognized Alex, but they nodded at each other casually.

“So, who’s riding with who?” Maci asked when we all pooled at the bottom of the chairlift.

“You invited Alex, so why don’t you two ride together?

” I suggested, knowing that was what my friend would want.

And I wanted to take this opportunity to get to know Nevah better, since she’d be helping me with my affinity studies soon.

I paused, examining the ease with which I’d sorted us.

When had I started to feel more comfortable with Evergreen Academy students than with my non-magical friends?

I got on the chairlift with Callan and Nevah, Nevah sitting in the middle. “Did you grow up skiing?” I asked, glancing at her skis. Callan was on a snowboard like I was.

“Yep, I’m from Michigan and went skiing there on holidays,” Nevah said.

“Nice. I’ve always wanted to try skiing, but I started snowboarding at age eight, and it stuck,” I said.

“Same here. I’ll get on a snowboard someday. But the idea of starting from scratch doesn’t sound fun. I see the way snowboarders fall on their butts all the time when they’re learning.”

“It’s true. And don’t forget the occasional face-plant.”

Nevah laughed softly, and I thought with a warm feeling that we were going to get along fine.

“Nevah’s agreed to help you with your affinity training starting next Friday,” Callan piped in.

“What are your affinities?” I asked.

“Aquatics is my lead,” she said, and I remembered Yasmin telling me that. “And I have trailing affinities for florals, grasses, and defensive plants.”

“She’ll train you in aquatics and defensives,” Callan said.

“I’ll take trees and florals, harvesters, grasses, and herbs.

I know you’ve got friends in mosses and ferns and have been doing some work in that area already, so they can keep taking the lead on that.

Eli’s better at herbs than me, but he’s busy with all the work he does in his community on the weekends.

He said he’s willing to assist if needed, though. ”

“Well, thank you both.”

“It’s pretty remarkable that you have all the affinities,” Nevah said as we neared the top of the skill hill. “What does Professor East think about it?”

“I’m not really sure. We’re still figuring it out.”

We reached the top of the ski hill, and the three of us got off the lift, Maci and Alex a chair behind us. After we strapped in, Callan slid by me on his toe edge and said quietly, “See if you can feel the trees as you go down the mountain.”

My head snapped up in response. “I thought you said I wouldn’t have to worry about anything while we were out here?”

“You don’t. But I’m not here just because I like to snowboard. Consider this your second lesson.”

“But how do I fe—” I didn’t get to finish asking my question because Callan was already gone, racing into the powder in the trees .

I hastened to follow him and do what he’d suggested, but by the end of the first run, I hadn’t felt anything unusual.

I’d enjoyed skimming across the sugary snow and slicing through the trees with my friends, but I hadn’t felt anything out of the norm.

I asked Callan and Nevah about it on the next chairlift ride.

“Am I doing something wrong?”

“It’s probably hard for both of us to explain, since we’ve been doing this since we were kids,” Nevah said, “but you’ve got to open yourself up to hearing from the plants you want to connect with.”

“How do I do that?”

“Trees have an ancient lifespan compared to most other plants,” Callan said.

“Their presence is not so insistent as you’ll find other types of plants to be.

Instead, they are more of a steady drumbeat of a presence.

When you’re in the trees, try to tune everything else out, clear your mind, and allow yourself to be still. That’s when you’ll hear them.”

I wasn’t convinced that any of that was going to work, but I vowed to give it a shot. “Maybe we could go out to the chairlift that’s tucked away on the other side of the resort. It’s secluded and less busy. Would it help me tune out some of the noise?”

“Worth a shot,” Callan said.

When we reached the top of the chairlift, I suggested it to Maci. “Want to do a run on Gray Butte?”

She turned to Alex and shook her head. “I don’t think he can get over there yet.

” Maci had been patiently teaching Alex how to use the falling leaf method on his way down the hill while the three of us had been ducking into the powder between the trees.

“Why don’t you three go without us? We can meet up for lunch in a couple hours. ”

Alex looked like he was going to protest but ultimately turned and followed Maci as she began her descent.

Callan, Nevah, and I made our way to the chairlift that was tucked away from the rest of the resort, no signs of parking lots or lodges in sight.

It was much less busy here, and the quiet could almost be physically felt.

Only the soft whir of the chairlift and the low whistle of a breeze cut the stillness of the air.

“You got this,” Callan said as we began our first run on the secluded hill. “Clear your mind.”

As I sent my body down the hill, I pushed out all thoughts of affinity powers, of Maci and Alex, of the secrets I was keeping from Maci and Aunt Vera, of all the constant anxieties that simmered under the surface about my future, and focused instead on the cool air against my face, the sound of the snow as my board slid across it, the crisp smell of the mountain.

And then something shifted within me, and I felt my eyes grow wide as I experienced the sensation as clear as day.

I could hear the trees… communicating with one another.

I could sense the rustle of roots reaching out from tree to tree, the sound of water moving up from the ground.

I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest. I slowed as I made my way down the mountain, taking it all in.

“You felt it,” Callan said softly. I hadn’t noticed that he’d come up beside me or even that I’d made it back to the chairlift. I nodded. “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“It’s… It’s like a whole new dimension has been unlocked.”

Callan smiled, and I couldn’t help smiling in return when he said, “Welcome to the world of magical botanists, local.”