Page 64 of Evergreen Academy (Society of Magical Botanists #1)
Chapter Sixty-Two
F inals week at SCC went by quickly. I managed to keep my focus locked in all week, and by the time I left the final for my last class, I felt confident that I’d passed them all and possibly even done well enough to get As in most classes.
“How’d it go?” Callan asked as we stepped out of the math classroom for the last time.
I grinned. “I think I nailed it. Our study guide basically covered everything that was on there.”
Callan raised a hand, and we high-fived. “Nice work, local. You’ll be acing calculus next.”
I eyed him skeptically. “Don’t push your luck.”
As we left campus, there was a slight ache in the pit of my stomach.
It was possible this was the last class I’d take with Callan at SCC, and while I knew I’d still see him at Evergreen Academy next year, there was something about our time on my normal human college campus that felt sacred.
He was there only for me—though I still couldn’t understand why—and his presence had bridged the gap between my two worlds.
That bridging had grounded me much more than I realized, and the idea that it was coming to an end brought a strange feeling of nostalgia and loss.
In that rare moment of serious reflection, I wanted to thank Callan for everything he’d done for me this year. But before I could do so, he spoke.
“I gotta run. Let me know once you’ve checked your score online. Let’s see if you managed to match me.”
I rolled my eyes and bit my lip, suppressing a grin. “Maybe I beat you. Bet you don’t even think that’s possible, do you?”
“Everything’s possible with you, local.” Callan winked and left the SCC campus, possibly for the last time.
When I got to the Evergreen Academy campus later that day, a student approached me—a fellow first-year I recognized named Porter. “Briar Whelan?” he asked tentatively.
“Yes?”
“Professor East would like to see you. He’s in his office.”
“Thanks, Porter,” I said. He raised his eyebrows, reddened slightly, nodded, and walked away.
Yasmin let out a little giggle. “I think he was surprised you knew his name.”
“What? Why? This school isn’t that big.”
“Yeah, but you hang out with Callan all the time. That puts you in an elite tier at this school. Plus, you have all the affinity powers.”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not a founder’s descendant. And everybody knows I can’t even use my magic on campus. And I’m definitely not elite. ”
Yasmin shook her head. “Keep telling yourself that.”
We went our separate ways at the top of the staircase, and just before I prepared to knock on Professor East’s office door, Callan joined me.
“Do you know what this is about?” I asked.
“I have an idea,” Callan said tersely. A moment later, the grand door was tugged open by a tendril of a trailing vine inside the room. We entered the expansive office, and Professor East put aside a laptop he was working on.
“Is there news about the chemical spill?” I asked once the door was closed.
“Yes, though ‘chemical spill’ may not be the right term.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. A look passed between Professor East and Callan before he responded.
“We managed to trace the source of the salt and cadmium to a specific location just outside the academy’s grounds. There is evidence that someone has been… magically poisoning the soil there.”
I gaped at him even as what he said filled in the gaps of what had been going on. If someone had been poisoning the grounds intentionally, that would explain why the strength had been increasing. And if it had been done with magic, that could explain why it took so long for Professor East to trace.
“But who would do that?” I asked, genuinely appalled. Evergreen Academy was a place of beauty, of inquiry, of comradery. Why would someone want to poison it?
“We can’t know the motivation until we determine the culprit. I’ve increased security around the grounds outside the wall, but if the poisoner is observant, they may pick up on this and stay away. ”
“At least that should stop the poisoning, right?” I asked.
“I think we can be confident that we’ll be able to prevent any further poisonings now that we know what to look out for. Hopefully, the soil will have a chance to recover with the influx of toxins abated.”
“But if we don’t find them, we won’t know why they were doing this,” Callan said, and Professor East nodded. Callan’s muscles flexed under the tattoos of his forearms as he gripped his thighs.
“We may be able to trace them based on the evidence we found”—he glanced toward Callan, and I was reminded with a jolt that Callan could sense power being used—“but I’m not confident of it.
Whoever did this, they were quite skilled.
I doubt they’ll make it easy for us to find them.
Plus, the academy is about to break for the summer.
For now, we may have to be satisfied that we determined what was happening and focus on strengthening the soil quality so that the summer solstice recharge will go off without”—he glanced at me this time—“a hitch.”
A hitch . That was putting it mildly.
“The reason I wanted to fill you both in is because I appreciate how much work you put into determining where Ms. Whelan’s powers came from and in going above and beyond to recharge the shield at the vernal equinox.
” He turned to Callan. “Should our work in this investigation require your services, I will reach out.”
Callan nodded then stood and left the room.
Professor East shifted his gaze back to me, steepling his fingers. “As for you, Ms. Whelan, I wanted to talk about your summer plans. ”
I nodded for him to continue.
“I know that this last session was frustrating for you, with not being able to perform your magic on campus. Your instructors all tell me that you made the most of it and still managed to make some forward progress. Thankfully, next year is a bit different. Second-years spend a lot of time on field studies, many of which are off campus grounds.”
I sat up straighter, excited at what seemed like the first bit of good news in weeks. In my worst moments, I’d doubted if I’d even be allowed to come back to the academy next year, after decimating my prospects of using magic on campus.
“Additionally, I think you should consider taking a heavy load of summer courses at SCC. Balancing your courses there with field studies here next year is going to be a challenge. I’ll get them to work with you, of course, but it would be ideal if you could take a lighter load there next year.
I know you took a few winter intersession courses this year and some summer courses right after high school.
Plus, your transcripts show a few AP credits.
With a large summer load, you’ll be close to completing the full number of credits needed to graduate from SCC. ”
“I can do that,” I said quickly, wanting to appease his every request. Throughout this year, I felt that Professor East had bent over backward to help me, even if I hadn’t always seen it at the time.
And the fact that he was already planning for my success next year made me that much more eager to follow his suggestions.
“Summer enrollment has already started, so I’ll see what classes I have remaining and take as many as I can.
” I remembered Callan’s push for me to continue math and take Calculus.
Dare I take it over the summer, without his help?
Part of me was scared to attempt it while the other part was eager to do it, just to show him I could.
“Good.” Professor East rapped his knuckles against the desk in a quick, unconscious motion.
“Things might be a little different around here next year, Ms. Whelan, but I want you to know that you’ve exceeded my expectations in every way this year.
You put your head down and put in the work.
You’re going to have to double down on those efforts next year, but you have already shown that you’ve got it in you. ”
I tried not to blush, surprised by the praise he was lavishing on me. “Thank you, Professor East. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t. Have a nice summer.”
The trailing plant tugged open the door again, and I took that as my cue to leave. I cast one last look over my shoulders and saw my professor staring out the window at the bright summer sky, fingers steepled and brow furrowed.