Page 15

Chapter Fifteen

Y asmin slid into the seat next to mine in our prop creation class at SCC.

Because I’d taken winter intersession courses and then a full load over the summer, I only had to take one class each semester to be on track to graduate with my associate’s degree in the spring.

I was broadening my horizons with my art electives and had chosen prop creation, a new class designed in collaboration with the theater department.

“Let’s hope today’s class goes better than last week’s,” Yasmin murmured.

She had surprised me when she enrolled in the class.

As she put it, “Our art class last year really pushed me out of my comfort zone. And I saw you pushing yourself into taking Calculus. You inspired me to not always take the easy route.”

I hadn’t let on how much the words had touched me.

“Hello, class. Exciting news. I’ve just learned that the theater department has selected the play they’ll be putting on this spring.

They’ve gone with A Midsummer Night’s Dream , and we are tasked with creating much of the set design and costuming.

I’d like each of you to sign up for your first design of interest, and you’ll work in small groups to draft these and determine your needed materials. ”

Our instructor pointed to colorful papers that were scattered throughout the drafting tables in the room. “Walk around and see the group options that are available, then sign up for the ones you want to be on.”

I reached for the nearest paper and read it aloud to Yasmin. “Trees for the forest. They need to incorporate lights and fireflies. Sounds interesting,” I said.

“Put that in the maybe category,” Yasmin agreed, and we proceeded to make our way around the classroom, exploring our different options. By the end, there were two more set pieces that appealed to us.

“So, we’re down to the forest—which they need a large team for—the fairy faces and crowns, or the flower that gets struck by cupid’s bow,” Yasmin said.

“I’m really interested in the flower.” I lowered my voice. “It needs to look enchanted, and I wonder if we could use a real flower from the academy and make modifications to it.”

“So long as it looks plausible that we could have created it with materials here.”

I scribbled my name onto that paper. “I think we can make it work. I’m going to sign up for the forest, too, since they need a lot of hands for that one.”

“Same.” Yasmin followed my lead in writing her names on those two groups. We were the only ones who signed up for the flower, and we made plans to start working with the tree group during the next class period.

“Still no sign of Callan?” Yasmin asked as we cleaned up our workspaces.

“He’s missed almost the first two weeks of class. What could he be doing that’s that important?” I was glad Yasmin asked since I had been itching to talk about him.

“Maybe it has something to do with his field study? Could he be starting earlier than the rest of us? Who knows when it comes to founders’ descendants. Speaking of descendants”—she lowered her voice—“have you learned anything more about your history? I know you were doing some reading this summer.”

“Nothing groundbreaking.” I matched her hushed tone.

“I don’t know what I was expecting. Obviously, I wasn’t going to find anything about his…

botanical heritage in regularly published books.

I wish the collection at Evergreen Academy was bigger, but there is hardly anything about botanists of the Renaissance period there. ”

Yasmin frowned. “That’s kind of strange.

Why were records so poorly kept of that era?

I wonder…” She pushed open the door of the classroom, and we emerged into the crisp autumn air.

“Most of the magical botanical conservatories have their own libraries, from what I’ve heard.

Perhaps the information you need is stored at one of those? ”

I perked up, eager for a new lead. “Really? Can anyone request books from them?” I could almost feel the warm, tingly feeling in my hands that had occurred when I first picked up one of da Vinci’s journals.

She shrugged. “They all have different rules. I know that with the fern conservatory in Alaska, you can only access the books there in person. They don’t let people remove them from the library unless they’re a VIP academic researcher.”

“Well, it’s something to think about. But which conservatory would be most likely to have books on the Renaissance-era botanists? If what Professor Tenella said last year is true, many botanists back then had all of the affinity powers. So could books about them be in any of the conservatories?”

“It’s possible. I wish there was some kind of directory that listed all the books in each of the conservatories, but as you’ve probably gleaned by now, information sharing across affinity groups isn’t always a top priority in the magical botanist community.

That’s part of what makes Evergreen Academy so special.

Things are less siloed among the affinities there.

At least, that’s how it’s been.” Yasmin worried her lip .

“We’ll make sure it stays that way. As students, we should have a say in the goings-on of our school, shouldn’t we? If all the affinities want to continue collaborating with each other, we should be able to.”

“Tell that to the founders’ descendants who think they and their affinities rule the world.”

“Good point. Want to swing by my aunt’s apartment with me before we head back to the academy? I need to pick up a few more art supplies. I might have some things we can use to start working on these props.”

When Yasmin agreed, we drove from SCC to my aunt’s apartment. “Looks like she’s working down in the café. We’ll say hello on our way out.” I headed straight for my room and let Yasmin give herself a tour of the apartment.

“Is your aunt planning to rent this place out after she gets married?” Yasmin called from the hallway.

“That’s the plan. She’s already started moving a bunch of things to Bryce’s house, but I have a feeling she’ll go slowly on getting this place completely cleared out.”

I heard the door to the balcony open.

“Wow, your aunt has a green thumb,” Yasmin said once I found my art supplies and joined her on the balcony.

“She’s always kept a nice little garden out here.

” Since the first frost of the year hadn’t come yet, many of my aunt’s flowers were still in bloom.

And Rosie—our trailing rose plant—was putting on a dazzling pink display as it scaled the building on a large trellis.

“I have no idea how my aunt is going to move this plant to Bryce’s house.

It’s been on this trellis for years. I’m not sure how she moved it before. ”

Yasmin stepped closer to look at Rosie. “That’s an interesting variety of rose. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one like it before.” She peered at the petals.

“It’s been in our family for generations. ”

“I don’t even see any thorns on it.” Yasmin was leaning in, examining the plant with a practiced botanist’s eye.

“Really?” I studied Rosie more closely. I had never looked beyond the green leaves and the ultra-vibrant flowers she gave off most of the year.

“Are you sure it’s a rose?”

“That’s what I’ve always been told. Hold on.” I took out my phone and scanned Rosie with a plant identification app.

“It’s bringing up a similar rose, but I don’t think it’s the exact variety.”

“Roses can be hard to pin down, with all the selection and crossbreeding that’s been done over the years,” Yasmin said.

“And the app’s ability is only as good as the data it includes. Maybe I’ll bring one of the roses to the academy at some point and use one of their advanced taxonomy books to place it. Should we go grab some of Aunt Vera’s famous lavender scones on the way back to the academy?”

“You don’t have to ask me twice.”