“Welcome first years! It is time to choose what you want to be in the future. Always remember that you have three years to decide! Think for yourselves and not your parents’ paths. Because this is the beginning of your new life as you become an adult.” Ms. Foxglove told us when all the first years finally entered the room. “Anyone that has already decided, please come to the back room so I could talk to each of you.”

She walked away to the backroom and the three of us stared at each other. I started to realize how different we are on the outside but we were the same on the inside. Both Joy and I have tanner skin than many of the people in our village; while Joy and Bram are both dark-haired, but we all have that fire in our eyes that show we fight on to survive.

“Are we sure these are the classes we want?” I asked.

We looked at the three classes we chose and nodded our heads.

“Yeah, I guess it is time to go talk to the headmistress then,” Bram said then we started to walk to the back room.

Joy knocked on the door before walking in.

“Wow! So fast! Please make sure that the classes are really what you want because you can’t change them until next year.”

The three of us nodded our heads. I watched her tail move around in excitement as she spoke.

“Good, please sit down.” Three chairs appeared in front of us. “What are the classes you chose?”

“Well, the three of us are mages so we have to take magic class,” Bram told her as we sat down.

“Yes, and we also picked astronomy and cooking as the other two classes,” I told her as we each gave her the papers.

“Ms. Ravenwing, do you say yes on Nurse Nightsong’s offer?”

We were surprised that she already knew about the offer. However, I remembered seeing the two of them acting very close to each other, so I was also not surprised at the fact.

“Yes I do, Headmistress. I plan on helping her out instead of taking Astronomy class.”

“Good, Good,” we watched her mark a few things on our papers, “Well, I hope that the rest of the students will be as easy as you three were. But one can only hope for the future.” She handed us the full schedules for the school year. “Now go run along and have fun until classes start up fully.”

We got up from our chairs and started walking towards the door. Joy reached out to grab the doorknob. We froze as she cleared her throat before speaking some more.

“Oh Mr. Harker and Mr. Snowpelt, just to let you two know that I heard from Mr. White about what happened this morning. The two of you are now moved into a new room and I do not want to hear about any more fights. Got it?”

We could tell from the tone of her voice that we should listen to what she said.

“Yes, Headmistress!” We said together before finally walking out.

“Man, she is scary but did you see how fluffy her tail was!” I said as we entered the grand hall. “I wish that my tail was like that, all it does is poke me when sitting down.”

“But I like your tail! It is the perfect size for my hand!” Bram said before trying to grab it. “Besides that, how come I never see Flo or Alex’s tail?”

“They don’t have one.” They gave me a strange look. “Flo takes more of our human side so she doesn’t show any bear parts. Alex doesn’t have a tail because Flo accidentally ripped it off when they were younger and it never grew back.”

“I feel a bit bad for both of you. But I know that it is truly no one’s fault but fate itself.” Bram told me as we walked into one of the smaller hallways.

We started to walk towards the courtyard, but then we got lost halfway there. I never truly realized how huge this place truly was. From the outside last night, it looked smaller but it was also dark when I saw it.

“I’m pretty sure that Flo told me to take the third right from the Great Hall,” Joy said.

“But Nova told me that we would need to take three rights then take a left from the Great Hall,” I said back to her while looking around.

“Hey!” Bram yelled as we got louder, “Why don’t we just ask your brother Alex, and Viktor?” He pointed at them as they walked up to us.

“Alex!”

“Hey, Ash!”

I waved my hand at the two of them. They were wrapped up within each other as they stopped in front of us.

“Freshmeat! Are you guys lost?” Viktor asked us.

I hate that nickname that he gave us but he will never stop calling us that. We explained the problem to him that we were quite lost. Viktor grabbed my arm and started to pull me away.

“Don’t worry we always go there almost every day during the year. I love using it as a flying spot. So, I know the way like the back of my hand.”

Turns out that both Flo and Nova were wrong. I stopped moving right as we got outside, and then I accidentally pulled Viktor back when he tried walking forward. All of the trees had falling leaves and the wind was blowing the flower petals around the courtyard. It had a look of magic all around the courtyard.

“Wow,” the three of us said together.

“They say that this spot is one of the few left in the world like this. They built the school around to help protect the magic here.” Alex told me as we walked to the nearest shaded tree. “Many of the people in Silvermine wanted to destroy this place to turn it into a flatland.”

Most of us grumbled at those words because Silvermine used to destroy forests and the homes of werebeasts just for money. However, after the war, they were able to have only certain forests to use for land and wood.

“How are the people here?” Bram asked them.

“The teachers are great, they will help anyone in need, and I do mean everyone. The students, on the other hand, depending on what you are. Most are were-beast haters, but some hate mages and vampires.” Alex explained.

“Don’t forget that are homophobes as well.” Viktor pointed out.

“Yeah, I was hoping to forget that. When the two of us fully got together last year, it was rough but it was not as bad as most people would think. But, there are many nice people as well. One girl let me borrow her notes after some dickheads ripped my bag to shreds.” I could tell that Alex was hiding part of the truth from us.

“The years here will be fun and eventful.”

“So, when does the school start the classes?” Bram asked.

“Normally in two more days, but the magic class starts tomorrow and the vampire classes start tonight. They want to get everyone under the control of their abilities first.” Alex told him.

Bram started to remove the bandage off his eye, and the scar did not look as bad as I thought it would be. His eye looked normal but now he has a cross mark burned on his left eyelid.

“Bram! How did you get that epic coolness of a scar?!”

“Your big brother attacked me with a cross.”

“Man, he must have been very crossed with you.”

The three of us face-palmed as Alex hit him upside the head.

“Ow! That hurts! Kiss the boo-boo, Snowflake!”

“God, what are you? Twelve?” Joy asked him while I was laughing.

It felt good to laugh, my nerves were so jangled before, but now it felt like something finally was freed. I guess being in this magical spot while surrounded by young love can bring a smile to one’s face.

“I am not kissing your head!”

“Why not? You kiss it in private all the time.” He was hit even harder for that.

I was smiling as I leaned on Bram’s shoulder. I felt so relaxed here as Viktor and Alex were still playfully bickering. I guess I started to daze off because someone decided to smack me across the face. It took me a few seconds to notice that everything was blurry, and then I had to fix my glasses.

“Hey, bear boy! Did you fucking hear what I fucking said?! We need to go fucking see the fucking nurse! Stop fucking daydreaming all the fucking time!” Joy yelled at me.

I looked over to Bram and I saw him counting every time she cussed. He had to use two hands because she cussed quite a bit.

“I’m getting up! No need to hit me!” I told her as she raised her hand again, and then I looked around, “where did my brother and his birdbrain go?”

“They left two minutes after you started zoning out into the tree,” Bram told me.

I got up and brushed the grass off my legs, and then the three of us left the courtyard.

“I swear that my glasses won’t last the school year.”

“Don’t worry; I’m pretty sure that there is a spell to fix them if they get broken.” He told me, “Well, I better figure out where our new room is, and then get ready for my class.”

“Oh yeah, you have the vampire class tonight! You are so lucky that you get to start classes already!”

“Hey Fangs, let me know how Ripping People Throats Out 101 is like.”

He flipped off Joy as we went our separate ways. Joy and I started to walk to the medical wing.

“Ash, why do you think she wanted to see you? I could understand if she wanted to check on Bram’s eye.”

“I don’t know, I guess we will see when we get there.” I decided to change the subject, “so, how is Anna’s matchmaking working for you?”

“I rather go to fucking hell than deal with that again.”

Even though she was acting like her normal rough self, I saw a small smile on her face.

“So does that mean that you’re against dating this year?”

She started blushing and looked away from me.

“It’s not that, I already have my eyes on someone and I don’t want to ruin my friendship because of it.”

“Aw! Does that mean you have a crush on me?”