sister. Everyone know he’s one of the best guardians around. And not only are you related to him, but he’s been training you.”
“A month,” I say. “He trained me for a month. The rest of my training happened with—someone else.”
“Oh.” Perry shovels a fork-full of banana pancake into his mouth. “Well we could spread that bit of information around for you, if you’d like,” he says with his mouth half full. “It would definitely make you seem less threatening.”
“And it helps that you’re hanging out with us,” Gemma adds. “People don’t exactly find us intimidating.”
“Really?” I say with a straight face. “I thought Ned was terrifying when I met him yesterday.”
Ned’s cheeks turn pink, and he stares deeper into his mug. Perry laughs and points his fork at me. “See, Gemma? That’s what’s called a joke. I’m not the only one who makes them. Calla’s gonna fit right in here.” He raises his mug and taps it against my cinnamon twist. “Welcome to Club Outcast, Calla.”
“Welcome,” Gemma says, raising her smoothie glass, then sipping the brownish-green liquid. “I mean, not that you’re an outcast,” she adds after swallowing. “You definitely look like you could be one of the cool people, so I didn’t mean to imply that you’re—”
“Oh, no, I’m an outcast. Attending seven different schools by the age of fourteen will do that to a person.”
“ Seven? ” Gemma says, pulling her head back in surprise.
“Uh … yeah.” I guess that story hasn’t reached the Guild yet. “Um, four different junior schools, then healer school, then cooking school, then art school …” I trail off as I realize I probably shouldn’t have shared all that. Now they’ll want to know why I went to so many schools. “Anyway,” I rush on, “why do you guys qualify as outcasts?” I pick up the cinnamon twist and take a large bite before anyone can ask me a question.
“Oh, well Ned’s scared of girls,” Perry says, “and I’m a super nerd. So that counts us out of the cool crowd.”
“Thanks a lot, man,” Ned mutters.
“What? Calla’s part of our group now. She needs to know these things.”
“And what about you?” I say to Gemma, hoping to draw attention away from Ned so he can have a chance to recover from his embarrassment.
Gemma finishes the last of her smoothie and says, “My mom’s an admin and my dad’s a florist. So, you know, I don’t have the cool guardian heritage that almost everyone else here has. And I often get accused of being a halfling because apparently I’m not two-toned. Hello.” She points at her head. “Brown plus black equals two colors, and the brown matches my eyes, so I’m all faerie , thank you very much.” She hesitates, then rushes to add, “Not that there’s anything wrong with being a halfling.”
Perry shakes his head, then looks at me. “My sister’s a halfling. Half-faerie, half-human. Gem likes to make fun of her.”
“I do not!”
“A halfling? Does …” I look around, then lower my voice. “Does the Guild know?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s on their registry. No point, though, since she doesn’t have any magic. She lives in the human realm with her mom. I visit her sometimes. It’s cool to hang out there with all the human tech instead of using magic all the time.”
“When he says ‘human tech,’ he means movies,” Gemma tells me. “All he ever talks about when he comes back from visits is what movies he watched.”
“Movies are amazing,” Perry says. “The fae world doesn’t know what it’s missing out on.”
The light in the dining hall dims for a moment, then brightens again. “Does that mean something?” I ask, licking cinnamon and powdered sugar off my fingers.
“Time for class,” Ned says with a sigh.
“My mentor’s taking today’s lesson,” Gemma says. She taps her tray twice with her stylus, and it vanishes. Perry and Ned do the same. “Potions are her specialty,” Gemma
“A month,” I say. “He trained me for a month. The rest of my training happened with—someone else.”
“Oh.” Perry shovels a fork-full of banana pancake into his mouth. “Well we could spread that bit of information around for you, if you’d like,” he says with his mouth half full. “It would definitely make you seem less threatening.”
“And it helps that you’re hanging out with us,” Gemma adds. “People don’t exactly find us intimidating.”
“Really?” I say with a straight face. “I thought Ned was terrifying when I met him yesterday.”
Ned’s cheeks turn pink, and he stares deeper into his mug. Perry laughs and points his fork at me. “See, Gemma? That’s what’s called a joke. I’m not the only one who makes them. Calla’s gonna fit right in here.” He raises his mug and taps it against my cinnamon twist. “Welcome to Club Outcast, Calla.”
“Welcome,” Gemma says, raising her smoothie glass, then sipping the brownish-green liquid. “I mean, not that you’re an outcast,” she adds after swallowing. “You definitely look like you could be one of the cool people, so I didn’t mean to imply that you’re—”
“Oh, no, I’m an outcast. Attending seven different schools by the age of fourteen will do that to a person.”
“ Seven? ” Gemma says, pulling her head back in surprise.
“Uh … yeah.” I guess that story hasn’t reached the Guild yet. “Um, four different junior schools, then healer school, then cooking school, then art school …” I trail off as I realize I probably shouldn’t have shared all that. Now they’ll want to know why I went to so many schools. “Anyway,” I rush on, “why do you guys qualify as outcasts?” I pick up the cinnamon twist and take a large bite before anyone can ask me a question.
“Oh, well Ned’s scared of girls,” Perry says, “and I’m a super nerd. So that counts us out of the cool crowd.”
“Thanks a lot, man,” Ned mutters.
“What? Calla’s part of our group now. She needs to know these things.”
“And what about you?” I say to Gemma, hoping to draw attention away from Ned so he can have a chance to recover from his embarrassment.
Gemma finishes the last of her smoothie and says, “My mom’s an admin and my dad’s a florist. So, you know, I don’t have the cool guardian heritage that almost everyone else here has. And I often get accused of being a halfling because apparently I’m not two-toned. Hello.” She points at her head. “Brown plus black equals two colors, and the brown matches my eyes, so I’m all faerie , thank you very much.” She hesitates, then rushes to add, “Not that there’s anything wrong with being a halfling.”
Perry shakes his head, then looks at me. “My sister’s a halfling. Half-faerie, half-human. Gem likes to make fun of her.”
“I do not!”
“A halfling? Does …” I look around, then lower my voice. “Does the Guild know?”
“Oh, yeah. She’s on their registry. No point, though, since she doesn’t have any magic. She lives in the human realm with her mom. I visit her sometimes. It’s cool to hang out there with all the human tech instead of using magic all the time.”
“When he says ‘human tech,’ he means movies,” Gemma tells me. “All he ever talks about when he comes back from visits is what movies he watched.”
“Movies are amazing,” Perry says. “The fae world doesn’t know what it’s missing out on.”
The light in the dining hall dims for a moment, then brightens again. “Does that mean something?” I ask, licking cinnamon and powdered sugar off my fingers.
“Time for class,” Ned says with a sigh.
“My mentor’s taking today’s lesson,” Gemma says. She taps her tray twice with her stylus, and it vanishes. Perry and Ned do the same. “Potions are her specialty,” Gemma
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