"Ya. Cheer practice has been vigorous, so by the time I get home and get things rolling, it's pretty late."
"How many hours of sleep have you been getting?"
"Three?" I tried to smile. "I know, it's bad."
"Bad with the competition coming up," she acknowledged. "Why don't we move to visiting him during these sessions?" she suggested.
"But isn't this back and forth tiring?" I admitted. "I'm still not good with the whole Spell Traveling to another country thing yet."
"I remember," she said with a mischievous smile. "I'd like to visit Canada during the summer and not in the middle of a raging blizzard."
That’s what I get for failing my attempt to get us to Switzerland.
"My bad." I cringed at the memory while she quietly laughed.
"It's fine, Brianne. I know this is important to you. Which reminds me, they've officially approved of a warrant for Elijah's evil twin."
"Wait, seriously?" I gasped. "Also, isn't that a bit worrisome since their names are the same?"
"Actually, evil Elijah's name is Eliyahu Hamilton on his birth certificate. The one we discovered was a tampered copy, so we requested for Witchling Star's assistance to track the real one."
"Elijah and Eliyahu. It's sad because Elijah always mentioned how he wished he had a sibling. Maybe it had a deeper-rooted meaning to it."
"A brother who wasn't there to sabotage him.”
"I don't get how no one noticed, though. Like not one member of the hospital staff noticed they were twins? I'm sure they maybe spelled their mother to not remember, and Elijah's dad kind of sucks to begin with, but still."
"His dad is actually in custody," she revealed. "Not sure about the charges, but your sister and her team are working hard to crack down on this."
"Why do I feel there's something huge brewing beneath the surface and we're being distracted by all these events on purpose?" I muttered mostly to myself.
"That could be it," she agreed with a shrug as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Or they're simply waiting for the right moment to throw out their wild card."
"Which is?"
"Not sure," she confessed. "I'd originally assumed it would be Elisha or Eliyahu, but Elisha's in solitary confinement and Eliyahu is still off the grid."
"We have no other enemies aside from the usual shadow people and kingdom."
"I agree," she admitted. "We could simply be over-analyzing things as well. You never know."
"It's giving me a headache," I whined.
"Let's go check on Elijah and you can head home early."
"What about the lesson?"
"I can teach you that another day. Your magic energy is a tad lower than I'd personally like to teach you something as powerful as what I want to share."
"Ah, is it?" I hadn't realized my low magic levels, but I guess the lack of sleep was catching up to me. "I better pace myself better."
"It's honestly expected," she reassured me. "This is your final semester and not only are you training for multiple competitions, but you're also balancing outside school activities like the photoshoots, student council duties, and your own priorities. It's a stressful time for everyone, but the week of the art festival will be a week off of classes and extra-curricular activities, so use that time to rest."
"I certainly will," I voiced before there was a knock on the door. We both stared at it for a long moment before I took a peek at Professor Phoenix's expression that went from happy to expressionless.
"Come in."
The door opened to reveal Miss Electra in the company of a tall slender man and girl with blonde hair with green streaks. I couldn't help taking her appearance in because she was an example of the ideal Barbie.
From the neon pink dress that was far too short for a walk through the school to the neon green heels she wore that really clashed, adding the foreign school blazer resting on her shoulders, she seriously looked like someone coming home from the club who had borrowed a blazer from someone because she was cold.
"Sorry to interrupt, Professor Phoenix," Miss Electra stated with a bit of a cold bark to her tone of voice. "Professor Dickson and his cheer squad leader are here to sign the final documents for the competition. They've informed me that they have other appointments to attend to and thus, their urgency to be seen."
I glanced over to Professor Phoenix, noticing the intense vibes I was getting from her as her aura sparked almost competitively with the new arrival.
"I don't like being interrupted," she voiced. "I've sent five requests for your attendance and signature. If you seem to not respect my time, I don't understand why I should respect yours when you decided to arrive unannounced on our property when I'm having an important one-on-one lesson with one of our elite students."
"Elite student?" the girl commented as she looked me up and down. "She's just the poster girl everyone’s yapping about. Nothing strong about a showgirl."
"For a girl dressed like she's about to hit the club and missed the fashion department, you sure like to speak tough," I muttered casually. "Did you just borrow that blazer from someone so you wouldn't have to do the walk of shame through our prestigious Witchling Academy halls?"
She was going to say something, but I approached her head-on until I was right in front of her. "My name is Brianne Harlow. I’m Vice President of Witchling Academy, one of the top students in academic standing and magic alchemy, and the leader of the cheer squad you're most likely going to be competing against."
She flinched and took a step back, which only confirmed that Marianna's energy was thrumming through me - not like I couldn't feel it.
"Don't come onto our property and try to belittle me like we're on the same level," I declared with a low voice before my eyes lifted to meet the man who was observing me with a blank expression. "As a professor, you should teach your students to be respectful when on other's territory. Would be a shame if they instigated a fight and got hurt."
I'm sure he wanted to say something back to me, but he nodded. "Our apologies. Delphina didn't recognize you."
"You don't need to recognize someone to show respect."
The voice came from the door, and we turned to see a girl and a taller woman at the door. I almost did a double-take, because the girl had fabulous bright red hair like me and was my exact same height. She reminded me of Alice with the way her face carried a cold, predatory expression, and yet the softness of her pale white skin and the shocking brightness of her red lips gave her a snow-white glam that accented her immense beauty.
She wore a midnight blue uniform with gold accents and stars as the print while her blazer emphasized the golden stars and constellations.
Her hair was left down in bountiful curls and I noticed the bunny on her shoulder, a tiny bow tie of red along his black furry body. He even had red eyes, which were both scary and adorable.
She walked into the room until she stood specifically next to the girl, her attention completely on this girl who seemed surprised by the new appearance.