Chapter 2

The Montana ranch house itself was huge, designed with a mix of rustic and contemporary features. It sat on land that had largely been left to nature. There were woods and streams and hills, with countless variety of trees and plants. Laurel wondered what animals she might see there: Moose? Bison? Porcupine?

Laurel didn’t know who her roommate was yet, but two things were clear from the half-hearted unpacking she’d already done: she was tall, and she was messy.

The students waited in the library - some sitting, some standing. Shortly, their teacher arrived. Laurel had only met her once, on the video call to discuss her invitation. The woman had long gray hair down to her waist and a round face. She was probably sixty years old or so. What Laurel hadn’t seen before was that she walked uneasily, with the help of two wrist cuff crutches.

The woman smiled warmly at the group. “My name is Jennifer, and I am your host.” She sat down. “Each of you is here for the same reason: for guided independent study in whatever field of magic interests you. People who know you - people I trust - believe that you have great potential, and they’ve entrusted me to help nurture your growth.” She waved her arm around at the room. “You have one of the greatest independent magical libraries in the Western Hemisphere at your disposal. I’ll be meeting with each of you frequently to guide you however I can. I’m not a master of all of the things you’ll be studying, but I’m a good teacher and I know the contents of this library well.”

She shifted forward, leaning her elbows on the table. “Now, a couple rules. One: No dangerous spells unless I know about them, and only when there’s a non-participant observing. Two: Mandatory breaks. I expect you all to spend at least two hours a day relaxing, socializing, exercising, whatever. People who are too single-minded are a danger to themselves and others. And anyway, this is an excellent networking opportunity for you all.”

There was a twinkle in her eye and a smile in the corner of her mouth as she continued. “And speaking of networking, three: no drama. You’re all young, potent, attractive people, still somewhat in the grips of hormone-fueled lunacy. If you’re going to hook up with each other, be discrete. Screams in this house mean danger, not joy. If you can’t handle that, there are twenty-eight acres out there for you to find privacy. And if there are any conflicts, I expect you to solve them yourselves, like mature adults.”

She scanned the room with her eyes, as if predicting which of her students were going to cause the most trouble.

She went on: “Every few days I’ll be calling a ‘Show and Tell’ gathering, so you can share ideas with each other. Now, dinner will be in fifteen minutes. After that, we’ll be having a sock hop for you to get to know each other.”

The “sock hop” was a dance: the students were encouraged kick off their shoes and dance to 50’s rock and roll. Laurel, for the most part, watched from a corner.

Out of nine students, only three were boys. Two of them were gorgeous. The last was, well, Laurel couldn’t imagine dating a guy shorter than her.

Theo had changed clothes before the dance, into a dressy jacket and slacks. He looked like the sort of guy that bouncers just automatically let into VIP rooms. He had a pompadour haircut and carefully nurtured stubble, with a dreamer’s blue eyes. Once he asked Laurel to dance, but she was too unsure of herself to dance with a guy like that.

Michael was the perfect man, based on his body and his face. He had black hair - long but not long enough for a ponytail - and she guessed he had Native American ancestry, although she wasn’t certain enough to dare mention it. Not that she got a chance - he was constantly surrounded by two or three of the other five girls. It was a joy to watch him dance, though, even if it was with girls she couldn’t hope to compete with.

Ashton was nice - he introduced himself. He was an undergrad university student majoring in biology, like her, so they had a nice conversation about their college education so far. There was some promise of a friendship there.

Some of the girls introduced themselves too. Maxie had a ponytail and glasses, and dangling shimmering earrings that she explained were titanium. Chelle was friendly, and very tall girl - probably six feet or more. Laurel correctly guessed that Chelle was her roommate.