Miss Mabel's School for Girls (The Network Series #1)(15)

“Well, let’s get started.”

We both took an armful of the old tomes, but just as we headed towards a lonely corner of the library, a group of obnoxious third-years moved in. I recognized Stephany in the midst of them, a good six inches taller than everyone else. Her smug expression grew when she saw us.

“Watch out girls,” Stephany called, her skinny arm reaching out like a giant branch to point towards us. “Leda’s out. Cover your eyes, or her skin and hair will blind you!”

The third-year students let out a burst of tittering laughter. Leda rolled her eyes.

“Let’s just go to my room,” she said under her breath, avoiding eye contact with the older girls.

“Don’t look right at her,” another called amidst the laughter. “It’s like looking into the sun!”

I sighed, watching Leda’s neck flare to a bright red color.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” I asked.

“What would I say?” she retorted. “I am really pale.”

I shot her a dismayed look. “You’re just going to let them win?” I asked. She stared at me in response. “If you aren’t going to say something, I will.”

Leda shrugged, staggering under the weight of the books.

“Go right ahead. I’d love to see you try to put them in their place.”

I had a feeling her willingness came more from a desire to see me fail than to see Stephany cut down to size. The way she emphasized the word try left little doubt. The gauntlet thrown, I couldn’t back down. If Leda wouldn’t stand up to the third-year bullies, there was no reason for me to leave without taking a swing.

Following Leda’s example, I turned to depart from the library, smiling at Stephany as I approached. Her amusement wavered, dwindling into a confused question mark on her face. Apparently she wanted the first-years to scuttle away, intimidated, and certainly not making eye contact with her.

Well, not this first-year.

“Have a great day, Stephany,” I sang. “Always lovely to see you.”

Then the rug underneath her feet slipped and she fell on her bottom with a yelp.

“Look out,” I said over my shoulder as I sailed out the doorway. “A tree just fell in the library.”

The double doors slammed closed behind us. Leda’s eyes grew wide.

“What have you done?” she cried, breathless.

“Evened the playing field a bit,” I said in a dry tone. “Girls like that feel like they can get away with anything.”

Despite my boldness — or perhaps because of it — we sped up the stairs as fast as we could, neither of us relishing the idea of them coming after us. Leda slammed her bedroom door and propped the wooden chair from her desk underneath the old handle.

“There,” she said. “That might hold them for now.”

I had my doubts but didn’t voice them. A chair wouldn’t stop third-years on the rampage.

Her room wasn’t bare like mine but remained just as simplistic in design. A worn homemade quilt covered her bed, a few history books littered the windowsill, and the recent edition of the newsscroll Chatham Chatterer lay open on the floor. Leda kicked it to the side with her toe and unloaded all her books on the bed. All her possessions had a faded look, as if they’d gone through one person too many before settling on her.

“Grief!” she cried, shaking out her skinny arms. “Those stairs are awful with a load of books. I can’t wait until we learn levitation, and I can float them up. I’m too skinny for stuff like that.”

I carefully set my own armful beside hers, shaking out my arms as if they ached too, hoping she didn’t notice my poor show. The long sleeved uniform didn’t show it, but all my training and running with Papa had left me unusually strong for a girl.

“Finding the books took longer than I thought,” she said, casting an eye on the clock. “We don’t have very long. I can at least show you where we are in each subject.”

She sat on the edge of her bed as I gathered the books, pulling a new one out of the middle of one pile. The Natural Laws of Antebellum and Their Magical Application: A study of the physical world and how magic works.

“This one looks interesting,” I said, sifting through the pages written in a loopy, cursive script. When I turned to Leda, she was back in her trance-like state. She came out of it with a start and stared at me.

“You already know how to do this, don’t you?”

“Do what?”

Leda grabbed the nearest book and pushed it onto my lap. Basic Incantations and Their Everyday Use. I met her gaze.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Do a levitating spell.”

“No!”

Leda grabbed a feather quill and held it out. “I know you can. Levitate the feather.”

“How do you know I can?” An uncomfortable prickling feeling climbed up my spine. “We just barely met.”

She didn’t say anything else, just lifted her infernal eyebrow. It got so much exercise I wondered why it didn’t bulge with muscle. All the same, I knew I wouldn’t win. I could see it in her eyes.

“Fine,” I whispered on a sigh. The feather zipped out of her hand and hovered in the air between us. A triumphant look crossed her face.