three

Waking up was hard, he was too tired to notice last night but in his half-awoken state of approximately 9 in the morning, he realized that his legs dangled off the end of the foot of the bed, his mismatched socks sticking out like a sore thumb under the black blankets. 

 

“Mr. Izaz can get you a bed from the giantlings dorms, you could use it.” Theo spoke startlingly to the black haired boy. “Astris suggested cutting a hole in the wall for your head, Ruby shut that down quickly though.” 

 

“Ruby?” Nicolai mumbled, pushing himself to a sitting position. “Also weren’t we going to be able to sleep in?” 

 

“Ruby is Chulo. It’s a nickname. And you’ve actually slept about two hours later than the normal schedule.” 

 

“What about you, you’re fully awake, when did you wake up?” 

 

“I woke up at 7 with Astris and Chulo. I had to make sure they remembered Yenci’s tonic, he’s still finessing his skills as a water fae, the tonic has properties that promote the presence of his magic.” The shorter finally turned around from where he was looking in the standing mirror, as standard he wore the black uniform adorned with an orange tie, in addition he had put holographic glitter eyeshadow over his eyelids, and a soft liner around his eyes. “What do you think?” 

 

“It looks good.” Nicolai smiled softly, opening his trunk and reaching for the uniform. “You should teach me how to do eyeliner sometime. Kali always did it for me at home.” 

 

“Kali?” It was the smaller’s turn to ask questions now. “Is she-” 

 

“She’s my sister.” He answered, “'Mitri adored her, they used to paint each other's nails.” 

 

“Dimitri refuses to have his nails painted now. He used to last year.” 

 

“Just because it happened to me doesn't mean the incident only hurt me .” 

“What class do you have?” 

 

“Potions. We’re working on the timing of the moon in line with potions right now.” Theo spoke, turning around as Nicolai got changed. “And you?” 

 

“Herbology.” He added, cursing as he noticed the poor fit of his uniform. “I hate life.” He added, walking over to the mirror to fix his tie. 

 

“Wh-” Theo started before bursting into a fit of giggles.

As the duo walked to second period, Theo could barely contain his giggles at how Nicolai’s slacks had turned into loose fitting capris due to his extensive height, his shirt in a similar situation, just barely tucking into his pants. 

 

“This is humiliating.” Nicolai cursed under his breath as Theo left him at the herbology classroom, thankfully taught by the dorms head, Mr. Izaz. 

 

“Ah, Nicolai. I was wondering how your height was going to affect the uniform. I’ll write an excuse for you and you can change into free time clothes during lunch.” Mr. Izaz spoke gently. “The only rule is they can’t be jeans.” 

 

“Thank you, Mr.Izaz.” The boy spoke, a soft blush across his face. 

 

“Here, come sit by us!” Startled, the vampire looked over towards the voices. It surely wasn’t Astris or Theo, did the school mix grades? 

 

Upon this further investigation, Nicolai  finally realized who it was. Iden and Ryo. The witch looked deeply invested in the box garden in front of him, checking each herb fruitfully. The younger of the two, waving Nicolai over frantically. 

 

“I didn’t realize the academy has mixed grade classes.” Nicolai commented, sitting next to Ryo. 

 

“All the classes except for Voodoo are mixed grade, you have to be a senior to take voodoo.” Iden pouted. 

 

“None of us know why he wants to take voodoo so badly, it's best if you don’t ask to be honest.” Ryo spoke from where he focused on the box garden. “I’m sure Mr. Izaz will approach you about the elective courses the school offers during lunch. Astris really wants you to join Celestial Witchery, but you probably know most of it already since your mom was the former professor.” 

“Mother never taught me about the witchery aspects, simply the stars, constellations, and sky. I’ll have to consider it.” His tone was soft as he looked at the older boy. “She didn’t talk about her work while the family was home.” The ‘ Dad wouldn’t let her. ’ burns at his tongue. 

 

“Theo, Jon, and I all take Ms. Morelli's class on superstitions!” Iden shared brightly, eyes glowing into a majestic green rather than the previous yellow. “I think you’d like it. 

 

“Your eyes glow.” Nicolai said, head tilted slightly, ignoring Iden’s comment entirely.  “There’s few species that have eyes glowing the way yours do. Metemorphi are the most common, but I’m sure you would know if it was that. Perhaps a metemorphi mixed with something else.” 

 

“Theo said the same thing when we first met.” Iden smiled. “He ran a species potion on me once, and said it was inconclusive.” 

 

“Do you know which spell he used? If he used the thyme based potion it wouldn’t work on a mixed species. Only the marigold based potion works on mixed species.” Nicolai questioned, paying no attention to Mr. Izaz standing behind him. 

 

“Most of the students in the advanced herbology class know that, Nicolai. Color me impressed. That being said, class is beginning and I’d appreciate your focus.” Mr. Izaz spoke, causing the vampire to practically jump in the air. 

 

“Yes, Mr.Izaz.” Nicolai stuttered softly, pulling out his black notebook, a sticky note taped in the right corner reading ‘Herbology’ in messy handwriting. 

 

The notebook was quite full from his personal studies when he attended Human School, yet he knew there was much more to learn from Mr. Izaz then met the eye.