WitchCraft Academy (The First Book)
The Fifth Chapter

I quickly return to the Academy, realizing that I have been away for a lot longer than intended and it's already dark. As I step into the castle and make my way toward the girl's dormitories, I spot Nico rushing down the hallway, calling out my name.

"Shit," I mutter quietly before he reaches me. He has to be the most boring person on this planet but at least he is nice. And cute. Nico is Hispanic with curly hair, big brown eyes and a really nice smile but you can tell he's been very privileged his whole life.

"Hey, I've been looking for you," he say, grinning ear to ear as he walks up to me.

"What's going on?" I inquire, noticing Axel slowly passing by us, even though he's not looking in our direction I know he's listening.

"I was wondering if you'd like to hang out tonight," he asks cheerfully.

"I would love to," I reply, lightly touching his arm and flashing a playful smile. "When and where?"

"Meet me at the treehouse at midnight," he says, pulling me in for a hasty kiss. I quickly reciprocate and smile before making my way to my room, where Juniper and Ethan await me.

"Where on earth have you been?" Ethan interrogates the moment I close the door. "You disappeared for nearly two hours!"

"Yeah, well Sable managed to escape much further than I thought he would," I confess, unzipping my bag and releasing my familiar onto my bed.

"Tell them about the warlock," Sable hisses at me in a smug tone.

"Quiet down. You're grounded," I scold him. There's no way I'm revealing the existence of the ancient warlock to Juniper and Ethan just yet. Not u til I know what to do about him. I know I should tell The Sisters but he doesn't want me to.

Juniper and Ethan exchange confused glances but remain silent. Conversations with familiars are meant to be private, after all, which is why only you can understand your own familiar and not anyone else's. Unless they were to possess their familiar to carry messages back and forth, which we do often here.

"Now that you're back, I'm heading home to my boyfriend," Ethan yawns, rising from my bed. "Em, please don't let your familiar roam outside the Academy again."

"Trust me, I won't. Turns out he's not the most well-behaved," I remark, shooting a glare at Sable, who has already claimed a cozy spot on my pillow.

"I've been telling you to train him better. Nimble never wanders off like that," Ethan points out, referring to his fluffy little gray bunny.

"Well, Nimble isn't as much of a free spirit as Sable," I defend my lizard, earning a laugh and an eye roll from Ethan as he exits the dorm.

"Poor Ethan. We really stress him out," Juniper giggles.

"He'll survive," I assure her confidentially. "Just don't let him know I'm sneaking out to meet Nico tonight."

"Ember! It's rare for me to say this, but you might be pushing your luck," she responds, sitting up straight on her bed and giving me a concerned stare.

"I know. I wasn't planning on it, but Axel happened to be passing by and..."

"...And you wanted to make him jealous," Juniper finishes my sentence. "But if you don't like him, why bother?"

"Because it's amusing," I reply, flashing her a mischievous grin. I also like knowing that he is completely in love with me, it makes me feel good about myself. And he's completely hot and every girl at this school is crazy over him.

"Where are you two going?" She asks curiously, changing her tone and sitting down next to me.

"The treehouse," I reveal in a guilty tone.

"The fuck-house?" She asks, shocked, and I roll my eyes at her, bumping my shoulders into hers.

"It's not like that," I explain quickly. "I'm not sleeping with him."

"Does Nico know that?" She questions, raising an eyebrow.

"No, probably not. But I'll make it clear once we're there. We'll make out for a while, then I'll be back by two," I respond, heading into the bathroom to shower and closing the door behind me.

While I'm in the depth of my shower, my mind drifts to Silas. We've heard tales of other dimensions before, but traveling between them is incredibly rare, almost impossible. My world must appear incredibly bizarre and terrifying to him, especially considering his world hasn't even discovered electricity yet. Tomorrow night, I'll have to sneak out once again to bring him more food, blankets, and perhaps even my portable DVD player with a case of movies so he knows what this world is like.

With my shower complete, I slip into my little red dress. It's short, tight, and certainly provocative enough to drive Nico wild. And Axel if I run into him. I tie my long white hair up into a high ponytail and apply a dramatic smokey eye and red lipstick.

"I'll be back by two!" I call out to Juniper as I stealthily exit our room, descending the stairs and making my way through the hidden tunnels towards the treehouse situated right in front of the Academy. The air is freezing cold, cold enough for snow, and I instantly regret my attempt to be sexy as my legs begin to tremble from the chill. Nonetheless, I push aside my physical discomfort and ascend the hanging rope ladder leading up to the tall treehouse.

Nico is waiting for me inside, and I'm happy to see that he's brought some floating balls of fire from the supply closet. They provide a warm and luminous atmosphere. As I enter, I notice the cozy setup with pillows and a blanket on the floor, and I join Nico, sitting next to him.

"Hey," he greets me with a kiss on the lips. "You look hot. I honestly didn't think you'd make it."

"Why wouldn't I?" I ask innocently, pulling the blanket over my chilly legs.

"It just seems like you've been avoiding me lately," he confesses, moving closer and covering himself with the blanket as well.

"I've just been busy with school," I lie, not wanting to be rude to him.

"Yeah, right," he snorts. "Seems more like you're breaking the rules and avoiding me. But it's okay. I just wanted to make sure we're okay. I care about you a lot."

"Thanks, Nico. I care about you too," I tell him. And I genuinely do care about him, just not in the same way. I'm starting to feel guilty about it.

He starts kissing me, and I'm relieved that we're done talking. He's a good kisser, and I don't stop him when his hand moves up to my chest. He climbs on top of me, and I wrap my legs around his waist, intensifying the kiss as our tongues explore each other's mouths. Something we have done a hundred times before.

I feel his fingers lingering outside my underwear, and I push him away.

"Why did we stop?" Nico asks, confusion all over his face.

"I'm just not ready to go that far," I say honestly, looking down at the bedding.

"We've been together for six months and haven't gone past making out," he complains. "Don't you want your first time to be with me?"

"Of course," I lie again. "Just not yet..."

"We don't have to go all the way," he says, kissing me again and pulling my dress up to my waist. Once again, I push him away.

"Nico, no. I'm not ready," I tell him firmly.

"It's not a big deal, Em. It's not like I'm some random guy," he insists, attempting to kiss me again. This time, I push him away before he can.

"Nico, stop!" I raise my voice. "I don't want to. I'm going home."

He pulls away in frustration. "Then why would you show up dressed like that, leading me on?"

Anger starts to bubble up inside me, but before I can reply, we hear a thud near the door and I look up, shocked to see Axel.

"She says she doesn't want to. Why don't you go back to the dorms?" Axel says, crossing his arms and glaring at Nico. I quickly pull my dress down to cover my underwear before he sees it.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" Nico shoots back. "This is between me and my girlfriend."

"That's funny because I've never heard her refer to you as her boyfriend. And she definitely doesn't want to fuck you," Axel taunts him with amusement in his eyes.

Nico steps up, getting in Axel's face, and I quickly stand up, trying to defuse the situation. "Hey guys, maybe we should all just head back to the school. Let's just forget all of this."

"Stay out of this, Ember," Nico says coldly. "Someone should teach this asshole to stay out of everyone's business."

"And someone should teach you how to tell when a lady doesn't want you," Axel retorts with a goofy smile.

Nico doesn't find it funny at all because, before I can even process what's happening, he punches Axel in the face. Axel looks shocked for a moment, then punches him back, and the two of them engage in a full-blown fist fight in the treehouse. I move to the corner, yelling at them to stop, but they both ignore me.

Nico attempts to jump at Axel to tackle him to the ground, but Axel kicks him in the chest. Nico then loses his balance on the edge of the open floor door. Axel tries to grab his hand and help steady him, but before he can, Nico tumbles out of the treehouse, falling at least twenty feet in the air and to the ground with a loud thud.

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