My ears are ringing, and my eyes are gritty with smoke. I’m a bit dizzy, but thankfully I don’t totally blackout. Dannika pulls me to my feet, and I sway.

“Imogen!” She shakes me a bit. “Imogen! Are you all right?”

I nod and push her away. I need space. Fresh air would be good, too. “I…I’m fine…I think.”

I bend over, placing my hands on my knees, trying to breathe through the tightening in my chest. The events of moments earlier replay in my mind. I’d just done what Caleb instructed. I didn’t expect…that to happen.

“Hey,” I say, lifting my head back up too quickly, and feeling another round of dizziness. I’m struck by how queasy and overheated I feel.

Dannika holds my arm, which is the only thing keeping me from toppling over.

“You sure you’ve never done that before?” she asks.

“What happened?” I ask. “Is Caleb okay? Did I hurt anyone?” Frantically searching for Caleb, I spot him wiping soot off his face. His hair is streaked with black, but, strangely, he’s grinning.

“He’s fine.” Dannika says. “But I don’t know about you. That was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen!”

I shake my head, rub my forehead. Then my mind catches up with my vision, and I realize that something had looked wrong when I’d glanced at Caleb. I look again, but all I see are small lights floating around him, blinking slowly like fireflies. They fade, and I laugh inwardly.

I’m seeing spots. Because I practically self-combusted. Nothing weird about that.

Coach Thorne walks over, giving me a cursory inspection. “Why don’t you take her to the infirmary, Dannika?” I open my mouth to protest, but he doesn’t give me the chance. “Just in case.”

“Yes, Coach Thorne,” Dannika answers before leading me by the arm back to the locker room.

When we step inside, I pull away. “Thank you, Dannika, but really, I’m fine. I don’t want to miss class on my first day.”

Dannika steps behind me, placing her hands firmly on my shoulders. She steers me over to the mirror that hangs over the sinks. “I’d say you’re decidedly not fine.”

There, staring back at me, is the disaster formerly known as my face. My hair stands up in all directions, and it’s charred on one side in a way I know I won’t be able to repair—unless one of the Fae here have a hair magic ability—and there’s a slight burn on my right cheek.

“Oh gods,” I whisper, raising a hand to delicately prod the tender flesh on my face. That’s when I realize the damage isn’t just to my head. My fingers are also black where the fire exploded. “What happened out there?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Dannika says. She gives me a sympathetic grin, but her eyes are wide. Reaching past me to grab a towel off the sink, she then hands it to me. “Here, some cold water will help.”

I take it gratefully, and turn the faucet as cold as it can get, then soak the white fabric before dabbing it gingerly against my face.

“I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Dannika sounds impressed, but it only confuses me. Powers are normal here, right? But she’s not done.

“Tell me, and I promise I won’t tell anyone. Have you done that before? Were you just pranking Erick? Because if so—”

I turn toward her, pointing at my burned and blackened face. “Does this look like someone who knows what they’re doing?”

Dannika giggles, and takes the wet towel from my hand. “I guess not. Here—” She swipes it gently against my face. “You missed a spot.”

I’m not sure it’s doing any good, but when I glance back in the mirror, my face looks cleaner and the burn is fading.

“I might have helped,” Dannika says modestly. “A little healing magic. Not something fire Fae are really known for, so don’t get too hurt or I won’t be able to help you.”

I want to give her a hug, but we don’t know each other that well yet, so I just stand there awkwardly.

“I’ve never shot fire out of my hands before,” I say. “Really. Do you think maybe…maybe Caleb did it? To mess with Erick?”

“No, it definitely came from you,” she says. “He had let go and stepped back. You had this weird look on your face, like all screwed up. Then, you didn’t so much shoot fire as just…boom! A fiery explosion just…happened.”

I grab a brush from my bag, and then start the arduous task of trying to tame my wild ‘fro. “What do you mean you’ve never seen anything like it? We’re all fire elementals, right? Surely more powerful Fae than me can make fire bombs.”

“Sure,” Dannika agrees. “More powerful Fae than you. Not a baby ashling who just tapped into her powers for the first time.”

I change my clothes, tossing my smoke-infused and singed workout gear into the trash. What even happened? I remember getting mad when I thought about a memory of my mom, but mad enough to blow stuff up? What if that had happened in my world? What if I had hurt someone? Damn, how could Mom have tried to keep me hidden from people who understand what I am and can help me harness…whatever that was?

“Do we really have to go to the infirmary?” I ask. “I feel better than I look. I promise.”

She wraps her arm around my shoulders, which isn’t hard for her to do since she’s almost a head taller. “We’ll just make an appearance for a moment before heading to our next class. Okay?”

It sounds like an offer, but I get the sense I’m not getting out of this one. Maybe it will cause a problem for her with Coach Thorne if she doesn’t take me, so I go along with it. Besides, I’ve probably had enough fire training for one day.

Dannika leads me to the main building. The infirmary is just inside and to the right—the perfect location from the training fields. Though, I still don’t fully understand the need. It seems like Fae could just use magic to fix everything. Why would they need a nurse?

Dannika pushes the door open, letting me walk in ahead of her. I’m surprised to see at least five or six other students already there.

“Wow, party in the infirmary?” I ask jokingly.

“It’s a big school.”

A harried nurse with thick glasses and frizzy hair comes over to me, giving me a quick once over. “Hello, I’m Nurse Oshae. What’s wrong with you? Headache? Fainting? Nausea?”

Can she not see me? I mean, even with the little bit of healing and cleaning up Dannika did, it’s pretty obvious I…blew up, or whatever.

“Well, spit it out.” Nurse Oshae sounds harried. “Do you need to be quarantined with the others or away from them?”

Quarantined?

I look around at the other students, wondering if they all have the same symptoms. “Um…no,” I say. “I kind of exploded in training your powers class, or whatever—”

“Her powers went kaboom in Elemental Application, knocking her on her butt pretty hard,” Dannika explains. “I helped clean her up, but Coach Thorne wanted her to come here.”

“Oh, I see,” Nurse Oshae says. “Have a seat.”

As I start to sit down next to one of the other students, the nurse grabs my arm and pulls me toward the other side of the room.

“Are you daft? Not there. I just said quarantine.” She guides me to the empty chairs, holding her hand out behind her as she sits me down. A veil erects around where the other students are sitting. It looks sort of like an amniotic sac, with greenish-white veins pulsing through it. “Did you hit your head?”

“Maybe,” I say, rubbing the back of my head. It does feel a bit tender.

The nurse nods, and holds up her finger. “Follow this,” she says, moving her finger left, right, up, down. Then she takes out a pocket flashlight, shining it into my eyes a couple of times.

“Pupils look normal,” she says. “Very human.” She stands upright, addressing Dannika. “You said she caused an explosion?”

Dannika nods.

Nurse Oshae studies me. “You’re a halfling.”

“Yeah, an ashling,” I say, and the nurse gives me a strange look, and Dannika lets out a nervous laugh. “What did I say?”

The nurse just shakes her head. “Hold out your hands.”

I do as I’m asked, and she inspects my palms and fingers.

“Well, I see no reason for concern,” she says finally. “But if you have any dizziness or vomiting, come right back and see me. And don’t take any pain medicine for two days, even if you feel sore. It can dull your senses, so you might not notice if there are any more serious concerns. Do you have any questions?”

“I don’t think—”

One of the other girls in the room faints dead away, knocking a tray of instruments to the floor.

“Medic,” Nurse Oshae yells to what has to be one of her assistants, since they are dressed similar. She runs to the fallen student’s side. “Girls,” she shouts over her shoulder. “Get out of here!”

“Jeez,” I whisper to Dannika as we head to the door. “What do you think is wrong with her? Why are so many students sick?”

“Probably just faking to get out of class,” she says flippantly.

That seems strange to me. I mean, this is a magic school. Who would want to skip class here?

“Hey, Imogen,” someone calls as we exit the infirmary.

I turn to see Erick coming from the opposite side of the hall.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he says.

I fan my hand against my chest, interjecting as much damsel in distress into my voice as I can. “You’ve come to save me!”

He doesn’t seem to pick up on my sarcasm, but Dannika elbows me and laughs. “I gotta run to our room to get my textbook for the next class. You’re on your own.”

Erick’s face is flushed when he reaches me. “Of course I came. You’re my responsibility.”

I groan, looking after Dannika. “Hey! Wait up!”

I start after her, but even as she turns around to face me with a devilish grin, she keeps walking—backward now—to keep the distance between us. “Erick can show you to your next class. A History of Magic with Professor Goodkind. I’ll catch up with you later.”

With that, she spins back toward the direction she was going and turns a corner into an unseen hallway.

“Professor Goodkind,” Erick says, standing confidently beside me. “He’s great with the ashlings. If anyone can teach you something, it’s him.”

I whirl toward Erick, almost too aghast to speak. Almost, but not quite. “It’s a history class. I get that you think ashlings are weak, but gods, do you think we’re stupid, too?”

I storm off, not knowing where I’m going, but sure I’ll either figure it out or find someone else who can help me. Erick keeps stride with me, though.

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then how did you mean it?”

He speeds up a little, and then put himself in my path. “We got off on the wrong foot.” He holds out his hand. “Erick Greyspark. Nice to meet you.”

When I don’t take it, he scratches the back of his head.

“And you’re Imogen Flareburn, right?”

“You already know this,” I say, pushing past him.

His body doesn’t give as much as I expect. His pecs are really hard. My cheeks burn hotter at the thought, but I manage to get past. He doesn’t get in my way again.

After I take a few more steps, he calls out from behind me, “You’re going the wrong way.”

Infuriating!

Embarrassing is more like it.

I can’t decide which.

I do a one-eighty and head down the other hall. Erick falls into step beside me.

“So, how are you feeling?” he asks.

“Fine.” We have to pass the infirmary again. As we do, another student is led to the nurse. “Have you noticed how many people are sick? Kind of weird on the first day, right?”

Erick shrugs. “It’s a big school.”

“Yeah,” I mumble. “Everyone keeps saying that.”

Maybe I’m overthinking things. Or maybe I hit my head harder than I thought. Either way, I look around for someone—anyone else—who can save me from having to be awkwardly escorted to class by Erick.

Why is he here, anyway? Why couldn’t it have been Caleb? He was at least trying to help me find my powers.

“You should watch where you’re going,” Erick points out. “What are you looking for, anyway?”

“I was just…wondering if Caleb was okay. Looked like I singed him pretty bad. Maybe he should stop by the infirmary, too.”

Erick snorts. “Caleb? I’m sure his hard head is just fine. He had no idea what he was doing. I shouldn’t have let him step in. It was my job to keep you safe, and…”

“Keep me safe?” I snap. Someone really needed to clue this kid in. “What are you talking about? I don’t know you. You aren’t my guardian. You’re just ‘checking up on me’ to soothe your own ego. You couldn’t teach me or protect me if you tried.”

“It’s not about you.” Erick stresses the last word, making me feel a little bit like I overacted compared to how calm he is. “It’s my job to watch out for all the ashlings.”

I cross my arms. “Is it, though? Who gave you that job?”

“Okay, maybe job was the wrong word…” He purses his lips, which is quite the feat considering he’s just took his good foto in his mouth. “I mean that I see looking out for ashlings as my responsibility.”

“Then I’m sure there are plenty of other people around here who could use your ‘protection’,” I say, using dramatic air quotes for emphasis so he doesn’t miss my sarcasm again.

I get that he means well in his own mind, but I don’t appreciate being treated like I’m less-than just because I’m a halfling, and that’s exactly the assumption this guy seems to have about us.

“Look, Imogen, I’m truly sorry if I’ve offended you in some way. But it’s not fair for you to get upset with me for trying to help you.”

I tune him out when another person, obviously heading for the infirmary, stumbles between us. I grab the young man by his elbow to help him catch his balance.

“You okay?” I ask, because he so doesn’t look it.

“I just…feel faint,” he murmurs, pulling away and continuing down the hall. He has to catch himself a couple of times against the wall before he gets to the infirmary.

“Okay, that’s not normal,” I say.

Erick guides me further down the hall. “I’m sure it’s nothing. Look, we’re here.” He points to the door. “History of Magic.”

“How can you be so sure?” I ask.

He points again. “No offense, Imogen, but it says so right on the door.”

I hold back an irritated growl. “I mean, the people who are getting sick. How do you know it’s nothing?”

“The same way I know everything else better than you,” he says. “I’ve been here longer.”

Wow. I thought maybe Erick meant well and just had bad people skills, but now I’m pretty sure he’s just a dick.

“Yeah, you and everyone else,” I say. “Thanks for the reminder.”

With that, I turn on my heel and head into class, thankful he’s not in this one with me. But as I take a seat at an empty desk, I see another student limping down the hallway with the help of some friends. I bet they are heading toward the infirmary, too.

Something weird is definitely going on around here.