"Interesting to have a few students with familiars this semester. That will help give those who don't a glimpse of what it's like to have one aid you in your magic."
I twirled my pencil between my finger and lifted my other hand to fix my glasses on my face. The four-hour lecture was starting to bug my eyes from all the reading and taking of notes. Braxton had brought my glasses that I now kept in his drawer, otherwise, I'd lose them in our bedroom.
A week had passed by like the wind and today was Tuesday, which I called Familiar Day. Alice referred to it as "Take Your Familiar to Work Day" and was loving the class so far. Not because of the lecture part, but because of the second half where she'd get to show off her skills and awesomeness. There were four other familiars in our class of thirty people, but Alice showed no interest in any of them.
She said they were cranky rude fellas that thought they were the shit. We ended up changing her name back to Alice on the documentation. Kage assured me having a female familiar wouldn't do any harm as far as keeping my secret.
That made it easier since I was used to calling Alice by her actual name, not Ali and our professor was knowledgeable enough in familiars to know right away Alice wasn't a “he.”
We were in rows of three, Braxton sitting on my left and Kage to my right. Braxton wore his glasses to help him see the white magic board, and Kage was drawing on his otherwise blank sheet of paper.
When I realized he hadn’t taken notes during our first class, Braxton explained Kage knew everything there was to know about familiars, so much so he was probably more knowledgeable than our Professor, Mr. Huffling.
Kage’s intense knowledge made me wonder why he didn't have a familiar of his own. In my case, I always had Alice. Other people gained a familiar during their lifetime and a few had enough magic to create one of their own. I just felt if Kage had such vast knowledge, he should have the capability to create his own familiar.
"Okay, time for break. See you all on the field on the left side of campus for the next set of classes," Mr. Huffling announced.
We closed our books and I stretched, placing my glasses on my head before resting it on my crossed arms.
Kage poked my cheek. "Jinn, you okay?"
"Ya, I'm fine. Just tired," I admitted. My nightmares had gotten more frequent since coming to Brighten, either due to how close I was to where my brother died or because I was just afraid to walk past the exact location where his body had fallen, his blood pooling around him as he took his last breath.
I felt a hand rub my back and lifted my head to see Braxton's worried gaze. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?" he questioned. I sighed, sitting back up and stretching my arms again.
"I'll take a nap when we get home. We're probably gonna shower here after this session so that will calm me down," I replied. Our last familiar class was exhausting from all the magic casting Mr. Huffling wanted us to perform. Familiars were already magic draining since they relied on your magic to function and perform. After our first class, we were all a sweaty mess and by the time we got home, we smelled horrible. I would rather shower on the school grounds and at least have a refreshing walk home than deal with the AXE mayhem mixed with male odor. Not a pleasant combo at all.
"Okay, but don't push it," Braxton cautioned, taking my glasses off my head.
"Yes, Brax," I said dramatically and he rolled his eyes.
"See, this is what Zane and I deal with on a daily basis," Kage stressed.
I chuckled, shaking my head. "At least you know he actually cares under that hard ego of his."
"I don't even know what a hard ego entails," Braxton mumbled. I mentally squealed at his accent and the effects his deep voice had on me. It made me want to speak to him in his native language that I learned when I was younger. I wasn't as fluent as I used to be but I tried to refresh my vocabulary by watching Korean dramas whenever I could.
"Let's go eat?" Braxton asked.
"Sure. You think the others are on break too?" I questioned, creating a magic void to hold my belongings.
"Maybe Zane? He's alone in his class on Tuesdays. Maximus, Logan, and Nixon are in a different class. I think I remember Maximus saying they're not on campus for today's lesson," Braxton explained, looking intrigued by the mini void. The other lingering students were watching with curious expressions and Kage reached out and pulled out one my pens from the void.
I lightly tossed my stuff in it, my book and other supplies floating around. Braxton raised an eyebrow at me and I shrugged. "Why would I carry a bag when I can just put my stuff in here for easy access?' I commented.
Kage gathered his stuff and put it in the void, turning to give me a wide smile. "Can I put my stuff there too?"
Braxton laughed. "I think you're supposed to ask BEFORE you put your stuff in there, little bro."
I grinned, lifting my hand to ruffle Kage’s blue hair. "Sure. Brax?" I offered, looking at his books and both our glasses cases. He shrugged and pulled his glasses off, putting his in the green case and mine in my pink case. I wasn't ashamed of having a pink glasses case. Last time I checked, pink could be worn by both genders so no one could tell me I couldn't rock pink even as a male.
Braxton tossed his stuff into the void, aiming perfectly and I snapped my fingers to close it. "See? Easy." I hummed.
"You know the most interesting spells," Braxton complimented.
"Creative too," Kage added.
"Thanks, guys. Let's go see if Zane is in the halls?" I suggested. They both nodded and Alice lifted her bunny head to look at me. I petted her softly. Then she walked over to Braxton to poke his hand with her nose.
"What's up, Alice? Go bother Kage," Braxton mumbled, but Alice stayed, continuing to nudge him. He sighed, picking her up before he rose.
"Let's go before all the Solarity girls gather outside and take pictures of me holding a white bunny,” he grunted and I laughed as I got up.
I leaned in to whisper in his ear, speaking fluent Korean. "Totally hot and I'd buy every single copy."
His face turned bright red and I smirked before shuffling out of the row. Kage raised an eyebrow while staring at his brother.
"What did you say?" he wondered.
"That he'd be an internet sensation holding a bunny and giving the females a run for their money. Think of the girlfriend potentials. He'd have application after application," I teased, putting my hands into my pant pockets. Kage grinned.
"I can totally see it. Mom did say you should come back with a girlfriend," Kage winked.
I grinned. "Oh really?" I winked, making my way down the stairs, with Kage right behind me.
"You guys love teasing him. Those girls don’t even care about Braxton. It's thanks to my adorable cute nature that those girls would squeal in awe," Alice declared.
Uh huh. I think that's your confidence talking. Are you going to be ready for the second half?
Alice giggled in my head. "I'm always ready. Plus, I'm being carried like a queen. I'm gonna nap," she declared, making me mentally chuckle.
I glanced back to see Braxton walking not too far behind us down the stairs, holding Alice like she was a fragile item.
I smirked, thinking how cute it was that he was actually willing to carry Alice around. It was normal for Kage and even Nixon now. Braxton on the other hand, just looked like a hot model carrying a cute animal to pose for a sexy magazine.
My mind was already working its magic envisioning his naked body posing in front of me while holding adorable bunnies in a way that hid his cock from view. Still, seeing the tip of his length, even just in my imagination, made me immediately snap out of it. I didn’t want to have to hide in the washroom because of a large bulge in my pants.
Kage walked in front as we made our way out of the classroom and into the crowded hall. A few classes normally had break during this time, so the halls were busy as people bustled off to the cafeteria or outside to the food trucks and the section of restaurants on the south side of the campus.
Braxton caught up to us, walking next to me while Kage looked around, trying to spot Zane as we made our way down the hall. We had seen him last week in this building so had assumed he’d be here somewhere if his class was also on break.
"You should speak Korean more often," Braxton whispered, in that same language..
I grinned. "Why? Your brothers can understand me too, you know."
"It's rather sexy and makes me curious how it would sound when you're in your other form,” he answered in a hushed tone. I kept my outer expression calm but my inner girl was squealing at the compliment. It made me wonder how hot it would be to hear Braxton's seductive voice whispering in my ear.
Nope. Heel, imagination. We're in the hallway and I don't want to get hard because of such thoughts. Ugh, I need to get laid. No, I'll just resort to masturbation. That will help and the guys won't know what their compliments and sexy bodies do to me. Yes, that sounds like a plan.
"Zane!" Kage called out, spotting his brother who was with two other friends. We paused, waiting for Kage to get Zane. While we waited, Braxton and I turned to face each other.
"How are your other classes going?" Braxton asked.
"Not bad. Workload doesn't seem very hard. I think the hardest class is Superior Studies," I confessed, doing a mental overview of all the lessons from last week.
Braxton groaned, ruffling his hair. "That class is gonna be a pain. I hate drawing out spells. It kind of shows the different sides of Ms. Landsford, though. She's easygoing in Casting class compared to Superior. It's like she's a whole different teacher in that class.
"I agree," I replied before switching to Korean. "My mother always spoke highly of her knowledge and capabilities, but I really was underestimating her. She hides her magic so perfectly, you'd think she's harmless," I praised.
Braxton nodded. "She's well known and seems even stronger than when I had her the first time I came here,” he replied, also in Korean.
I opened my mouth to speak but then noticed Kage walking back to us without Zane. Braxton followed my confused gaze and he frowned at his brother's upset expression.
"What's up?" Braxton asked.
"Zane doesn't wanna eat with us today. He has plans," Kage grumbled. We looked back to where Zane was still talking to his two classmates. They laughed and Zane patted each of them on the shoulder before they began walking towards the exit.
I looked back at Kage. "New friends?" I asked.
"Ya. I think their brothers are in the 'cool crowd’ so they’re already popular by association. Plus they are pretty strong and in the majority of Zane's classes. We don't have any classes together so..." Kage trailed off.
Alice opened her eyes and squirmed in Braxton's hand, who passed her over to Kage. He smiled brightly, taking Alice into his hand and petting her gently.
"Hey, Alice. Want to cheer me up? Let's go buy you some carrots from the cafeteria before the line gets long," Kage suggested. He looked up to us. "Don't worry about Zane. It's not a big deal," Kage reassured us.
I took a quick side glance at Braxton who looked unimpressed. "Who is in your other classes?" he asked.
"I have a class with each of the other guys. Maximus is in all three of my other classes and Physical is with Nixon and Logan. I'm good, bro. Don't worry." Kage smiled. "I'm gonna go ahead to the cafe. I'll wait in line for you guys. Don't take too long."
"We can go together?" I suggested.
Kage shook his head from side to side. "Alice will start biting my finger if we get stuck in the cafeteria line like last week. She's not patient at all,” he complained.
"I was hungry." Alice defended and I sighed.
"She was hungry, but I do agree. Last week the line took a good half of our break. We'll catch up with you," I encouraged. He nodded, giving another reassuring look at Braxton before running off with Alice.
I patted Braxton's shoulder. "Brax. They can't be together all the time,” I reminded.
"I know, but that doesn't mean Zane has to brush him off like that. It's the second week of school. Could have at least been nicer about it," Braxton grumbled.
We moved to the side of the hall, not wanting to block traffic even though everyone moved around us like we were a barrier.
"I get it. Peer pressure? Maybe he doesn't want to always be seen attached to Kage?" I suggested.
Braxton sighed. "Kage waited a year because Zane didn't want to enter Brighten on his own. I think it's a real stab in the back when, after being here less than a week, he ditches Kage like old laundry."
"What. Kage waited too?" I always forgot that Kage was older than Zane but I didn't realize he got accepted last year.
"Yes. The original plan was I was going to go with Kage since he's the quieter one. I knew he could be easily bullied if people didn’t take the time to get to know him," Braxton explained.
We began to walk down the hall which had cleared out significantly, heading towards the exit which led to the cafeteria.
"Zane is the more outgoing one and makes friends easily, so I thought he'd be just fine and wouldn't be targeted, unlike Kage. But when Kage got his acceptance, Zane asked if he could delay a year so they could go together."
I grimaced at the thought, now understanding why Kage would be upset. "I would be mad if Zane ditched me so early in the game."
"Exactly, and the one thing I worry about with Kage is he's the silent type. He won't say anything until he can't take it anymore and explode. He takes after our mom that way," Braxton admitted.
"Maybe Zane will eat with him next time they see each other. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet," I consoled, wishing I could give him more comfort than that. I knew Braxton really cared about his brothers and didn't want either of them getting hurt or involved in whatever this cult-like club was. We hadn't determined what their exact requirements were, aside from wanting strong magic users. I hoped neither Kage or Zane ended up on their radar, but we'd have to be cautious anyway.
I didn't know if the guys from the party were a part of that crowd, but they picked on Nixon who had been minding his own business, so maybe Braxton was right and the quieter types were easier targets for bullies.
We turned the corner and saw the cafeteria building, with a long line out the door and along the side of the building. Braxton stopped and I followed suit, turning to face him.
"I hope so. Kage doesn't show it but I can tell he was really bummed about it," Braxton whispered.
I walked back up to him. "Kage will be fine. They can't always be together and he knows that. It's just during school. In the evenings they'll both be home and they share the same room. It shouldn't be a problem." I pointed out. Braxton nodded, looking slightly relieved.
I turned around and walked right into someone's chest.
"Ow," I huffed, taking a step back. Hands landed on my shoulders to stop me from falling and I looked up to see Braxton with a scowl on his face.
"Watch it,” he warned.
I looked back at the guy in front of me who quickly bowed, seeming nervous. "Sorry. Didn't see him,” he apologized, before running away. I heard some guys laughing to my left and I turned to see Eric, Andrew, and Nick. I frowned, narrowing my eyes at them which shut them up real quick.
"You okay?" Braxton asked, following my gaze. "Want me to beat them up?"
I laughed, shaking my head before stepping out of his hold. "Nah. Waste of time and I'm starving. I think I could teach them a lesson if I ever get to face one of them in Physical Studies."
"Hmph.” Braxton nodded, then waved his hand in a flicking motion. A flood of water appeared out of nowhere, soaking the three of them. The guys all grunted, coughing out water and cursing while the other students glanced at them in confusion.
I gawked at Braxton who patted me on the shoulder. "There. They'll think twice before messing with you." He winked and began walking forward.
I grinned, internally squealing at his protective nature. I absolutely loved it and his compassion towards his brothers never ceased to amaze me. I took one last glance at the three guys when I noticed a pair of eyes staring at me. Before I could clear my vision, the person turned, only their orange hair noticeable from this distance. I frowned, feeling like I'd seen someone like that before but shook my head, dismissing the idea.
"I'm so hungry."
I took quick steps to catch up with Braxton and we went into the cafeteria building to find Kage and Alice.
For now, we'd just have to keep an eye out on those three guys since my gut told me they were bad news.