Page 89 of An Arcane Education
Location: Conference Room A, Administrative Wing, Castle
You are hereby notified of a formal disciplinary hearing regarding your potential expulsion from Arcadia Academy. The charges are as follows:
1. Reckless and uncontrolled use of magic posing a threat to student safety
2. Potential involvement in the death of student Mitchell Hansley.
Failure to appear at this hearing will result in immediate expulsion and any additional measures deemed as necessary to maintain the privacy and integrity of the institution and the parties involved. The Respondent may bring legal counsel at their own expense if desired. All proceedings will be confidential and closed to the public.
I can’t breathe. This can’t be happening. I tried to do the right thing, reporting Mitchell’s death, and now they’re accusing me of somehow being involved? Do they thinkIkilled him? They haven’t even released a cause of death yet.
But something suspicious must have happened if they’re trying to blame me.
My breath comes in short, shallow gasps as my legs give out and I sink to the floor with my back against thewall of mailboxes. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I’m hit with something that threatens to ruin my entire life. What happens if they do somehow manage to pin his death on me? Will I end up in some sort of magical prison for a crime I didn’t even commit?
My vision goes black around the edges as I hyperventilate on the floor of the lobby, my hands shaking violently with the paper still gripped between my fingers. My magic threatens to break free at the sheer intensity of the emotions encompassing my body, and I don’t bother to hold it back.
Max walks into the lobby just as every lightbulb in the room shatters above us, raining down glass. It’s dark for only a second before the sconces along the wall magically come to life, the orange flames flickering. A faraway memory pops into my head of someone telling me that the sconces were enchanted as a sort of backup lighting system since the storms from the ocean knock out the power so frequently.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” Max rushes to my side and crouches down beside me.
I don’t have the energy to speak. I can only shake my head and hand her the letter. Every part of me is numb.
Max grabs the paper and scans it in the dim lighting. Her face pales and her jaw drops. “Those motherfuckers,” she hisses. “This is absolute bullshit and they know it.”
I stare blankly at the wall.
“Come on,” she says, standing and lifting me alongside her. “Let’s go to our room. We’ll find a way out of this.”
I wish I could believe her.
She manages to guide me upstairs to our room, where I sit on the edge of my bed and bury my head in my hands while she paces back and forth across the small space.
“You’re not getting expelled,” Max insists, her tone fierce and determined. “We’ll fight this. They have no proof of anything because obviously you didn’t do this, and you aren’t any kind of threat to safety.”
I close my eyes. “How? What defense could I possibly give besides ‘I didn’t do it?’ The hearing istomorrow, Max. Literally twelve hours from now.”
“We’ll figure out something.” She sits on her bed, snagging a notebook from her desk and flipping it open. “Okay, so they’re accusing you of being a threat to student safety. Do you think that ties in to their accusations about Mitchell, or could it be something different?”
My voice is monotone when I answer, “My magic. The Chancellor asked me about it toward the beginning of the semester and insinuated I needed to get it under control before I hurt someone. Then, I don’t know, maybe me being reckless by going out in the woods and collecting the mushrooms.”
Max scribbles something down in her notebook.
“Okay, and let’s think of the things related to Mitchell’s death. He went missing on the night of the ball, right?”
I nod, and she writes more.
“Well, you have an alibi because we were together literally all night. Me, Delilah, Callista, and Avery can all vouch for you.”
“Will that even matter? They might not take your word for it since we’re all friends.”
“I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot. There’s no information about why they’re accusing you?” She turns the letter over, rereading it in case she missed something.
“No. I’m sure they’ll tell me tomorrow when I can’t prepare any sort of defense, though.”
Max throws her notebook at the wall, and I jump at her sudden burst of anger. “They can’t fucking do this!” Tears brim in her eyes. Then, more softly, she says, “You’re the first real friend I’ve ever had. They can’t take you away from me.”
I thought I’d cried all the tears I had left, but a fresh wave overcomes me as I watch Max show true vulnerability for the first time since I’ve known her. Despite her sarcastic, aloof attitude, she really does care about me, and that makes all of this hurt even more.
