Chapter 1

A New School

Emily

“Em, can you get the mail?” Mom called. “Jess is crying and Sally needs help with her homework.”
“Sure, Mom!” I shouted back to Jen, the woman who loves and cares for the 11 other orphan girls in the house and me, even though she isn’t really our mother. But Jen loves us anyway, and she’s always been a mother to me.
I walked outside and grabbed the assortment of packages, letters, and catalogs in and around the mailbox. I pushed my glasses into place as I straightened up. As I walked back inside, I scanned through the pile to see if I had mail. Not that I was expecting any. I spotted Kia’s magazines, Chelsea’s millions of party invitations, and all the junk mail and bills. Then, all of a sudden, a parchment envelope appeared in the stack with my name in scripted calligraphy on the front. After loudly announcing to the house that the mail had arrived, I rushed past my sisters coming to get their mail and went into the kitchen. While it wasn’t as comfortable as my room, it was silent, unlike the rest of my house. Even though I loved all my sisters very much, it was almost impossible to keep anything hidden, especially since I shared my room with two other people.
I shut the door and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. The letter looked quite official. Since I had just turned 14, I was only heading into the public high school next week when school started. So unless Mom had enrolled me into some crazy private school, I couldn’t imagine what the letter was.
The suspense was too much. I carefully slit the envelope open and pulled out a folded letter, again written on parchment. I unfolded the letter curiously. As I scanned it, I started to laugh. “Mom! Hey, Mom, come look at this letter! What a joke!” I shouted as I ran up the staircase.
I stumbled into Mom as she passed the staircase with an enormous basket of laundry. With 13 members of the household, all girls, mom had her work cut out for her. The basket was piled high with shirts, shorts, and dresses in all sorts of styles. When I crashed into Mom, the collection of clothing spilled all over the floor.
“Emily, what are you doing? Help me pick up all these clothes,” Mom sighed.
“Wait, look at this prank! Do you think Cass sent it? Or maybe Joyce?” I giggled.
As Mom read the letter, a puzzled look came onto her face. “Em, come into my room, okay?”
I stopped laughing. One of the very few rules we had was to never go into Mom’s room. I’d only been in there a few times.
We collected the clothes, and I followed Mom into her room. “Honey, that letter isn’t a prank,” she told me as she sat down on her bed. I looked down at the letter in wonder.

To Jennifer and Emily Rhodes:
We are pleased to inform Emily that she has been accepted into Candlewick Academy. Term began 3 weeks ago, but if Emily chooses, she may reply with a schedule complying with the following slots and classes:

6:00-7:00 AM: _______

7:05-7:35 AM: Breakfast

7:35-8:35 AM: Free Time

8:40-9:40 AM: _______

9:45-10:45 AM: _______

10:50-11:50 AM: _______

11:55-1:00 PM: Lunch

1:05-2:05 PM: _______

2:10-3:10 PM: _______

3:10-4:05 PM: Free Time

4:10- 5:45 PM: Study Hall

6:00-7:00 PM: Dinner

7:05-8:05 PM: _______

8:05-9:30 PM: Free Time

Emily’s Available Classes: Starred classes are required

Mythology

Ocean Life

Dragons

Fairies

Wizards

Pirates

Monsters

Egyptians

Ghosts

*Weapons 101

*Magical History

Choose 4-7 classes from above. It is recommended that you choose classes your family members have taken, or classes that interest you. There are advanced courses for every class. It is important to decide which classes are best for you, for you will most likely be in that class for the majority of your time at Candlewick.

Sincerely,

Minda Sorcen

Headmistress of Candlewick Academy

Mom doesn’t lie, I thought. But... “Mom, you can’t be serious! This is magic you’re talking about. It’s not real!” I whispered.

“Emily, it is real. I’m sorry I never told you, but our town has strictly forbidden any magical talk. They-- er, we-- believe that magic just brings trouble.” I stared at her incredulously.

“So, wait. Everyone in this town. They believe in magic?” I asked with an incredulous look on my face. She noticed my skeptical look, and sighed.

“Yes, they believe in it. They also believe that it causes trouble.” Noticing that my expression still showed disbelief, she told me something she hadn’t told any of us. “I’m serious, Emily. In fact, I went to high school at Candlewick. Hold on, I’ll go dig out my old diploma,” she replied. She walked off to her closet and started to shuffle boxes and bags.

This gave me time to think. Again, I thought, Mom doesn’t lie, so I guess… I guess it’s true. Should I go to this school? If I go, what classes will I take? What if Candlewick is wrong? What if—
Mom returned. “Found it!” she exclaimed as she handed me a lavender paper. “My fairy graduation diploma!”
The gold script on the paper read, “We are pleased to announce the graduation of Jennifer Rhodes from Candlewick Academy with excellence in Fairies.” There was other official writing, but that was irrelevant.
As I pondered over the diploma, Mom studied me and asked, “Do you want to go to Candlewick, Em? I think you’d like it there.”
I burst out, “How do you know? I’m just an orphan who can’t remember her own parents! They were probably shunned from society, living on the streets! How would Candlewick know if I’m magic? What if I’m not?”
Mom closed her eyes. “Candlewick doesn’t make mistakes, Emily,” she sighed. “Honey, I have to show you something, Come here.” She walked over to her dresser and began to unlock a little chest. She pulled out a lavender journal, with the title on the cover reading Ailith. Mom handed it to me and watched me examine it for a moment before she began. “Em, when I found you 12 years ago, you were holding this book wrapped up in brown paper. You were confused and calling for your mom. The next day, you didn’t remember any of it. All you knew was that your name was Emily,” she told me. “But I could feel something special about you. I knew you were different, but it was in a good way.”
I thought on that. “So, I should go to Candlewick?” I asked.
Mom smiled and replied, “Yes, Emily. It’s where you belong.”
My mind spinning, I thought, Well, she’s had 14 years to see what I’m like. I think that if she’s attended this school, then she’ll know what kind of person should go there. “Thanks, Mom,” I smiled, and then hesitated. “So... what classes should I take?”
“Well, obviously Fairies, since you have a journal about fairies from your family, and you’ve lived with me for so long. We can’t be sure about the rest, so I suppose you can take anything, Emily,” Mom answered. “Three classes that go well with Fairies are Wizards, Dragons, and Monsters, but—“
“Wait. Monsters? So there really are monsters? Like, under the bed?” I interrupted.
“Not in the sense commonly thought of. In the magical society, ‘monsters’ refers to any magical creature, good or bad,” she replied.
“Hm. I’ll take Mythology as my first class,” I began slowly, reading over the letter again. “That’s pretty basic, right? So then I’ll take Dragons and Wizards. I suppose I could try Pirates, and it says here that I’m going to have to take Weapons 101,” I continued, talking faster. “And I’ll add Fairies here. I have to take that. I guess Monsters can be next, and then Magical History, of course,” I finished.
“Just remember, you’re only suggesting this to Candlewick. That might not be exactly what you get, okay?” Mom hesitantly put in. “Here, I’ll just fill out the letter and send it back.”
“How—” I began as Mom picked up the letter. She licked her thumb like she would when turning the page of a book, used the same thumb to write on the envelope, and the letter disappeared. My jaw hung slack.
Mom winked and said, “I wasn’t too bad at wizardry, either.”
I just stood there for a moment. “O-okay,” I stumbled over the word. “When do I leave?”
“I’ll drive you tomorrow,” Mom replied. “What with the advanced wizards and all, they’d be ready for you tonight if you showed up. This way, though, you can have a day to see what it’s all about, and then a weekend to figure things out. You’ll sleep in a “guest room” your first night, and get a dorm assignment the next day.”
“When do I come home?” I asked.
“Well, you can come home for one week at Christmas, and two weeks during summer break are set aside, too,” Mom replied. “That may not seem long enough,” she argued as I started to reply, “but you won’t be able to wait to get back to class, you’ll see.”
The letter reappeared. Mom opened it and exclaimed, “You got the schedule you wanted, perfect!”

○○○

As I said goodbye to Mom late Thursday night and wheeled my suitcases into the school, I silently wondered what I was getting myself into. I hardly knew anything about this place, let alone about magic!
Mom had a great time here. You will too! A small voice in the back of my head reassured. As I checked in at the front office, I began to get tired. I checked my watch. It was already 10:30! I had to get to bed so I could get up on time tomorrow.
The secretary gave me directions to go down the hall to Room A, the room where I would spend the night. I was so tired, and I was glad the room was just a little ways away. When I finally set my stuff down, I changed into my pajamas and fell asleep.

○○○

I woke up very slowly. Why didn’t Mom wake me up? Was it already the weekend?
I opened my eyes. I blearily realized I wasn’t at home. I was at Candlewick! I frantically glanced around for a clock while I got dressed, until I remembered I was wearing a watch. It was 5:55! I had five minutes to get to class!
Three minutes later, I was running down the hall. First bell rang. I flinched, but kept my pace.

I saw a classroom. I looked through the window on the door and saw some burly kids riding a boat on the ocean. Yeah, the ocean. In a classroom. But I was so afraid I would be late that I didn’t stop to really think about what I had just seen. I backed away and sprinted off again. I heard the second bell. I was late.

And there you have it! Chapter 1 of Candlewick Academy, the first time around!