It had been two days since Zve said goodbye to her family. They went back to Chicago and she remained at Aria Academy, three hours from Boston.
She wasn’t depressed; she was happy to be there actually, and school was starting in three days, but she definitely felt lethargic.
Lily noticed.
“Missing home?” she asked. Zve nodded. “Don’t worry. As soon as classes start, you’ll be too busy to think about home. Pile on the clubs and activities, you’ll be at home here in no time,” Lily paused. “Helped me my first year.”
“How long have you been here?”
“I started attending last year in seventh grade. I can’t wait to graduate this year and go to high school. We’ll finally be allowed off campus without a pass! I guess trips to the grocery store will have to suffice.”
“How does that work?”
“Basically, the only thing eighth graders can do off campus is get groceries from the corner store. Anyone younger has to have someone go for them. Older kids can go farther, and even take the taxi,” Lily explained.
“The taxi?”
“Yeah. There’s only one taxi, but everyone loves it,”
“How come there’s only one taxi? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to have more?” Zve asked.
“Well the thing is-” Lily started.
“Attention students,” the loudspeaker announced. “This is Principal Vetrovoy speaking, making the announcement that all visitors are off campus. Code Green.”
Before Zve could ask what Code Green meant, Lily picked up one of the flower pots on her desk. The flower was a weak little thing, barely standing up on its stem. Zve guessed it was supposed to be an amaryllis, but she clearly wasn’t the flower expert.
“Finally, I’ve been wanting to practice,” Lily mused. She waved her hand around the plant, making intricate movements to and from it.
And then it started to grow until it was a healthy, full grown, crimson red amaryllis.
“And that’s my power!” Lily declared. “What’s wrong?”
Zve bolted from the room.
