Disclaimer: I own everything!

Chapter 2: Shocking News, Explanations, and A Possible Crush?

'I-I'm a what?"

Dina looked at me with an apologetic expression. "You're a familiar," she explained. "Usually familiars and witches attend school together so they aren't in so much of a shock when it happens. Your case is… unique. Your parents gave you up right when you were born. We had no idea that you even existed until Abby called and let you know."

"The- the chief knows?" I asked in shock.

Dina nodded. "You would be surprised at what the authorities know. Abby is not a witch or a familiar, yet she knows about us to be able to protect the town. Especially when we have young students sneaking off at all times of the night."

"How could she tell?"

Dina just smiled at me. "Familiars have certain… distinct traits depending on what animal you will turn into. For example, you tend to enjoy arching your back and, according to your foster parents, and according to the authorities who you have spent quite a bit of time with, you tend to take what are referred to as cat naps." I couldn't help but blush. "Don't worry, it's very common."

"That cat we saw? And those birds?"

"All children," she assured me. "Although they're children who will be earning a month's detention for being out of bed so late."

"How can I be a familiar?" I questioned. "I mean, I can't do anything except for get into trouble with the authorities and not fit in anywhere. I mean, I even got ostracized in juvy and that's just not something that happens. I mean, not unless you killed someone or something."

Dina decided to not say anything about that, which I guess was good. I mean, what the hell is a familiar? I know that they're animals who watch over witches, I have seen movies. Other than that, though, I seriously have no idea. I mean, what's even the point of them? Aren't they just there for the sake of being there or was there a bigger reason for them?

"Now, you're going to attend regular classes for the afternoon, but in the morning, you'll be practicing with me." I nodded at Diana. "And if anyone asks, you ran away from the academy in South Africa. We have made sure that none of the students knows much about this."

"I-I can't transform though. I can't change into anything."

"It happens on a familiar's seventeenth birthday, which I believe for you, is next weekend? All Hollows Eve?"

I nodded.

"Alright," Headmaster Devlin said, clapping his hands together. "Dina will escort you to your room. Breakfast is at 7 and lunch is at noon."

Dina and I both left the office and proceeded to climb more stairs. It was dead silent, only our footsteps echoing made any kind of noise. It felt weird, almost as if there was some dangerous secret. Then again, what kind of dark secret could this place possibly have? They already had witches and shape- shifters there, but maybe vampires or zombies? I'll admit, seeing a vampire would be beyond anything I could think of, but it would be downright amazing.

"So, I'll start changing on Halloween?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes. The midnight signaling All Hallows Eve, which means that you will not be in classes on the 30th." I nodded. "It's a big change, even for the rest of us, but you'll be fine. After the transformation, it will feel as if you've always known about familiars. It will feel as though you have never known your true purpose in life until it happens."

I nodded as I noticed that we were standing at a closed door. "Do I know whose familiar I'm going to be?"

Dina smiled at me. "You'll find out when you change." I nodded again. "Take a little cat nap and I'll be back in a few hours to give you the official tour."

"Thank you," I quietly said, opening the door.

I walked into the room, complete awe taking over. The bed was a four- poster with crimson silk sheets. The wardrobe and desk both looked like dark mahogany. There was a big window that had beautiful dark curtains and a seat underneath it. It all looked so beautiful and matching.

I ran over to the bed and jumped on it, laughing as I squirmed around on the covers, feeling so comfortable. It wasn't like those crappy beds you got in group homes, it was so soft and nice. I had the feeling that I would definitely enjoy being there.

I didn't want to get off of my bed when I woke up. It was so comfortable and…so not the bed I was using for my current foster family in Alaska. It took me a few minutes to remember what happened a few hours before. I went over to the window seat and sat down, staring out the window. It was dark, but still very beautiful with the trees. I went to the closet to find that all of my clothes were already put away—I hope to god it' wasn't Wira who put them away. I pulled on an outfit of jeans, a white tank top, and a light blue sweater. I lay back down on the bed, stretching out like the little kitten I apparently was.

However, there was a knock on the door, which I did not like one bit, but I sighed and got up. I opened the door to see Dina, which didn't make me happy or angry either way. I walked out into the hall, not really saying anything. There were so many questions I was dying to ask, though I wasn't sure I was allowed. I mean, this was all so new to me, I didn't have any idea how to react to it other than being in shock.

Throughout the morning, I was able to see part of the school-- it was obviously too big to see the whole place-- and meet some of the teachers that I would be having. It seemed that all of the teachers knew exactly who I was and what my story was. It was strange to know that I was seen as somewhat legendary.

I sat in the first afternoon class that I would be having through the lunch period, too nervous to eat. As people began coming in, I felt stares directed at me and whispers filling the room. I could feel my cheeks burn in embarrassment. Being a foster child, I was used to it, but that didn't make it any easier.

A girl smiled as she sat down next to me. She had dark brown hair that looked as though it had never been cut and was pulled back with a leather cuff while her bangs framed the sides of her face. Her eyes were looked to be almost a silver color.

"Hi," she said, smiling. "I'm Cassidy."

"Roslyn," I replied.

She smiled at me, obviously flirting. I had seen it too many times with Lucy when she decided that she wanted to switch teams for a bit, which usually happened every other month so I could tell the expression. Although there were times when I had seen some girl that Lucy was flirting with take her reaction the wrong way and they weren't really flirting, just trying to be nice. I had to admit, though, this girl was really cute and kinda hot. She was definitely going to be one that I was after for a girlfriend and, hopefully, as a familiar, if she was a witch.

As I glanced around the room, I could kind of make out who was a familiar and who was a witch. The familiars moved more like animals while the witches looked more like normal humans. They all had a distinction to the way they moved, they way they acted. It was pretty cool to watch and I was sure I would fit in. I had gotten used to always being teased by Lucy and some other friends I'd made when I was younger that I was just an animal waiting to come out. They just didn't realize how right they were about it.

Looking back at Cassidy, I got the distinct feeling that she was a witch. She didn't have that animal-like movement or look to her.

"Hey," a familiar voice said.

I looked up to see Carter's familiar smirk as he sat backwards on his seat so he was facing us. He still had the really hot short dark hair and hazel eyes. Even after a year and a half, I would definitely say yes if he asked me to sleep with him. For about two hundred more than he paid Lucy and I last time of course. I would need incentive to do it.

"All hail the great familiar," he laughed. "So, tell us, wise one, how did you get away with it? I mean, you've been living in town for what? A year?"

"Almost three," I answered. "I don't know. I didn't really do anything special." I decided to mess with him a bit. "By the way, Carter, you remember that girl that ditched me for you when you snuck into town? After she slept with you, she became a lesbian."

There were a lot of "ooh"s coming from the class as well as laughing. Carter's face fell as he heard this and I could tell that I had just crushed his ego big time. I didn't really feel bad, I mean, he deserved it. After he left without any contact information, Lucy was pretty much crushed even though she would always deny it even though I could read her just like an open book.

The teacher came in and the psychology class started, everyone turned around, though it was obvious they weren't paying attention. Instead, I kept noticing that they continued to glance back at me. I spent the entire class attempting to make myself invisible. It was different from most schools, where people would usually get tired of you by the end of class, but that wasn't the case. Instead, even more people were staring at me as Cassidy and I walked out of the room.

"Are they always like this?" I asked.

She just laughed as we walked. "You're the new meat. It'll probably be over with by the end of the day."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Instead, it only got worse. There were stares following me everywhere we went. It was actually getting really annoying and I was tempted to hit the next person I caught staring at me. I secretly hoped that it would be Carter just so I could have some fun with him; he didn't look too opposed to hitting a girl.

I admit that the classes I was taking were really great. Besides Psychology, I also had Zoology, English, and Chemistry. Zoology was obviously in order to know how familiars' bodies worked as we were talking about cats at the moment. English was, of course, a class that was required in ever school, magical or not. Chemistry was the class I admit I hated most of all. First off, I was way behind on the stupid class. Second, I did not like it when Carter decided that he was going to dump hydrocloric acid on me.

"Let's go up to my room," Cassidy suggested. "Come on, You're fine in our wing if you're invited or if you 're a witch's familiar."

So my assumption of her was right. She was a witch, which meant that if she didn't have a familiar yet, it could possibly, hopefully, be me.

"Do you have a familiar yet?" I wondered, getting a laugh in return.

"No," she answered. "It's just me." She turned to look at me. "Why?"

I shrugged. "Just curious."

It felt like forever until we got to her room. As we walked in, I saw that it was a little bit larger than my room, but not by much. She had pink sheets and curtains. In fact, everything in her room was bright and reflecting the sun. I could see some pentagrams and other wiccan things, but I didn't really look twice at it. After my classes, it seemed normal to see those things up around, especially since they were literally everywhere in the classrooms.

"Wings?" I asked as we sat on her bed. "Seriously?" She nodded. "Well, this place certainly is big enough for that. It looks just like the Sleeping Beauty castle in Germany."

Cassidy smiled at me. "Because it's an exact replica of the Neuschwanstein Castle. It was actually made just after the one in Germany, created by some witches who thought it looked pretty." She played with a loose thread on the comforter. "So, how exactly did you and Carter meet?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "It was at a party," I explained. "I had been living in town for about a year and a half when my friend, Lucy, and I decided to head to a party. We were having fun dancing with guys and each other, when Carter came over to us. We started talking and Lucy and I were pretty wasted at the time. He told us that he would give us each a hundred if we made out. Of course, we did it, got the hundred each, and he took off with Lucy. Had to catch a ride with my foster brother, who wasn't really happy to see me there, let alone drunk."

We both laughed at that. As I watched her laughing, I couldn't help but wonder if she was like me. I mean, it would be amazing if she was, but I wasn't really going to plan on getting my hopes up. I had learned a long time ago that you couldn't just wish for something and it would come true. Believe me, I had wished that I would be adopted or find my birth parents.

Why should this be any different?

So, what did you think? Let me know by pressing the review button below!