Chapter 21: The Lead Up to the Ceremony

Alarms blared throughout Evan's dorm room, causing him to awaken with a long groan. It was only 7pm, whilst he had to meet up with the prefect at 8pm. That left him enough time to call his parents.

Slowly getting up, Evan stretched out his body, hearing the small pops here and there. He got off of his bed and searched around for his phone, not really remembering where he'd place it. He was sure it was in his carry-on bag and yet, it was nowhere to be found.

Sighing, Evan kept searching around his dorm before he found the phone innocently sitting underneath his pillow. He couldn't quite remember how it go there at all. It took him longer than it should have to realize that his alarm was ON his phone and all Evan could do was drag a hand down his face at the sheer stupidity of his.

His tired mind was clearly not suited for thinking once he'd woken up from some form of sleep. Picking up his phone, Evan searched for his mother's number, intent on letting her know how the day has been thus far.

It took only two rings for her to pick up and the sheer happiness her voice had made Evan blush a bit. Talking to his parents was always relaxing as it let him unload his day onto them without much judgement.

"Hey mom. I arrived at my dorm. I'm in the Moosha dorms. Sadly, Cole's dorm is elsewhere so i'll try to make friends while here. Its been a busy day so I took a nap but later i'll have to go down to the common area to listen to all the rules." He told them, not much excitement in his voice. It was probably because he was still tired.

"Well, i'm glad you arrived safely hun. I think it's good that you and Cole are in separate dorms because it allows you to find someone else to befriend." She sternly said, trying to make her son a bit more upbeat about his circumstances. The two talked for a bit before his father hopped onto the phone.

"Ey champ! How's my favorite son?" He jokingly said, prompting Evan to sigh. "We've been over this, i'm your only son." Despite the sigh, Evan still laughed a bit. 40 minutes had passed since he conversation begun and he quickly said both goodbye and I love you to his parents as he did not want to be late for the meeting.

Getting himself a bit more cleaned up, Evan grabbed both his dorm key and phone before opening the door. With a gentle close, Evan made his way towards the elevator and quickly pressed the button for the first floor.

Upon arrival, he noticed that plenty of students were already gathered around but the prefect had yet to show up. Evan went towards a bookshelf in the common area, sticking to himself but he noticed the tall guy who'd sat next to him at orientation. Shuffling over a bit, he decided he'd introduce himself.

"Hello, my name is Evan Renelli." He said, hoping he'd be able to get a response out of the guy. Unfortunately, his hopes were dashed as the guy looked at him for maybe 2 seconds before looking away with a scoff. Evan could feel the tick mark forming on his forehead before he grumbled, annoyed by the clear dismissal.

Luckily, the prefect had just arrived and she was gearing up to tell them all the rules.

"Alright newbies, within the Moosha dorms we have 3 overall rules that need to be followed at all times. First! There is NO in dorm fighting, which includes regular fist fights or using magic. Verbal fights should be avoided as well and if it gets out of hand, please leave the building. Anything that is broken is taken out of our building budget and if we want to put on events, we can't lose money." She sternly explained, glaring daggers at one particular student who clearly was not one of the new freshmen.

"Second! This is NOT just a freshmen building. We have students up to 7th year here, therefore some things that some of those upperclassmen do may seem intriguing to you, but be WARNED, if a prefect catches one of the underclassmen using magic outside of class or anything else that ONLY the upperclassmen are allowed to do, consequences will be had." This time, she seemed harsher and Evan guessed that it had happened enough times in the past to be brought up.

"Lastly! We do have curfews here and they are followed for a r e a s o n! Students seen leaving the dorms after 11pm will be docked points! Our academy has a points system and every student begins with 100. The more you lose, the more privileges you lose. If you are out and arrive after 11pm, we give more leeway. Arrive by 12am and you'll be safe." She said a bit more softly, before staring straight at the new students.

"One last thing, intimate actions between students are ok as long as everyone is a consenting party and you do NOT disturb other students. However, those over the legal age will be in far more trouble if they advance on a younger student so PLEASE DO NOT do so. It is disgusting and unfit for students of this academy to ever attempt to have a relationship with a minor. This is being said as it has happened in the past and will result in either suspension or expulsion depending on the severity." She finished, taking a look at the students and their reactions to what she had just said. She'd keep an eye out on the indifferent ones for sure.

With that, she gave one last look towards everyone before sauntering away. However, before she left the dorm building, she said one last thing. "Ah, the ceremony is tomorrow. It will be used to figure out which magical nodes you can unlock if you have any and that is how schedules will be made. Please be in the large auditorium by 11am tomorrow. If you do not remember where it is, please be down here by 10:30am and I will bring you. Have a nice night." She explained, before leaving the building.

Evan would be lying if he weren't excited about tomorrow as he desperately wanted to be able to use magic. Evan checked his phone, reading the time .'8:49pm', he thought. Closing his phone, he went back towards the elevator. He was still exhausted and wasn't really in the mood to eat. When he entered the elevator, he realized he wasn't alone and stared at the tall man. The same guy who ignored him.

Looking the other way, Evan waited for his floor to appear before quickly exiting the elevator as he was unwilling to stay in the silence. Jogging over to his room, Evan hastily opened the door and closed it, before sliding down. He wanted to just sleep where he was but knew he'd wake up with sore or painful muscles. He got up and sauntered over to his bed, sitting on it. He planned to just sleep in what he wore because he'd take a shower early in the morning anyways.

Charging his phone, he placed the alarm for 9:30am and slid into the covers. He struggled to sleep for the next hour as his mind raced with different possibilities of what magic he may have. Never did he think about not having anything, as something deep within him screamed at the notion as if offended.

Finally, he fell into a peaceful sleep, dreaming of what could be.