I ate breakfast alone. Or so I thought.

  "You almost done?" Maverick appeared next to me in the next seat. The breeze from him appearing blew my hair back into my face, and almost into the drink I was sipping.

  "I haven't even taken a single bite," I replied, placing my drink back down.

  "Of course you haven't. The food here isn't even that good." Maverick leaned against his palm, his elbow resting on the table as his other hand impatiently tapped it. Was he planning on doing this the entire time I was eating? Ugh. Might as well make small talk to hopefully make this less awkward. I wish Aidan were here.

  "What are you going to teach me today?" I asked, trying to eat quickly without stuffing my mouth and looking like a pig.

  "Your magic seems to manifest from your emotions. I say we use that to our advantage." There was a glint in his eyes that made me very, very scared. So scared I frosted over the piece of toast I had just picked up. I was looking forward to that!

  "Why don't you let me have a go at her, Mave?" The seat next to me moved, and I recognized Aqua's friend from yesterday sitting next to me. His features were just as flawless as everyone else here, and his light brown hair was perfectly parted in the middle. If I weren’t already dating Matt, who might I add is the most attractive man to ever live, I might actually consider him. He was wearing a teal jacket — looser than the tight black jacket Maverick wore every day. I guess laundry isn't necessary when you have magic.

  "What are you doing here, Finn?" Maverick asked unamused.

  "Sylvis asked you to teach her magic, but you haven't taught her anything yet, have you?" He smiled knowingly at Maverick. Wait, how did he know this?

  "I'm working on it." Maverick tsked annoyedly. "The problem isn't me. It's her."

  "Thanks," I said flatly.

  "Maybe you just need a different approach." Finn winked at me, and I felt heat rush to my cheeks. Why was I blushing?!

  "What did you have in mind?" Maverick asked.

  "Everything you've tried so far has been based on intimidating her, right?" Seriously, how did he know this? Had he been stalking me like Sylvis apparently was? Had Maverick told him as much? Did Maverick even talk to other people???

  "I wasn't trying to intimidate her. You're getting biased information." Had Sylvis told him then?

  "It doesn't matter what you were trying to do. If she wants to cast magic, she has to relax. Fear isn't going to help. Yesterday was a prime example."

  "Can Finn teach me?!" I asked Maverick eagerly. It seemed like someone finally understood how I felt.

  "No," Maverick said sternly.

  "Why not?" I whined.

  "Because if your magic gets out of hand, he's going to be powerless to stop you."

  "Whoa there." Finn put his hands up defensively. "Just how powerful are you estimating her magic to be?"

  "Her maximum ether is pretty high. If she were to lose control suddenly, it would be devastating." Maverick eyed me cautiously. Huh. So, I had a lot of magic potential, but still somehow couldn't use it. Good to know, I think.

  "That much magic, huh? Is she—"

  "Very dangerous? Yes. She's likely on par with Zephyr."

  Finn's expression changed from determined to relaxed. What was he thinking?

  "A lot of things, really." Finn shrugged.

  "Huh?" I blinked.

  "You were wondering what I was thinking, right?" Did I say that out loud? I didn't think I had? "Oh, right, nobody's told you. I'm a mind reader." He smirked at me, and my hands immediately iced over again.

  "What?!" I practically screamed. "You could warn me first!" I felt so... so violated! Ugh! But now he knew that, too! How in the world was I supposed to filter what I thought?!

  "Sorry," Finn scratched the back of his head. "I'm so used to everyone already knowing that about me. I meant to tell you at the start of our conversation, but then I got carried away with Mave and..." He paused, composing himself and starting again. "When I first arrived here, it was announced to everyone that I could read minds. And then anyone who joined afterward usually found out before actually getting to talk to me." He scratched the side of his mouth awkwardly. "You're also the first person I've talked to who didn't know. Maybe I subconsciously wanted that to last a little longer."

  "Really?" I narrowed my eyebrows in surprise. "What about people outside the manor? People who can't know about this?"

  "Right... Outside the manor..." He let out a loud sigh. Surely he had been outside the manor since joining, right? "Let's just say I'm avoiding a run-in with a certain someone and leave it at that, shall we?" He smiled at me. Fine. I won't push it. "Thank you."

  "If Finn can't train me by himself, then I think we should at least bring him with us," I suggested. "He might be able to read something I'm doing wrong and tell me how to fix it."

  "See? I can help!" He looked so excited to help me. Unlike a certain someone.

  "I have to admit, you have a point." Maverick sighed. "Fine. Just this once. Finn has a habit of causing distractions wherever he goes."

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Yes! I'm finally going to learn something!" I immediately scarfed down the rest of my breakfast.

  "Don't get your hopes up." Maverick pinched the bridge of his nose.

  We went back to the outdoor training area Maverick had taken me to the other day. I made sure to note the entrance this time, especially since we actually used it instead of teleporting there.

  ”So, I just picture the magic within me traveling to my palm, and then it… manifests?” I looked at Finn for confirmation.

  “More or less, yeah. I don’t see any flaws with your thought process so far,” he answered.

  ”Okay.” I sharply inhaled and rubbed my hands together. Time to figure out what’s going wrong!

  I closed my eyes and thought about a flame kindling in my chest. I pictured it burning near my heart as the fire’s flames spread to my arm and into my palm. And when I looked up… Nothing! I turned to Finn for an explanation, but he looked flabbergasted.

  “That should have worked…” Finn blinked. “Your picturing was on point. Any beginner should have been able to summon their magic with that.”

  Even Maverick looked amused by Finn’s words. “You mean she’s doing everything right?”

  “Yeah. She should be bursting with magic with how strong her connection was.”

  “So, why aren’t I…?” I asked.

  “You spent most of your life in another world, right?” Finn looked deep in thought.

  ”Yeah. The past sixteen years and twenty-whatever days.” I rolled my eyes, parroting Sylvis.

  “Sixteen years and—" He paused, seemingly doing the math before his eyes flicked up in shock. "Wait… What?!”

  “What?” I asked, genuinely confused by what he had realized.

  ”Uh, nothing.” He shook his head and immediately looked away. Was he flustered?

  “Do tell.” Maverick wore an amused grin, and I couldn’t help but find myself agreeing with him. For once.

  “Back to my original point. I wonder if being in another world had any effect on your magic?” Finn looked between the two of us, still clearly flustered.

  Maverick seemed to think for a moment before also having a look of realization. “Ether doesn’t flow in other worlds — it’s exclusive to Etheria. It’s likely that spending many years in a place without ether has suppressed her magic.”

  “So, now what?!” I shouted, annoyed that I might never get to use magic.

  “Now that you’re somewhere rich in ether, your magic should begin manifesting more freely.”

  “But it’s not.”

  “But it’s not,” Maverick repeated what I just said, further annoying me. “Unfortunately for me, there’s a lot about other worlds that we still don’t understand.”

  “Unfortunately for you?” I repeated, raising an eyebrow.

  “Well, duh. I’m the one who’s going to have to figure it out as your teacher.” He crossed his arms as if the whole world — no — all the worlds revolved around him.

  “I wonder if Sylvis would know…”

  “Likely not. Sylvis has never left Etheria before. Heck, she hasn’t even left Meridia.”

  “Most people haven’t.” Finn shrugged at that last part.

  “So, what do I do in the meantime…?” I asked, worried I’d be told to just wait. I don’t want to wait! I want to go home! Sitting around and waiting isn’t going to bring me any closer to this!

  “There’s one other thing I’d like to try.” Finn looked at me. “If you’re all right with it.”

  “Probably. What is it?”

  “Your hands react to your emotions, right? I want to see what goes on in your head when that happens. Maybe it’s something that can be repeated.”

  “Sure, but they’re just stupid emotions, right? Getting angry will consistently result in me producing fire, I’m pretty sure.”

  “I’m more interested in the connection between your emotions and magic, and how they interact.”

  “Okay. But how do I—“ I felt arms wrap around me as I was pulled into a tight embrace. W-Why was Finn hugging me?! He pulled back, and I realized my hands were iced over.

  I could hear Maverick snickering in the background. "I bet your hands would be covered in anything but ice if it had been that boy toy of yours instead of Finn."

  "S-Shut up!" I shouted, not liking how he referred to Matt as my "boy toy."

  “Huh,” Finn seemed unamused at my turmoil. “It’s like there’s a switch that activates when you feel a sudden emotion. Unfortunately, that switch seems to be isolated to just your hands.”

  “This is connected to thoughts…?” I asked, confused by how he knew this.

  “Yes, albeit very vaguely. It’s… difficult to explain.” He scratched the back of his head. Not wanting a technical explanation, I just nodded.

  But that left us back where we were a few minutes ago.

  “What do I do now?” I asked, hoping there was something else I could try.

  “Sit back and wait.” Maverick crossed his arms. Great. The one response I didn’t want.

  “Come on! There has to be something I can do in the meantime! What about healing magic? I haven’t tried that yet! Or teleportation!”

  “You can try if you want to, I guess. Who knows — maybe eventually your body will adjust to the ether and it’ll actually work.” Maverick shrugged. “Anyway, my work here is done.” With that, he teleported away, leaving me with Finn.

  I sighed in defeat, collapsing to the ground. I was all alone in this stupid world because of magic I never asked for—magic I couldn’t even use! Yet I couldn’t get home until I could properly use it, which could be years before I could even misuse it!

  Finn sat down next to me. I’m surprised he didn’t leave with Maverick.

  “I’m not going to just leave you.” He chuckled. He paused as if thinking of what to say. “What’s your world like?”

  Great. The same problem I had with Aidan. How would I even begin to describe the differences, if there were any? Or what about cars?—

  “That's incredible!” His eyes lit up. Huh? I hadn’t even said anything— Right, he could read my mind. “Your world has so many cool inventions! Think about more!”

  Fine. I thought about cars, trains, planes, cell phones, video games, computers, movies…

  “Slow down! Everything is starting to morph together!” He raised his hands, motioning for me to slow down. He even looked dizzy! “How are you not overwhelmed by the countless options you have open to you?”

  “I guess it can get overwhelming at times, yet we somehow find time to get bored,” I chuckled.

  He chuckled back and for once, it looked like he was starting to relax. “It sucks you’re stuck here.”

  And then a thought occurred to me.

  He laughed this time. “Sorry, I think both Sylvis and Maverick will kill you if I send you back home. Plus, only Maverick is powerful enough to travel to other worlds. And Sylvis, but she's kind of the one keeping you here."

  “It was worth a try.” I sighed.

  "You know, it really is a shame you don't have one of those devices here with you. Amalia could recreate them and then we could pass them out to everyone here and... And maybe it wouldn't feel so lonely for you, you know?" He gave a sheepish smile, likely realizing he had rambled quite a bit.

  Amalia must have been the girl Aidan told me about. He nodded his head, confirming my thought.

  "Hey, do you prefer talking to people out loud or reading their thoughts?" I asked.

  "Out loud," he answered. "It's kind of weird to be the only one talking out loud. Oh, and don't worry, I won't share anything you don't want me to with anyone."

  I was grateful for that much. I don't know what I would've done if he revealed to everyone the most embarrassing moments of my life. ...It was also weird that he also knew these moments.

  "You get embarrassed by the strangest things." He scratched the back of his head. "Is accidentally changing into a pair of dirty underwear after bathing really that embarrassing—"

  "Yes! It is! And I'd appreciate it if you didn't bring up things like this in front of me either!" I blushed and crossed my arms, facing away from him. I hate that when you try not to think about something, you end up thinking about it more. "Maybe you should say your thoughts out loud so we can be even."

  "How weird thoughts are, how weird your thoughts are, how people have tried to completely stop thinking altogether when they're around me... How one girl in particular has little to no thoughts on a daily basis."

  "She has no thoughts? How is that even possible?" I raised an eyebrow.

  "It's more like she thinks of nothing but wharracks whenever I'm around her. As soon as she sees me, she goes "time to think of wharracks!" and thinks about them until her mind goes blank. It's strange, but effective. Wait, why are you thinking of kittens?! Ella! Please! I've already read your innermost thoughts!"