I woke up, got ready for school--today was Friday--and darted out. I walked in the school and hugged Nathan with a smile. More guilt weighed me down. Nathan was the best thing that ever happened to me and I was keeping a secret from him--a huge one.

"Hey, beautiful. Wanna ditch today? We're not doing anything in any classes," he saod.

I considered it. But I shook my head. "I've never ditched before and I don't wanna start now."

"Okay," he said kissing me lightly. "Wanna go eat first, today?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

We went in the cafeteria and here, we didn't eat human food. It was this magical stuff. For girls, we got to choose the color we wanted and they added magic powder on top of it. I always chose satin blue. It tasted the best to me. For boys, their "goo" as humans would call it, was hardened and the color was vibrant. Nathan's color was grass-green.

We sat with Nathan's worlock friends--given I had none here--and ate. I remembered Nathan's friends' names, but I didn't bother talking to them. All I could think about was the challenge after school. And who knew how long it'd last?

"Kate, wanna go out tonight?" Nathan asked.

"I can't. I have my own training," I said.

"Oh, well, text me or something when you're free," he said.

I nodded and put my headphones in. We weren't that different from humans. We were just...special. I wondered what humans did. What they were like. I'd never met one before. But I've seen one. Humans look exactly like us. It's fascinating--to me, at least. Everyone found it replusive that I was interested by humans. They just didn't understand.

No one did.

When I told Nathan goodbye, I was about to start walking home when he grabbed my arm. I looked at him confused. He smiled and kissed me.

"See you Monday," he said.

I smiled and shrugged one shoulder. He went to his car--I chose not to drive--and I walked to the mansion that held all the sorcerers and sorceresses. I took my cloak off the rack and put it on. Master looked at me and nodded. I nodded back and went up to Darnellel.

"I am your parnter," I said.

"It's nice to finally get to know you," he said.

We all knew each other's names, but none of us really knew each other. Master called everyone to attention and everyone grew silent. We faced him and he smiled at us.

"Today, your challenge begins. You and your partner are to stay by each other at all times. The first part of this challenge is surviving in the woods for a week. I have contacted your school and let them know you won't be coming in. So, that's settled. The other parts will be revealed when I think you've successfully completed the first part. Now, go. In the woods, there are forts. No one can see another fort from their own--that's how spread apart they are. How we will do this, I will call a pair and they will go find their fort. Once their fort is found, one will make a unique noise, and so forth. Understood?" he explained.

We all nodded. He did, too and looked at his clipboard. "Melanie and Hunter."

The pair walked out into the woods. Within a few short minutes, a bird call was sounded and then the next pair was called. When Master called me and Darnellel, we walked out and scanned the woods. A fort within a few yards had K&D carved.

"Darnellel, that's us," I pointed to our fort.

We got in and Darnellel made some weird duck call or something. We sat in the fort. There wasn't any rooms, there was a mini-fridge, two blankets, two pillows, and two medallions. One said K and the other D. I handed the one that said D on it to Darnellel and put mine on.

"This should be interesting," Darnellel said.

"Yes, it should," I nodded.

"How are we to survive in the woods, if we are captivated in forts?" he asked.

I opened the mini-fridge and nothing was there, I looked back at him and smiled. "We hunt."

"But we don't eat real food," Darnellel question.

"That's part of the challenge," I explained. I was beginning to understand everything. "Somewhere out in the woods, holds our food. What we eat. If we find that, and find water, we should be good for the first week," I said.

"I like your thinking, Katlyn," he said.

"You can call me Kate," I insisted.

He nodded and we sat there. The sun was setting and I grabbed a blanket and pillow. I set it up and laid down. Darnellel did the same and I closed my eyes. I was so nervous for the challenge. Around one a.m. my phone vibrated. Not checking the caller ID, I answered.

"Hello?" I groaned.

"Kate, it's me," Nathan said. "Were you sleeping?"

"Kinda," I admitted, keeping my voice low.

"Sorry. I'll call tomorrow," he said,

"No, Nathan. I'm gonna be pretty busy tomorrow. I'll call you," I said.

"Okay. Bye," he said.

"Bye," I said hanging up.

"Who is Nathan?" Darnellel's voice scared me.

"Gah!" I jumped. "You scared me."

"Who is Nathan?" he asked again.

"A worlock," I said sitting up.

"Does he know you're a sorceress?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No one knows."

"Hmm," he said.

"Goodnight," I said laying back down and closing my eyes.

****

The sun streaming in through the fort woke me up. I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and looked over to find Darnellel gone. But there was a note where he slept.

I decided to go and try to find our food. You go find the water.

Darnellel

I rolled my eyes, put my cloak on, and exited the fort. I walked around for what felt like eternity. My medallion...vibrated? I held it and Darnellel's face showed up.

"Kate, I just figured out the purpose of these things. Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just walking around," I shrugged.

"Be careful. And if you sense anyone, just open your medallion," he said.

I nodded and hung up on him. I kept walking and found a lake. To check to make sure it was clean, I made a tablespoon appear in my hand and I sipped it. I waited for either vomit, cramps, or something, but nothing happened. I replaced the spoon with a bucket and gathered the water. I stood with my bucket of water and looked around to try to remember how I'd gotten here.

I opened my medallion and Darnellel answered straight away.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Okay, you really need to quit asking that," I laughed. "I'm lost."

"Show me your surroundings," he said.

I showed him the trees and the pond I'd just gotten the water from. I looked back into the medallion and waited for him to direct me.

"Okay, go straight for three yards," he said.

I did and some landmarks looked familiar. I nodded at him.

"Now turn left," he said.

I did and then he told me to keep walking straight until I found our fort. I closed my medallion and climbed back in the fort, careful not to spill the water. Darnellel helped me and I sat down. He handed me a portion of blood-red "goo" and I made it last. I placed the bucket of water in between us.

"So, tell me more about Nathan," Darnellel laughed.

"He's a worlock who is very nice, very well know, and very well loved," I said.

"And you like him?" he assumed.

"He's my boyfriend," I said. "So, yeah."

"Ah," he nodded.

"So what about you? Any girlfriends?" I laughed.

He shook his head. "No. I get rejected a lot."

"Why?" I laughed. He was actually really good-looking.

He shrugged.

"Their loss," I shrugged.

Our conversation was put on hold when we heard a scream from the distance. And not just any scream--a scream I once knew and was surprised to her once again. What was she doing here?

*****

So? Who could Kate know? Did I spell medallion right? Haha, comment your opinions. :D