Eva raised an eyebrow at the blond, but brushed it off. “I mean, your seminars are alright. Apart from that, there is nothing interesting around here.”
“I wouldn’t say
Zoe looked between the two girls. She wondered if they weren’t just sparing her feelings by saying her seminar was the highlight of their summer.
“I’m sorry you feel that way.” Maybe if they had come several years ago when the town was in full swing. “Miss Ward is completely new to magic. She’s never cast a spell once in her life. Perhaps helping her get school supplies around town and maybe showing her some simple things will alleviate some of your tedium until school starts.”
Eva gave an indifferent shrug. “I haven’t bought a uniform yet.” She looked towards Juliana.
“Same” was the response.
“Good,” Zoe said. “I’ll leave you two to get acquainted to your new roommate. Do play nice.”
The girls nodded and said their farewells.
As soon as the door closed, Zoe flicked out her knife and entered between. She could have left from their room, but that left a bad taste in her mouth. It just felt rude.
Zoe moved into her private quarters and took a seat at her own desk. She pulled out a notebook and set to work. Zoe intended to fulfill her promise to Shalise as soon as possible.
She just had to find out where to get the money.
—
The three girls headed out to the same circular market Eva first shopped at.
Unlike last time, there were a handful of students milling about the plaza. Students looking to get last-minute supplies for the most part.
Shalise gaped at each advertisement around the plaza. First the dancing uniforms, the cauldron’s overflowing contents that vanished just above the heads of students, and the rest. She dragged Eva and Juliana to the most crowded store to watch the dancing uniforms up close.
Irene stood inside the store. She looked to be troubled over choosing between skirts or pants.
Juliana dragged the group up to the girl. “Hey, on your own today?”
Irene half jumped and turned to face the group. “Juliana, Eva,” she said. She turned to the third member of their crew and cocked her head to one side.
“Shalise.” She offered her hand.
Irene moved to shake, but her hands were full of clothes. Shalise grabbed the hand anyway and shook with a smile.
“Irene,” she offered. “And yeah, everyone else bought their uniforms already.”
Eva pulled a skirt off the rack. “Neither of us have, and Shalise is brand new today.”
The skirts seemed to come in many different sizes. From ankle length dresses to barely there skirts. All of them black with teal trim. The longer ones occasionally had teal patterns sewn into them.
For shirts, they had a choice of gray, white, or black button ups in short, long, and no sleeve variety. They were meant to be worn with a teal tie.
Eva planned on picking up a light jacket as well. If there were outdoor classes during winter, she’d wear a heavy coat, but for indoor classes, a jacket would suffice.
Eva picked a couple of the third shortest skirt off the racks. Long enough to cover to just under mid-thigh. Juliana put her hand on her arm as she pulled off a third skirt of the same length.
She shook her head. “We shouldn’t need more than one. They self clean.”
“That’s handy,” Eva said. She replaced all but one of the skirts. “Why don’t all clothes come with that.”
“It isn’t cheap,” was Irene’s response. “Costly to get good materials for the enchantments and harder to actually enchant.”
Eva frowned. “Yet all of us are getting them on our scholarship. And every student has the scholarship. Where is the school getting all the money?”
No one offered any response.
Eva pulled a dark gray shirt from the sleeveless rack. Juliana decided on black with long sleeves. Shalise looked torn between a lighter gray and white. Irene had four colors all of varying sleeve length.
Adding a jacket and coat to her pile, Eva moved on to the shoes. There were no required shoes, but Eva was always on the lookout for a good pair of boots. Sadly nothing looked remotely good.
Purchases in hand, Eva moved to the checkout just behind Shalise. The girl fumbled around, handing the cashier her dorm key card. Once she got her purchases sorted, Eva moved up next.
Eva held out her card. The cashier ran it through the card reader the same way any credit card would be. Eva couldn’t help but ask, “these do give you real money, right? Not some fake money the school prints out?”
The cashier’s lip curled into a frown. “Girl, if the school didn’t pay me real money, I’d have been gone from this town years ago.”
“Fair enough,” Eva said as she took her purchases off the counter.
Juliana gave her a quirk of an eyebrow.
Eva smiled. “Seems suspicious is all.”
That suspicion gnawed at Eva over the last few months. The only explanation she could come up with was that there were a significantly higher number of donating alumni than new students. Assuming Zoe Baxter’s justification for the scholarships was correct.
