Magian High Read Online Free Page A

campus.  Leave us alone.”
    “Tell your Nomer friend she needs to shut up, too.  She may be the best at Wiser, but she doesn’t know anything at Magian.  Tell her that.”  I hesitated.  “ Tell her!” yelled Jack, moving in closer and stuffing the second Water Ball into my face.  It splashed down my chin.  He glanced at Amity and flicked a spark in her face.  She screamed, and the Punkers all laughed.  They started gliding in and out, bumping their shoulders into us and knocking us around.  Amity turned and cowered into my chest and I tried to shield her, but we both fell to our knees.
    The bell rang , and everybody froze.  “I have to get to class,” I said, standing up.
    Jack backed up and signaled the others.  “Let Kincaid go to class, guys.  He needs to keep his grades up if he wants to date a Wiser Nomer.”
    He and a guy named Curry opened up just enough room to let me pass, but I wasn’t about to leave Amity to the wolves.  I grabbed her hand and pulled her in close under my right arm.  Then I pushed through the gap with my left hand sparking from all fingers.  Not enough to hurt anything, but enough to get them to flinch back.  Amity and I ran up the stairs, still holding hands, and the Punkers followed us, flying as far as the door.
    Once inside, I looked back to see them grinning with menace at us.  Jack pointed to us with flames coming out of his fingers and laughed.
    Amity squeezed my hand before letting go.  “Thanks.”
    “See you in chemistry,” I said.  “And…we still need to talk.”
    “Yes, we do,” she said, but this time, she didn’t look mad.
     
    ***
     
    Ten minutes later, Amity and I met up again in the office, both busted for being tardy.  Mr. Blakely was in talking to some parents, so we had to wait.  We sat down and decided to read a chemistry chapter together.  There were too many secretaries and teachers milling around for us to discuss anything private.
    After a few minutes, Miss Flinckey shuffled by on her way to the copy machine.  “Oh, hello, Amity,” said Miss Flinckey warmly.  She’s one of those little old ladies who you know was probably really pretty in her prime.  I watched her chat with Amity for a minute, not really hearing what they were saying.  I was thinking about what Petercriss and Whittle had said about her losing her Jump.  It occurred to me that I’d never really seen her use any kind of magic, except maybe some Healing Magic if a kid had a bloody nose or something.  I wondered if she’d lost part of her powers because she’d loved a Nomer who didn’t love her back.
    Apparently, I was staring because she winked at Amity and popped me on the head with her papers.  “He’s not as useless as he looks, dear.  That’s a good boy, that Kincaid.  He gets things done.”
    I closed my mouth and sat up straight.  “Oh.  Thanks, Miss Flinckey.”
    When she left to punch buttons on the copier, Amity whispered, “ Besides you, she’s the only one here who’s nice to me.”
    “Yeah, she’s nice to everyone.”  For a minute, I saw Magian High through Amity’s eyes, and I didn’t like it much.  We might have magic here, but most teachers and students weren’t very open or nice.  Hadley had always called me different that way, but it’s how Mom raised us.
    But looking at Flinckey shuffle back out of the office, I wondered if it was worth getting close to others.  I mean enough to really care because what if I ended up like Flinckey?
    Amity nudged me.  “ Are you reading or not?  It’s your turn.”
    “Huh?  Oh yeah.”  I started reading the next section out loud while, in my mind, I tried to figure out whether or not I liked Amity.  And what would happen if I did.
    After a long time, Mr. Blakely came out of his office with somebody’s parents looking weary, and led them to the hall with several soothing words.  I knew he had his hands full with people concerned about the changes, but he smiled at me and