2: Here's to a Fresh(er) Start

                                    

                                          
TWO: HERE'S TO A FRESH(ER) START
DECEMBER 27
PHOEBE DOMINGO
                          


                          
WHILE BALANCING TWO CARDBOARD BOXES in her arms, Phoebe Domingo crossed through the foyer of her new apartment into the kitchen. She'd moved into the apartment back in August but had to leave for school—at the elusive Academy of Magic & Magical Studies—a week after signing the lease.
                          
        After a semester away, Phoebe spent most of her fourteen-day holiday break shuffling boxes around the loft. She unpacked what she could and donated what she no longer needed. Most of it was her mom's—what use did she have for it now?—and there was a strange satisfaction that came when she dumped the boxes off at the donation center. 
                          
        Last night, she'd finished painting, which filled the loft with a stale, plastic smell. So, despite the below-freezing weather outside, she kept the fans on and the windows opened, hoping to air the place out. The walls—a blood red color when she'd moved in—were now a soft, peaceful gray and it finally felt like home. At least, it would once she finished moving in. 
                          
        As she stood in the kitchen, surrounded by cardboard boxes, she let out a heavy breath. On the counter beside a box marked plateswas a pile of mail she'd brought up the day before. In most of the envelopes were bills—which she'd been drowning in the last few months (hence, her downsizing)—but there beneath the welcome letter from her new landlord was a cream envelope with the red-and-purple seal of the Academy. 
                          
        Carefully, she popped the wax open and removed the letter out from inside. As she unfolded it, she saw a heading from the Headmistress herself—the Queen of the World of Magic, Clarion Diamond. 
                          
From the Office of the Headmistress,
                          
Her Majesty the Queen Clarion Jean Diamond
                          
The Academy of Magic & Magical Studies
                          
38 Crawley Green Drive, World of Magic
                          
Miss Phoebe Domingo,
                          
The Academy of Magic & Magical Studies has recently received word that in light of recent events, Bess Walker has withdrawn in order to pursue alternative educational opportunities outside of the World of Magic. 
                          
Due to Miss Walker's transfer, your rooming arrangements for the spring semester have changed and are as follows:
                          
ROOM NUMBER: 406
ROOMMATE NAME: HRH WILMARIE DIAMOND
                          
We apologize for any inconvenience this change may cause and we look forward to another semester at the prestigious Academy.
                          
        There was a handwritten note scribbled at the bottom and the script was as close to perfect as any penmanship could be. Symmetrical loops connected each letter to the next—like the handwriting was meticulously learned—and she was sure if she held a ruler up to it, the spaces would be identical. 
                          

Phoebe, I would like to extend an invitation to the New Year's celebration. It would be a pleasure to see you there. 
Queen Clarion
                          
        Phoebe set the letter back on the granite counter and let out a heavy sigh. Just when she thought everything that could happen had, the universe had more tricks up its sleeve. Phoebe's roommate and longtime friend, Bess, left to pursue alternative educational opportunitieswhich anyone in the World of Magic knew was Royal Council jargon for she got scared after the Incident and took off. Sure, Bess always talked about studying in the Mortal World for a semester but it wasn't until now that she decided to go. 
                          
        In Bess's absence, the Academy wanted to fill the empty bed so Phoebe's last semester would be spent rooming with the very girl she'd spent the last year estranged from—her old best friend, Wil Diamond.