Chapter five

"Evelyn!" 

As soon as Evelyn heard the call for her, she rushed out of her room and stumbled into the living room, where she was sure Ellete had called her from. 

The three weeks had flew by fast, and the torturous S.O.M test was over. It wasn't a hundred percent over yet, though-Evelyn's result had yet to come out.

Sure enough, Ellete was seated on the edge of one of the three, plushy couches and Atler was seated on the couch opposite her. 

In her hand, Ellete was holding a neat, white envelope. "I believe this is yours," she told Evelyn, holding it out. "The S.O.M sent this for you." 

Instantly, Evelyn's hands turned clammy. She extracted back the hand she was going to use to get the envelope and shook her head gently. "I can't," she whispered. 

She could feel beads of cold sweat appearing on her forehead. Her hand flew to her heart's place on her chest and she patted it a few times to calm her racing heart. 

"Nuh-uh," Ellete said, taking one of Evelyn's hand and placing the envelope on her palm, bending her fingers and pressing them on the envelope so it wouldn't fall. "It's yours." 

Evelyn sucked in a breath and stared at the envelope in her shaky hands. The result in her could affect her future- or at least she thought it would. 

Trembling, she lifted her free hand and opened the envelope. A folded paper lay inside and she could feel her stomach tangle into knots. 

She took the paper out of the envelope, glanced at Atler and Ellete's hopeful stares and unfolded the paper. 

 -From the School Of Magic- 

Dear Mr. Atler and Mrs. Ellete, 

We are pleased to inform you that your child has been accepted into the School Of Magic. Arrangements are currently being made for her to become an official student. For Miss Evelyn to officially enrol in our school, forms will be sent to your home in two days' time and will needed to be filled in. We expect to get the forms back fully filled within two weeks' time. Further information will be sent to your contact- assuming you accept our request- and a box of supplies will be sent to Miss Evelyn tonight. 

Thank you for choosing to enrol your child into the School Of Magic. 

We hope to see you soon! 

The letter was short, but the knots in Evelyn's stomach untied immediately. She let out a huge sigh of relief and turned back to Ellete, passing on the letter. She didn't even even at the word 'child'.

The day was filled with cheers, dancing and praises, alongside with an additional call to Zak. The grimmy grinned at the news and even teleported over to celebrate with them. Together, the four went to a pastry cafe and went to various other places to celebrate. 

They celebrated late into the afternoon and Evelyn had cleaned up the second they got home, eager for a early bedtime. 

She was about to snuggle under the comfortable covers of the bed when a knock came from her door. She flung it open, not surprised to see Ellete and Atler. 

Atler was lingering behind Ellete, carrying a brown box. "This is for you. I think this is the box of supplies the S.O.M was talking about in the letter." 

Evelyn invited them in and they plopped onto her bed. Atler set the box in front of Evelyn and she unboxed it. In the box, there were folded uniforms- white, wrinkly shirts and green-blue patterned skirts. A pair of white shoes rested next to the uniform, and five pairs of socks lay under the shoes. A blue jacket completed the school uniform clothes collection.

"You should test the uniforms out. I didn't tell them your size and they probably guessed." Atler said. 

Evelyn nodded and picked up a pair of socks, the pair of shoes and a pair of the folded uniforms and changed in the bathroom.

Atler bit his fist to stifle his laughter when she came out. 

The shirt was way too big, and the shoulder-length sleeves stretched to her wrists. The shirt, which had became more of a dress and was hanging down to her knees, were bad enough, but the skirt hanging from her waist was so loose Evelyn had to hold it up so it wouldn't fall. The bottom part of the shirt peeked from underneath the skirt and her shoes were obviously a few sizes too big. Evelyn had to take small steps so it wouldn't fly across the room when she stomped out of the bathroom and the socks didn't keep a good job covering her ankles and fell flat into the shoes. 

Atler let out a howl of laughter before clamping a hand over his mouth. His eyes looked like they were laughing and his look was teasing. Evelyn shot him a death stare. 

"I'm sorry," he said, still holding back laughter. "You look.....nice." 

"You don't have to pretend," Evelyn grumbled. "It's way too big." 

Ellete nodded and nudged Atler. "I'll have Atler tell the S.O.M to get you a smaller size."

Evelyn got back into the bathroom and came out dressed in her comfy pajamas. 

She dug through the box once more, disappointed to find books buried underneath the box. She thought the School Of Magic would be fun and exciting with classes involving powers and flying and fun stuff- she hadn't given a thought about the school giving normal lessons like her school back in the human world, except teaching slightly different things. 

She bit her lip, pushing her disappointment away so it wouldn't drag her under. 

Atler patted her head and scooped the box into his hands. "I'll help you to keep this for the time being. For now, your only responsibility is to get your sleep." 

He headed out of the room after saying goodnight and Ellete did the same. 

Evelyn switched off the lights and snuggled into the covers of her bed. Her future was secured now- there was no reason to worry. She let her worries fade away and had the first peaceful sleep for nights. 

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" 

Evelyn groaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes and stifling a yawn. A short man stood in front of her, jingling the button-bells on his striped shirt. 

"Zak?" 

"Finally, you're awake! I've been waiting for a millenia for you to get your sleepy head up!" 

He was obviously exaggerating. 

"Why are you here? Where's Atler and Ellete?" 

"They're doing something and won't be back 'til tonight, so meet you babysitter for the day!" Zak held out his hands and leaned in closer to Evelyn as if he was waiting for an applause. 

She tried her best not to roll her eyes. "You? They told you to be my babysitter? Have they even met you?" 

"Well, thank you for the praise. I really appreciate it." His voice was dripping with sarcasm. 

Evelyn held back a sigh. 

"Okay," Zak said, smashing the momentarily silence. "Here's the activities I've planned for today: Pranks." 

Evelyn slapped a hand against her forehead. "Zak-"

 "I know you're not a fan of pranks, so before you continue, do you have a better activity to propose?" Zak interrupted. 

"Not for the whole day, but maybe we could have some breakfast first." 

Zak stroked his chin. "For one time, you said something that makes sense and smart, rookie." 

Evelyn didn't know how he complimented her and mock her at the same time. She pulled herself out of bed, stumbling onto her feet. "Wait here. I'm going to change." she told Zak, shutting herself in the bathroom and cleaning up. 

Zak pounced to his feet when she got out, leading her to the kitchen. "Today, you lucky citizen will get to have a taste of the famous chef Zak's dish!" he called out, barging to the fridge and swinging the door open. 

Food and objects flew out of the fridge as Zak whipped up a dish and Evelyn stood behind him to catch the food, containers, bottles and jugs, making sure no glass object was broken or no food thrown onto the floor. 

Finally, Zak plopped two bowls onto the countertop. Evelyn placed all the food and objects to their original places before taking a seat opposite Zak. 

She tried not to gag at the sight of Zak's dish. It was brown sludge and there was an unidentified piece of food- if it even was food- floating on the sludge's surface. 

"Try it. You'll love it- Grimmy's promise." Zak said, handing her a spoon. 

Evelyn poked at the sludge using the tip of the spoon. She was sure it wasn't even edible, but she decided to give it a try- Zak did promise she'd love it, after all. 

She scooped the tiniest scoop using the spoon and sipped on it. 

She gave a moan. It was delicious- maybe even more delicious than the waffles her mother, Delaney, used to make. And those were delicious. 

"See?" the grimmy grinned, shoving a spoonful of the sludge into his mouth and slightly chewing on it. 

Evelyn wanted to pretend it wasn't delicious-but she had to admit, it was. 

After breakfast, the duo headed to the living room to laze around. 

Zak groaned from his spot on the couch. "It's so boring. What do you have in mind to do, rookie?" 

"Maybe a game?" Evelyn's mind went to a picture of the board game, Fairyopoly, on one of her shelves. Ellete and Atler had bought it for her a few weeks ago. 

Zak raised a thumps-up in the air and Evelyn went to fetch the board game. She didn't know how to play it, but she was guessing it was similar to Monopoly, a board game from the human world she used to play oftenly on friday nights with her family. 

After the board game was laid on the carpet in the center of the couches, Zak and Evelyn huddled together and started. 

Apparently, Evelyn got it wrong- since when didn't she- and Fairyopoly was not played like Monopoly. It was more.....complicated. 

After about an hour, Zak pounced to his feet, jumping, cheering and waving his hands wildly. "I won!" he exclaimed, doing a dance he called his 'victory dance'. 

"Yeah, well, try not to feel too proud of yourself, Zak. I'm a beginner and it's my first time playing- of course you won." Evelyn mumbled while tidying up and keeping the Fairyopoly. 

The grimmy grinned and plastered a teasing look on his face. "You're just jealous." 

Before Evelyn could even reply, he flopped onto the couch. "Any more ideas for what to do?" 

Evelyn offered a shrug. 

"Okay, since you're out of ideas and the only thing I can think of are awesome prank ideas, why don't I take you to Willow brook?" Zak offered. 

"Sure." Evelyn had learnt that gnomes and grimmies managed to live together in the small village because of their size and she assumed Zak lived there too. 

Zak sank his hand into his pant's pockets and pulled out a teleball and Evelyn rushed next to him just in time as the light pulled them away. 

"Wow..." Evelyn looked around the room she was in. It was gave comfortable vibes and the room's theme was light, neutral brown. There was nothing Zak-like to be spotten. 

"I know- it doesn't look like I live here, but I like to keep things this way." 

He led her outside, where dozens of gnomes and grimmies walked around and enjoyed. For the next few hours, Zak showed her around the peaceful village and gave her interesting bits and pieces of information about the village. 

Finally, when black coated the sky, Zak led her back to his house and pulled her in, offering her a seat in the dining room as he whipped up some dinner. 

The food was disgusting-looking, but like in the morning, it was delicious. After they devoured the few dishes Zak had whipped up, he took them to the kitchen to clear the plates, leaving Evelyn in the dining room. 

A slight motion from her pocket startled her, and she found her holopod slightly shaking. She assumed that meant there was a call. 

Sure enough, she was right. 

{Atler Elsher has requested a call.} 

She clicked on the accept button below and Atler's face filled the hologram-y screen. "Evelyn!" he exclaimed. "We've been looking for you and Zak- where are you guys? Did something happen while we were gone?" 

"We're perfectly fine," Evelyn assured him, looking back into the kitchen. "I've just finished my supper- Zak's food is delicious. And I'm at his place." 

Atler's looks relaxed and softened. "I think it's time for bedtime- it's getting late." 

Evelyn nodded. "I'll be back in a sec. I'll just say goodbye to Zak." 

Atler returned the nod and his face disappeared from the screen, meaning he ended the call. 

Evelyn headed to the kitchen. "I have to go now," she informed Zak. "Atler called for me." 

"Okay. You need me to teleport you back?" the grimmy asked, wiping his bubble-y hands on a piece of cloth resting next to the bubble-filled sink. 

Evelyn shook her head. "I'll be fine teleporting by myself." she stood forward, wrapping her arms around the grimmy's shoulder. "Thanks for the great time." 

The grimmy wrapped his arms around her shoulders too. The embrace felt significantly awkward given their height differences, but the moment felt right at the time. 

"Okay. Time for you to go home, rookie." Zak said, pulling away. Evelyn nodded and flicked the ball into the air, muttering for Ellete and Atler's place. She waved goodbye to the grimmy as the light pulled her away. 

She teleported into the hallway, where Ellete and Atler were waiting. "I get it you had a fun day." Ellete said. 

Evelyn nodded and Ellete gave a smile. "Well," she patted Evelyn's head gently. "I think it's high time for bedtime." 

Evelyn obeyed and headed to her room, changing and cleaning up. She huddled under the covers after she was done and both Ellete and Atler filed into the room. 

"The S.O.M called us earlier and you're going to attend it in two days' time!" Atler announced, grinning. "It's a good thing, Evelyn." he assured her, noticing her doubtful, nervous and unsure look. 

"What are you worrying about in your skeptical little mind?" Ellete asked. 

"What if it's.....different? I'm used to human school- what if these fantasy schools-or whatever you call them- are different? What if I become the odd one out?" 

Atler chuckled. "Evelyn, I promise you'll like the S.O.M. Trust me on this one, okay?" he asked. "Everyone's very nice there. You won't have any trouble fitting in." 

Evelyn closed her eyes, deep in her thoughts. "Okay," she decided to trust Atler- he did promise after all, like when Zak did when he told her the sludge would be delicious. 

Atler gave a soft smile. "We'll let you sleep now. Goodnight, Evelyn." 

He waved his hands at the lights and lamps and they turned off instantly, as well as Evelyn's world did as she fell asleep.