I narrow my eyes. "It's none of your business," I snap.
That just makes them laugh more, but I turn away. We don't need to deal with their negativity.
"Isn't making kittens the only way she can get friends?" the idiot asks so loudly that the rest of the class start paying attention.
Great. Just what I need.
"Alright, that's enough." Ryan's voice is lower than I've ever heard it before, with a slight threat in it that I wouldn't believe if I hadn't heard it myself. "Mona isn't doing anything to hurt you, so just back off."
"Oh, look who has got herself a boyfriend." The idiot wolf whistles.
"So what if I have? We're all adults, I can have a boyfriend if I want," I snap, regretting the words almost instantly. But not because of the shock on the idiot's face. More the look of hope on Ryan's.
The idiot glares, but turns back to what he's supposed to be doing. Good riddance, we're better off without his attention.
Ryan turns to me and opens his mouth, but he's cut off by the professor appearing in front of our desks.
Relief and concern fill me at once, and I'm not sure which of the two I should act on.
"A kitten?" The professor raises an eyebrow. "May I see?"
I frown, but hand Romeo to him gently.
"Interesting. Is this the first kitten you've conjured?" he asks.
I shake my head. "He's the sixth," I admit sheepishly.
To my surprise, he chuckles. "Then you're lucky the academy doesn't technically have a policy on pets."
My eyes widen. I hadn't even thought about looking into that yet. I've just been hoping that no one would come inspect my room and discover the kittens going about their daily business. They aren't destroying anything or causing anyone any harm, though. Which is probably how I'm getting away with it.
"And I see you managed to perform the spell as well as making a kitten."
"Oh, right, yes."
"Come see me after class, I may have something of use to you." He passes Romeo back to me, and I take him, completely confused by the direction events have taken. That isn't what I thought would happen when Romeo fell out of my wand.
Chapter Four
I approach the desk even as the other students file out of the room.
"I'll see you outside," Ryan says, his hand hovering at my lower back, not quite touching, but definitely enough that I know he's there.
I can't even work out if I want him to touch me or not. I suspect I do, but then what does that even mean?
"Thanks," I respond. Romeo squirms in my arms, waving a paw in Ryan's direction. Apparently, this kitten has bonded with him in some strange way. I should keep that in mind and make sure they see each other enough. I'd give Romeo to Ryan now, but I don't know if I need him for whatever the professor wants to talk to me about.
"Just one second, Miss Black," the man tells me, before disappearing off into a separate room that I presume is his office.
He comes bustling back out seconds later with a thick book in his hands. It looks like a stereotypical spellbook, but that doesn't make any sense. No one uses anything like that any more. Everything has been scanned and written for the digital era.
"You've remembered your diamonds, I hope?" he asks as he sets the book down.
"Yes." It feels odd to have a pocketful of sand-turned-precious-gems, but I have six kittens to feed now, the extra money I can make by se
lling them will come in more useful than anyone else will be able to imagine.
"Good. You're the only one in the class that managed. Did you know that?"