Dear Chad,

Look after my baby brother for me, will you? I’m worried he is going to push himself too hard in my absence. Please help him find something to do that will give him purpose at The Academy, even if it is something little.

-Jet

Daisy braced herself outside of the kitchens. She could do this! All she needed to do was walk in, find Chad, and ask him for help. No problem, she talked with Chad all the time when they were working together. Why was this so hard? Was it because Amelia and Sheldon still didn’t trust Chad? No, that wasn’t it. It was probably because everybody else she had talked to thought that she wasn’t ready. Maybe she wasn’t, but if she didn’t at least try the initiation test this quarter she would start to lose hope of ever becoming an apprentice. Surely Chad could help her pass the test. After all, he had passed the test without ever being a novice first.

Chad thought about the letter he had received from Jet while he helped to prepare lunch. How was he going to help Quartz find purpose when he barely saw him these days?

“Excuse me, Chad?” Daisy’s voice pulled Chad out of his thoughts.

“Good morning, Daisy. I didn’t know you were working today. Would you mind helping me with these carrots?”

“Um…actually, I’m not working today. I came to ask a favor.” Daisy paused and waited for Chad to look in her direction before blurting out, “Would you please help me prepare for the initiation test!?”

Surprised, Chad replied, “I don’t think I would be of much help.”

“But you passed without ever having to be a novice! Please!” Daisy looked at him with pure determination in her eyes.

“I’m really sorry. I honestly don’t think I can help. From what I’ve learned since coming here, I am not sure if I could pass the initiation if I took it now. I think Wizard Ferdinandson saw potential in me and wanted to bring me back to the Academy to learn, but because of my age the only way he could do that was to make me an apprentice.”

Chad didn’t mention that he was also pretty sure he had been on par with most advanced apprentices when it came to spell usage and practical knowledge. His fundamental knowledge had been lacking and if he had never come to the Academy he probably wouldn’t have been able to advance much further because of it.

“Sorry,” Chad said again.

“It’s okay,” Daisy headed towards the door with slumped shoulders.

“Actually,” Chad called out as a thought popped into his head, “are you always free during this time?”

“Yeah, why?” she said, looking back at him from the door.

“Just a thought. Could you meet me just outside tomorrow at this time? I might actually be able to help.”

Quartz sat under a tree near the dining commons and contemplated why he was there. When he got back to their room last night, Chad was already asleep as usual. Unlike usual, Hanson had a note from Chad for him. That had surprised him. Hanson never talked to him. His relationship with Hanson was one of the things he hadn’t been able to fix after that terrible week. The note said that Chad had a favor to ask of him and to meet him outside the kitchen during his free time this morning.

While he was waiting, a novice stopped near the kitchen door and leaned her back against the wall like she was waiting for someone. She looked like she was probably around Mallory’s age and was on the tall side of average, which meant she was probably several centimeters taller than Quartz. Maybe that’s why he got along with Mallory so well; she was one of the few apprentices that was shorter than him.

Chad came out of the kitchen soon after the novice arrived. When he came out, the novice stood up and greeted him. They had a brief conversation before Chad looked around for Quartz. When he spotted him, both Chad and the novice walked over to him.

“Good morning, Quartz!” Chad said. “I’m glad you got my note. I want you to meet someone.” He nodded his head to the side. “This is Daisy. Daisy, this is Quartz.”

“Hello,” said a visibly nervous Daisy.

Quartz replied with a simple, “Hey!”

Chad continued, “Quartz, yesterday Daisy asked me for help to get ready to take the initiation test. As you know, I didn’t really go on the normal route to become an apprentice. So…” Here Chad paused to look Quartz straight in the eyes. “I thought maybe you could help her? You both are free during this time so I thought maybe you guys could work something out.”

Quartz wasn’t particularly happy with the idea. He might be free now, but this was one of the few breaks he got in his day. He didn’t really want to spend it trying to teach a novice.

“Actually,” Quartz said.

“Hey, I need to get back to work,” Chad said before Quartz could finish. “How about the two of you talk things out and see if you can make something work. See you later!”

Quartz watched Chad leave, annoyed at the situation he had been put into. He looked over at the novice—Daisy—and their eyes met briefly before they both looked away awkwardly.

“Um…” Daisy finally spoke up after an agonizing amount of time.

“What?” Quartz snapped back at her. He wasn’t feeling particularly happy at the moment.

“I’m sorry!” Daisy said, but stayed right where she was.

After another very long awkward pause Quartz finally gave in.

“Fine! Tell me what you want and I’ll decide if I am willing to help.”

“Well you see, I want to take the initiation test but my friends don’t think I’m ready. I am looking for help with—”

Quartz paced.

He had been surprised and impressed by Daisy. In the weeks since they had first met she had demonstrated an amazing tenacity for learning and trying to improve herself. He was sure she would pass the test without any problems. Honestly, she probably would have passed the test without his help. The biggest hurdle he had helped her overcome was her extreme lack of self-confidence. She was a level one mage, so, it had been instilled into her by her peers that she wouldn’t be able to pass the test. However, her fundamental knowledge was spot on and because she was a low level mage she had to be creative with her magic. She was forced to innovate in a way that Chad, or even Quartz himself, would never be able to because their levels allowed them to use brute force with general spells.

Quartz paced some more.

He had also been surprised by himself. Helping Daisy had given him a purpose in a way that simply keeping busy hadn’t. For the last several weeks, the “nothingness” had become easier and easier to avoid. With a clear goal and a clear timeframe, he had finally started to move on.

Quartz continued pacing.

He realized that if Daisy passed her test he would need a new purpose and he had something in mind. In half a year, at the end of the summer quarter, he would be eligible to take the practical test to become an abecedarian. Originally, he hadn’t planned on taking it so soon. He had planned to take things easy and wait a couple of years until Jet was closer to being ready to take the test as well. Now that she was gone he didn’t see a reason not to take it as soon as possible.

Quartz stopped pacing long enough to look around. How long would this take? He started pacing again.

He would probably have to push himself, but he could probably manage to pass the test at the end of summer. If he passed, he would become an abecedarian. Abecedarians were free to come and go from the Academy. If—or rather when—he passed, he would be able to leave and look for Jet.

“Quartz!” Daisy’s excited voice brought Quartz’s pacing to a stop. He looked up just as he was pulled into a hug. “I passed, Quartz! I passed! Thank you so much!”

Chad sat across from Selena at the end of the table. Everybody had gathered to celebrate the end of the quarter and Daisy becoming an apprentice. Daisy seemed to be fitting in well with Mallory, Hillary, Marcel, and Quartz. It was not too surprising: Mallory liked everybody; Hillary had found an attentive new audience for her rumours which in turn meant Marcel was happy because he was no longer the target of her constant talking; and Quartz had spent the last several weeks helping her prepare for the test.

Chad shared a look with Selena. They both knew that their connection to this group was through Jet and Quartz. With Jet gone they were still welcome, but neither of them could figure out where they fit in the group.

For now Chad was content to sit to the side. Considering how the quarter had started, he was pretty happy with the way things were. He would make it a point to spend more time with Quartz. He would make sure that their schedules didn’t clash so much next quarter. But those were worries for another day. Despite everything that had happened, they were able to celebrate today and Chad was sure things would only get better from here.