“Between the two desks was one of those old Chinese screens, but even this bore Jenna's stamp, as the wood had been painted--you guessed it: pink.”

“Jenna and I had spent one very boring Magical Evolution class speculating on what her e-mail address might be. Jenna thought it was probably something dull, like just her name, but my personal vote (and a ten-dollar bet) was for [email protected]. I guess now I could find out.”

“Right," Jenna said. She was sitting on a desk next to me. She spent most of the class reading those mangas she liked so much.”

“They have statues," Jenna said. "In a hallway." Sure enough, two bronze statues of veiled women guarded the massive staircase, where even more people were now lining up. They were all wearing black uniforms, and had nearly identical smiles plastered on their faces."What are those people doing?" Jenna whispered to me."I don't know," I replied through a frozen grin, "but I'm afraid a musical number might be involved.""This is our household staff," Dad said, sweeping his arm toward the group. "Anything you need, they'll be happy to help you with.""Oh," I said weakly, feeling like my voice echoed in the cavernous room. "Great.”

“Jenna had started swimming in the deep end of the pity pool.”

“Right. So no plans at all then?"Jenna frowned. "Other than rocking in the fetal position for a while?""Yeah, I was thinking about taking one of those showers where you huddle in the corner fully clothed and cry," Archer offered.”

“Jenna and Archer shared a look. “-Why would we need to ‘stay in touch’?” Jenna asked. “-Well, because…Look, I can’t ask you guys to stay at Hex Hall for a whole other year. Jenna, you have Vix, and Archer, you have…Actually, what DO you have?” “-You,” he said firmly. “And a whole bunch of holy knights who want to kill me.”