Free Alchemist Academy: Book 2 by Matt Ryan Page A

teeth. She didn’t make the full blown giggle-grins Lola did, but she came close.
    Lola stood. “Wendy, this is Jackie, Allie, and Mark.” She sat back down and bounced in the chair, patting and squeezing Mark’s knee.
    “So happy you’re here,” Wendy said. “In this class, we cover the use of particular stones. The good ones.” She winked.
    Jackie blew out a long breath.
    “Thanks. We’re happy to be here,” Mark said.
    I offered a smile and a nod.
    “Today I think we should talk about a special….” Wendy stopped and looked behind us.
    I turned to see Kylie and three guys walking up. She gave me the slightest nod before jumping over the back of one of the couches and sitting down. A few of the boys glared at me before looking ahead to Wendy.
    “The more the merrier,” Wendy said as she fidgeted with her hands. “So, as I was saying, this special stone has the ability to freeze a small amount of water.” She held a stone in her gloved hand and dropped it.
    The moment the stone hit the water in the bowl, it froze. Even the ripple about to splash over the edge iced over. I’d seen Verity use a stone like this to freeze the water under the statue.
    “Can anyone tell me some uses for this?”
    I could. I’d used the same stone to break the lock on Verity’s cabinet.
    “You could really mess with someone taking a bath,” Jackie said. “Or freeze some appendages off…. Ooh! Or maybe with enough booster stones, you could freeze an entire lake over.” She laughed. “Can you imagine the looks on their faces when people came to the lake? They’d be all, ‘It’s summer. Oh, is that my boat stuck in the ice?’” Jackie snorted and hit me in the arm repetitively.
    I chuckled and shook my head. Kylie and her friends huddled closer and I caught the words booster stone .
    “Can someone else think of a way to use this stone that would actually help people?”
    Mark raised his hand and Wendy pointed to him. “To assist with food storage in poor countries that don’t have proper refrigeration.”
    “Good one, Mark,” Lola said, and patted his knee again. “I think a great way to use it would be to include them in first aid kits. You could release the stone in a gel compound that would keep it very cold for a long time. And I bet it’d be way better for the environment.” She smiled and shrugged.
    I sneered at the back of her perfect blonde head. I had a few stones I might like to use on her. My lips thinned and I told myself all of this will get me closer to finding my mom.
    “I think that’s an awesome idea,” Mark said.
    “Thanks, Mark.” Lola perked up.
    I took a deep breath through my nose and tried to repress the anger swelling inside me. But if she continued to give Mark those Barbie-doll eyes, I was going to go all Jackie on her.
    “Here is the yin to that yang.” Wendy dropped a stone on the ice and it melted in an instant. Some of the water spilled over the edge. “Many stones have a counter. Can you tell me of any such combinations?”
    Jackie raised her hand and started talking before she was called on. “This is kind of gross, but there’s a vomit stone, and when it’s used with a starvation stone, the victim throws up and then shovels it back in… with vigor. Only to vomit it all back out again.” She raised an eyebrow with a sideways smile.
    Had she actually used such a combination of stones? Her face told me yes, and she thought it was hilarious. I cringed at the thought of seeing such a display.
    The class was silent as they stared at Jackie with questioning gazes—trying to figure out the puzzle that was Jackie. Good luck, guys.
    Mark raised his hand and Wendy pointed to him.
    “The life stone is a dichotomy in itself. It takes a death to save a life, all in one stone.” He looked over his shoulder and then back to the teacher. It was a blank expression, but I wondered if he still held any resentment.
    “Very interesting that you would even know such a thing, Mark.”