Mia's Pov

“Mia, wake up, we're going to be late for class!”

I thought I was dreaming until I opened my eyes. Everywhere was already bright, I immediately threw myself out of my bed and ran out like I saw a ghost. I couldn't afford to be late for class, not this one.

“If I get punished for being late I'm going to kill you!” Elena screamed.

“I'm sorry I overslept.”

I brushed my teeth so hurriedly I almost hurt myself. I didn't even mind because being late to this class could cost us a lot. It was our first day in the academy. But in our manual we were warned not to ever be late for any class or there will be consequences and we couldn't risk that.

“Where's Ava?” I asked while putting on my uniform.

“She left.”

“Traitor,” I scoffed, even though I was the one who overslept.

I finally got dressed, ran out the door with my bags and almost forgot my student pass. I checked my bag to see if I forgot anything and I couldn't find my student pass. You can't get past the academy gates without it. I ran back inside to check but I couldn't find it.

I scattered the room looking for this card only for it to be looking right at me on top of the shelf. I wonder how it got there.

“Hurry up, we have just fifteen minutes.”

We both walked as fast as we could, walking through the crowd of students rushing into the academy hall. The giant iron doors were already closing slowly behind us but luckily for us we were just in time.

Ava waved her hands towards us with a smile on her face. We walked towards her. She was seated across the hall near the front row.

“You left us.” I said.

“You were sleeping like you were fighting wars in your dream.” She replied.

“Girl you're lucky I didn't leave too.” Elena added.

The moment we sat down, the room went completely silent. Heels clicked against the polished floor as the teacher walked in.

“Welcome to the Moonlight Academy.” She said while walking towards the front of the hall.

“ You shall address me as mistress Beatrix”

She raised her hands slightly and a glowing screen lit in front of us. We were all shocked because honestly I never knew that was possible.

“Today each and every one of you will be tested on how well you know how to control your powers.”

Murmurs spread through the room. I'm pretty sure most people here don't even know their powers and I fall in that category.

“Every one of you has power. Some of you don’t even know yours yet.” She moved her finger slightly and a darker screen appeared listing rules or being in the academy.

“Before we begin lessons, you should understand something very important. Half of you will not survive the first term.”

"What do you mean survive?" a boy in the back asked.

"Exactly what I said," Mistress Beatrix replied.

The room immediately fell silent. I wondered how hard it's going to be for her to say half of us won't survive this term.

“This academy exists for one reason. To prepare you for the moon throne era.”

Moon throne Era?

“This keeps getting more interesting,” Ava said under her breath.

“And among you…” the teacher continues,”there are those already chosen by fate.”

“Without wasting time let's begin.”

I wondered what the first test would be. I wasn't really as excited as Ava and Elena because deep down I knew I didn't belong here and I'm still hurt but the fact that my parents abandoned me a year ago and dropped me off in the middle of nowhere.

“Hey Mia, what are you thinking of?” Elena immediately snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Oh, nothing much I replied.”

The mistress started calling people one after the other until it reached our roll. We were about 30 in the hall. When it reached Ava’s turn she walked to the front confidently. That's my favorite thing about her; she's always so brave and confident.

"I can do this," Ava muttered, rubbing her sweaty palms against her skirt.

"Keep dreaming," Elena said, crossing her arms.

“You guys are unbelievable.” I let out a laugh.

When she got to the front. Mistress Beatrix pointed at the vase.

“You are to hold this vase in the air and prevent it from falling for three minutes.”

“Got it.” Ava replied.

For someone who acted fearless five minutes ago, Ava suddenly looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole.

I bit my lips and glanced at the floating vase in front of me. The clock was ticking, I could see her hands shaking already.

“Focus, control, do not force it.” Mistress Beatrix repeated.

“You got this Ava.” Elena said under her breath.

The vase began shaking and the clock was ticking. The silence even made it scarier.

“That was really impressive.” The mistress said.

The whole class applauded at Ava and she bowed proudly. She can be so funny sometimes.

She walked back to our roll and winked at Elena.

“Break a leg.”

I laughed with them, but I felt really unsure. Ava made it look easy. I had a feeling my turn wasn't going to go nearly as well.

“I got this.” Elena whispered to herself before letting out a breath.

“ Don't embarrass us.”

I could tell from the way she was looking that her heart was about to fall from her chest. Well I could relate to that. Elena walked to the front with her chin raised high. If I didn't know her, I would've believed she wasn't scared. But I knew Elena. She only lifted her chin like that when she was trying not to panic.

Mistress Beatrix points toward the vase. "Focus."

Elena took a deep breath. She lifted her hands towards the direction of the vase. But nothing happened. The vase remained completely still. She tried again a few seconds passed.

My heart began to pound. Elena wasn't moving, and neither was the vase.

“Come on Elena,” Ava silently begged.

She had worked so hard to get here. There was no way she could fail the very first test. I looked around the hall and noticed some students whispering among themselves. That only made me more nervous.

Just when I thought things were about to go terribly wrong, the vase trembled. A small smile appeared on my face.

"That's it.”

The vase slowly lifted into the air. And the whole room applauded. I was panicking like I was the one in front of the vase.

“Mia Carter.”

My heart nearly skipped a beat immediately I heard my name. It was time for me to come out and do nothing.

“You've got this.” Elena tried to cheer me up.

But it wasn't working at all. I forced myself to move, all eyes were on me. It was just as if I should run out and never come back. But I wasn't doing that either.

I arrived at the front and with the way everywhere was silent I felt they could all hear my heart beating fast.

“Show us what you got.”

She sounded like she had faith in me, if only she knew I had no idea what I was doing. I closed my eyes to take a deep breath. But something felt off. I didn't even realize the vase was already floating without me using my hands. But I hadn’t done anything.

Mistress Beatrix was staring like she just saw something impossible. Then I tried using my hands to lift it up. The vase began shaking and I tried stopping it but I couldn't.

“Mia, pull your focus back.” I said to myself.

But at that point no form of encouragement could work. Something inside me reacted and the glass froze in the air for a second then fell with a full force.

The vase was scattered on the floor and the entire hall became quiet. I didn’t even realize I was breathing heavily until I heard footsteps behind me. The principal stood at the entrance, watching me like he had been there the entire time.

“Miss Mia… my office. Now.”