Clove planned to seal the projects of every student at Afterglow Academy. So far, she had sealed Dandelion’s project. And she had sealed Catmint’s project.

Clove was on her way to seal Ginger’s project when she saw the dean walking toward her.

“Clove,” the dean said, walking up to Clove with a young witch at her side. “I have a favor to ask of you.”

Clove raised her eyebrows at the dean and the young witch as they stopped in front of Clove.

“This is Lily,” the dean said.

“I used to be Sara,” Lily said. “Before I arrived in Afire.”

“Lily,” the dean said. “Arrived in Afire yesterday, and she has decided to attend Afterglow Academy next year. Since you are one of our best students, I was hoping that you would be able to give her a tour of the school.”

Clove looked at Lily. “I’m really busy,” Clove said.

“Oh,” the dean said. “Of course, with your project. Lily won’t be a bother. She can just follow along.”

Clove looked at Lily again.

Lily looked at Clove.

Clove noticed that Lily’s eyes were the same color as her younger sister Rose’s eyes. Clove looked back at the dean.

The dean held eye contact with Clove.

“Okay,” Clove said. “I guess I can take her with me.”

“Thank you, Clove,” the dean said. “Just bring her by my office before dinner today.” Then, the dean walked away, leaving Lily behind.

Clove turned toward Lily. “Hi,” she said. “I’m just on my way to help out a classmate. Please follow along and try not to get in the way.”

But Lily did get in the way. And Lily had a lot to say.

“When did you get to Afire?” Lily asked.

Clove told her story.

“So you don’t know about the aliens?” Lily asked.

Clove stared at Lily.

“A few months after you got here,” Lily said. “Aliens came to earth.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Clove said.

“No, really,” Lily said. “They’re real. They’re friendly aliens though. They just needed to take shelter for awhile. They needed to build up their strength so that they could face their enemies. And then, they left. They went home.”

Clove didn’t know whether to believe Lily or not, but it didn’t matter. She had work to do. She walked over to Ginger. She introduced Ginger to Lily, and asked if she could seal Ginger’s project.

Instead, Ginger talked to Lily.

And Lily told Ginger all about the aliens.

Unlike Clove, Ginger was very interested in the aliens and asked a lot of questions. Unlike Clove, Ginger did not seem concerned with the amount of time wasted on talking about aliens.

Finally, Clove was able to seal Ginger’s project. But after all of the time that had been wasted, Clove only had time to help one more witch: Oleander.

Oleander was also interested in Lily and the aliens. Despite being Clove’s rival and the most likely witch to become the next August Witch, Oleander did not seem to mind wasting time by talking to Lily about aliens.

Clove did manage to seal Oleander’s project while the two talked. But Clove was late in returning Lily to the dean.

“She was helping all of her classmates with their projects,” Lily explained to the dean.

“Shouldn’t you be working on your own project?” the dean asked Clove.

“I’ve decided not to compete,” Clove said. “I don’t want to be August Witch.”

“If you don’t complete the final project,” the dean said. “Then you won’t pass. You won’t graduate. You’ll have to either get married or find a job that doesn’t need a degree like a doctor. Are you really okay with that?”

Clove felt horrified. “I hadn’t realized that not doing my final project would result in such dire consequences,” Clove said.

“Well,” the dean said. “You still have time. You’d better get to work.”

Clove left to start on her project, but she wouldn’t do a project showcasing how her sealant magic could help the community of Afire. Instead, she would show why she shouldn’t be an August Witch and why August Witches, instead of the best in the class, should be the students with the greatest character and ability to refrain from using their magic to exploit others. If August Witches truly were honest, then it wouldn’t matter if another witch went up against them because the August Witches would make sure that things really were fair.