This is in honor of this book hitting 10k reads!!! I hope you enjoy!!!

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Giselle stood at the great wooden doors, biting her lip nervously and clutching her books to her chest. She had been at the guild for years, sure, but moving up into her advanced years was a huge deal. None of her other friends seemed worried. This morning when she had expressed her concerns, Marietta just laughed.

"Well doesn't someone look down," a voice said from behind her.

She turned around with a gasp, dropping her books in surprise.

It was a tall, wiry boy with gleaming eyes and a quirked smile. He laughed. "Oh man, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you drop your things." He knelt quickly and began gathering them.

Giselle stood watching him, stunned.

He looked up. "Uh...you all right?" he said teasingly.

She snapped out of her trance. "Yes, sorry," she said, flustered. She dropped to the floor and began gathering the papers that had spilled everywhere.

Finally, they were stacked in her arms again, albeit messily. She and the boy stood up together.

She stared at him, not knowing what to say. She hadn't wanted to have an awkward moment this early in the morning, but knowing herself, she wasn't surprised.

"I'm Juan Marquez," the boy said, sticking out his hand. He glanced at her arms, heavy laden with books. "Ah, nevermind that." He put his hand back down.

She nodded.

He looked and her expectantly.

She frowned, confused.

"And you are...?" he prompted.

"Oh!" she exclaimed with a nervous laugh. "I'm Giselle. Giselle Laroche."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl," he said with a wink.

She blushed. "O-oh," she stammered, "okay."

He shifted, putting his hands in his pockets. "So, Giselle Laroche. How come you're standing in front of the door to the lecture hall an hour before the lecture?"

Giselle looked down in slight embarrassment. "I...I didn't want to be late."

He chuckled. "Well, late you are not. Wanna take a walk with me? I mean, beats standing here, doesn't it?"

Giselle hesitated for a moment. Here was the boy she had just met, offering to take a walk with her. It seemed wrong. That had never happened to her before. But yet, a part of her was drawn to Juan Marquez, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was.

So she decided to throw her caution to the wind. What did she have to lose?

"Sure," she said with a smile. "I'll, um, put my stuff over here." She placed her books next to the door and returned. They began walking.

"So," she asked after a moment, "why did you come across the door to the lecture hall an hour early?"

He laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Well...as much as I'd like to say I was trying to be a prompt student, I'm currently hiding from Professor Trepak."

Giselle giggled. "What did you do?"

He gave her a look. "You don't have to DO anything for Professor Trepak to get mad at you."

She laughed. "Fair enough. But I'm assuming that's not the case...?"

He gave her a side-eyed glance. "Dang, girl. You haven't known me ten minutes and I'm already pegged as a troublemaker. Fine, yes, I did something." He grinned mischievously. "Walter and I stole his glasses."

Giselle gasped but couldn't help laughing as well. "He'd kill you for less than that!"

Juan shrugged. "What can I say? I live in the edge." He grinned. "Walter has the glasses though, so hopefully I won't be chased after."

"Wow," Giselle muttered.

"And if I am seen," he continued, "I'll be talking to a goody-two-shoes girl and she'll vouch for me?" He gave her a hopeful smile.

Giselle stopped. "Wait..." She glared at him. "Am I you COVER?"

He grinned sheepishly.

"I don't believe this," she muttered. Her good mood plummeted. "I feel used." She crossed her arms. She felt a little betrayed by this seemingly nice boy. It had felt like maybe--just maybe--he was a bit interested in her, but it was just a cover for some stupid prank.

"Sorry...?" he said meekly.

She turned from him and walked away angrily. She didn't approve of pranks. She didn't like being used as a tool. She had been used as a tool far too much in her life, and she was sick of it. Giselle knew she was on the gullible side, and she hated herself for it.

"Hey, Giselle!"

She ignored him.

He finally caught up to her, breathing heavily. "Hey," he panted, "I know I messed up but can I try again?"

She kept walking.

"Please?" he asked, sounding a bit desperate.

She stopped. She gave him a side-eyed glance.

He smiled sheepishly. He stuck out a hand. "Hi. My name's Juan Marquez. I can be a bit obnoxious at times, but I swear I'll grow out of it someday."

Giselle raised an eyebrow.

"I really am sorry," he added, sounding a bit more serious.

She regarded him for a moment. Then she reached out and shook his hand. "Hi, I'm Giselle Laroche, and I can overreact sometimes, but I swear I'm usually a nice person."

His smile broadened. "Nice to meet you, Giselle."

"Likewise, Juan."

"So," he said, dropping her hand. "Shall we continue our walk?"

"I can't see why not," she responded. They began walking again, a new sense of camaraderie between them.

"So, Giselle," Juan said, "where are you from?"

Her mood soured. "Bad first question."

He nodded. "Fair enough. I guess all sorcerers are orphans, so yeah...probably not a great first question. Dang it."

Giselle softened. He was trying, she could see that. "Well, where are you from?"

He shrugged. "I was lucky. Got adopted when I was little. Single father, rich as crap. Didn't see him much growing up but I got a lot of nice things." His face remained smooth.

Giselle looked at him curiously. "You don't sound too happy about it."

He sighed. "I would have preferred to have someone care about me." He smiled, though it seemed forced. "But hey. I count myself lucky."

Giselle nodded.

He sighed again. "Man, I suck at this, I killed the mood."

"It's okay. I don't mind," Giselle said simply. And to her surprise, she realized she didn't.

Her mind suddenly lit up as she remembered a game she used to play when she was little. "So, Juan," she said, her step a little bouncier, "if you were a plant, what type of plant would you be?"

He blinked. "What?"

"If you were a plant, what type of plant would you be?"

He looked at her, trying to fight a smile and failing. "What kind of question is that?"

"One that I asked," she responded, grinning.

He laughed. Giselle liked the sound of his laugh. It made her heart beat a little faster.

"Okay, I'll play," he said, putting a hand to his chin as if in thought. "I'd be...a rubber tree plant."

Giselle laughed in surprise. "I have to say, I did not expect that. Why?"

"I don't know, I just think they're awesome," he said with a grin. "Plus, it's fun to say."

She laughed again. "Alright, whatever you say, crazy."

He stuck out his tongue at her. "Well what plant would YOU be, then?"

She pursed her lips. "I'm not sure. Probably a cherry blossom tree."

Juan wrinkled his nose. "What the heck is a cherry blossom tree?"

"Have you never seen a cherry blossom tree? The flowers are super pretty."

He raised his eyebrows. "I'll have to see them some day."

"You should," she agreed. "There are a ton of them in Washington, D.C. There's a time of year where the whole world seems magical."

"Never been to D. C.," he admitted.

"What?" she exclaimed.

He shrugged. "When you live in Mexico...the capital of the USA isn't at the top of your travel list."

Giselle raised her eyebrow. "Gotcha." She nodded. "I lived in France for a bit. They hate Americans over there." She tilted her head. "Or maybe that was just my caretakers."

"You lived in France?!" Juan exclaimed. "That's awesome! Why the heck did you come back to the USA?"

Giselle suddenly found it hard to look anywhere other than the floor. "Um...my caretakers called me the spawn of Satan and sent me back."

"Whoa," he said seriously. "That's messed up."

She shrugged. "When you can move things with your mind in your sleep, people get freaked out."

Then she bit her lip. She hadn't meant to say that.

Luckily, Juan didn't seem to notice the abnormality--or simply didn't care. "Well, they're just jerks then."

She smiled a bit. "Thanks."

"Enough talking about the past," he said breezily. "Let's talk about the future. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"A teacher," she said immediately.

He looked at her in surprise. "Really? Why?"

"The teachers here have always seemed amazing to me. I want to help people understand their gifts. I want to help broaden minds, sharpen skills...I want to show people that the gifts they have are spectacular and that they're worthy of having those gifts. That magic is beautiful...I don't know." She sighed.

There was a moment of silence between them, and Giselle instantly regretted exposing her soul like that. It had just sort of...happened. Juan was so easy to talk to. She looked at the floor nervously.

"That's really cool," Juan said softly.

She looked up at him. "Really?"

He nodded seriously. "Yeah, I really mean it."

She smiled. "Thanks."

He smiled back. "It's not me who's awesome."

Giselle blushed. "S-so, what do you want to be? When you grow up, I mean."

He shrugged, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Ah, who knows. I was super into science before I learned I was a sorcerer, so...I'm trying to figure out if there's a magic equivalent to science. Because that would be awesome. From what I can tell, there is, but no one will even begin to explain it to me because I'm 'too young' or some crap like that. I don't know. I like figuring out how the world works. I want to experiment. Try new things. I don't think sorcerers explore the limits of magic as much as they could."

As he spoke, Juan grew more and more passionate. Giselle watched the light in his eyes with a smile. Watching people be passionate about something was one of her favorite things.

He suddenly looked down in embarrassment, his hand on the back of his neck. "Sorry, I know it's stupid."

"No, it's not stupid," Giselle said quietly. "I think it's amazing."

He looked at her seriously. "For real? I haven't really told anyone else, so..."

Giselle flushed with happiness. "Well, even if your passion is an unpopular one, you should shout it from the rooftops if that's what you care about. As Dr. Seuss once said, 'be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind."

A slow and genuine smile spread across his face. It made his eyes seem to gleam. "Thanks, Giselle. I really needed to hear that, I think." He looked at her with an odd expression she couldn't quite place. "You know, you're a lot nicer than you seem at first. Sounds like you've been hurt in the past, but...I can tell you really care about people."

Giselle's heart practically started glowing. "Well...you're a lot smarter than you seem at first. You joke and act like you're another dumb slacker, but...you're a genuinely good and intelligent person who could get a lot farther I think if he let down his walls every once in awhile."

Juan laughed softly. "Wow. You see right through me."

They arrived at the base of a pillar that had trellises going up the side, overgrown with ivy.

"I bet I could climb that," Juan mused quietly.

Giselle snorted. "Today, at the top of Stupid Things to Do..."

"You can come with me," he said, looking at her hopefully.

Giselle shook her head firmly. "Why would you even need to get up the pillar?"

"To sit on the roof, duh."

Giselle laughed. "Never in a million years are you going to get me up on that roof."

"Is that a challenge?"

"No!"

"I accept."

"Oh my goodness, I don't believe you."

"You're on."

"Well, disregarding your stupid challenge, it's ten minutes until class starts. We should probably start walking back, yeah?"

"Yeah...lead the way, m'lady."

Giselle laughed. She wasn't sure what the future held for her and Juan Marquez...but she knew for certain that it would be interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~

Comment your thoughts! I'd love to hear from you!

If you haven't read the sequel, Legends, yet, you're going to see some more of Juan in there, so head on over. ;)

And thank you guys so much for 10k...this honestly means so much to me.

Much love,
~Paint_splatt