The first few weeks of class passed Ari by in a rush. She was pleased to find that her self-guided summer studies had put her far ahead of her peers, and she had aced all of the homework assignments and class quizzes with ease. In fact, a few of her professors had already caught on and had promised her they would ask about transferring her to a more advanced class. Until then, though, she would have to be satisfied with using her free time on extracurriculars and research projects of her own devising.
She had become particularly fond of potion crafting recently, and the alchemy professor had let her take one of the class potion kits back to her room with her so she could try experimenting with more complex recipes whenever she wished. The kit was a large (and heavy) box sectioned off into squares, each square containing a little glass jar of a basic essence. Essences are the building blocks of potions, highly concentrated substances that are usually distilled from a particular plant or animal. They each have distinct chemical and magical properties, and carefully mixing tiny drops of essences at the right times within some diluting agent is how most potions are made. For example, the essence of milkwort has strong purifying properties, so it is often used in healing potions to rid a person of disease. But it also has a tendency to weaken and sedate the ailing person, sometimes to such an extent they die anyway, so the essence of bear bone marrow is added to milkwort healing potions to strengthen and invigorate the patient. To mix the two, you must add only two drops of each to a wooden bowl and stir gently, gradually adding clean water until it fills a standard flask.
Ari loved the puzzle of potion brewing, and the seemingly infinite possibilities. There were so many essences out there, and more being invented every day, that trying every combination was impossible for any one person. So much for her to discover!
Two weeks into the semester, Ari found herself sitting on her bed in the evening trying to decipher a complicated recipe for a plant growth potion; she had a dream of growing her potted creeping wisteria until it was big enough to traverse the entire ceiling of her room. The potion kit was open next to her, and a few jars of essences were spread around haphazardly.
She had expected this to be simple, but it wasn't turning out that way. Encouraging a plant to grow and reproduce SHOULD BE theoretically similar to potions that made people want to reproduce. She glanced over to the drawer of the nightstand next to her bed, where she kept a potion for... personal use. Plenty of potionmasters before her had worked out formulae for aphrodisiacs/love potions, and Ari had modified and perfected her own recipe over the past few years. Only for herself, of course. She was still a virgin, technically, but even scholars needed some way to relieve the stress.
She pulled out the vial and looked at it. Her roommate wouldn't be back for a while, right? A party or something? She couldn't quite remember. Ella, her roommate and best friend, tended towards the scatterbrained and kept a rather unpredictable schedule, if you could call it that at all. Ari sighed, setting the vial on the nightstand next to her lamp; maybe later. She was struck a little sad by the thought of her best friend out at a party, while Ari was sitting alone, masturbating. Not that she had anyone to blame but herself, she was always uncomfortable around large groups of people, or even small groups of people she didn't know.
She tried to get back to her work, but her focus was broken. She kept glancing at the vial of aphrodisiac, and just thinking about the prospect of pleasuring herself was making her pussy open up a little in anticipation. Eventually, she gave in and laid back with a sigh, letting her fingers travel under her shift to spread her lips slowly. She liked to get herself stated without any help, then once she was horny take a gulp of potion to extend her orgasm, or more commonly, orgams.
Just as she was reaching for the potion, however. the door burst open and Ella strode in. Ari yelped and pushed her shift back down to cover herself, but Ella thankfully didn't notice. She was carrying school books and still wearing her school uniform, a simple pleated black skirt that went down past the knee, a white blouse, and a black vest emblazoned with the crest of the Academy. She groaned as she tossed her books haphazardly onto her bed and promptly followed them by throwing herself face-down onto the mattress. "Arrriiiiiiiiiiiii"
Ari rolled her eyes but smiled at the same time. "What, Hangnail give you detention again?" Ella had been given detention the week before by their elderly and ornery Theory of Magic professor, Ms. Hangnail.
"Noooooo... Medvin dumped me!"
"Oh. I'm... sorry. Which one is he again?" Ella rolled over and gave Ari a mild glare. "The one with red hair. Little bit of a beard. Plays skyball."
"Oh, right. Medvin." Ari still only had a bare recollection of who Ella was talking about. But who could blame her really? Ella was going out with a new boy every other week, if not two at the same time, so they all kind of got jumbled in Ari's head. Ari also paid very little attention in general to the boys at the Academy, mostly because she rarely came into contact with them. The Academy has been accepting to both boys and girls since its founding, but they had an 'ancient tradition' of separating the sexes for their classes, claiming it encouraged better learning for the students. There were still social opportunities if you sought them out; the students at the Academy had plenty of time after classes and on the weekends when they could do as they wish and make friends with the opposite sex. Ari had made a few male acquaintances last year the few times Ella had dragged her out of their room to hang out with her and some of her other friends, but it was never her preference. She would rather be here in her room, comfortable and reading a good book. And... maybe masturbating. Usually masturbating. At least a little.
"And I was supposed to go to Emeric's party with him tonight!" Ella cried suddenly, as if she had just thought of it. "No!!! I've been waiting for this since the start of the semester! I can't go alone!"
"I'm sorry, El; but you can still have fun without a date, right?"
Ella propped herself up on her arms. She was clearly upset, but her eyes were dry. Good sign, Ari thought, she must not have been that into this guy. "Normally, I would absolutely agree, my erudite friend," Ella said, "but the thing is, the guy hosting this party is cool. Like, way cooler than me, even. His name is Emeric, he's a year above us, and getting invited to one of his parties is like a shining badge that says you're on top of the Academy's social ladder. Medvin is on the skyball team with him, so he was my in. But now I can't go! This is the worst!"
She flopped back down on her back and slammed her fist into the mattress in anger.
Ari felt a pang of pity. She might not care about being at the 'top of the social ladder,' but she knew how much things like that mattered to Ella, and it did hurt her to see her best friend this way.
She looked over at the alchemy book sitting next to her. For the first time ever that she could recall, the schoolbook looked incredibly dull. Maybe her inhibitions were a little lowered from her masturbation cut short, but sitting here alone was, remarkably, not what she was in the mood for tonight.
Tentatively, she said to Ella, "Well... why don't we just go anyway?" Ella immediately sat up again on her bed and squinted at Ari, "You want to crash a party?"
Ari blushed and almost changed her mind. "Well... yeah, I guess. I don't have anything important to do here. I'm kind of in the mood for some adventure for once."
