We entered America's Finest City near Balboa Park. As we drove along Sixth Ave, I liked the place right away; the cross streets were all plant names in alphabetical order... Elm, Fir, Grape, Hawthorn, Ivy, Juniper. Not only did they name a street after my grandmother, but the alphabetical order made it hard to get lost.

  "I didn't bring you here just to impress you with street names," Mrs. Wu said from the driver's seat, turning on Palm St. "I hope you have room for dessert, because there's no better introduction to San Diego than here." With that, she parked the car next to an establishment called Extraordinary Desserts.

  Tansy hopped out of the car and told me she'd walk around while we ate, pretending to be a local outdoor cat. I promised to get an outside table so she could join us and - before we parted ways - I retrieved her enchanted collar from my bag and put it on her. Before I forgot, I also retrieved Grandma's earrings. I wanted Grandma Juniper to be with me today, so I put them on.

  We headed inside and the place lived up to its name. The desserts were elaborately, yet tastefully decorated with fruit, flowers, and gold leaf. We each ordered something different, planning to share all four desserts with the table. I got the four berry cobbler, Crystal got the chocolate tres leches, Mr. Wu picked the gianduia (a cake with chocolate, hazelnut, boysenberry, praline, and rum), and Mrs. Wu chose the white chocolate linzer torte. After ordering, we sat down outdoors. Tansy hurried over and began slinking around our legs.

  As elaborate as the cakes looked in the display case, their presentations were even more beautiful when they came to the table on plates decoratively strewn with fruit sauce, whipped cream, and other toppings. From my first bite, I was in love.

  "Think Artemisia could declare this place a dormitory and let us move in?" I asked.

  "Or call it a cafeteria and allow us to order cake on our meal plan?" suggested Crystal.

  "If they don't, at the very least you'll be neighbors," Mr. Wu said. "Artemisia's campus is in Balboa Park, and Balboa Park is two blocks that way." He pointed with his spoon.

  Well, I'm going to gain the "freshman 15" and now I know exactly how.

  With so little luggage to carry, we walked to the campus. It wasn't too far away, and it was nice to walk in the park. Extraordinarily Desserts was near the golf course, but elsewhere in the park there were museums, the San Diego Zoo, a dog park, a theatre, restaurants, and more. In one of the areas with scrubby native plants and... nothing... Mrs. Wu said, "We're here!"

  I looked at her and said sarcastically, "Is this like getting onto platform 9 3/4? I have to push a trolley with luggage and an owl into a barrier..."

  I trailed off, noticing a nearby plant. Artemisia californica. Well, I guess that explains the school's name. Kind of. Because although the plant was right where Mrs. Wu said the school was, I saw nothing that resembled a university.

  The Wus were clearly having a little joke at my expense. All three of them looked like they were holding back laughter. Finally, Mrs. Wu took pity on me.

  "You're on the right track," she said. "The campus takes up only a single square foot of the park. It's spatially expanded. Once we enter, you'll see it's quite large. Nearly a square mile. It's also hidden with an illusion, and it's protected from nonmagical people with wards. They can't even stumble into it by accident. Follow me."

  Mrs. Wu stepped into the Artemisia californica plant and vanished. One by one, we followed her. We emerged on a campus with landscaping and architecture that looked very similar to Balboa Park, although the weather was slightly cooler and more pleasant.

  The Wus, who had visited together the summer before Crystal's senior year, brought us straight to the Agate Administration Building, where arriving new students checked in. As we joined the line, I started mentally cataloging observations from my official entry into magical society:

  1. Everyone is dressed normally. No robes or cloaks. Definitely no weird hats.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  2. Also, no broomsticks.

  3. Or owls.

  4. A lot of people do have pets of various kinds. Are they just pets, or are they magical animals like Tansy? Or familiars? (Are familiars actually a thing?)

  5. I don't see any electronics. They aren't checking us in with computers and nobody is on their phone.

  6. The most obvious signs of magic are origami cranes flying around the place. I saw a man unfold and read one, then write a reply. The paper folded itself back up into a crane and flew off.

  Crystal started chatting with the boy in front of us, and I stopped staring around the room and joined them.

  "Derek Evans," he said, holding out a hand. "Fire mage."

  "I'm Crystal Wu, diviner, and this is my friend Angelica Moore, nature mage," Crystal responded for both of us. Derek paused for a moment like he was considering making a comment and then thought better of it.

  Crystal shook Derek's hand and then I did too. "Are you also a freshman?" I asked.

  "Yeah," he said. "I guess that means we're all living on campus. What dorm are you in?"

  "Tourmaline," Crystal responded. "You?"

  "Quartz," he said. The conversation ended there because he reached the front of the line and a woman at the check-in desk called, "Next!"

  Our turn came soon after that. We each received a campus map, a course catalog, a rape whistle, a tutorial about using message cranes, and a key to our suite in Tourmaline dorm. Then the man checking us in cast a spell on us that allowed us to pass the wards on the campus buildings we had access to and another giving us access to the campus meal plan. He told us each time we purchase food, the person checking us out will cast a spell updating the value remaining on our meal plan. I thought we were done but he checked our IDs and cast a third spell on us that marked us as underage and not allowed to drink alcohol.

  With that, he instructed us to decide on our classes by the end of the next day and return to the room next door to register and receive our schedules.

  "What do we do first? Find our dorm or register for classes?" I asked Crystal. However, Tansy answered in my head. "Find your dorm. It's also my dorm. Let me move in and get comfortable."

  I looked meaningfully at the cat, hoping Crystal would get the hint, and said, "Nevermind, I think it would be better for Tansy if we moved into the dorm first."

  So that's what we did. The four of us with opposable thumbs pulled out our maps, each trying to locate Tourmaline. Fortunately, the buildings were in alphabetical order. Walking from Agate to Tourmaline meant a trek most of the way across campus, but it also gave us a nice opportunity to see the campus. The buildings were set along grassy quadrangles joined by sidewalks and tastefully landscaped with native plants.

  Tourmaline was in a cluster of dorms, alongside Ruby and Sapphire. The nearest cafeteria was Moonstone, but it wasn't too far away. The campus police and healer were also close by in Zircon. "Here goes nothing," I thought as I entered our building, feeling a slight... something... as the wards decided to let me in.

  Our dorm was surprisingly nice. The main entrance opened up into a common room with couches around coffee tables. Instead of electricity, the room was lit by large picture windows and magical lights Crystal told me are called mage lights.

  The main room had several doors leading to courtyards with a patios and drought resistant native landscaping. Each courtyard was surrounded by walls lined with sidewalks, with doors to student suites separated only by inches. There had to be spatial magic at play. You could not fit this many dorm rooms into such a small space without magic.

  We passed through the correct door into our courtyard and walked until we found our suite. I opened our door with my key. The moment the door opened, Tansy ran through my legs and let herself in. The four humans in our party followed.

  The door opened into a common room with hardwood floors, several blue chairs and a blue couch, an oak coffee table, and more mage lights. As we explored, we found two bedrooms (each equipped with a bed, a desk, a chair, mage lights, and a closet), one bathroom, and a small kitchenette with some counter space and enchanted appliances that run on mana instead of electricity. I added a few more thoughts and observations to my mental list:

  7. Seriously, what is it with the no electricity?

  8. Do enchanted kitchen appliances work like regular ones? This is a matter of urgent importance as I enjoy eating and will need to prepare food.

  9. These people have magic and they can't give us much better dorm rooms than the nonmagical college students get? Harry Potter lived in a castle!

  Artemisia was nice for an American college but it was no Hogwarts. From what I could tell, the upgrades compared to nonmagical colleges were slightly more space and privacy, a bathtub as well as a shower, the provided kitchen appliances, and the lack of bad smell.

  I don't know if the lack of bad smell is magic or not, but some of the dorms I visited when looking at colleges smelled really bad.

  Crystal chose the bedroom on the right, so I took the one on the left. Before getting my own things unpacked, I unpacked Tansy's things and set her up with food, water, a cat tree, and her litterbox. Then I unpacked my bedding and made my bed. With everything stored in my backpack and ring, able to be retrieved by speaking a few words, there was just no urgency to finish unpacking now.

  My next project was selecting my classes. I took the course catalog into the common room and sat down.