by S C Thomas
“You catch up in time.” Kelyn echoed, her shoulders squaring, and a hint of slight fear sparked in her eyes. “I’m sorry Emma, but that’s something for you and the Headmaster to discuss. Not with me. That isn’t my business to be telling you things he probably wants to do himself.”
Emma pursed her lips together but nodded sullenly. Not a damn person seemed capable enough to give her any answers she wanted, could they? She pressed her fingers to her forehead, looking at an open book that had been set in front of her or she had set in front of herself (she didn’t quite remember which it was at this point) and tried to gobble up the words typed on the pages. Just as the rest of the day had been, they swam in front of her vision, like alphabet soup. Nothing was making sense, a garbled mess inside her mind.
“I’m so doomed.” She groaned.
“No, you’ll get it.” Kelyn encouraged. “You just have to start with the basics, that’s all. I know it’s a bit of a reach, but you’re going to get it. I promise.”
Emma looked up at her skeptically, pressing her lips together to tell that she didn’t entirely believe her. She wanted to, it was just slightly difficult with the fact that it was taking everything out of her just to be able to try and concentrate. Besides, with knowing nothing, even the basics were difficult.
“How long does a mage study or know things before coming to the school?” She asked curiously after a few minutes of prolonged silence.
Kelyn shifted uncomfortably, biting her lip as she looked away from Emma. “Pretty much since birth. Growing up in a magical family, you pick things up.” She shrugged.
Emma blinked, her mouth falling open. “From birth? I’m supposed to learn basics that babies know, and I can’t even do that?” She squeaked, throwing herself back on her pillows. “I am so doomed, I mean it!”
“Oh, come on, Emma! You’re going to be fine. Once you unlock your abilities and learn to control them, things will come easier to you.”
“Are you sure, Kelyn? You ever see a mage learn how to do basics at our age and get through it easily?”
A gurgle came from Kelyn as she tried to figure out how to respond and then went quiet. Emma moaned, throwing her hands over her face, turning the world dark above her. “I knew it,” she grumbled, displeased by the lack of response from her friend, but not having expected less from her.
She didn’t expect others to come in late to the game and have to learn everything from scratch. She wasn’t just two years behind academically magic wise, but instead, she was an entire lifetime behind! Other mages had been learning from the instant they took a breath into the world. Whereas she had been running from this world, denying her powers. Or at least her mother had. She hadn’t given her choice; she’d made it for her and whisked her away. But why? She would never get to know the answer now. She would never get to learn the truth of why they’d had to keep running. Away from this world, a place she could’ve belonged this entire time.
Pushing herself to hoisting herself up on her elbows, she tilted her head as she looked at Kelyn curiously. “Are you able to do mage magic?”
Kelyn shot her head up, looking at Emma in confusion. “What?” She shook her head. “Nope, mm, no. I can’t. I can only do shifter magic, which is basic magic for you guys. Your basic is our advanced.” She shrugged. “It’s just how it is. It’s also why I got the curriculum though. To be able to help you better.”
Emma squinted her eyes, pressing her lips together as her stomach twisted in a knot. She didn’t fully believe Kelyn, but she didn’t think it was right to outright question her. So instead she just nodded and picked her own book up, pulling a notepad to her side, full intent to write notes. But staring at the glob of a mess on the page, she let out a heavy sigh and threw it down, picking up another one. She just hoped this one was easier to read or at least be able to take notes from. Maybe if she wrote things down, it would be easier to decipher everything. Maybe if she saw it in her own words, it would come to her like it was meant to all along.
“Thank you,” she mumbled after a few minutes, looking up at Kelyn. “Thank you for helping me and ugh, being my friend to.”
Kelyn looked at her in that mild surprise once again. “Yeah of course. Your other friends going to be okay with it though?”
Emma snorted, rolling her eyes dramatically. “I don’t have any other friends, Kelyn. You’re good.” She laughed, shaking her head.
Kelyn giggled and pushed a notebook full of writing towards Emma. “Here, all my notes I’ve been taking from the curriculum. Maybe they can help you.”
Emma reached forward, plucking up the pad and stared at the looped handwriting, oddly reminded of her mother’s own handwriting. A lump formed in her throat, but she nodded, mumbling a thanks of gratitude to Kelyn and turned back to studying.
Ten
Emma’s feet dragged beneath her, trying to draw her back. Desperately wanting to take her back to her dorm room. She wanted to return to her room, to hide from everyone so she wouldn’t be laughed at again, but she had to keep pushing herself forward. At least today she was scheduled for some remedial classes. Her private tutor would be the only one who would be seeing her royally screw up today. No one would be jeering at her and knowing that Kelyn was her tutor made her feel slightly better. At least she knew she wouldn’t be made fun of from her. How she was certain of that with only knowing Kelyn a couple days, she didn’t exactly know, but she was absolutely sure of it. Kelyn wouldn’t be making fun of her.
Still, she was reluctant to show off her skills, which were nothing besides somehow making a desk light on fire and a pool heat up that wasn’t meant to be heated. She was convinced she had done it, the harder she thought about it anyways. It had to have been her, the reason it got so warm but didn’t bother one bit. How her mother had shown up mysteriously quickly, knowing exactly where she was (okay, maybe she’d had a tracker in her phone or something on that part). It was starting to make sense, those little bits and pieces of life that had never truly made sense. They were starting to come together. Pressing her palm onto the door of the room that Kelyn had circled, she pushed open the door and slid through the door, tugging her bag behind her after it had gotten latched in the door.
“Your late.” Kelyn scolded lightly, then giggled. “I’m kidding, you aren’t late.”
Emma’s cheeks flushed with heat and she laughed lightly as she shut the door. “Good, I hate being late.” She half joked, shaking her head. “It took extra time to find this room, sorry about that.”
Kelyn shrugged, leaning back onto a desk, tilting her head. “No worries. I was gonna come looking for you if you took any longer. It happens, you’ll get it.”
Emma nodded and dropped her bag on the desk with a thump. “These things are heavy to carry.” She groaned and plopped down in the seat that joined the desk. “I am so doomed; my back is going to fall off by the end of the year.”
Kelyn laughed, shaking her head. “That’s one way to put it. Don’t worry, once you get caught up you won’t have to carry so many with you.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “When will that be? Ten years?”
The door flew open, inciting both girls to scream in both fear and surprise, both jumping away from the door. The boy from the previous days, the one who looked at Emma in hunger stared at them. Instead of that familiar hunger that had glazed over his look, he stared at the two angrily, arms crossed.
“Hey Drake.” Kelyn squeaked, her fingers wrapping around Emma’s arm, pulling her back. “What can we do for you?”
The boy, Drake, glared. “What’s going on here?”
“Tutoring.” Kelyn squeaked, tugging Emma back further, her feet stumbling over one another. “Can you leave us alone now?”
Drake didn’t move, instead he stood on the threshold, blocking their only way out so if he did anything, they were stuck with whatever repercussions came with it. Emma felt herself shrink back from the fiery glare he was giving them, but she stood in front of Kelyn defiantly. She had n
o control over her powers, but at least she was sure she was able to do something against Drake if he tried anything at all. She couldn’t block him, not really, but she could do something.
“Leave? Isn’t she my project?” He sneered, making Emma blush by the use of her he had used.
“I’m-I’m a person,” She stammered, gripping at her uniform’s skirt once again. “Not a project.”
Drake blinked, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time. His eyes flicked and the old look of hunger sparked in them once again, but quickly was distinguished, his lips pursed. “Get out Kelyn.”
Kelyn shook her head, gripping a book to her chest. “No. I’m tutoring her.”
He stared at her, daring her to continue defying him. “Get out!” he said loudly, pointing at the door as he stepped forward. “I’m tutoring her, Kelyn.”
“But you said- “
“I changed my mind. Get out.”
Kelyn opened her mouth to retort, then looked at Emma apologetically. She picked up her bag and shuffled out, her head down. Drake pushed the door as she left, letting it slam shut behind the girl before she could turn and get any other word in. Twisting his head on his neck, he stared at Emma with a partly opened mouth, and dumped his bag on the ground.
“You aren’t so great you know. Your family may be well known, but mine is getting there to.” He smirked at her and stalked around her. “You did a real number on Sherice. You know that?”
Emma held her chin high, trying hard to not let him see the fear that tumbled through her. “Is that why you changed your mind? Because of what I did to her?”
“You can say that.” Drake shrugged, sitting down on a desk, not bothering with the chair. “What do you need to learn?”
Emma cleared her throat, feeling heat creeping up her neck. “Kelyn said I gotta learn basics.” She mumbled, biting her lip and waited for him to make fun of her.
When the torment didn’t come, she turned to look at him, spotting him staring at him in half wonder and half amusement. The wonder was winning over though, as he couldn’t seem to make fun of her.
“What basics?”
“Newborn basics, I guess.”
He cocked an eyebrow, pressing his lips together and nodded. “Alright, then we should get started. That’s a lot of basics to cover.”
Her eyes squinted; half convinced he was going to start laughing her head off at her. It never came though and instead, they stared at her, both unwilling to speak first. Both unknowing what to say. Or at least she didn’t know what to say, she wasn’t sure what his excuse was. Maybe waiting for her to make herself look like an idiot? Well, once they started with the training, it wouldn’t take long to make that happen. She shifted uncomfortably, pushing her hands into her pockets.
“Alright,” He stood up, pulling his bag forward and rummaging in it. “Let’s get started before I change my mind.”
Emma wrinkled her nose, but nodded and turned, pulling out her own books and set them on the desk.
“Oh, you don’t need those.” Drake grunted, stepping forward and shoved the books off the desk.
Emma watched as they clattered to the floor, crossing her arms. “What was that for?”
“You don’t need them.” Drake repeated, shaking his head. “Here,” he handed a much smaller book to her. “Simple spells five-year old’s can do.”
Emma stared at the almost thin book, refusing to take it. Her eyes rose to his and she could feel the tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. “Five-year old’s? Are you serious?”
He shrugged and released the book, letting it drop in front of her. “Pretty much, yes. They are able to do these simple spells by five years. You should be able to get them by the end of the week.”
Emma looked down at the book, blinking furiously to push aside the tears that wanted to spill out. Simple tasks for young mages… the title said. Simple? And yet, she couldn’t even do a stupid levitation spell!
“So,” Drake cleared his throat to grab her attention back on him. “What’re you doing this weekend?”
Emma looked at him suspiciously, frowning. “Excuse me?”
He snorted, rolling his eyes. “Oh, come on, all girls want me. You’re lucky to even be getting me alone. So, what are you doing this weekend?”
She rolled her eyes, giggling lightly. “Not you.” She joked, shaking her head and bent over the book, flipping it open to thumb through the table of contents.
She could feel his glare trying to penetrate through her skull, but she kept herself from looking up at him. He was good looking. His hair only reached to his ears but curled at the bottom and he had the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. But she didn’t like him that way. In fact, he creeped her out a little, for the way he acted and the fact that she couldn’t get that hungry look he’d on his face out of her mind. It was like he was a predator, stalking his prey, and unable to capture it by an attack, it had gone for subtle grabbing. There was no way she was going to be into him anytime soon. He made her skin crawl. Not that she would admit that to him of course.
“You should try a spell to turn out the lights.” Drake said after a few moments, a low growl in his voice, no doubt upset by her rejection against him.
Emma nodded and flicked to the page that indicated a lights spell, scanning it quickly, trying to remember it. She stood up, her eyes finally lifting to Drake’s. He was leaning against the desk his bag was on, a cool look grazing over her with his arms crossed, head tilted slightly to the side as he assessed her.
“Well, are you going to do something?”
She opened her mouth, but quickly closed it again. It was one thing to make herself look like an idiot in front of Kelyn. She knew she wouldn’t be made fun of in front of her, but with Drake it was a whole different story. As much as she didn’t like him, she also didn’t want to make herself look like a dunce in front of him. It was bad enough the entire school knew how clueless she was to this magic thing, but this boy was out for her in ways she probably couldn’t comprehend. If he truly got the gist of how little she knew, she was doomed for a lifetime of never letting it be lived down. She was a Charmwood and according to everyone around her, she was supposed to be some kind of magician or whatever, knowing the best. She was not holding up her namesake, as her teacher had made all too clear to her. The only way to change that, was to learn. She just hoped he didn’t laugh at her like everyone else.
Closing her eyes, Emma focused on what she could remember from the book’s page. Peeking through her eyes, she only saw Drake staring at her disdain and the lights still on – bright as ever. She gave a sharp smile, trying again with her eyes opened this time, but when nothing happens again, she gave an exasperated sigh.
Drake groaned, shaking his head as he crossed his arms once again. “Are you going to do it anytime now?”
“I’m trying.” Emma puffed, her cheeks blistering with heat. “Really, I am.”
He rolled his eyes. “You aren’t trying hard enough.”
“Then why don’t you read the page to me so I can remember it, huh?” She snapped, her anger flaring, unable to help herself.
Drake blanched, his face paling slightly and he shifted his feet. “No, you-you do that yourself. You have to remember it yourself. You won’t have someone reading it out loud to you forever, so you have to do it.”
She heard the stammer in his words, the discomfort that was suddenly on his face at her accusation. She squinted her eyes, looking at him suspiciously, wondering what on earth was suddenly wrong with him. It wasn’t her business though; she knew that even if she couldn’t help but be the tiniest bit of curious. She wanted to know what had suddenly gotten his underwear in a knot.
“I guess.” She said slowly, eyeing him one more time before turning back to the book, examining the words once again.
“So, you really don’t want to go out with me?”
She sighed, rolling her eyes in annoyance at his disruption of her slight concentration. “No thanks.”
She said tartly, turning back to face him, her head tilting upwards so she could look up at the ceiling.
Emma closed her eyes, curling her fingers into the cotton of her skirt, trying hard to remember every word she was supposed to. The lights blared brighter, the exact opposite of what she was supposed to be doing. They flickered – twice – and then grew brighter. Drake covered his head, shouting at her but she couldn’t hear over the roaring that had erupted in her ears. Then pop rang in their ears, sending glass shards of the lights tumbling down and over them. Sprinkling rays of light all around the room and threw them into semi-darkness. The sun shone through a crack in the curtains that were pulled tight over the window.
“What is wrong with you?” He said loudly. “I said to stop it and you didn’t even listen!”
Emma shrank back for real this time, looking down at the ground in shame. “I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.”
“Whatever, we’re done here.” He snapped, a snarl in his tone as he spun on his heel, grabbed his bag and left the room.
Emma watched in dismay, the tears budding in her eyes again, but once more, she batted them away, refusing to give into them.
Eleven
Her eyes searched fervently for him, almost as if she were desperate to see him again. After having escaped to the library in the early minutes of lunch and afterwards half-expecting to see him, Emma was more disappointed than she thought she would’ve been at not being able to find him. Why did she even think she would be able to find him? Why had she set her heart on doing so? The disappointment was greater than she had expected it to be, even though she had tried for it not to show. Especially afterwards when sneaking off to find Kelyn and being tutoring by her in the sanctuary of her own dorm room – somewhere Kelyn seemed far more interested in being then her own. By the way the girl talked about her room though, maybe it wasn’t a bad thing to be more interested. According to the shy girl, the walls had begun to leak in corner, and she was sure the stench of whatever had died (or the prank, whichever it was) was getting stronger.
