The Second Prophecy (Part 1 of the Dragdani Prophecies)
Page 19
“Thank you for that apology; it is appreciated. And I’m sure that the class feels the same too,” said Mr. Haster softly.
At that, two of the girls in the back started to giggle, and Wheezy shot at look at them so cold its chill could be felt throughout classroom. The girls stopped as soon as they saw it, but were sure to resume as soon as Peter took his seat.
“I’m never going to live this down,” thought Peter. He knew that as soon as class was out, half the school would hear of what had transpired, and the rest of the school would certainly know after first break which, to his delight, came quickly. As he walked the halls to the place where he and Charity usually met, he could hear the whispers of the people standing next to their lockers, telling their friends what had happened. He felt their eyes watching him as he walked. He could not tell if this was just has imagination or not, but he thought he could feel every new set of eyes of everyone who had just heard the news all turning to watch him as he went. It was then that he remembered that Charity had something important to tell him, and he found himself wondering whether it was good news or bad news. Well, if it’s bad news, it couldn’t possibly be as bad as what has already happened today, he told himself. Nope my day can’t possibly get any worse.
He was wrong.
Peter came to the double doors leading outside. He headed for the place where he usually met Charity between classes, which was the place where Charity had given her proposal to him and where he had accepted.
As he walked past his fellow students, he noticed that even more were staring at him. Some were even giggling and sniggering at the thought of him having to obey Weavger. For most, but certainly not all, of the students thought Mr. Weavger was funny and obviously thought this was yet another one of his comical antics, even though they had all certainly heard him shouting at the unfortunate children who tempered him, which wasn’t hard to do. But he still went out of his way to try and be humorous. The students who brought out his terrible temper with even the slightest misdemeanor were harassed and humiliated, and even sometimes physically assaulted. They were not in any way seriously hurt. For mostly it would be a sharp poke in the chest with a finger, or a slight shake, and even sometimes a couple of taps on the head with one of their own rolled up jotters. Besides the unfortunate youngsters who Weavger blatantly picked on, there were others who didn’t like the teacher, like siblings of those who caught the sting of his temper, and most likely their friends.
Charity liked Weavger, for he was always nice to her and her friends. He often asked her what she saw in the waster she was going out with, and sometimes he said it right in front of the boy. Or if Peter were walking nearby, he would say it loud enough for him to hear it. He only did it to rattle Peter’s cage, and the young King knew it all too well.
He was thinking about this as he walked past the people sitting under the thick trees hiding from the bright sun and others lying stretched out on the green grass, letting the sun cover them with its bright warm rays. Others sat on benches or plastic chairs they had brought out so they wouldn’t have to stand or get grass stains on their clothes.
As Peter came to the bench that he and Charity often used to meet up, he saw her sitting where the sun’s yellow light shone on her. And he knew he was happy with her, happier than he had been with any of the other girls that came before. He didn’t know why, though. He just liked her. Or did he love her? Again he was not sure but would be more than happy to think it was love.
“Hi,” she said, noticing that he was staring at her. She seemed brighter in spirit as well as in skin than she had before, as though she were ready to finally tell him her big secret.
“Hi,” he said back, just as brightly. “So what is this big secret of yours?”
“Sit down. Then I’ll tell.”
“Fine.”
He sat next to her, as close as he could get.
“Any closer and you’ll be on my lap,” she joked.
“That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“And what would my boyfriend say?” She slapped her right hand to her mouth in horror at what she had let slip, and she looked surprised at her own incompetence.
“Uh ...what the heck was that?” Peter inquired not able to hide the grin that was so determined to sit on his face. “I’m your boyfriend. Have I been imagining it all this time?” The grin was getting wider, which was more out of nerves now than anything else. For the silence that followed made him a little apprehensive, and a feeling of dread seeped through him. A thought had come to his mind that perhaps this was the end of what they had built. You’re being paranoid, he told himself. He stared at the girl yet again and then said calmly, “Charity, say whatever you want to say. Come on, get it off your chest. It couldn’t be that bad.”
“Well, the thing is, Daddy introduced me to the son of one of his old friends who has just started at this school, and well -”
“You like him, and you don’t want to see me any more,” Peter guessed.
Charity sat there stunned. Peter himself was just as equally stunned; he had no idea where that came from, though he tried his best not to show it. And what was worse, when she didn’t answer he knew that he had guessed correctly.
“How long have you been seeing him?”
“Peter, I wanted to tell you but I wasn’t sure if -”
“How long have you been seeing him?” the young Wizard repeated.
Charity hung her head, her eyes fixed on the white paving stones that formed the path that their bench was bolted to.
“Two weeks,” she finally said.
Peter nodded, though he was not sure why he did not speak up. “Who is he?” he asked, getting the words past his dry lips while jealousy and anger started to show in his words and on his face.
This did not surprise Charity; she surely knew what the outcome would be.
“His name is Steven Olbert.”
“The billionaire?” said Peter, realizing the true reason for Charity’s affection toward this new boy.
“No, that’s his father you’re thinking of,” chuckled Charity, not realizing what she had given away.
“Right, he’d be too old for you if it were him. Or would he?” Peter’s jealousy was now flaring even more.
“What does that mean?”
“What I said. I mean, it’s about money isn’t it. That’s what it’s about with us?”
“No.”
“So you’re saying that the reason you wanted to go out with me was because you liked me?”
“Yes it -”
“Then why did you ask me – or should I say blackmail me? – when you found out my mum was rich.”
Charity’s face went blank. “I wanted to go out with you for years, but I thought that you thought I was just a Barbie doll. That’s what you Losers call me and my friends, isn’t it?”
“No, I never and would never call you that, even after this,” said Peter suddenly, thinking that maybe he was wrong. But why? he thought. Why throw it away if not for money? I doesn’t make any sense. I tried to be there for her, just as she wanted.
“So if it’s not for money, then why?” he asked
“It’s just that I want to move on,” lied Charity. “Can we still be friends?”
“Sure,” Peter lied. He knew that Charity was lying; he could always tell when she was lying.
“Break will be over soon,” said Charity, looking to get away.
“Yeah, probably,” Peter’s voice was flat.
“Well, I better go.” The girl got up and within seconds was gone.
Peter sat there for three or four minutes. “Happy Birthday Pete,” he said to himself. Then he slowly stood and headed for his next class, English, which he was reasonably good at. He wanted to leave early so not to give Weavger the pleasure of finding him late for his very own class. As he walked, he felt empty, as though someone cut him open and gutted him like a fish right there and then as he walked.
He found himself going over his conversion with Charity
in his head, trying to get why she would lie about the money thing. It’s not as if I didn’t know that she has a weakness for boys with money or boys who have parents who have money. Why? He was suddenly feeling angry, but his anger was not directed at Charity or this new rich boy who came and gave her reason to stray. For Peter suddenly realized that he didn’t really care that he and Charity were no longer an item. This anger was directed at himself, and wherever it came from, it seemed to make him whole again, as if he had gained something within those seconds.
Why didn’t you tell her to bug off when she told you the truth? Why didn’t you walk away? Or even tell her you didn’t care? And worst of all, why didn’t you dump her before she had a chance to tell you?
He stood still as this last question flooded his mind fuelling his anger. “GOD, YOU’RE AN IDIOT!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. His last sentence travelled far and wide through the corridors of the school before fading away into nothing. However, Peter hadn’t noticed for a split second after those words leapt from his lips that he balled up his right fist and swung for the nearest locker to his left.
To say that he was surprised by what happened next would be an understatement. His fist was not stopped by the door of the metal locker; it went straight through. As if that was not shocking enough, when Peter removed his bleeding hand from the hole, he saw the thin scraped wounds on his hand healed in a mere second. He stood there, his pale face whiter than ever. He turned his hand to look at its palm and then turned it back as if he expected it to be a figment of his overactive imagination, but there was nothing to say that the incident had ever happened, not one mark.
“What’s going on here?” said Mr. Weavger as he opened the door of his classroom just as the bell sounded. Peter slowly closed his eyes, for he knew that Weavger had him right where he wanted him and that he was in big trouble.
“It looks like you’re late again Stark,” said Weavger. “Oh dear, I guess your appointment with the principle is going to be sooner then I’d hoped. What’s that?” Weavger had seen the hole in the locker.
“What?” said Peter as he stepped to his left to try and hide it.
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
“Trust me when I say you really don’t want me to answer that.”
By now Weavger was only two steps away from him. The English teacher waved his hand to his left, gesturing for Peter to step aside, however, when Peter did not, the man said, “Move.” And Peter did this time. “So where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“I don’t think you understand your position, Mr. Stark.” Weavger was reveling in the thought of finally getting rid of Peter. In fact, that’s all he could think about. “You see, you are in a lot of trouble. First of all, you were late for your first class of the day. Then you were late for my own class, which was to be your third class of the day. I know that doesn’t sound too damaging, but then there’s this.” Weavger held his hand up gesturing to the hole that Peter’s fist had made. “Destruction of school property is a serious thing. Under normal circumstances, I’m sure that you would be fine. Though considering your past, I can’t see you worming your way out of this one. So all that’s left for me to do is to take you to the principal, and if you don’t confess, I’ll have to do my job.”
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Peter said under his breath.
Peter’s witty comments directed at Alistair Weavger did not mean he wasn’t scared of what might happen at the principal’s office, for he was. Furthermore, what really scared him senseless was the fact that he couldn’t remember Weavger ever sounding or looking so happy.
The thought came to him that this could really be the end of his days at the school that to him was more like a prison, and Alistair Weavger, who hounded him in and out of the classroom, was the toughest, most unforgiving prison guard to ever walk the halls. The thought lingered in his mind for a mere moment, and this brought a slight grin to the boy’s face, though the thought dwindled and quickly vanished as a new thought burrowed its way into his mind. This one was of his mum and dad and what they would say when he brought them this news. He stared at Weavger as uneasiness rolled over him.
Peter had always had an overactive imagination for as long as he could remember, and although other people say that they daydream, it seemed clear to Helen and the school faculty that with him it was more of a problem, and it needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. So the school principal set an appointment for Peter to see the councilor, Alice Tweak, whom Peter liked, and for years she worked with him to help him with his problem.
At first Helen did not like it, for she herself knew what it was like to have an overactive imagination and also knew what it was like for other children to know. She had found out firsthand, and that was the last thing that she wanted Peter to experience, as children could be very cruel. Seeing Peter at seven years of age, she realized that he was very like her, for now he was as pale, thin, and angelic in looks as her.
Every one of the Wizards and Witches privileged enough to get permission to visit the Queen and the young King said that he looked a little like his dad, too. Helen didn’t see it; however, every time someone who knew John supposedly saw this likeness, it almost always lead to the odd story being told of John’s adventures with his group of friends. Most of these stories were told by Berlanin, who knew all of them, as he was present for almost all of the adventures. Any he did miss were told to him in the form of a play illustrated by those in the group who were there, as was done when any of them had missed out.
However, all of the stories had to be altered in some way so as not to alert Peter (who loved to hear them) of the existence of the world Dorminya.
Helen loved to hear them, too, though she thought he was too young and it could give him ideas. Nevertheless, she let him hear them, for she knew it wasn’t right to keep them from him and make him leave the room so the grownups could hear the memories of their old friend and loved one.
For Berlanin, though, it was mostly guilt that made him tell Peter, as all of the old group – Jastark, Neusod, Berlanin, Veris, Jebut, and Shilta – all held a secret they had all sworn never to reveal. It had to do with the real reason John was caught Phazing out of the Normal World and back into Dorminya. It was actually John who made them vow not to tell friend or family and hold the secret until the day they died. John knew that his life in that world was over, and he knew that if the secret got out, his friends would also pay the consequences. So he took the fall and also made his friends promise they would not waste their lives but do their best to rise as far as they could to make his sacrifice mean something and to make him proud.
Berlanin alone felt the guilt of what happened, and he needed someone to confess the secret too. He didn’t care about keeping it from Peter. Now there were only two of the group still living, himself and the Wicca Shilta. Besides, things had changed. The Council was not as powerful as it had once been, and he was now the deputy Grand Wizard. So he had decided to tell Peter the truth in Dorminya after he had been told everything else.
Helen had told her friends about the principal wanting Peter to see the school councilor and had voiced her fears to them also. “I don’t know what to do. I’m afraid that this woman might mess with his head and something might bring back his memories,” said Helen.
“There’s no need to worry about that. Only other spells can break down the ones I’ve used. She won’t be able to do anything to disrupt them,” said Delsani.
“I still don’t want him to go,” said Helen. “I don’t want him to think he’s different than other kids.”
“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but I don’t think you could find a child as different as Peter if you tried,” said Henkot sarcastically and truthfully.
“I think you should go back to this principal and ask him if there’s another way of dealing with this. I really think that would be the best way to confront this,” said Berlanin.
However, when
Helen went to the principal, he said. “That is the best way of dealing with it, Mrs. Lince.
“Please call me Helen.”
“Helen,” repeated the principal. “There is only one other way. And this is what Miss Tweak has told me. If Peter’s daydreaming problem was not dealt with, he would have to be moved to a different school, a special school that would better suit his needs. For the truth is, the teachers have so many students to teach that they don’t have the time to concentrate on a single student with Peter’s problem. And even if you did decide that you wanted to place him in such a school, Councilor Tweak would still need to see him at least once to be sure it would the right move before going ahead with it.”
After that Helen agreed for the meeting to go ahead, but only on the condition that she also attend.
For a while Peter was making a lot of progress but still had a long way to go. He had just started and was happy with his teachers, at least at first, for after only a week at senior school, it started, Weavger was losing patience at Peter’s inability to finish all of his work in time, even sometimes not having any work at all to hand in due to his daydreaming. And for this Helen had been called in god knows how many times, however, not because of Peter’s daydreaming, but because of Weavger. For Councilor Tweak had personally told all of the teachers of Peter’s lack of concentration and had been asked by her and told by the new principal, Warren Holmes, to have a bit of patience and help him as much as possible if he was lagging behind, and give him a little more time and space also, if possible.
All the times that Helen had visited the school about the bullying teacher, she went to the principal knowing that he would want to resolve this as soon as possible and thinking that Weavger might finally be put in his place. However, she was wrong. Nothing, as far as she could see, had been done to stop the bullying, and in fact, it had triggered more bullying from students, for they had seen the way Mr. Weavger treated Peter and thought that it would be funny to do so as well. This gang was lead by none other than Jerry Walters, who would be in later times Wily Coyote, Peter’s best and most trusted friend. However, Peter was already a friend of Cartman and DesDan at that time.