Page 60 of Self Studies

After a very late-night ‘fixing’ my Mêler, I slept like the dead. With my phone inside my hoodie and my bookbag between my legs, no one touched my stuff.

The Dealership walked by my bed giggling. I gritted my teeth.

I should stand up for myself, but I didn’t like confrontation. Knowing I didn’t like confrontation, and having the ability to avoid it, put me in an oddly good mood.

Dressed and ready for the day, my steps skipped a little as I entered the cafeteria. I looked for Beryl but didn’t see him.

The bounce in my step vanished.

He’d not answered any of my texts after giving me access to Mêler last night. We needed to talk, but he always found me. With no classes together, I didn’t know how to find him.

Aphrodite: I think the world of you, Beryl. Please don’t vanish from my life.

I read the text twice before sending it, hoping for the best.

Except for Practical Magic Application, my morning classes weren’t quite the same every day. Derek helped me through most of them. The kid stuck to me like velcro. When we didn't have classes together, he sent me random pictures, so I still felt included. I’d turned one of his pics of a partially exploded potion into my Mêler profile pic. It felt a little too fitting.

It wasn’t until lunch, seated alone at my table, that I started to feel anxious. Looks, notes, comments online, even childish pranks, I could deal with. Magic, I could not. The second half of my day would, for the foreseeable future, be filled with mages and mages in training.

I looked down at my phone as the foghorn of terror signaled the end of lunch. Beryl still hadn’t texted me. I shoved my phone into my bookbag and tried to push Beryl out of my mind. Hood up and head down, I made my way to Illusions and Puzzles.

Magus Terra’s dramatic robes billowed on his large frame. He beckoned to me as I entered the room. “No hoods or hats in my class.”

I exposed my head and approached his desk.

“Aphrodite,” he continued. “This is my first time having the same student in one of my advanced magic courses and basic at the same time. This’ll be an interesting experience for you as Practical Magic Application’s based on intangible fact, while Illusions and Puzzles expands your imagination.”

He handed me a worn paperback novel.

“A fantasy story?” I asked.

Magus Terra frowned. “I’m aware of the situation you came from. I want to spark your imagination. If you were my apprentice, I would be taking you all over the world. However, you are not, and we’re both in prison because of another’s decision. For now, books will have to do. Creativity’s not something that can be taught. It must be nurtured.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at the ‘another’s decisions’ comment. Once again, I wondered how the educators here got their jobs, though now I wondered if maybe ‘got their jobs’ was generous. I needed to make an actual list of all my questions and spend some serious time in the library.

The bell belched, and I turned toward the rows of desks. Only two empty seats remained. Mercedes’ lovely smile reigned down on me, and she put a stack of books on the chair next to her. The student who’d promised me protection in exchange for a dragon scale had a grin on his stark face. He patted the empty seat next to him in the very back.

With no other options, I walked towards it, testing the metal for heat before I sat down. The kid’s narrow shoulders shook with laughter.

“I’ll be getting that dragon scale,” he whispered.

Magus Terra stood to begin his lecture, drawing our attention to the front. I focused on his words. Predictably, my chair warmed almost immediately. Opposite that, the back of my neck began to cool. In some weird way, the two balanced each other nicely.

For a moment, I let myself hope, going so far as to look for Saffron’s banana yellow magic. Very quickly, I realized both sensations came from the kid next to me.

The cold turned frigid and seared with pain, wrapping around my entire neck. Sweat broke out on my forehead. My heart raced as my disoriented body struggled to respond. Bitterness stabbed through me. Unless I wanted to cause a scene, my only escape would be a full mage-trance—making the Magus’ lecture moot.

A bead of sweat rolled down my face, slowing when it hit the cold ringing my neck. Halfway down, the salty dot froze and fell into my lap—too much pain. I bit my lips shut and slipped away from my physical body.

Magus Terra’s lecture floated into my subconscious. On its tail, something dark lurked. A creature I had no description for appeared at the edge of my magical vision. Vaguely humanoid, it swirled with mists. In its center, the dark haze became an inky black that rolled with malice. I started to panic. Nothing should be in my mage-trance but me.

Something sharp bit into my calf, jerking me back to reality. My chair clattered to the floor behind me. I jumped up, looking for an attacker, but I didn’t see anyone. Slowly, I became aware of the room around me. Everyone watched me, their eyes wide, a few of them holding back laughter. The beep and shutter of phones echoed in my ears.

Magus Terra glared. “Maybe my kindness was misplaced if you can’t even stay awake through my lecture. In the hall, now. Buckets.”

A few of my classmates snickered. I glanced at the kid next to me, and he gave me a knowing smile. Though my clothing stuck to my sweaty skin, the extreme temperatures vanished like they’d never existed. I took a deep frustrated breath and looked toward two buckets filled with water next to the door.

“You will hold them in your hands and stand tall. I will know if even one drop is spilled or if you set them down,” Magus Terra said sternly. “I’ll have someone come get you when I feel you understand the importance of this class.”

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