Page 96 of Two Who Live On

“I’m getting your food, fat cat.”

Charlie hopped onto the bed, paws kneading the blanket, and then he licked my arm.

“Yes, I know I need a shower, too.” I kissed his furry head and went to feed them before getting ready for work. I’d taken enough time to grieve. It was time to return to reality.

After showering away a week’s worth of sweat and tears and existential doubts, I grabbed my stuff and drove to work. Training my roots wasn’t really a priority now. Simply keeping my head above water would do. Finn wouldn’t want me to break down into despair.

I pulled into the academy parking lot, where Chanelle telekinetically carried six boxes to her car early in the morning before most had arrived.

“It’s a little early to be hauling that stuff away.”

“If I don’t start now, I’ll never get it all packed in time.” Chanelle popped her trunk, and I assisted in tetrising boxes around the others already stored.

“Why don’t you just leave your stuff over summer like a normal person?”

“Your lack of care for your belongings is not normal, Dorian. The fact is every year, they use my classroom for summer school, and every single year, something is missing or broken when I return. Not this year.”

I lifted a box titled ‘stickers’ and crammed it into a corner. “Do you really need an entire box of stickers?”

“I’ve accumulated a lot over the last fifteen years.”

“Hoarded, you mean.”

“Acquired and retained educational resources in a difficult economy.”

“Fancy way to say hoarded.”

“Well, I’m fancy.” Chanelle slammed the trunk closed, preparing one final trip before classes to fill the backseat.

“How are you?”

“Fine. Only about ten thousand things on my to-do list, and I think I’ll be able to knock off seven today. Maybe eight if you stop chitchatting.”

I grabbed her wrist. “Chanelle, how are you doing?”

“Okay. Suppose Milo told you about Jamie.”

I nodded. He’d given me distance and time to absorb the events privately, keeping himself busy with work, but I’d heard Jamie was recovering in the hospital. The physical toll of exorcising the chimera coupled with the emotional agony of months trapped inside his own head… It must be excruciating for him.

“Thankfully, Headmaster Dower agreed to exempt Jamie from the finals, and I’ll be helping his family arrange for a proper tutor over the summer.”

“He’s returning?”

“I don’t know, but I want him to have the option. Not sure if it’d help him.” Chanelle pulled away, burying guilt that spiked momentarily. “I can’t decide if it’d be harder to see him every day next year or not at all, which makes me entirely selfish.”

“It doesn’t. You’re probably the least selfish person I know, going out of her way to account for everything and everyone. It’s actually really fucking irritating.”

“Help me carry boxes, you bum.” Chanelle grinned, keeping her regrets, her missteps, to herself. I wouldn’t pry.

“Sure thing.” I walked into the quiet academy, assisting Chanelle until school started.

Once the bell rang, kids funneled through the hallways, most still gossiping about everything that’d happened across the city, sharing their stories on where they were and which demon they’d seen defeated by an enchanter.

“Morning, everybody.” I immediately turned on my whiteboard, projecting a final exam study schedule planned for my homeroom coven leading up to the last week of classes. There were few things I could control in life, so I decided to put my efforts into preparing my homeroom. Teaching them, guiding them, were things I could control.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Gael slapped a hand on his desk, drawing everyone’s attention. “No, the heckity heck hell, you did not just try to do that, Mr. Frosty.”

“Excuse me?” I glowered.

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