Chapter Twelve - History
CHAPTER TWELVE
History
CALEB WALKED UP to me on the way out of Aura Reading on Friday. We stopped by the desks closest to the door, letting the students walk around us. “What class do you have next?”
“Ugh, history,” I groaned.
Blythe waved to me, raising her eyebrows at Caleb as she headed out the door for our history class.
He let out a deep laugh. “Sounds like you have Professor Miriam. I think Miriam is still way stronger than she lets on. She likes to tell long stories but could definitely take on anyone at this academy without blinking.”
“She does have that hidden power vibe.” I nodded.
Mr. Ares stopped on his way out, having sat in for this class again. He placed his notes inside a briefcase on top of one of the desks near us.
Caleb quirked an eyebrow in question when he saw the professor looking at us. “Professor,” he said.
Mr. Ares didn’t react. He just stood there, closing his briefcase with a loud snap while students continued exiting, staring back at Caleb as if he were about to start misbehaving.
Caleb placed a hand on my lower back, looking back over his shoulder. I could have sworn I saw a tick in Mr. Ares’ jaw. I had a weird suspicion about what this was, and it made absolutely no sense. So, I walked forward, shaking my head slightly about whatever misunderstanding Caleb saw in Mr. Ares’ stare that had him feeling like he needed to stake some sort of claim he definitely didn’t have.
Though I was liking the teasing stares Caleb would shoot across the Aura Reading class at me and the laughs he kept coaxing from me. This was definitely just more of his cocky attitude that came with everything that was Caleb.
As I stepped forward out of his touch, his long strides closed the gap while I headed for my next class.
“Hey, I heard about what happened in the dorms. Are you okay after all that? Trevor said even Mr. Ares showed up and got mad about the whole thing,” he said.
“Yeah, he snapped at Lastrada. She didn’t really have much of a reaction over it,” I responded.
Caleb bumped me with his arm. “Lastrada is always like that. Same with Ares though, which is why it’s shocking he got so upset. I think he’s part robot.”
“Really? He always seems so mad about something to me.”
Caleb placed a hand on his chest. “Always? Don’t tell me you’re another one of the students that has eyes for the new famous professor.”
I rolled my eyes and picked up my pace.
“Hey, I’m sorry. I’m only joking.” It took him only two steps to catch up. “But I heard you have crazy earth magic, which I might have already guessed. Demonstrating power at all times is common in the academies, all of them. Everyone wants to show their power and control for better positions in the world. Don’t let them get to you.”
Caleb continued walking me to my Realm History class. I could feel him staring down at me.
“What class are you headed to now?” I asked.
“Magical Combat, then some extra tutoring with Professor Douglas. Are you going to the lake party tomorrow night?”
I pursed my lips. “Maybe.”
While Blythe had mentioned it a few times since, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go with the weird stares I kept getting. Blythe said my display of magic was a really good sign and expected coming from a powerful family. Some people were just shocked because it was a lot of magic for a first-year.
“Well, I’m going to be there. You know, if you want to meet up,” he said.
I lifted my head to lock eyes with him. “What about Christina?” I needed to know straight from him what was going on there before making plans with him. “She seems to think you two are together, and you have some sort of weird dinner coming up. ”
His hand lifted to the back of his neck. “I don’t care what she thinks, we’re not together. I couldn’t even look at her after what I heard she did to you. My parents scheduled a dinner without asking me. I’ll figure out something to get out of it.” He stepped closer and I stepped away, so he held out his hand and took mine. He sighed. “I’m not interested in her. Lately, all I can think about is this raven black hair and that stare that tells me I’m ridiculous, but you want me anyway.”
“Is that so?” I gave him a look of disbelief.
He bit his plush bottom lip playfully. “You tell me.”
We stopped in front of the door. “I don’t want to be late.”
He leaned down, placing a kiss to the top of my head, in front of all the students around us.
History dragged on. I continued struggling to know the difference between what was a tale and what was real. The other students didn’t appear to have the same problem.
“The moon was crescent, but the couple listened to the hum from the ground beneath them. Old power was tapped…” Professor Miriam said as she read from the book in front of her, and I tried to take notes.
Even Blythe started dozing off. I elbowed her, and she sat up, blinking several times.
“Did I miss anything?” she asked.
I shrugged. “You can copy my notes… ”
Blythe leaned in, whispering low. She eyed Miriam. “She has shadow magic, it’s said to be as strong as her other elements. Her mother lived to be nearly one hundred and fifty because of her magic.”
“I’m not really understanding this,” I murmured, changing the subject and looking at the scrawl of notes on the pad in front of me.
She listened to the professor for a moment. “I think it’s from an old story about mates.”
My phone vibrated on my lap.
CALEB: Just tell me you’ll be there, so I have something to look forward to other than Trevor complaining about his father for the whole night.
ME: I’m sure that if I go, you’ll see me there.
Only a minute went by before my phone went off again. I lifted it onto my notepad and leaned it forward so no one could see. A picture popped up. Caleb looked at the camera with deep blue eyes and a bright white smile. Sweat dampened his hair and gleamed off his shirtless body, showing off six-pack abs that led to the top of low-hanging gym shorts.
That look in his eyes had me thinking about just how long it had been since I’d been with anyone. It had to have been before the beginning of summer. I knew that was his plan and it totally worked, because now I was completely focused on him instead of what the professor moved onto. It helped that he was one of the only guys who hadn’t looked at me like a freak recently.
After admittedly staring for too long, I rushed to catch up on my notes.
On the way out of class, Professor Miriam stopped me. “Solace, as in Ember Solace?” she asked .
“Yes, that was my mom.”
The professor nodded to herself, her short red curls bouncing slowly as she peered through half-moon glasses. “I taught her many years ago, a curious student. It was a terrible thing that happened. The council was never the same, even then, never quite the same.” She paused. “It’s always a fight for those in power to stay in power. Always electing their friends, a power struggle. The Solace’s were good ones, I recall. Perhaps the light will fade and balance will come back, but it’s not always so easy to manage.”
“Oh. Okay,” I said, a little confused. Sometimes she did speak more cryptically. It was always slightly intimidating. I assumed those were times that I didn’t understand after being gone for so long. Though rarely, it did look like other students struggled to understand, too. “Thank you.”
She gave me a big, warm smile, a look of pride.
Heading back to my dorm, the trees covering most of the courtyard caused the path in front of me to darken. The little light orbs within the trees cast a warm glow. I inhaled the scent of damp moss when another text came in.
CALEB: Your turn.
I couldn’t help biting my lip and blushing. Lifting my phone, I caught Mr. Ares walking through the courtyard from the corner of my eye. He passed me, heading in the direction of the staff townhomes. As if he could feel me staring, his gaze snapped in my direction. He fixed his head forward, looking strangely focused and in a hurry. A feeling in my gut told me something was off. I brushed off the paranoid feeling.
I frowned and stared at my phone. Walking through student services, I glanced back at the mailboxes and magic being used all around. Packages were being sorted with air magic by bored-looking fourth-years.
The common room was slightly more empty than normal. Taking advantage of the cozy feeling, I decided to sit in the back of the room, in a large armchair that looked out the window.
The window stared off to the east. The nearby town down the hill from us was only noticeable due to distant lights glowing in the fog. Other than the lights, as the evening settled, that area looked completely dark. Deimos Bay bordered an ocean that led to the edge of the Realm, where we sat protected from the Unenchanted.
I wondered if there were others that knew of the Realm living so close to them in a veiled world. It probably wouldn’t be too hard to cross the veil by portaling to Scotland or Greenland to spend time in the Unenchanted.
Voices giggled from across the room when more students entered, drawing close and sitting on one of the couches facing the fire. With how tucked away the chair was, it was doubtful anyone knew I was in here.
A sigh nearly left me when I recognized the voices, ruining the little bit of peace that found me while alone for a moment after a long day of classes.
“There’s no way you’re getting an A in his class,” said Christina.
“Ugh, I know,” Ruby said .
“Perhaps if you weren’t so obviously staring at him while he taught, you’d get something done.” I could hear the annoyance Christina had with her friend for not keeping up.
Ruby replied, “It’s not obvious.”
Christina’s voice lowered, but it still pierced through the room. “Everyone in the class knows you have a giant crush on the professor.”
My head turned, in the windowpanes, I could see their faint reflection from where they sat on the couch facing the fireplace.
Ruby’s mouth dropped open and snapped shut. “Do you blame me? Besides the fact he’s one of the richest wizards, he’s supposed to be like super powerful. An ARES. He must enjoy teaching to be here.” She fidgeted with the ends of her brunette hair, which happened to be down for once instead of always kept in one of the tightest buns I’d ever seen.
Christina sat up straighter. “It’s probably his attitude that keeps him from getting an invite to be on the council like his parents. Caleb’s personable, that’s one reason he’s an easy choice,” she said, as if to herself.
“It’s absolutely awful,” Ruby sighed. “He doesn’t even look my way in Basic Magic.”
“Gah, he’s not going to,” Christina snapped, throwing a cushion at Ruby.
It would kill me to sit and listen to them drone on for one more second, and it didn’t sound like they were leaving anytime soon. So much for relaxing.
“Oh, it’s you,” said Ruby when I stood up .
“Don’t even look at her,” Christina added, staring at her nails. “We don’t need another situation to get blamed for.”
I stared at her before turning on my heel and heading to my dorm room.
My room was small with a window that looked out to the courtyard. A hedge of bushes rested just under my window. The room held a dresser, a full-size mirror, a desk, and a mini fridge that seemed to work off ice magic as it wasn’t connected to anything. One of the features I enjoyed was that it had been constantly stocked with water, juice, and snacks.
I turned off my light and closed my curtains before plopping down onto the full-sized bed in the dark.
Taking off my school uniform, I laid on my back, my black hair sprawled out around me. Lifting my phone, I snapped a dimly lit picture of me in my black lace bra and sent it to Caleb.
Immediately, my phone lit back up.
CALEB: Black is definitely my new favorite color.
He sent me one back, nearly matching mine, with him on his bed and the back of his head resting on his arm.