Chapter Fifteen - Good Morning
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Good Morning
ANOTHER MONDAY OF dreary weather, mist fogged up the tall glass windows that took up one side of the Basic Magic class. The weather started to get colder already. I went for a thick, bronze sweater to match the plaid skirt and wore wool thigh-high socks that I liked to wear with boots.
I adjusted my bag of books hanging over one shoulder and looked to the seat I’d be taking toward the back of the class again.
“Have a good weekend, Ms. Solace?” Mr. Ares’ voice pulled my attention to his desk as I passed by.
I almost didn’t know how to respond. It sounded like a friendly enough question, except his stormy emerald eyes were piercing. Something furious lingered behind his cool exterior as his stare bore into me .
I shrugged. Normally he didn’t acknowledge me in his class, so maybe I wasn’t completely his most hated student. Even though his attention zeroed back in on the paperwork on his desk, I responded lightly, “Good morning, Mr. Ares. It was great. How was your weekend?”
“Business as usual,” he murmured into his paperwork.
He must have known most students were at the lake party. It being as great as everyone said it would be was sort of the truth. The weekend was fun at the lake and even fun with Blythe beforehand. While the night with Caleb was hot and the kind of experience I wanted, it wasn’t exactly the escape I was looking for. It constantly felt like something was missing.
Ever since Saturday night, I’d been left feeling completely unsatisfied and, to be honest, completely worked up like a spring coiled tight within me.
Mr. Ares spoke to the class, “Today you’re going to continue to practice closing off your mind. Remember, early practice will solidify your control. You’ll practice while multitasking and taking notes of chapters eight to ten.”
For the first half of the lesson, I focused on the front of the class, purposely avoiding side glances from Christina. She was definitely trying to bait me into giving her my attention.
That had me staring at the back of Mr. Ares’ head a lot while he used magic to write multiple points to study up on the board. He droned on, reiterating some of what he had us reading in our textbooks.
The professor seemed different today. Still, his usual grumpy self, but today there was a roughness to him. Normally, I’d never look at him like this. It was probably from being so worked up over the weekend.
The unkempt look of his hair, slightly wet at the ends like he didn’t focus on drying it before class, and the way his shirt was a little too snug while he focused on creating his notes had me chewing on the end of my pen. Whatever happened this weekend left my brain completely frazzled, making it so hard to focus.
Damn, when did he get so hot? No, he was definitely always hot. I had been so focused on him as my professor, not really looking past that before. Maybe Caleb was right, and I was another student at the academy with a crush. Was he always so built, in like a secretly strong sort of way? Would he feel as firm as he looked?
It looked like his whole body suddenly tensed as he faced the board. I squirmed in my chair, I needed to get a hold of myself. It had been way too long since I had sex, it was clearly getting to me.
He does have a really nice ass.
A loud clatter suddenly rang from the room as he accidentally knocked something to the floor. I shifted up, staring like the rest of the class. He fumbled, nearly walking into his chair before pushing it into his desk.
“Eyes on your papers,” he snarled.
A nice ass really didn’t make up for his poor attitude.
He cleared his throat. His dark eyes narrowed on me for a fraction of a second. I refrained from rolling my eyes and brought my attention back to my paper, practicing bringing my walls up.
For the second half of the class, he had us practicing low, controlled levels of magic. This time it was earth magic, which was a relief, though I was able to start a small flame now in a controlled setting without the potion Levi kept brewing for me. This time, we could make anything we wanted with earth magic if it stayed within arm’s reach.
I tied back my black, straight hair into a messy bun. It never stayed well, so I gave up, letting it hang loosely in a half-up look. I went for one of the pre-filled pots of soil in the back of the class and brought it to my desk. I let all my creativity I was feeling start a little sprout. The plant grew quickly, twisting and blooming. It was so much more than I used to be able to do at my uncle’s greenhouse. Sometimes that difference in what I had already learned here made me want to try to stay and finish out the year.
“Oh no,” Blythe said from next to me. She had a decent-sized shrub in front of her, checking her phone behind it. “It’s my mom,” she whispered to me. “Multiple arrests were made not far from here, shadow magic. There have been extra crackdowns, more people being sentenced to prison than ever. It’s so selfish for someone to use shadows when it can so easily get out of control. It risks the lives around them. It’s obviously illegal for a reason, just use something else.” The hot pink nail color she chose this week flew across her keypad as she texted her mom back.
“They go to prison for a first offense?” I asked.
“Not always. There are exceptions to how it was used and if it was an accident, but they have been getting more strict over the years.” Her dark brown eyes traced over the plant I made. “Harper, that’s so pretty. ”
“Thanks.” I swallowed hard. Lifting my phone, I snapped a picture of the plant and sent it to my uncle.
UNCLE NOLAN: Magnificent variegation! You’re doing great. I’m proud of you for sticking to it.
Blythe looked over at my phone once I smiled and started typing out a reply. “Are you and Caleb official yet?”
I tucked it away. “No,” I said, knowing that Christina, sitting in front of us, would have been listening in. “We’re just hanging out sometimes.”
Blythe looked at Christina, then gave me a look like I needed to fill her in on it later. Ruby turned to stare back at us. There really wasn’t much to say. He did send me another shirtless picture of him on his bed, which I replied to with one in my pajamas.
It had definitely been too long. I cursed my neighbor for the weird funk he got me in after our bad relationship.
After cleaning up my desk, I tucked my little plant away to place in the window of my dorm room.