Chapter Nineteen #3
Since saving me from the brink of death with MacGyver-styled casting, Carter had proven he wasn’t simply a goofy kid who loved the spotlight, but one who wanted to use that stardom to help others.
Seriously, the kid needed his own show, and he needed to stop fixating on his classmates, something I’d failed to prepare him for in this competition.
I could blame his magic, his thoughtful personality, but neither was true.
It was the blood pouring out of me that haunted his every breath as he pushed himself ahead.
Jennifer didn’t need his assistance, though, and hopefully, he’d see that as soon as Gael brushed past him.
Gael’s emerald-green hair shimmered in the water, a look he’d donned for luck during the Spring Showcase.
Truthfully, he just wanted an excuse to dye his hair and what better than the academy event of the year.
Carefully observing every single person around him, Gael stroked faster and harder than any other student, singing a song and motivating himself through the sheer belief he was more than his branch.
Unlike every other student searching for ways their branch helped them, Gael wanted to ensure his branch didn’t hurt others because he loved every person he encountered—even the ones he didn’t like or understand.
Pure athletic determination and positivity pushed him further until he reached the fourth obstacle.
And Jennifer, crafty and quiet as ever, kept close to Gael.
She pushed every other mind out of her head, ignoring their pain, their desires, and fixated every ounce of her empathy on Gael.
It motivated her faster than she believed her body could move because the adrenaline pumped harder thanks to her branch manipulating her mind.
Honestly, I was damn proud of how she’d learned at such a young age to precisely pinpoint who’d strengthen her and temporarily ignore those who wouldn’t. A lesson I desperately needed, and perhaps a little more time in her head would help me gain that insight. Unlikely.
“ You need this. You deserve this. You have to accept what you can’t do and find a way to do it anyway. ” Caleb gripped a rock, reaching the top of the rock wall and jumping without an ounce of hesitation.
I fought off every impulse to save him, biting back the telekinesis. I channeled inward, almost silencing the hundred internal yelps as he nosedived into the pool. Not one student had been so daring, so reckless. Most climbed down the other side before plunging into the pool.
“ You know your limits. You know your capabilities. And you will surpass them. ” He swam to the end faster than Kenzo.
Not that a single other person would’ve noticed the two boys internally timed each obstacle they crossed, and Caleb finished this one five seconds faster.
Too much magic cast chaos and fury onto the course, making every student hesitate, question, doubt.
Every student except Caleb. Surviving the warlock incursion last semester had given him a streak of confidence which concerned me.
Unfortunately, he wouldn’t win the event among the top eighty.
There was too much distance. Too many students ahead of him.
But I’d remind him of this daring jump afterward and help him with the enchanter dream he desired.
Perhaps with better guidance, too, since saving his life had only given him false hopes.
I quelled Caleb’s mind because I couldn’t.
I couldn’t draw myself into his struggles.
Every single student in this event fought for success; every single one fought for their opportunity.
“ It only takes the slightest hint, ” Tye thought.
I ground my teeth as Tye leapt ever so above the stone blockades of the fourth obstacle. Four-foot stone jumps didn’t slow him because he used a subtle hint of his levitation magic to amplify his root magic. It was so subtle it hadn’t triggered the enchantments put in place.
“ I’m pathetic, ” Caleb thought, calling out.
I tapped my knee, contemplating leaving for a cigarette, an easy action that wouldn’t affect a single outcome here, yet I stayed seated, waiting for the first student to cross the finish line. Kenzo was so close.
“ Kenny’s probably already there. ” Caleb gritted his teeth, tripping over a stone blockade and glaring at Tye from Chanelle’s homeroom, who continued easily jumping each stone.
“ He’s cheating. No way would his branch make him that agile.
His enhanced strength weighs him down too much, and most of it’s in his arms—not his legs. ”
Every note Caleb had taken on Tye Weatherspoon’s branch glossed across his thoughts, the variations of Tye’s particular magic, his capabilities, his lack of an attention span, and his limited root complexity, meaning Tye could still only proficiently channel one at a time.
Caleb had studied his fellow first years closely, much like Kenzo had.
Caleb pushed himself upward, preparing to channel a subtle touch of levitation.
Not enough to make him obvious, but enough to get him through the fourth obstacle before he lost entirely.
Others were reaching the sixth and final course, and if Caleb didn’t do something soon, he worried he’d fail before he had an opportunity to show all he’d accomplished.
The seconds ticked slowly as he contemplated, trapped in the spot and watching Tye get by faster and faster.
“ Screw it. ” Caleb raced ahead.
I needed to tell him. I could easily bypass the frequency detections on the enchantments surrounding the auxiliary gym and alert him he was walking into a trap.
“ C— ” I stifled the link, quieting everything, bombarding myself with telekinesis.
A cruel casting, yet it helped improve my muscles and hopefully my roots in the long run.
The point was it stopped me from interfering.
Caleb didn’t need it. He wanted it. I fought to separate what that kid needed and wanted because so much of my last semester fixated on his survival.
He would survive this failure. So would I. I needed to let him fail.
“Disqualified,” Chanelle shouted with so much glee it sickened me. Honestly, her voice was fucking annoying at this point.
Enchantments lining the walls glowed as the sigils marked upon them burst with rulings meant to knock out cheaters in the first round.
My stomach sank. I’d saved Caleb’s life.
I didn’t owe him a thing. Crimson and sapphire lights zipped across the obstacles, cutting past students one by one.
They’d reach Caleb soon. No. I owed him nothing but a proper education, a chance to succeed in this world and hopefully live.
I’d given him a chance at life. I’d done my part.
Yes, the embarrassment rattling across the arena was exhausting and painful because it hit every single mind here.
We’d all screwed up. We’d all cut corners. We’d all cheated at some point. Somehow, seeing the devastation plastered in front of an audience made it more painful .
Every person in the audience called out, desperate to stop the shame. A few craved it, though—they wanted to witness the fall and clamored to relish in the pain of embarrassment about to hit one of these students. Those minds sickened me, so I squashed them.
Tye was repelled from the arena and thrown into an empty pit marked for cheaters. I released a breath. It wasn’t Caleb.
Caleb had considered using his roots and prepared to channel them but stopped himself before making a single casting. Tye, on the other hand, had gotten cocky, trickling in a bit more levitation with each leap to showcase his talents.
“Tye Weatherspoon is disqualified for casting root magics,” Chanelle shouted into the microphone, almost hiding her sigh of disappointment.
“ I can’t believe one of mine triggered the enchantment spells safeguarding from root casting.
That little bastard. I’m going to rip him seven new ones next class. ”
I silenced her thoughts. Maybe because I couldn’t handle nervous thoughts in my head, maybe because I still held a grudge against Chanelle for this awful opening round.
Caleb continued struggling through the obstacles, doing his best to catch up to other competitors and close the distance so he’d make it among the top eighty.
Firework effects erupted on the big screen, releasing congratulatory noises and displaying first place in the obstacle course.
1 st : Kenzo Ito
Students buzzed with excitement, terror, and persistence as they pushed themselves faster. More crossed the finish line, releasing additional celebratory fireworks while displaying their placement in the first round, name, and a closeup image once they’d crossed the final obstacle.
5 th : Katherine Harris
12 th : Yaritza Vargas
15 th : Melanie Dawson
Students raced faster and harder, claiming available slots and making the screens explode with firework after firework as they crossed the finish line.
32 nd : Gael Rios-Vega
33 rd : Layla Smythe
“ I guess it’s about time, then. ” Tara’s sorrow drew me away from the screen and to her for the first time during the obstacle course.
I squeezed my knees, disappointed I’d missed her self-defeat, so preoccupied with everyone else. Tara stood at the starting line. Clearly, without the weighted blocks to assist her branches and not having access to her root magics, she’d given up before even beginning.
“ It’s not ready, but it’ll have to do. Time to show everyone a little Whitlock Chaos.
” Tara stepped across the starting line, taking a deep breath and unleashing countless shadow tendrils.
They whipped wildly, propelling her faster.
Her intangibility cut through courses, phasing through obstacles, and her sealing magic locked competitors in place when a shadow struck them.
Everything in her wake either phased out of sync with reality or was sealed in place, trapped inside a golden hue.
This was why she’d waited so long. Those shadows unleashed magic aimlessly as she zipped through the courses, and she wanted to ensure her homeroom coven had a solid head start in case any were caught in her fury of casting.
She didn’t want to harm anyone but had zero intention of giving up when she’d come so far with her magics.
40 th : Tara Whitlock
Tara edged out others, severing her magics once she hit the finish line. Everyone’s jaws dropped, stunned that the girl who spent the bulk of the competition at the starting line had completed the entire obstacle course in under three minutes. She half-smiled as the camera zoomed in on her face.
Kenzo tsked. “Still, thirty-nine placements behind me. Don’t get a big head just because—”
The camera panned away as Kenzo continued yelling at Tara, who he admittedly underestimated.
Students from other classes continued crossing the finish line, taking up more slots in the top eighty.
48 th : Gael Martinez
50 th : Jennifer Jung
Gael shouted victoriously when he reached the end; his spikes grew large, then simmered when he caught Jennifer glaring. Exhausted and annoyed, she unlinked her empathy and went back to her standard surly expression.
57 th : Carter Howe
6 0 th : Jamius Watson
Carter and Jamius were covered in sweat and grime, having lost the stamina to maintain their branches after reaching the fifth obstacle but still pushed their way to the end.
Caleb struggled to breathe, dragging himself ahead through the sixth and final obstacle.
Every time the fireworks exploded with cheering from the screens and audience, he flinched.
I watched the screen hit the top seventy, and my stomach dropped.
Having my entire homeroom coven make it into the Spring Showcase was enough of an honor for me.
Having even one get through the first round would’ve been a huge success, but now eleven had crossed the finish line.
75 th exploded on the screen.
Caleb wedged himself between a half dozen others, all running neck and neck, but each breath exhausted him. He slowed, unable to pick up his pace as contestants edged ahead.
76 th
Disappointment flooded Caleb’s mind. Failure looped in his head again and again and again, too many times to count.
77 th
“ I can’t be the only one not to place. ” Caleb wheezed. “ I can’t. ”
78 th
He ran alongside students, side by side, until one smacked him, popping his jaw and stilling him for a second. A second too long.
79 t h
The last spot became faint as feet reached that crossing line. He lunged forward, exhausted, broken, uncertain if he deserved scraping by after so much failure. A handful of students all crossed the finish line barreling on top of each other, making it impossible to distinguish who’d crossed first.
Fireworks exploded, and a buzzer sounded, informing everyone the final placement had been made. My heart pounded, awaiting the picture to display. It glitched, a tight freeze between explosive colors and a murky face.
Finally…
80 th : Caleb Huxley
He collapsed to the ground, taking deep breaths and staring at his sweaty, red-faced image on the screens, not concerned about showing his best expression. “ Now, time to win this whole damn showcase. ”