Adding to the tension and akwardness, the middle-aged maister began sniffing the air with all the animation of a boar.
“I smell smoke.”
Student eyes began darting in one particular direction. Alvareth started sweating; and the maister whose name I didn’t know impressed his authority upon the room with heavy steps. “I can construct many answers out of silence,” he said forebodingly.
It may have been that Alvareth deserved punishment for what he did—or tried to do, but this went beyond that. His punishment would probably reflect poorly on everyone else if it got out that he used magic outside the classroom. Such news would likely draw the headmaster’s ire. So what could be done?
“May I ask why you smell smoke, Professor Creed?” Krixis began.
The professor eyed him with sinister intensity. “I am in the middle of uncovering that very riddle, since I am in a room near bursting with oblivion. Am I not?”
“I understand perfectly,” Krixis enthused, “Who else smells smoke? I sure don’t. My nose must be broken.”
“Unfortunately, I cannot catch the scent of smoke, either,” added Elise. But as this is a library. I imagine that any smoke would lead to immediate consequence with so much to burn. Is there anything burning. What do you think, Lux?”
I wasn’t the slightest bit surprised but a tad bit annoyed to be dragged into this ruse. “I can neither see nor smell any fire.” I wanted to see where we could take it. “What about you, Goireman?”
“Leave me alone,” she drawled. The girl could care less about playing along.
“What are you hiding, Goireman?” said Elise.
Rolling her eyes, the rich bitch gave a heavy sigh. “Nay, I do not smell anything resembling smoke.
“A cadre of covert students art thou,” said the professor. Nevertheless, he stomped over to Alvareth in his casual and daunting manner and looked down his nose at him with unusual suspicion. It was as if he knew. But how?
“What of you, Alvareth? Do you suspect that my sense of smell has been misled by the unseen? Some… curious machination?”
Alvareth didn’t have to think long. His greatest struggle lay in hiding his sweat. “Apologies, professor, would that I could explain or describe the smells in the dorm or in any recess of the academy grounds.”
“I might explain the smells coming from his dorm, professor,” Krixis interjected. “Alas, I wouldn’t want to plague your thoughts with such images.”
The silence finally crumbled into giggles that spread around the room at Alvareth’s expense, yet he merely rolled his eyes with a mild huff and puff. It did not matter in the end because the middle-aged face of Professor Creed sagged through loss of interest. He had no desire to listen to teen jests. So after a quiet scoff, he stepped off and back from whence he came.
Interestingly, suddenly, there was harmony. As if all quabbles were forgotten, everyone went about their business. Krixis went back to his book, and Alvareth at last gained the sense to ignore him. Elise watched, smirking as the highbrow boys and girls retreated to their careless conversations. Goireman, appearing judgmental and nonchalant, remained judgmental and nonchalant. But as her gaze passed over Elise, she briefly rested on me for a moment. Maybe, she sensed my animosity and lingering resentment; or was it pity? You couldn’t tell with that expression of hers. Whatever it was, it quickly faded as she turned her back to me with a flip of that blonde braid. In its place, Elise’s blushful cheekbokes reappeared.
“Never a dull moment,” she muttered.
“On the contrary,” I said. “They are simply forgettable. But where did you find the nerve to stand up to the blue bloods?”
“I hate bullies,” she seethed. “Doesn’t it kill you when they flap their lips on opressive whim? They play their games of pretend with one another. Pretending class, pretending intelligence, pretending intrigue, skill, and the like. The only thing true is their arrogance, and that’s the part that wreaks havoc. Even Roy doesn’t deserve that.”
As if on que, the boy Roy stepped forth from the battlefield of youths, albeit not wearing his usual grin of oblivion. Apparently, his near bout with Alvareth left a lasting sobriety on his face. His dimples had shrunk, and his eyes tilted toward the floor with their hesitation.
“Are you alright, Roy?” I said.
“I am fine,” he lied. “How are you, Elise?”
Withholding laughter, she answered, “Don’t worry about me, boy. I am immune to foolery.”
“What about you, Lux?”
“Me?”
“You moved so fast when Alvareth made that fire. I didn’t know you could do that. I thought you would fall over.”
“Oh, were you afraid of what Alvareth would do to little me?” Elise taunted.
I didn’t even think about it. “Ehhh, it was a gut reaction. Wouldn’t you do the same if you saw fire?”
“Probably not,” Roy admitted.
“I never needed magic to cause fire,” Elise said in a weirdly proud manner.
“Well, it seems like there’s one between you and Goireman. I don’t think she took kindly to your remarks. You do realize I share a dorm with that girl?”
“Her arrogance goes full circle to being harmless. She won’t try anything with you or Roy. I know. I can tell.”
Bold. “Bold of you to think so, Delarose. You seem to know their kind well, a little too well. Why is that?”
The girl with secrets angled her gaze so as to give me proper scrutiny. There is much you do not know about me, Lux. Do I know everything about you?”
“The only reason you do not is because I do know know everything about me. What else is there but a lame, tall, ugly genius from the poor countryside? I’m surprised you’ve stuck around this long, frankly.”
She wrapped her arm around me like a sister, and together, we commenced a slow, winding walk out of the grand parlor. “Please, do not talk about yourself in such a manner, Lux. I do not think you are a genius. You are, however, mentally unchallenged, which is more than I can say about most of the people I have met and will meet. You are also nice, are you not? Don’t you agree, Roy?”
Roy, who had been following with a renewed skip in his step, replied heartily, “She is fantastically kind. I have learned a lot by studying with her. I think I am finally learning how to focus. My mother said it took a concerted effort to get me to decipher the chant. ‘Slower than normal,’ to be exact. I am slow on many things.”
“There you have it,” said Elise.
I didn’t know what was happening. Was I supposed to feel better or worse? What kind of words were these? Perhaps, I was meant to experience no sort of change in feeling, whatsoever. In the end, strange friends never had to make sense… if I could call them friends. After seeing the other ‘friendly’ candidates at this school, I’d say I was lucky. Diamond seals should have been top priority, yet that too seemed increasingly insignificant as I spent more time with Roy and Elise.
Indeed, I could ignore everything after that. The little, tactical conversations between boys and girls left little to be desired in the bigger picture. Of course, Elise had this penchant to drag my attention away from the important things whenever she made her sly comments. “Is that the boy who tightened your knickers the other day?” Instinctively, I turned my head to where Krixis was sitting. Then, my thoughts caught up to what she said.
“No one is tightening anything!” I snapped.
“Ho, ho, ho,” she giggled. “That answers that question.
“I am confused,” Roy muttered.
“It’s nothing, Roy,” I said. “Don’t listen to the strange girl beside you.”
Her eyes smiled connivingly. “I can see why he tickles your fancy.”
“I wish you would stop using words like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like that.”
“In a highly suggestive manner that implicitly or explicitly denotes physical touch?”Roy muttered.
Both Elise and I stopped walking in order to properly stare at Roy. As his oggly blue eyes shuttered between us, he slowly endeavored to hide behind his textbook. “Is that not your meaning?”
By the time I returned to my dorm that evening, I had nearly forgotten all about the bout between Elise and the elites and the fact that I would akwardly have to confront Madame Goireman. Or would I?
Contrary to the scenario in my head, the prodigal daughter showed up across the hall. Unlike me, she did not bother to stop. She promptly stomped down the red carpeted floor with casual haste; and not to be outdone, I did the same. Though I felt nervous and awkward, she couldn’t know that. Nevertheless, no amount of discipline or strength would let me match her elegance. I had my leg and upbringing to thank for that. It didn’t always bother me, but today it did. I wish I could have ignored myself the way Goireman ignored me, which is exactly what she did.
She came to a brief halt in front of our dorm, so turned and opened the door without missing a beat, as if I were never there. It was a subtle art that she had mastered, how to ignore everything. Or, it may be that she assigned inconsequence to things. Now, what did I mean by that? For Goireman, it seemed as if she could simply point her eyes in a direction—not look, point—and for everything in her line of sight, she could assign a value between nothing and something. Still, I turned the knob to our dorm and entered the dim room, refusing to be nothing.
The next day began like any other sunny day in Baumwolland.
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