by S C Thomas
He paused in his trimming, face towards her. “You’ll get it.” He nodded, a small smile on his face when she turned her eyes to him. “You’re going to get it. It just takes some time. You really never learned anything before?”
She shook her head, dropping her eyes back to her trimming. “My mom never even mentioned this sort of place. She never talked about magic or anything like it. She didn’t even let me read anything about magic or shifters or anything. Said it was a waste of my time. Come to think of it, maybe she was just scared if I read anything I would try on my own and be able to find out I have magic. She didn’t even really like me doing Halloween. I had to stay home with her to hand out candy for as long as I can remember. I was never allowed to dress up and go out.” She shrugged, her trimming slowing as the memories came back in tenfold, tightening her chest. “I guess she was trying to protect me, but I really don’t know what for.”
His fingers brushed along her skin again, raising goosebumps to flicker up her arms and his fingers wrapped around her shoulder. She turned her head to see his hand gripping gently to her shoulder and looked up at him, smiling softly at the assurance he was trying to provide her. For once, she didn’t push someone off her for the comfort they were trying to provide. He leaned towards her, her eyes falling to his lips quickly and flashed right back to his eyes. She cleared her throat, deciding then to pull away as her cheeks crept with heat once again and she turned away, snipping at another loose branch.
“I sort of get it. My dad wasn’t exactly thrilled I got expelled from my last school. Yelled at me for about a week, I mean it to. Every time I came even within eyesight of him, he yelled at me. Even if it was just to tell me to do something or to get out of his sight. Then he shipped me off here.” He explained softly. “Here, you missed one.” He reached over Emma’s arms and snipped at an imaginary branch.
Emma giggled. “Will you seriously stop that?”
He laughed, looking at her curiously. “I like hearing you laugh, so no.”
She stuck her tongue out at him, shaking her head. “Your so mean.” She teased.
“You wanna see mean, huh little missy?” He asked in a gravelly voice and tossed his clipped down, stepping right up to her, his hands on his hips towering above her. “I can be mean if you want me to.”
Her own clippers slipped from her fingers, laughter bubbling off her lips as she shook her head. “No, no please no!” She pretended to squeal, giggling hysterically.
He pushed against her, his lips puffed out in pretend anger, but his eyes shimmered in delight. “Why shouldn’t I?”
“Be-because I asked?” She guessed, dissolving into the laughter that made her snort again.
He lost his composure then, his head falling back in laughter as he stumbled backwards. “You have the cutest laugh ever!”
She hid her face, giggling hysterically as she shrank to the ground, her legs no longer able to hold her body up. She leaned against the hedge, trying so hard to stop laughing (and snorting) but found herself unable to.
“We’re su-su-supposed to-to be-be wo-working.” She gasped, trying to get a grip and found herself unable to. “Ca-can’t breathe.” She gasped, only inciting more laughter from him.
Then he honked in the middle of his laughter, which made the both of them much worse than a moment before and Emma fell to the ground, curled up as she laughed, clutching her stomach. “No-not coo-cool!” She howled.
Josh gasped for breath, trying as hard as he could to gather himself, gulping in breaths of air, and crawled over to her, pulling her to shaking feet. “We-we need to work.” He laughed, but able to talk a lot better than Emma could.
Emma nodded, feeling the tears streaming down her cheeks, her breathing raspy as she closed her eyes, struggling to gather herself. “Okay,” she swallowed, exhaling slowly. “Okay.”
“Good.” Josh chuckled, swallowing roughly as well and turned, picking up both clippers and handing Emma a pair. “Let’s get back to work before someone is alerted and comes to look at what we are doing. Unless you want more detention, we should work.”
“I wouldn’t mind if it’s with you.” She blurted, blushing furiously before turning to the hedges. “Forget I said that.” She mumbled, sniffling.
He chuckled lightly, careful to breathe before he burst again. “I wouldn’t mind working more with you either.” He said softly and she had to duck her head to keep him from seeing the blush turning her face even more red then it was from the round of laughter that had ensued.
“Good.” She murmured, falling into silence as she snipped.
Every now and then, she snuck side eyed looks at him, unable to help herself. She knew it was just coincidence that they were working together on the same hedge, but her heart couldn’t help but pick up pace every time she looked at him. Her knees would lock when he’d look at her, catching her staring and she’d quickly look away, pretending she hadn’t been doing exactly what she’d been caught doing. Her stomach felt funny to, like butterflies going wild within it. It was the good kind though, not the ones that made you feel like you were about to vomit. She felt oddly calm around him, like it didn’t even matter that she barely knew any magic and he probably knew the entire world’s worth of magic. He wasn’t boasting or trying to belittle her about it all. He was normal, like Kelyn was, like it didn’t matter who they were compared to one another. Just thinking about it all made her heart pick up pace, beating wildly against her chest.
Thinking of Kelyn reminded her of meeting with her after all this. After she got a shower and dressed of course, before her lesson with Drake. Oh, she couldn’t wait to tell Kelyn about all this! She actually had someone in her life she could share secrets with and not be criticized or commended like her mother would’ve. Then again, if her mother was still alive, they’d probably be on their way to a new town by now or something. She wouldn’t be here, clipping hedges next to a cute guy who laughed with her and not at her. She also wouldn’t have a friend. Again, she conflicted against her mother’s death. She was supposed to be upset, grieving. Lately though, she was just confused about her mother. She was angry because her mother had denied her this life, but happy because she had denied her this life and she didn’t turn into a Sherice carbon copy. It was all very confusing for her and she really wasn’t sure how to react about any of it.
She just wanted to know what to do but bringing that up in conversation would probably be too much with just having talked to this guy only a couple times now.
“I looked for you in the library.” She suddenly said, trying to sound nonchalant, but realized once the words were out, she probably sounded like some stalker freak.
“You did? I’ve been busy.” He explained, once again skirting over the real answers and once more, she knew better then to press for answers he wasn’t yet willing to give. “I can be there again later, if you go looking for me.” He offered, giving her a half smile.
Her insides fluttered, but she kept a straight face when looking at him. “Oh, I don’t know. I think I’m busy later.”
He grinned, turning his face back to the trimming. “To bad, I would’ve enjoyed seeing you look for me.”
“Maybe you ought to look for me for once. I might be in the library later myself.”
He snorted and she blushed, realizing how lame she had sounded but he didn’t poke fun at it. Instead he reached over with his clips and once more, clipped an imaginary piece of hers. “You are very forgetful, you know.” He commented, sticking his tongue at her.”
She stuck herself out as well, pretending to pout and then reached over, actually snipping at a piece of his. “There you go, all better.”
“Hey!” He laughed. “That wasn’t cool, I wasn’t actually cutting your side!”
She giggled. “Oh, I know.” She laughed and reached up, snipping yet another piece of his.
“Stop it!” He laughed and reached over, snipping her part for real. “There, how’s it feels?”
“Like this!” Sh
e snipped at his and started a war between the two of them before they toppled over one another trying to get at the other’s side.
“You jerk!” She teased, laughing. “You made mine all uneven!”
“Me? Look what you did to mine!” He laughed, pulling both of them to their feet and pointed at his hedge. “It looks like you took an ax to mine and went Michael Meyers on it! Just stabbing and cutting and it’s a mess!”
She laughed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not artistic!” She giggled and stabbed at his hedges with her clippers. “Yeah, that’s gonna take a lot to fix.”
He laughed joyfully, shaking his head. “At least yours won’t.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll stay extra with you until it’s fixed.” She promised, giggling hysterically.
“Oh, thanks heavens, I thought I was alone.” He gasped, putting a hand to his heart in exaggeration. “Thank you!” He shouted, lifting his hands in the air as if to praise something.
Emma laughed hysterically at his actions, shaking her head vigorously. “Get to work, you dork.”
“Yes ma’am.” He mumbled, dropping his arms and returned to his trimming, a smile planted on his face.
Fourteen
Emma speared her food again, not even sure what she’d picked as she wasn’t paying much attention it and twisted her fork in the food. Her mind was an entire world away, different subjects rolling through her head. Kelyn was blabbering on about some class she and her friends were in, giggling about the clumsiness of their teacher and whatever they’d done. She was barely paying attention. Not that because she didn’t want to, or her mind really was elsewhere, but mainly because she had no idea who they were talking about. The shifters at the table had gotten used to her over time, Kelyn demanding that she sit with them every day. It was her normal table now, but it didn’t mean she was able to join in their conversations about whatever happened within their classes. She was the only mage who sat at the table and got an incredibly amount of sneering from her own fellow classmates – the ones who bothered looking at her anymore. Which pretty much included Sherice, Drake, and the rest of their table. They laughed at her and pointed, mimicking her petting a cat and making smooching faces when she sometimes caught their eyes. Josh was also in the dining hall at times, but when she tried to catch his guy, he pretended she was looking at him and most of the time left. Today was one of those days, especially after their morning together.
Something didn’t sit right with her on the way he acted in the dining hall. It was as if their morning had never happened, like it didn’t exist or something. For when she did manage to catch his eye (she swore he had been watching her from the other end of the dining hall), he had looked quickly away, spoke a few words to a friend sitting next to him and rose, leaving the dining hall. She doubted he was headed to the library though. It was made evident when he turned the opposite way of the front doors to head to the building that housed the massive number of books.
Her stomach curling, she finally pushed her tray away from her, and stood. She gathered her items and bid Kelyn a goodbye, waving to her, and left, her head ducked. As she passed the table with Sherice, giving her a wide berth so as not to be tripped again, she didn’t even bother looking at the girl whose nose was bandaged.
She turned the way Josh hadn’t gone and made her way out of the castle and crossed the grounds, headed towards the library building. She really did love the smell of old paper wafting through the air, the scent of print swirling around when pages were turned. The leather-bound books were always amazing to hold in her hands, bringing her worlds of imagery she could only see in her mind’s eye. She absolutely adored them, loved reading too. It felt so right, so amazing to be able to immerse herself in pretend worlds where she wasn’t made fun of or pointed at. A world where she actually knew things and could predict what was going to happen instead of a world where she knew nothing and was absolutely clueless about things. While she was learning and retaining the information, she still felt like things were missing. Her mind was like a jigsaw puzzle gone forgotten when there still holes to fill and those pieces were just scattered around, waiting to be put into the places.
Stepping into the library, she took a deep breath and out of habit, glanced around. As suspected, she saw Josh to be nowhere in sight. Her heart sank a little, though she’d known he wasn’t going to turn up, she still couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed at him not being in here.
“Oh, your back.” The librarian sighed. “Food in the bin.” She said monotonously, pointing the sign to Emma’s right, her eyes never leaving her book.
“I don’t have any food today. I’m sorry about that, I didn’t know.” She apologized and stepped towards the counter. “I was wondering if you could help me with something.”
The librarian peered over her glasses, cocking eyebrow, lips pursed. “You’re the Charmwood girl.” It wasn’t a question, but even so Emma nodded in conformation. “You wanna know about your family then?”
Emma shook her head slightly, then stopped. “Not exactly. I want to learn about my mother in particular. Cas”
“Cassandra Charmwood.” She grunted, sighing heavily and waved her hand as if to dismiss her. “Of course, of course. I was expecting this. You aren’t the first one to want to know about her, but I was expecting you a lot sooner. Then again, you were busy with your boyfriend the other day.”
Emma’s neck crept with heat. “He-he isn’t my boyfriend.” She stammered, biting her lip as she dropped her gaze. “He isn’t my boyfriend.”
“Mhm.” Was all the librarian said and stood, bending down behind the counter, looking for something.
“So other people have come searching about my mother?” Emma curiously, trying to ease the slight tension she suddenly felt in the air, probably mostly because of herself.
The old woman rose, flinching as she dropped a stack of thin books on the counter. “Yes. After what she did, people wanted to know why exactly.” She shrugged and then gave Emma a pity look, pushing the books towards her. “I’ll let you find out on your own, but I do apologize if you don’t find everything you want to know.”
Emma reached up, looking at her in confusion. “Thank you.” She pulled the books to her, grunting when her arms dropped, not realizing that the thin books felt so heavy.
Turning, Emma wobbled to a nearby table and dumped them on the wooden surface with a thud and plopped down in front of them. She plucked open the top books and peered over it, looking at the pages, and frowned to see it as just a yearbook. Finding her mother’s picture, she shook her head and scooted it to the side, pulling the next one in front of her. It was the same and so was the next one and the one after that. The entire stack was nothing but yearbooks. All depicting a different year, with her mother present in each of them. The last one was of her last year, depicting her mother as valedictorian, top of the class. Something Emma doubted she could ever be due to her lack of knowledge but seeing that made her chest tighten with anger. She was valedictorian and in clubs that the school offered. She had groups of friends and was happy in the pictures. So, what the hell had been so bad to make her run away with Emma? What had happened that made her want to keep Emma away from this place?
The yearbooks gave no answers whatsoever. In fact, they only gave more questions if anything. Her mother seemed so happy, smiling brightly. But had been scared of something in life afterwards, something that had made her run and hide from this world. Their world. Because despite being so behind in magical abilities and the works, Emma couldn’t help but admit that she did in fact, belong here. She had used her magic a couple times, uncontrollable sure, but she had used it regardless. She couldn’t deny she belonged here.
Slamming the last yearbook shut, she shoved it away from her and put her face into her hands, groaning into them. Frustration swept through her, bubbling inside like it was just waiting to be erupted – like lava from a smoking volcano, waiting for that precious moment it could erupt. Shaking her head an
d leaving the books at the table, Emma rose to her feet and wandered the library. Her eyes searched titles but coming up empty handed (no surprise really) gave her little to no hope that she would be able to find anything at all pertaining to her mother. Nothing jumped out at her, but then again, she wasn’t even sure what half of the books were about. Some seemed far more advanced then what she was capable of doing. Some she’d seen classmates her age lug around, but not really get why. Were they their age appropriate books and she needed to get them as well or advanced and for students who had excelled a long time ago? It didn’t matter, she didn’t ask questions to make herself look dumber. But even so, she recognized those books and pondered over them once again. She paused mid-step, looking at one longingly but deciding against checking them out, she pushed forward. She didn’t really know what she was looking for, maybe hoping that it would just jump out and fly in front of her face when she came to it, but otherwise – there was no indication what she needed to find.
“You could always look in the file room.” The librarian offered, but her voice was saying something else, like she didn’t believe Emma could find anything she wanted to know, At least it was kind of her to try and help. “There might be something in there.” She pointed to a room in a far back corner, tucked behind a shelf of books.
Emma hesitated and nodded, seeing no other choice but to try it. She had been wandering the library for at least ten minutes now (so it seemed) and was getting nowhere. Maybe looking in there would either help her find something useful or just plain distract her from her task so she could momentarily not be distracted. Pushing through the door, she stared at the cabinets lining the walls and breathed out roughly, shaking her head as she stepped further into the room.
“Okay, where to start.” She murmured and turned to a cabinet next to the door, pulling it open.