Nicole pulled herself into a sitting position. “You’re not at work?”
“It’s Saturday. Besides, even if I did work today, I couldn’t leave you alone.”
Nicole whimpered. “I can’t believe what we did. I can’t ever look him in the eye again. I’m such an idiot!”
Lizzie bit her lips. “Um . . . I don’t think it’s Austin you need to be worried about.” She held out Nicole’s phone. “Coolidge has been calling and texting all morning. I didn’t pick up—I wanted you to get some rest before facing him—but I did happen to see one of the texts as it previewed on the screen. He’s . . . uh . . . pretty upset. Yeah. And that’s putting it lightly.”
Nicole groaned again, taking her phone. “How does he know already?”
“Austin said something about needing to go to Coolidge’s house after leaving here.”
Nicole quickly scanned through her notifications. Seven voicemails, ten missed calls, and sixteen text messages. She glanced at them, not needing to read them completely to see that Lizzie was right. Coolidge was smoking anger.
The last text requested that she meet him, in one of the auditorium rooms on campus. He warned her to bring a bag to puke in, since Austin would be there too.
“You’re right—Coolidge is mad.” Nicole relayed the information to Lizzie, then lay back on the bed and groaned. “I’m going to be super sick there.”
Lizzie nodded. “You’d better shower first. You reek.”
“Thanks.” Nicole couldn’t bring herself to smile at the situation. It would be years before she could wash away the guilt that clung to her heart.
***
Nicole wasn’t able to get to campus for forty-five minutes. She hoped Coolidge would take the time to cool off. But once she saw the expression on his face, she realized that no time in the world would make him happy until he’d had it out with the love birds. He let her into the building but didn’t say anything, his face dark.
She followed him meekly down the hall and around a corner, not feeling brave enough to ask if Austin had arrived yet.
A moment later, when the nausea hit her, she didn’t have to voice her question. Austin was already in the auditorium.
He sat on the back row on the opposite side of the room from where Nicole entered.
Thank goodness the auditorium was large.
Too bad it wasn’t bigger.
Though she didn’t throw up while there—she hadn’t had any breakfast and refused to look at Austin—she struggled with intense nausea the entire time Coolidge lectured them.
And what a lecture it was.
The moment the door was shut, he started on them.
“I can’t believe how childish you acted! Do you realize what you’ve done? I don’t know that we can undo this! And I can’t create another blocker, let alone one that will be strong enough to overcome your stupidity of last night!”
Nicole stared straight ahead. Coolidge was pacing back and forth, and tracking his movements increased her sickness.
“I know you’re sorry—I can see it—but what I don’t know is if you realize how much you’ve put at stake. Bringing the attention of the Great Ones is not a good idea right now. We don’t need them watching us even more closely than they have been. Not only that, but without Austin’s help, we probably won’t succeed. We can’t risk having the two of you together, which means he’ll have to stay home when we go to Salmon.
“What you did was impulsive, reckless, and immature. But more importantly, it was selfish. The only thing you had on your minds last night were your hormones, not the hundreds of thousands of lives you’ve put at stake. Didn’t you listen to Jack and Anna Morse? Didn’t you hear them say that our best hope for survival is to keep the attention of the Great Ones off of us?”
He waited for acknowledgement from both students before continuing to lecture them for thirty more minutes.
Finally, he calmed down. “I know you’re already incredibly miserable from what happened. I apologize for being so upset. But I thought you already understood the precarious position you were in.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Maybe now you do.”
Coolidge slumped into one of the chairs at the front of the auditorium. “Hayla said I needed to go light on you, that you’re just hormonal teenagers.”
He looked up, making eye contact with them one at a time. “I expected more of you.”
He let that hang in the air. Nicole wanted to curl up and die. She hated that she’d disappointed her professor—a man who was much more than just a teacher. But she especially hated that she’d disappointed Austin and herself.
They’d really let each other down.
“Now, then. We have a meeting with more officials on Monday to try to convince them to support an expedition to Idaho. Or at least give us access to university equipment for that trip.” He got to his feet and glanced at Nicole and Austin. “I know I don’t need to ask you to avoid each other.”
Coolidge pulled papers from his ever-present briefcase and handed one set to Nicole, then the other to Austin. “You’re to be tested for those Arete classes tomorrow. Expect it to take all day. Good luck.”
He made to leave the room, but paused, sighing heavily. “Nicole, Austin, look at me.”
Nicole did so, unable to see if Austin had as well.
“You’re still the best students I’ve ever worked with. I hope things won’t change from what happened last night. That we’ll be able to laugh this off a year from now. I suspect we will.” He took a breath. “I need you to know how proud I am of you both, and how much I’ve loved teaching and instructing you. We will get through this. I promise. And I’m sorry for how harsh I’ve been, when you’re both so obviously suffering already. Please know it’s because I care for you.”
Nicole nodded, looking back at her lap.
After saying bye and sending another round of good lucks for the tests, Coolidge left.
Nicole waited to see if Austin would follow, but realized he didn’t want to come that close to her. Good thing, too, as even being this near was killing her, turning her stomach inside out. Without looking at him—wanting to, but grateful she couldn’t at the same time—Nicole got to her feet and walked out of the auditorium.
Would Austin still want her when all of this was over?
Did she still want him?
At that moment, she couldn’t tell. The only thing she felt was guilt. Shame. Embarrassment.
And the desire to prove herself. Yet again.
She’d come full circle since arriving at Katon University. How ironic.
Chapter Three
Nicole wasn’t sure if she could, but she was determined to make things up to Coolidge. She sent him a text later that day, asking about the blocker—why he couldn’t make another one. He responded almost immediately. Apparently, he’d run out of platinum—one of the metals in the recipe—and his supplier had stopped communicating with him. He was trying to find a new one, but hadn’t been successful so far.
Nicole pondered over the dilemma that evening and again the next morning while getting ready for her tests. She was on the road, heading to campus, when she decided something.
She would contact his supplier. Coolidge might not find another one in time. And he was right—they really did need Austin with them in Salmon.
Nicole parked her car and headed toward the administration building, deep in thought. How would she approach the supplier? How would she get her hands on his contact information? And without Coolidge finding out? She didn’t want to get his hopes up, and she definitely didn’t want him discouraging her from trying.
She pulled out her phone and called Lizzie.
“I need your help with something,” she said after Lizzie answered.
“What’s that?”
“Finding someone.”
Lizzie snorted. “I ain’t no P.I., girl.”
Nicole smiled. “No, but together, we should be able to do it.” She explained her plan.
Li
zzie was silent for a moment. “Well, Coolidge probably keeps a list of all his suppliers. Maybe we could ask Hayla for help.”
Hayla was Coolidge’s wife, and Nicole highly doubted the woman would give the girls the information they needed. But maybe . . . maybe if Nicole explained to her why she and Lizzie wanted it . . .
“That might work. Do you want to go with me tonight, after my tests are over?”
Lizzie agreed, and they ended the call.
Nicole let herself into the building and took a seat in the hall. She was waiting outside Professor Smith’s office again. This time, however, she was alone, and the dean wouldn’t be meeting her. Instead, an advisor would be administering the tests. She glanced over the paperwork Coolidge had given her the day before. She was nervous, but not as much as she’d been for the tests to go on the expedition to Arches National Park last year.
She still didn’t know exactly what the tests would consist of, other than some of them would be written and others would be based on performance.
The administrator arrived shortly. She was a tall black woman with gray hair that was pulled back in a loose bun. A pair of glasses sat on top of her head.
“Nicole?” she asked, looking at a tablet in her hands.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“My name is Tess. Come along. We’ll get started immediately.”
Nicole followed Tess to the stairs and down a level to the basement of the administration building. The hall they entered was long and wide, painted almost completely white. A door to a large lab was open on the right-hand side, beckoning them to enter. There were a few objects lining one side of the room and shelves on the other, but for the most part, it was empty and large—at least twenty feet tall and forty feet wide.
“Please, have a seat.” Tess gestured to the only chair available—a black office chair.
Nicole sat, tucking her hands beneath her legs, waiting to see what her first set of instructions would be.
Tess pulled her glasses down and studied her tablet for a moment before looking up. “Your first test will be performance based. Please show me that you can successfully use your Wind sub-ability.”
Nicole nodded. “I’ll need you to continue talking, if that’s okay.”
“Very well.” Tess cleared her throat and smiled at Nicole. “Here at Katon University, we strive for perfection in all of the most—”
It didn’t take Nicole long to gather enough magic to silence the woman. She held on as Tess counted down with ten fingers, then let go when the woman nodded.
“Very impressive.” Tess made a note in her tablet, then continued down the list.
Nicole was required to use her powers to move things around the room, along with creating a whirlwind, shuffling papers, and increasing and decreasing Tess’s speaking and singing volumes. Then Tess had her prove she could create sound. This was more difficult, as it was the opposite of Nicole’s natural ability, but she’d practiced it quite a bit before moving on to Earth powers last semester and was able to do it without a problem.
Once she’d gone through all of the Wind abilities on the list, the woman handed her the tablet, where Nicole was tested on her academic knowledge of those abilities.
It took her thirty minutes, during which time, Tess pulled things off the shelves.
Tess took the tablet back. “Which aspect of Earth is the easiest for you?”
“Anything with wood.”
“Okay, give me a minute.” Tess opened another shelf and pulled down random pieces of wood—dismantled chairs, branches, sawdust, and other things.
She then had Nicole pull it all apart by chunks and then by the grain. Then she had her dissolve the grains completely. These tasks were easy for Nicole, but she struggled with putting the wood back together, only finishing one chair.
Tess frowned. “This is something you must show you can do in order to pass Earth 202.”
Nicole nodded. “I expect I’ll need to take that class.”
“Well, let’s see how you do on the written portion for Earth 101.” She clicked on the tablet for a moment, then passed it to Nicole. “How are you on Water and Fire?”
“Not very good—I didn’t plan to test on them today.”
“That’s fine. Go ahead when you’re ready.”
Tess cleaned up the room while Nicole took the test. Once Nicole finished, Tess glanced over her answers, then looked up, a smile on her face.
“Congratulations, Nicole. You’ve just passed twenty-seven credits’ worth of Wind Arete courses, along with three credits for Earth 101.”
Nicole sighed in relief. “Thank goodness.”
“You did very well. I expect we’ll see good things of you yet.”
“I hope so. I plan to continue with my abilities until I’m fully a Silver—er, an accomplished Arete.” Nicole flushed.
Tess chuckled, leading the way out of the room. “Silver works for me.” She patted her hair fondly. “I used to dye it when I was younger. Got over that quickly when I realized how expensive it would be to keep up.”
Nicole laughed. “I haven’t decided what I want to do yet.”
“You’ve got blond hair,” Tess said, closing the lab behind them and walking toward the stairs. “It hides the silver much better. You could get away with a simple weave every six weeks. That should keep your expenses down.”
Once they reached the top of the stairs, Tess congratulated Nicole again, and the two parted ways.
Nicole wondered when Austin would be tested. But even just wondering about him made her head pound, and she had to push those thoughts from her mind. Doing so made her heart ache and she wished a Toby-like relationship would come along and help her move on.
Realizing what she was thinking, Nicole chided herself. She wouldn’t do that to another guy. The pain on Toby’s face when he learned she was still in love with Austin made her hurt with regret. She hadn’t heard from him and she knew better than to contact him.
Even if she couldn’t be with Austin for a while, he was the man for her—she knew it and so did he.
If only their mistake the other day hadn’t been so horrible. If only they’d controlled themselves better.
Nicole sighed. The “if only” road was a bumpy one she wasn’t in the mood to follow.
When she got in her car, she turned her music up as high as she could tolerate, rolled her windows down, and enjoyed the cool, humid breeze as it rushed over her on the way home.
***
Nicole and Lizzie held a quick powwow on Coolidge’s porch Saturday afternoon before ringing the doorbell.
“You’re sure he’s not here?” Lizzie asked.
Nicole nodded. “He was still in his office when I left campus and looked like he’d be there for a while.”
“Okay. You do the talking, and I’ll fill in where necessary.”
Nicole nodded, then rang the doorbell.
Hayla answered a moment later, wearing jeans and a tee and her hair pulled into a ponytail. “Can I help you?” Her eyes landed on Nicole, and she squinted for a moment before recognition crossed her face. “Oh, Nicole! Come on in.” She stepped back, making room for the two girls to enter.
Hayla led them to the sitting room off the foyer. She invited them to sit, then did so herself, her hands fluttering in her lap while she glanced at Nicole and away again.
Nicole smiled. “It’s okay, Hayla. I know you’ve already heard about the stupidity of my situation with Austin and . . . uh . . . our actions of the night before.” She leaned forward. “Actually, that’s partly why we’re here.”
“It is?” Hayla didn’t look very comforted by Nicole’s announcement.
“Yes.” Nicole took a breath, then rubbed her forehead. “I feel horrible about what happened. I know Austin feels the same. And I need to make it up to Coolidge. He worked so hard on that blocker . . . and what Austin and I did was immature and careless.”
Hayla knitted her eyebrows. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. He’ll get ov
er it and you’ll all move on.”
“I know. But what we did had real consequences. Has Coolidge told you his platinum supplier for the blocker dropped off the grid?”
“He mentioned something, yes.”
Nicole swallowed. Here goes. “I want to contact that supplier and see what’s going on.”
Hayla shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. The people he works with are dangerous—they’re not like college professors or anything like that. They work with illegal products, and most of the time they’re hardened criminals.”
“I understand this. And I’m prepared to deal with the possible risks.” Nicole leaned forward. “Please, Hayla. I need to do this much. Coolidge is seriously stressed about not having Austin with him, and I’m to blame for that—at least half of it. We can’t let this keep us from being successful in our overall goal—stopping the Tarians.”
Lizzie nodded. “And we’re both Aretes. We’re smart—street smart.” She sent a sly expression to Nicole. “At least, I am. But Nicole is a fast learner.”
“Would you bring anyone else with you?”
Nicole shook her head. “No. We can’t risk it. Austin is the only person I’d trust enough not to go blabbing about it, and I don’t want Coolidge’s reputation getting ruined. The fewer people who know, the better.” She hesitated, then said, “And you don’t need to worry about us. Yes, we’re Aretes. But we’ll also be carrying other forms of protection.”
“Guns?”
“Most likely. Knives too.”
Hayla chewed on her fingernail. “I don’t know, Nicole. What if something bad happens? What if you get killed?”
“From what Coolidge insinuated, if we don’t have Austin with us in Salmon, we will die. I’m not just trying to make things up to my professor—I’m trying to give us as big an advantage against the Tarians as possible.”
“I understand that,” Hayla said. “But it doesn’t make me want to help you any more.”
Lizzie scooted to the edge of her seat. “We would love your help—more than anything. But we feel strongly enough about this to do it anyway, without assistance.”
Reclaim, Mosaic Chronicles Book Five Page 3