Spark of Knowledge

by Jacie Douglass

  “So before the summer started, the five of us were searching for spells that would allow us to link our magic together permanently. We hoped it would augment our magic. Right before you were scheduled to go home, we finally found one.” Samil pauses, looking nervous for the first time.

  “Ok, and?” I prompt.

  “You were with us when we finally tried it,” he rushes out.

  “Wait, I’m confused. I was with you when you did this link spell?” I ask, biting my lip. “Did I know about magic?”

  “We hadn’t talked to you about it, per say,” Samil replies. “But it’s possible you knew or at least suspected something.”

  “Ok, if you didn’t know, that I knew, about magic... Ugh, that sounds weird. Anyways. Why would you do a spell with me there, if you weren’t sure? I thought this stuff was supposed to be kept secret?” I question, frowning.

  “It was actually your idea,” Jared answers and I shoot him a disbelieving look. He holds up his hands to hold off my argument. “You said wanted to do something that would make us family forever… And… Well the first thing we thought of was the binding spell.”

  “So… I did magic with you?” I ask, furrowing my brow. I had a hard time believing that I would have just jumped into practicing magic with them, but who knows. Maybe that’s something the old Emilienne would have done.

  “Yes and no…” Clayton replies. “It was a pretty simple spell. A little blood and an invocation…”

  “But we’ve been thinking…” Samil says, taking over again. “If your scars ARE part of a Magi spell… Well, then maybe our binding interfered with whatever they were trying to do.”

  “And that’s… good?” I tentatively reply.

  “We think so, I mean there is no way to be certain,” Ian answers. “Or it might not have had an impact at all. Once we have a better idea of what the goal of the spell was, then we can work out the repercussions from there.”

  “Ok, enough serious conversation,” Sebastian breaks in with a grin, winking at me. “Let’s move on to the magic part.” I return his grin, bouncing in my chair.

  “Yes! I mean, this is interesting and all… And eventually I want to hear all about this spell you did. But you promised to SHOW me… I want to SEE some magic, not just hear about it!” I demand, jumping out of my chair. The guys bust out laughing at my enthusiasm, but I don’t care. I’ve been waiting days to see this magic, damn it.

  “Alright,” Samil agrees with a sigh. He’s clearly not excited about the demonstration. But a promise is a promise, and I’m holding them too it. “Since Sebastian and Ian have the easiest abilities to work with inside, they can demonstrate.”

  Sebastian jumps to his feet and grabs a small round table, moving it to the center of the beanbag circle. Ian brings over a large pillar candle and a small Zen rock garden. I move across the room to get a better view of what they’re up to.

  Clayton drapes his arm over my shoulder, pulling me right up to the table so we’re standing directly across from Sebastian. Sebastian’s eyes sparkle and his energy blazes to life with vivid reds, bright oranges and brilliant yellows swirling together.

  “Keep your eyes on the table,” Clayton grins, sounding almost as excited as I am. Sebastian closes his eyes, whispering something under his breath; as the candle wick bursts to life with a small flame. I giggle, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

  “Ok that was super cool!” I grin. Sebastian opens his eyes and grins back at me, his aura still dancing brightly around him.

  “Right!” he winks, stepping back to let Ian take his place. Ian gives me a shy smile before looking down at the candle. His purple bangs falling forward to hide his eyes.

  “This first part isn’t very impressive, Emmy,” Ian warns. “Ispiro.” A gust of air whips by, blowing out the candle. Pale blue light emanates from him, the color so subtle I barely notice it. He glances up at me, pushing his bangs to the side, and I give him an encouraging smile. Ian draws new lines in the garden with the tiny rake. “Now watch the Zen garden. Vento tempestas.” I switch my focus to the Zen garden with its perfect lines. After a moment, the grains of sand start to move in a small circle. I hold my breath mesmerized as the sand rises higher and higher, till there’s a perfect tiny tornado of sand hovering over the garden.

  “OMG,” I breathe, unable to keep quiet any longer. “That’s amazing.”

  “Dimitte,” Ian commands and the tornado stops moving, the sand falling back into the garden. Ian flashes me a grateful smile before stepping back from the table.

  “Ok that was pretty damn awesome… Now, you said that the Magi got to a point where they could only control one element,” I say slowly. “Bast is clearly Fire. And Ian, you’re Air… Which leaves Earth, Water… and the mysterious fifth element.”

  I turn to Clayton. “Now I’m thinking that you must be Earth, Clay…” He nods, giving me his heart melting smile.

  “And I’d bet money that Jared is water…” I glance over at Jared, who’s still lounging on a beanbag chair.

  “Righto,” he smirks.

  “Which just leaves Samil…” I spin around till I find him sitting at the table by the bookshelves. “So, what is this mysterious 5th element of yours?”

  “The Magi refer to it as Spirit or Soul,” Samil replies, his intense hazel eyes watching me appraisingly. “You’ve taken all this really well. You sure you’re not about to freaked out or something.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “Freak out? Hell no! This is the coolest thing I’ve seen. So what kind of powers do you have?”

  “They’re a little harder to explain or show,” Samil answers with a small smile. “It should allow for communicating with spirits and astral projection, among other things. But we don’t have even a fraction of the original Magi abilities. If the five of us weren’t connected and working together on larger spells… well we wouldn’t have any power at all.”

  “Come on now! No going back to the serious conversation,” Sebastian breaks in. “It’s Samil’s birthday!”

  “That’s right,” Clayton agrees, tugging on my arm. “We’ve still got cake waiting for us! Let’s get sugared up and watch a movie!” I can’t help but laugh at them. They’re right, it’s Samil’s birthday. I can always bug him and Ian to tell me more later.

  “Ok, ok! I’m game as long as I can borrow some of the books to read while you’re off playing in the woods tomorrow,” I grin. Ian pulls a couple books and offers them to me. Hugging them to my chest, I head downstairs with the guys, ready to spend the rest of the night just hanging out and not thinking about magic.

  Friday, September 18th

  ∞

  The next two weeks are pretty uneventful. The guys went on their Treasure Hunt, which apparently was a search for Samil’s birthday presents. They pitched in and had gotten him the parts he needed to finish restoring his motorcycle. I felt bad at first that I hadn’t gotten him anything, but then I decided it would be better to wait and find the right gift, rather than give him something generic.

  I read the books Ian gave me, and switched them out for others. When I ran out of Magi books, I went on line and researched the colors I’ve been seeing. From what I learned, I’m pretty sure they are auras. At least, that’s the theory I’m going with for now. Samil, Jared, and Ian hadn’t made any more progress on translating my scars or the purpose behind the ritual. I honestly wasn’t really hopeful that they would.

  Today they managed to talk me into watching them play hockey after school. I didn’t think I would like it, but it’s more entertaining than I expected. It turns out the game is relatively easy to understand. The object is to hit the flat thingy with your stick till you get it in the net. To be honest, most of my attention is focused on the fact that they are on skates. How do they manage to stay upright, let alone hit the flat thingy?

  I pull my hoodie tight, wishing they had warned me that the rink would be so cold. I’m bringing a blanket next time, I vow silently as I try to rub some warmth back int
o my hands. As I do, I suddenly feel a prickle down the back of my neck, like someone is watching me. I casually take a look around the room. No one seems to be paying attention to me, so I shrug it off. I’ve been getting that watched feeling a lot lately. It’s probably another student. Most of the students are still too cowardly to talk to me, but think it’s ok to gawk at the new girl.

  Since this is just a practice game for the school team tryouts next week, they’ve divided into teams of six. Clayton is the net watcher person for the red team, with Ian and Samil doing the hitting part. While Sebastian and Jared are hitting for the white team. Did they split up on purpose, or is someone in charge of the game and making the decisions?

  “You know they are never going to date you.” A snide female voice comes from behind me. I turn slowly to see a group of girls from Chorus class sitting in the next row up. Since they’ve never bothered to approach me before, I’m sure they’re only talking to me now because I’ve been sitting outside with the boys every day. Just what I always wanted, a lesson on the school’s social dynamics, NOT. At least my shield is still up. Based on the looks they are giving me, ranging from pity to contempt, I’m glad I can’t feel their emotions. I’m pretty sure that nothing they are giving off is good.

  “Excuse me?” I finally reply, eyebrow raised. “Are you talking to me?”

  “Who else? You know you’re committing social suicide chasing after those guys,” a skinny brunette with big hair replies. “They’re not interested in dating you, New Girl. So you might as well stop making a fool of yourself.”

  WTF, is this for real? I mean, I’ve read about this kind of crap in books, but I didn’t really think it actually happened. I stare at the girls, who I’ve decided to collectively call the Catty Crew. After waiting just long enough for the silence to become uncomfortable, I turn back to the game and ignore them. It’s not worth my time to engage in petty bullshit.

  “Hey Goth Barbie, we’re talking to you,” another of the girls pipes in and I roll my eyes. God these girls are dumb. Calling me Goth is not an insult. It’s not accurate, but still, not an insult. It’s a subculture and lifestyle, not just a fashion aesthetic. I know because I looked it up when I was researching personal style.

  “Sorry, I’m not interested in talking to you,” I tell them, not bothering to turn around. “Why don’t you move along? I’m sure you can find someone else to bother.”

  “We’re just trying to help you out. You’re new here, clearly you don’t know the score,” the third girl pipes in. “Those guys are fagits, that’s why they don’t have any friends. If you keep throwing yourself at them, you not only look stupid but you’ll end up a social outcast too.”

  “Exfuckingcuse me?” I hiss, spinning around to glare at them. “What did you just say about my friends?”

  “Oh come on! Everyone knows those guys fags and fuck each other, Moron,” the brunette jumps in. “You just look pathetic following them around.”

  “Really? Everybody knows? And out of the goodness of your hearts, you decided you should come over here and tell me about it?

  “Exactly, we’re just trying to help you out. We don’t want you to get off to the wrong start.”

  “Right,” I scoff. “Cause you girls been soooo friendly and welcoming since school started. Now lemme ask you a few questions. Did they tell you they were gay? Have you seen them holding hands? Kissing in the halls? Making romantic declarations? Giving each other Valentine’s Day gifts?” They stay silent and I give them a disgusted look. “Oh, so you have no actual proof they’re in a relationship, but you’ve decided to spread rumors about them anyways.”

  “It’s obvious! They’re always hanging out together. They don’t date girls. They are clearly in some kind of gay poly relationship.”

  “Oooooookkkkkk… I get it now… They aren’t interested in dating you… so obviously they must be gay. Of course, that makes perfect sense,” I reply sarcastically. “Since it’s clear no one has ever explained life in the real world to you, lemme give you a little reality check.

  “Familiarity breeds contempt… Now I know those are some big words, so I’ll break it down for you. You all grew up on this island, you go to the same school, and you attend the same social events. Those guys have had plenty of time to get to know you and see what kind of person you are. Based on that knowledge, they’ve decided they just aren’t interested in you. Hey life is tough, get over it.”

  “Now because I’m a nice person, I’ll help you out so that when you do leave this island, you don’t make the same mistakes.”

  “First, it’s none of your fucking business what people’s sexual preferences are or who they choose to date.”

  “Second, just cause a guy isn’t interested in dating you, doesn’t mean he’s gay, it means he doesn’t like you that way.”

  “Third, starting rumors and talking shit about people behind their backs isn’t attractive. Guys with brains don’t find gossipy bitches attractive.”

  “You’re wrong Goth Barbie,” the brunette sneers. “But I guess you’ll have to find out the hard way. When the fags get bored with having you tag along, you’ll see.”

  “And I’m done,” I snap, standing up and grabbing my stuff. I give them a scornful look. “All I see here are some thirsty bitches that are pissed off that the hottest guys at this school aren’t interested in their nasty asses. If the rest of the girls on this island are as pathetic as you are, no wonder they don’t date. Those guys are cool, and I’m proud to be their friend. Now do me a favor and fuck off. I came here to enjoy the game, not listen to bullshit from some narrow minded ‘See You Next Tuesdays’.”

  I leave the Catty Crew gaping and move closer to the ice. Some people are just stupid. Narrow-minded asshats. I bet that’s the kind of thing Sebastian worried about my first week here. Looks like it just took them three weeks to get around to preaching their stupid. I check the score and Red team is now ahead by one. Damn, dealing with that crap conversation made me miss the action. Good thing I’m cheering for both teams. I brush off their bullshit and focus on watching the rest of the game. On the upside, their crap had momentarily distracted me from the cold.

  The red team ends up winning, but it was close during the last third, quarter, inning, whatever. Sebastian asked to me wait for him after the game, so I hang out in the stands while everyone else clears out. There’s no rush to get home, I’m sure Mom will be out as usual. I hardly see her now that school’s started. I pull out my phone and try to remember what I wanted to look up. It was something the Catty Crew said. Damn, what was it? Oh ya, poly. No idea what that is, but I certainly wasn’t going to ask them.

  Typing poly into the search bar, I scroll through the results.

  “Poly - Browse, discover, and download 3D objects and scenes. Poly lets you quickly find 3D objects and scenes for use in your apps, and it was built from the ground ...”

  Uhh ya, no idea what that link is selling, but I’m pretty sure that’s not what the girls were talking about.

  “poly - Urban Dictionary - Poly is a shorten term for the people from the islands of Polynesia, like tongans, ... the word poly derives from the word polyneasian. it includes peoples from the ...”

  Umm nope, that’s not it either. Although with Samil’s exotic looks, I guess he could have ancestors from the Polynesian Islands. Anyways, what’s next?

  “Poly- | Definition of Poly- at Dictionary.com - Poly- definition, a combining form with the meanings “much, many” and, in chemistry, “polymeric,” used in the formation of compound words: polyandrous; ...”

  Pretty sure they weren’t talking about chemistry.

  “Polyamory - Wikipedia - What is a poly person? Polyamory (from Greek πολύ poly, "many, several", and Latin amor, "love") is the practice of, or desire for, intimate relationships with more than one partner, with the consent of all partners involved. It has been described as "consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy".”

  Wait, what? Shaking my head I
click the link and skim the article. Multiple partners in a “sexual loving relationship at the same time”… Well alrighty then, who knew that was a thing.

  “Hey Sprite, did you enjoy the game?” Sebastian asks, popping up next to me.

  Yikes! I click off the page, hoping he didn’t see what I’d been reading. Flashing him a smile, I tuck my phone in my pocket and ignore the heat in my cheeks.

  His hair’s still wet from the shower and his cheeks are glowing. I get a mental image of the guys naked in the locker room and shake my head to clear it. Nope, not going to think about my friends naked. Nope, nope, nope. Bad idea. Stupid bitches putting crazy ideas in my head. None of my business anyway.

  Oh Crap, what did he ask me? Umm… something about the game, maybe? Yes, yes I think that was it.

  “It was mesmerizing. How do you stay upright on skates and still hit the flat thingy?” I ask. Without answering, he offers me a hand and when I take it, the familiar heat I’ve come to associate with Sebastian, rushes over me. No matter how much my shield improves, I still can’t seem to block the guys’ energy. He pulls me up with enough force to send me stumbling straight into his chest.

  “Hey! That was totally your fault, Bast!”

  “You need to be more prepared, Sprite,” Sebastian laughs, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and turning me towards the exit. “And skating just takes practice. Now come on, Clay’s waiting outside.” He hurries us up the steps and through the building.

  Clayton is indeed waiting outside, casually leaning against the wall next to the exit.

  “Trouble!” He grins, falling into step next to me. “You’re coming to Mel’s Diner with us.”

  “Actually, I was going to head home. I’ve got a project for Fashion Construction that I have to turn in on Monday.”

  “What?” Sebastian gasps in horror. “You want to do homework on a Friday night instead of hanging out with us?”

  “No way!” Clayton moves in front of me, putting his hands on my shoulders. He forces me to stop walking and meet his warm brown eyes. “Dinner at Mel’s is an after game tradition. You have to come.”