by Mel Todd
"Did, did he just talk in my head?" Jo had stopped crying and looked at Carelian with wide eyes.
"You heard him?" I knew from what Scott Randolph had told me that they could talk to anyone, but usually didn't bother. I didn't know if I was excited or not about Carelian talking to Jo. Right now, I just felt relieved.
~Smart. Mine~ He fell backwards against me purring, eyes closed. ~Mine.~
"Carelian, what is a quean?" I petted him as I asked, but he just rumbled a purr and said nothing else.
"Is it a compliment or not when a cat thinks you're smart?" Jo asked, sniffing and wiping her face, her breathing still hard and shaky.
"Well, he's a familiar, so I'd take it as a compliment. Jo, look at me." My voice hard and demanding. This was so important she had to listen. She sighed and looked at me, bracing herself. "You need to listen. You are dyslexic if letters move. There are different types of dyslexia, and they affect people differently. Just because numbers don't move doesn't mean letters don't."
She shrugged but kept petting the small body of Carelian. "So? So what? Doesn't mean I'm not an idiot. I still can't do this."
"Jo, how did you pass your classes in high school?" Her answer wouldn't change what I would say, but I was curious.
"Memorized everything they said in class and did anything I could that was oral for extra credit to make up for my test scores. Lots of tests in English and History were multiple choice and those, if I was careful, I could get it right." Rather than sounding proud she just sounded defeated.
"I have a strong desire to drive back to Rockway and beat all your teachers." I admit I snarled the words. Seeing her like this felt worse than getting hurt myself.
"Huh?" She looked up at me at that, her hand stilling in its stroking motion. Jo seemed calmer. Maybe cat familiars had calming effects?
"Jo, you are dyslexic. That means there are things that will help you, AND," I said, seeing she was about interrupt, "it means you can get assistance from the college."
That stopped her and she looked at me frowning. "Help? Like what?"
I almost laughed. "Like oral tests, audio versions of the textbooks, pass on spelling errors, the ability to get more time to do things. I'm sure all textbooks are set up to be able to be read aloud to you if you get the electronic versions. Plus, they have fonts that are specifically made for dyslexic people and don't move around as much. If you can memorize entire lectures to pass tests, trust me, you're not stupid. And no one who knows you would ever call you lazy."
"Oh." She looked shocked, and just stared at me, a look of bewilderment on her face. "But they won't believe me. They'll say I'm just trying to get special favors." Her voice sounded small and revealed a weakness I'd never seen before. Maybe that was why she was always so bold, to hide worry about this? I needed to think about that.
"I'm taking off tomorrow and we're going down there together. You will get the help you need."
"Cori, you can't," she protested, but I could see that odd vulnerability spark back up and I wanted to castigate myself for never noticing. A bunch of things popped into my mind, now that I thought about it. How she'd ask me what looked good on the menu or saw something as we walked in and asked the waitress about it the few times that we went out to eat. Her asking someone to read instructions to her when her hands were full or filthy.
"Yes, I can. Watch me." I pulled out my phone and scrolled to my messages. Jo was the only other person that texted me, so finding Alixant was easy.
*Taking tomorrow off. Have to deal with something* I hit send and looked up at her. "See. We will get you everything you need. You deserve that doctorate. You're one of the best people I know with machines."
Before she could reply my phone pinged. *Don't think so. You'll be here.*
I frowned, feeling my jaw clench. *No I won't. Be back Monday*
*Yes you will. You need to be here.*
*bite me* I hit send and powered off the phone just as it started to ring. My smile felt good as I looked at Jo.
"Tomorrow morning you and I are going to get you help."
Jo bit her lip. "You sure? They'll really help?"
"Yes, they will. " I didn't know it, but I knew I would do everything I could to make sure there was nothing she need.
"Thank you, Cori. I just figured they were right, when everyone else was talking about how easy the coursework was, and I was struggling to read the text, much less write the reports. I must be lazy or stupid. I was about ready to run away and quit." Her shoulders hunched.
"Nope. You've been here for me all this time. Now it's time for me to be there for you. So, brace yourself as you may not be happy about this next statement."
Jo gave me a funny look as she stood up. "Do I want to know?"
"Probably not, but you will find out. In an attempt to support you and prove I am always here for you," I stated dramatically as I rose too. "I am cooking you dinner!"
"Oh dear. This isn't going to end well."
It ended up just fine. After my attempt and failure, we ordered pizza. It was delicious.
Chapter 33
Being a mage doesn't make you superhuman. The number of people we lose every year who don't understand that is staggering. If you took the draft just as a baseline job, it is the most dangerous one in the world with a death rate of over twenty percent. Mages still get sick, suffer from learning disabilities, get divorced and get fired. Being able to do magic is a skill like painting or playing music. One you can train, but you need that spark to make it work. ~ OMO Office Brochure
I dragged Jo out of bed at five am, even though the resource office didn't open until eight-thirty.
"Cori, not that I mind getting up this early, the sleeping until seven has felt like a luxury. But why are we leaving the apartment at six in the morning?" Jo asked as I dragged her down the apartment steps, a small cup of coffee in each of our hands, and her backpack slipping off her shoulder. I had Carelian in the pack on my front. It felt and looked dorky but having my hands free again was nice. He'd made a few unimpressed sounds but was sitting and looking out as we headed down the stairs. Dawn was just starting to break.
"Because I'm pretty sure the jerk is going to have an issue with me shutting off my phone last night. I bet he'll be here at seven to grab me, and I'm not going. We have stuff to do with you."
"Cori, it's okay. I can do this," Jo muttered, though she looked like she had a headache. She'd had at least two more drinks last night, still asking me if I was sure she wasn't lazy. I reassured her every time and cussed out teachers in my head. Part of it was protectiveness over Jo but most of it was anger at the damage they had done. I think at this point I was more mad at her teachers than myself. I hadn't seen most of it but then not sure I would have realized it as a teen.
So maybe I had a reason to miss it, but I was still not happy that I was that oblivious.
"Nope. He can suck it. He's enough of an ass that I don't really care."
"Won't you get in trouble? Mami would kill me if I ruined your life."
I snorted out a laugh as I dragged her out one of the back paths. I didn't put it past him to be in the parking lot already. "I don't care. I haven't been to school yet. If I understand the law, he has a wavier to use my services until I start, but he can't really do anything to me besides yell. I'm tired of being yelled at and tired of not having anything to do but look stupid. I still can't figure out WHY he wants me there. I'm the next thing to useless." I didn't keep the annoyance out of my voice with that last part.
"Ah, so tweaking his tail?" She asked this with a bit more humor as we started toward the college.
"Maybe." I shrugged. "All the stories say there should be sexual tension between us, smoldering and intent. I suspect he's a good man, maybe not a nice one, but there's nothing. I flinch when others call him by name, and I really have to get over that. And he's so driven, he gets upset that I don't jump when he yells. I never wanted this." I tapped the side of my head as I looked around. For some reason I w
as jumpy and expected him to pull up alongside of us.
"What do you mean?" Jo looked lost and I realized she'd never met him. "He has Stevie's name and I just can't call him Alixant all the time. I don't want to associate him with Stevie."
"Ah. Makes sense." We walked in silence for a while, enjoying the sounds of the city waking up around us. "Are you going to be okay there, Cori? I mean, I know you don't want to go back to school."
"I can't get away and I want to stop this guy. I think he's going to kill more, but I feel out of place. This isn't where I should be, but I don't know where I should be." I kicked at a stone on the ground and Carelian complained at I jostled him.
"Sorry, Car," I said as I scritched his ears. He wrinkled up his nose and hissed at me, the meaning clear. "No Car, huh? Lian? Ian?" At Ian, he paused but then shook his head, but I felt a word in my head.
~Still Carelian~
How you could purr or roll the sound of letters like that I didn't know. But I shrugged and scratched. "Carelian it is." Amused that he was so adamant about his whole name.
"Do you like having a familiar?" Jo asked as we approached the admin building and I shrugged.
"That's like asking me if I like having my hair growing. I haven't had enough of it to know one way or the other yet."
"Point." We stood looking up at the building, then at our watches; only six-thirty. "Coffee shop? I could do with some food."
"Sure." We turned and headed towards the nearest place, which was already bustling. We ordered and found a table in the corner while people talked and chattered around us. I made sure my hair covered most of my tattoo. Maybe I needed to move to someplace cold, so I could wear hats all the time.
"What exactly are you going to do?" Jo didn't look at me, just fiddled with her drink. The coffee was okay, not as good as at Grind Down, but okay.
"About?" Her comment pulled me out of the focus on the coffee.
"Well, both. Your schooling, the resource office, this job that isn't a job?"
"Oof, you want me to make decisions this early?" I muttered, staring at her, but I smiled. Carelian was in another chair nibbling on a dog treat. He hadn't seemed to care it was aimed at dogs.
"You're the one who dragged me out this early, so yes." Jo had the audacity to smirk at me over her coffee but I could still see the odd fear in her eyes. I'd never realized how much she hid from me, and it hurt. Almost as much as realizing how much I hadn't seen.
Some friend I was, to not notice my BFF has issues reading.
"School first. We deal with the administration. I figure this might as well come in handy." I tapped the side of my head. I had the marks mostly hidden at the moment, but for all the misery they had caused me, they might as well do me some good now. "You need the testing, the assistance. Asking for help shouldn't be an issue and anyone who knows you knows you're smart."
Jo didn't look convinced, but I ignored her. All the medical assistant stuff about how to support and recognize people with disabilities might actually come in helpful.
See, education is never useless. I need to keep reminding myself of that, because the one thing this degree gets me is access to more information. Maybe I can figure out what killed Stevie. Maybe I could even become a doctor.
That idea tugged at me but didn't feel right. I needed to take the time to sit down and go over the degrees, but the problem with being a merlin was there were so many options, and Carelian just added to them as with him I was strong in not two but three fields. That was unheard of as far I knew and it made me uneasy.
"After that, I'll deal with the FBI. The lead jerk is mostly taking out his anger on me, though I don't know why. I get they may need someone to help with the planar rips and even untrained, I might be the best person available. But sitting there all day and feeling stupid is a waste of time, though they are paying me, which helps. But still, I'd rather work, and I have four months before I can start school. I'd like to be an EMT. It's what I trained for." I gave a helpless shrug. I enjoyed being an EMT, so it was an option.
"Are they going to accept that?" Jo asked, arching her brows.
"I'll have to figure out how to make them. I know the draft can put me anywhere, but I want it to be something that will lead to a long term job and future. So that means me thinking about it. Right now, I just want this case over with so maybe I can work and deal with college, something I thought I was done with." My tone was wry as I glanced at the clock on the wall. "It's after eight, lets head that way and get you taken care of."
Jo heaved herself up, looking like the weight of the world rested on her. "I still feel deep down I'm just being lazy, or not trying hard enough, or something."
"Yes, 'cause not having letters move around is something you can control?" I gave her an arch glance and she flashed a smile.
"You trying to tell me letters aren't like men and they don't react to my awesome rack?" She waved at her chest and I saw at least two men follow her motion with their eyes.
"Exactly. So come on." I grabbed Carelian and put him back in the carry thing, feeling more than one person eye me. I did feel ridiculous. The odd looks I got just increased my discomfort.
~Mine~ his voice rumbled through my mind and I couldn't stop a smile.
"So I'm your servant, am I?"
Jo glanced at me, then the cat, and grinned.
~Yes,~ the voice said smugly in my mind and I laughed.
"I take it he responded?" Jo asked once we were out.
"Yes. He agrees I'm his servant. He might need an attitude adjustment." His purrs were loud and rumbling as he rested his head on the edge of the bag.
"Uh huh. Somehow I think he's right." Her smirk made me roll my eyes, but I couldn't disagree too much.
We continued our walk to the services building. Jo's steps came slower and slower as we approached.
"Nope, come on. You're doing this." I all but dragged her into the building and to the desk where an older woman sat. "Hi. My friend here needs testing and resource assignment, plus considerations for a learning disability."
The woman, her hair shot with gray and tied back in a tight bun with glasses perched on her nose, squinted at us, mouth pursed. "You do? And what does your friend say?"
I elbowed Jo, giving her my best "I mean business" look. She sighed and muttered out, "I'd like to get tested to see if I qualify." Her voice was audible only because at this time of the morning the area was mostly empty.
"Fine, take a seat." She waved us to a chair, and I heard her muttering, "Young people always thinking because it isn't all video games, they need special assistance. Humph, I could show them what hard classes were like."
I almost spun around and let her have it right there. Standing up for myself was hard, standing up for Jo I'd do in a heartbeat. But she seemed to be placing a call, so I let it go— for now.
We sat in the uncomfortable chairs, and I let Carelian out to explore.
"Hey, no pets are allowed in here," the woman snapped out.
Carelian froze, an affronted look on his furry face, whiskers and ears laid back.
"Familiar," I replied, my voice saccharine sweet.
She hmphed and Carelian lashed his tail at her, then continued his exploring. We'd been there a half hour and Carelian slept in the chair next to me, when a woman came out. Older, probably only late thirties to the wench at the desk's sixties. She walked over, a smile and a tablet computer in her hand.
"Hi, I'm Beth. So, what's up?"
Jo swallowed hard, but with my shoulder bump began to speak, extra low, probably because of the wench and the few students passing by. While you could see the edges of my tattoo from my hair style, it wasn't on display like Jo's in her ponytail. Most people ignored us, though Carelian did get a few extra glances. He was a gorgeous kitten. His red fur was almost truly red instead of the russet brown of most cats. He almost looked like I'd painted him. While it was an odd color, it also screamed not normal, cementing him as a familiar.
"I'm having problems
in my classes. I've always had the issue, but after being out of school the last few years it got worse. Cori here says it's dyslexia, but I was told it couldn't be because numbers don't move on me?"
Beth shrugged. "Everyone is different. Why don't you describe what’s going on?"
"It's the reading and the tests and the papers. Every time I read a sentence the letters move and create different words, or words that make no sense. I'm having to read sentences five or six times to guess at what it says. And when I type, I think I know what I'm typing, I mean I know where the letters are on the keyboard, but I can't read it to make sure it's right." Her voice shook, but she kept her head up.
"But you don't have this problem with numbers?" She didn't sound disbelieving, which made me feel better. I never wanted to see Jo that down again.
"Not really. Most of the time, especially with engineering, the numbers stand alone or there are only one or two of them, and if they move the math doesn't work, so it's easy to correct them."
"You can do the math in your head?"
"Sure, a calculator takes too long and most of the time my hands are covered with grease." Jo shrugged, still looking unsure about everything.
I hadn't known that. I mean, I knew she could calculate everything without trying, but advanced math in her head? I always needed to write it out. I felt absurdly proud of her, which was ridiculous as I had nothing to do with that ability.
"Interesting. Well, I have everything set up if you want to come take the assessment." She turned to me with a smile. "This may take a while. Do you want to wait?"
"Is there someplace I can find out how to transfer credits so I can see where I will come in with an associate degree?"
"You mean three associates," Jo said giving me the same shoulder bump I'd given her earlier.
I saw Joanne flick to my temple and frown, but she nodded. "Sure. If you want to log into that kiosk over there, you can apply for admission. You need your OMO registration number, then enter all your information. It should tell you what will transfer and what you may need to take in the lower classes." She stood and gestured for Jo to follow her, and the two of them headed down the hall.