ClassidDrogn: ?
W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.
I couldn't concentrate on my report.
The cellphone was on the table in front of me in the public library, next to the books I was trying to take notes from. I kept checking the time on it.
The Guardians had spread out to look for Will, but they had all agreed that I shouldn't do that. There was too much risk of Will and I being seen together.
Whether they found Will or not, the Guardians of the Veil would be at Elyon's house at six-thirty.
I checked the phone again. It was six-twenty-eight. Thirty seconds since I had last checked.
The book in front of me was talking about landowners and serfs. Two men, one of whom had everything and one who had nothing. I turned the page to hide the illustrations and mopped at my face with a hankie. Then I turned the page back, picked up my pen and jotted down a note.
The phone again. It had ticked over to six-twenty-nine.
I checked the page again and then turned it again.
Was that how it was for me and Will? She had everything and I got the scraps?
She'd called me her sister, I reminded myself. When Elyon captured me, she risked her life to come to my rescue.
The cellphone buzzed and I hit the accept button before I could get a nasty look from the other people in this part of the library. Apparently there was a rule about being quiet.
"Yes?" I hissed into the phone.
"It's Cornelia," she sounded stressed. "Irma found her. We're going in."
"Good luck."
I heard her sigh - I don't think she meant me to hear that - and then she took a confident tone. "Luck is what people who don't know what they're doing rely on. I'll call you later."
"Could I -" I broke off when I realised she'd put the phone down.
I'd just wanted to speak to Will. But perhaps it was for the best that I didn't. She was going into battle and I didn't know what I wanted to say.
At least they were together. All five Guardians working together... Vathek and his followers didn't stand a chance.
I clung to that belief as I jotted down page after page of notes. I wasn't sure how to turn the notes into a report, but Taranee had offered to advise me on that, so for now I just kept recording anything that seemed it might relevant.
My phone sounded again and I snatched it up. "Is everything okay?"
Mom sounded bemused. "Yes, Will. Everything's fine. I'm not as late as I expected though."
"Oh. Um, that's good." Which in general was true but was probably going to be really inconvenient once Will got back. Swapping places was always easier to hide when Mom wasn't at home.
She laughed. "So what mischief are you up to right now?"
"I'm at the library."
"You are at the library?"
She didn't have to sound quite that sceptical, did she? "Well you did say my grades weren't good enough and I have a huge history report that no doubt Professor Collins can tell you all about so it seemed like the place to go."
"Well, good for you, honey. I thought you'd be at the swimming pool with your friend Vera."
What? Oh, that message on the answerphone. "I wish I was. I thought I might go there when I was done here," I added since she might notice that Will's swimming gear was gone. "But this is taking longer than I thought."
"How about I pick you up then?" she suggested. "Can you be outside in a few minutes?"
"Sure." I started closing up the books I'd been looking at. "I'll see you then."
Shovelling my own things into the bag was easy enough but I had to scurry about to put the books back where I'd found them on the shelves.
"You know, you don't really need to put them back," one of the assistants pointed out, taking one book from me and placing it back on the high shelf I'd found it on. (There had been a stool first time I was in that aisle, but typically someone had moved it away). "Just pile them up on the end of the table and one of us will take care of it."
"Really?"
The assistant nodded. He was a nice looking boy. Well, I say boy - I guess he was college age or something. "Really really," he confirmed with a superior look.
I was far too impatient to hold that against him though. "Thanks!" I plunked the rest of the books into his arms and ran back to my bag.
There was a mutter of "Me and my big mouth," from his direction but I ignored it as I slung my backpack over one shoulder and dashed towards the outside. The library had been pretty interesting, really. I should probably come back if I got the chance.
Why shouldn't I get the chance? Will got to do whatever she wanted. Including going swimming or whatever it was she'd been up to instead of doing her homework like she promised me. I could just... come here. I didn't have to do the chores... she'd not even pressed me to do them particularly but I'd leapt at the chance to do something for her.
Will's bike was still locked to the railing where I'd left it. I was still getting it unlocked when a car horn honked and I turned around to see Mom's red station wagon pulled up against the curb.
She wasn't alone. Professor Collins got to the back of the car around the same time I did. "Do you need a hand with your bike, Will?"
"I think I can manage," I protested, trying to lift the bike up into the back. After watching me struggle for a moment he reached out and wordlessly hoisted it up by the saddle so that I could move it the rest of the way.
"Okay Will?"
I searched his face for any trace of the expression I'd seen earlier in class, the one that preceded that ambush. Perhaps it was my own inexperience but I couldn't see a sign of amusement... or had it been malice? "Thank you, Professor."
While he went back around to get into the front next to Mom I couldn't resist the temptation to clamber into the back, pulling the door down behind me, and then over Will's bike and the headrests to get into the back seat. Give me a break, it was my second car ride ever!
Mom shook her head in amusement. "You haven't done that in years, Will. Remember to buckle up."
"Okay, okay." It took me a little fumbling to get the belt around me. "Uh, since you're here Professor Collins, how long do I have for that report on the Middle Ages? I've never done a thirty page report before and I'm not sure how long it will take."
Okay, maybe it was a bit mean to call him on that in front of Mom, but after him dropping the assignment on me first thing in class today? He deserved much worse. I was practically giving him an easy time in fact.
He twisted in the seat to look back at me, which was kind of awkward since I'd taken the seat behind him. "I'm sorry Will, what report on the Middle Ages?"
What? "The... thirty page one? The State of Man in the Middle Ages? It was practically the first you did in class today?"
"Will, don't talk to Dean like that!" Mom snapped.
I realised my voice had risen a bit. "...okay, sorry. I didn't mean to shout."
"Well that's alright. But I'm fairly sure I'd remember asking the class for thirty pages of homework. If nothing else, Will, I'd have to mark all of it."
Was he really... he was! He was just... denying it! "You didn't give it to the class, Professor."
"Will..."
"You singled me out and set me a thirty page assignment. Now you're a teacher and you can do that. I get that. But now you're lying about it!?"
"Will Vandom! Do not use that tone of voice!" Mom slammed on the brakes and I saw her hands were white around the steering wheel.
"Susan..." Professor Collins reached across and touched her arm gently.
"I'm sorry Dean, but I think we're not going to be able to have dinner tonight," she bit off. "It seems that someone is going to be spending the rest of this evening -"
"Susan," he repeated, interrupting her flow. Brave man. I was shrinking back into the corner of the car, away from the anger in Mom's eyes. "Let's pull over a moment and calm down before anyone says something they regret later."
Rather jerkily, she started to do what he had asked.
The teacher took a deep breath. "Will, I admit I was a bit... unwell earlier in the day and I don't recall first period very well. I do not remember giving you that homework, but I may be mistaken." The car came to a stop and he opened his door. "Susan, could we talk outside for a moment?"
She followed him out of the car, giving me a repressing look. The angry words she and Will had exchanged the night before and on other occasions had never made sense to me - Mom was such an affectionate person - but now I could understand why Will found her so frustrating. She'd chosen to believe Collins over me without any hesitation at all.
With the doors closed I couldn't hear them talk but I was able to open it a crack.
"...a lot like someone else I know." I saw that Professor Collins was holding Mom's hand, rubbing the back of it gently with one thumb. "She's a sensitive girl and reacts very passionately. If someone in authority over you, someone in a position of trust, seemed to be persecuting you, wouldn't you be furious?"
The words sank in. She listened to him.
But he was the one whose fault it was in the first place!
"Do you really think Will would lie about something like that?" he pressed on gently. "I realise that I don't know her as well as you do..."
"I suppose not." She sighed. "Still, she should know better than to speak to you like that!"
"Sometimes when we're angry we all say things without thinking."
I closed the door gently. On the one hand, it seemed that Professor Collins was manipulating Mom, but on the other... he was doing so in a way that got me off the hook. Will off the hook. Ugh, this was confusing. What should I do?
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked for messages. Nothing. Were they alright? I realised that if everything did go horribly wrong then I might never know exactly what happened.
The phone was shaking in my hand. I thought it was vibrating for a moment and then discovered it wasn't the phone. It was my hand that was doing the shaking.
A soft hand pressed against the side of my face and I turned to see Mom leaning into the car over me. When had she opened the door? "Oh Will, what am I going to do with you?" She pulled me into a hug and I buried my face against her sweater to hide the fearful tears spilling down my face.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H. - W.I.T.C.H.
I couldn't concentrate on my report.
The cellphone was on the table in front of me in the public library, next to the books I was trying to take notes from. I kept checking the time on it.
The Guardians had spread out to look for Will, but they had all agreed that I shouldn't do that. There was too much risk of Will and I being seen together.
Whether they found Will or not, the Guardians of the Veil would be at Elyon's house at six-thirty.
I checked the phone again. It was six-twenty-eight. Thirty seconds since I had last checked.
The book in front of me was talking about landowners and serfs. Two men, one of whom had everything and one who had nothing. I turned the page to hide the illustrations and mopped at my face with a hankie. Then I turned the page back, picked up my pen and jotted down a note.
The phone again. It had ticked over to six-twenty-nine.
I checked the page again and then turned it again.
Was that how it was for me and Will? She had everything and I got the scraps?
She'd called me her sister, I reminded myself. When Elyon captured me, she risked her life to come to my rescue.
The cellphone buzzed and I hit the accept button before I could get a nasty look from the other people in this part of the library. Apparently there was a rule about being quiet.
"Yes?" I hissed into the phone.
"It's Cornelia," she sounded stressed. "Irma found her. We're going in."
"Good luck."
I heard her sigh - I don't think she meant me to hear that - and then she took a confident tone. "Luck is what people who don't know what they're doing rely on. I'll call you later."
"Could I -" I broke off when I realised she'd put the phone down.
I'd just wanted to speak to Will. But perhaps it was for the best that I didn't. She was going into battle and I didn't know what I wanted to say.
At least they were together. All five Guardians working together... Vathek and his followers didn't stand a chance.
I clung to that belief as I jotted down page after page of notes. I wasn't sure how to turn the notes into a report, but Taranee had offered to advise me on that, so for now I just kept recording anything that seemed it might relevant.
My phone sounded again and I snatched it up. "Is everything okay?"
Mom sounded bemused. "Yes, Will. Everything's fine. I'm not as late as I expected though."
"Oh. Um, that's good." Which in general was true but was probably going to be really inconvenient once Will got back. Swapping places was always easier to hide when Mom wasn't at home.
She laughed. "So what mischief are you up to right now?"
"I'm at the library."
"You are at the library?"
She didn't have to sound quite that sceptical, did she? "Well you did say my grades weren't good enough and I have a huge history report that no doubt Professor Collins can tell you all about so it seemed like the place to go."
"Well, good for you, honey. I thought you'd be at the swimming pool with your friend Vera."
What? Oh, that message on the answerphone. "I wish I was. I thought I might go there when I was done here," I added since she might notice that Will's swimming gear was gone. "But this is taking longer than I thought."
"How about I pick you up then?" she suggested. "Can you be outside in a few minutes?"
"Sure." I started closing up the books I'd been looking at. "I'll see you then."
Shovelling my own things into the bag was easy enough but I had to scurry about to put the books back where I'd found them on the shelves.
"You know, you don't really need to put them back," one of the assistants pointed out, taking one book from me and placing it back on the high shelf I'd found it on. (There had been a stool first time I was in that aisle, but typically someone had moved it away). "Just pile them up on the end of the table and one of us will take care of it."
"Really?"
The assistant nodded. He was a nice looking boy. Well, I say boy - I guess he was college age or something. "Really really," he confirmed with a superior look.
I was far too impatient to hold that against him though. "Thanks!" I plunked the rest of the books into his arms and ran back to my bag.
There was a mutter of "Me and my big mouth," from his direction but I ignored it as I slung my backpack over one shoulder and dashed towards the outside. The library had been pretty interesting, really. I should probably come back if I got the chance.
Why shouldn't I get the chance? Will got to do whatever she wanted. Including going swimming or whatever it was she'd been up to instead of doing her homework like she promised me. I could just... come here. I didn't have to do the chores... she'd not even pressed me to do them particularly but I'd leapt at the chance to do something for her.
Will's bike was still locked to the railing where I'd left it. I was still getting it unlocked when a car horn honked and I turned around to see Mom's red station wagon pulled up against the curb.
She wasn't alone. Professor Collins got to the back of the car around the same time I did. "Do you need a hand with your bike, Will?"
"I think I can manage," I protested, trying to lift the bike up into the back. After watching me struggle for a moment he reached out and wordlessly hoisted it up by the saddle so that I could move it the rest of the way.
"Okay Will?"
I searched his face for any trace of the expression I'd seen earlier in class, the one that preceded that ambush. Perhaps it was my own inexperience but I couldn't see a sign of amusement... or had it been malice? "Thank you, Professor."
While he went back around to get into the front next to Mom I couldn't resist the temptation to clamber into the back, pulling the door down behind me, and then over Will's bike and the headrests to get into the back seat. Give me a break, it was my second car ride ever!
Mom shook her head in amusement. "You haven't done that in years, Will. Remember to buckle up."
"Okay, okay." It took me a little fumbling to get the belt around me. "Uh, since you're here Professor Collins, how long do I have for that report on the Middle Ages? I've never done a thirty page report before and I'm not sure how long it will take."
Okay, maybe it was a bit mean to call him on that in front of Mom, but after him dropping the assignment on me first thing in class today? He deserved much worse. I was practically giving him an easy time in fact.
He twisted in the seat to look back at me, which was kind of awkward since I'd taken the seat behind him. "I'm sorry Will, what report on the Middle Ages?"
What? "The... thirty page one? The State of Man in the Middle Ages? It was practically the first you did in class today?"
"Will, don't talk to Dean like that!" Mom snapped.
I realised my voice had risen a bit. "...okay, sorry. I didn't mean to shout."
"Well that's alright. But I'm fairly sure I'd remember asking the class for thirty pages of homework. If nothing else, Will, I'd have to mark all of it."
Was he really... he was! He was just... denying it! "You didn't give it to the class, Professor."
"Will..."
"You singled me out and set me a thirty page assignment. Now you're a teacher and you can do that. I get that. But now you're lying about it!?"
"Will Vandom! Do not use that tone of voice!" Mom slammed on the brakes and I saw her hands were white around the steering wheel.
"Susan..." Professor Collins reached across and touched her arm gently.
"I'm sorry Dean, but I think we're not going to be able to have dinner tonight," she bit off. "It seems that someone is going to be spending the rest of this evening -"
"Susan," he repeated, interrupting her flow. Brave man. I was shrinking back into the corner of the car, away from the anger in Mom's eyes. "Let's pull over a moment and calm down before anyone says something they regret later."
Rather jerkily, she started to do what he had asked.
The teacher took a deep breath. "Will, I admit I was a bit... unwell earlier in the day and I don't recall first period very well. I do not remember giving you that homework, but I may be mistaken." The car came to a stop and he opened his door. "Susan, could we talk outside for a moment?"
She followed him out of the car, giving me a repressing look. The angry words she and Will had exchanged the night before and on other occasions had never made sense to me - Mom was such an affectionate person - but now I could understand why Will found her so frustrating. She'd chosen to believe Collins over me without any hesitation at all.
With the doors closed I couldn't hear them talk but I was able to open it a crack.
"...a lot like someone else I know." I saw that Professor Collins was holding Mom's hand, rubbing the back of it gently with one thumb. "She's a sensitive girl and reacts very passionately. If someone in authority over you, someone in a position of trust, seemed to be persecuting you, wouldn't you be furious?"
The words sank in. She listened to him.
But he was the one whose fault it was in the first place!
"Do you really think Will would lie about something like that?" he pressed on gently. "I realise that I don't know her as well as you do..."
"I suppose not." She sighed. "Still, she should know better than to speak to you like that!"
"Sometimes when we're angry we all say things without thinking."
I closed the door gently. On the one hand, it seemed that Professor Collins was manipulating Mom, but on the other... he was doing so in a way that got me off the hook. Will off the hook. Ugh, this was confusing. What should I do?
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked for messages. Nothing. Were they alright? I realised that if everything did go horribly wrong then I might never know exactly what happened.
The phone was shaking in my hand. I thought it was vibrating for a moment and then discovered it wasn't the phone. It was my hand that was doing the shaking.
A soft hand pressed against the side of my face and I turned to see Mom leaning into the car over me. When had she opened the door? "Oh Will, what am I going to do with you?" She pulled me into a hug and I buried my face against her sweater to hide the fearful tears spilling down my face.
D for Drakensis
You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.