“You’re into him, though, right?”
I let out a breath and fell back beside her on the bed. Ihadn’t admitted it to myself, but here, talking with my best friend of forever, it felt safe to voice. “I think I kind of am.”
Maci sat bolt upright on the bed. “So are you going to ask him out?”
“No!” It came out of my mouth without question. “He’s not the kind of guy you just ask out. Besides, he’s my tutor. No need to complicate that relationship.” I thought about the awkwardness of our conversation about Nevah. The last thing I needed was for Callan to get uncomfortable around me and stop tutoring me. I couldn’t imagine how badly I’d be struggling at both SCC and Evergreen Academy without his support.
“Well, just remember that we’re only here for another year and few months. So either you enjoy it now, or you might never be able to.”
“What about everything you just said about having similar interests and aligned futures?” I raised an eyebrow playfully, and Maci laughed.
“Do as I say, not as I do. But seriously, you deserve it.”
“Callan’s fun to daydream about, but nothing’s going to happen.” I gave a little wistful sigh for Maci’s sake. She couldn’t understand the complex family dynamics he dealt with, the pressures of being a founder’s descendant. I didn’t fully understand it myself, and Callan had only allowed me to see snippets of that side of himself on occasion.
I was still learning basic Floracantus and hadn’t even known I was a magical botanist until last fall. I wasn’t even approaching the caliber of person Callan was going to end up with one day. We were, quite literally, from different worlds.
“If you insist,” she said lightly, but a smile played on her lips.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The following week, Professor East requested to meet with me, and I walked to his office with a nervous flutter in my stomach. It had been a long time since we’d had a meeting, and Professor East seemed to be off campus more than on recently.
“Hello, Ms. Whelan. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to this subject. Things have been busy. But I thought we should talk about your affinity powers again. It would be good to increase our attempts to figure out their onset. Without talking to your aunt, as you requested, I wonder if you’d be willing to explore your family history with me.”
I studied Professor East, wondering why he was so interested. I’d been grateful that he’d backed off with my aunt when I asked him to, but where was the interest coming from?
Whether we knew the history of my powers or not didn’t change how I would approach my affinity studies, did it? And if my powers had come from my mom’s side of the family and shewas no longer around… what difference did it make? I sensed that there was something Professor East wasn’t telling me.
“Professor East, I understand that my powers are unusual, but is there something else going on here?” I straightened my posture, hoping Professor East wouldn’t be put off by my forwardness.
Professor East studied me for a moment before speaking, all the plants in the room seeming to freeze as if they, too, awaited his response.
“What we’ve seen in your affinity tests is extremely rare. The magical botanist community has always taken great care to document magical family lines, especially the powerful ones. Your family must have fallen off that chart somewhere. It’s important to our body of knowledge to put those missing pieces back together.”
“Is that the only reason? To fill in knowledge gaps for the magical botanist community?” I pictured some magical genealogy group combing through my family’s history. But I still sensed there was something that Professor East wasn’t saying.
As if on cue, I could feel that the plants in the room were producing more oxygen than usual, as if to calm the environment.
“That’s an important reason, yes. But it could be important for you too. When you go to visit a doctor, they always ask about your family medical history. The same reasoning applies here. Knowing your family’s magical history could be of benefit to you down the road.”
“What, are there magical plant diseases that can run infamilies?” I said it jokingly, but my stomach swooped a little at the thought.
Professor East shook his head and smiled softly. “No, and I won’t force you into anything. But can you agree to think about it? We can work through your family history together. I’ll just need a few records from you, and we can attempt to do a deep dive.”
I nodded, standing up. “Of course.” It wasn’t that I was against sharing the records. I could get him basic details without issue. In fact, he could probably do some digging without me. In that regard, I was glad that he was including me in the search. But it was the lingering question of why this was important that was unsettling me.
“Good. And think quickly, please, Ms. Whelan. I’d like to start all of this before the spring solstice.”
I wanted to ask why the spring solstice was the deadline, but I felt that I’d pushed my luck already. When Professor East returned his gaze to the papers on his desk, I took the hint to leave, wondering what he wasn’t telling me.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Isat on the tailgate of Callan’s truck, twisting pine needles into tightly braided coils to try to temper my curiosity about our tutoring session this evening. He’d sent a note to me in the library via the leaves, asking me to meet him in the parking area after dinner. When he approached, he was wearing a backpack.
“What’s that for?”
“We’re going to collect some letters.”
