“If you stir that any more, you’re gonna put a hole in the mug.”
I came back to myself at the friendly voice. I had indeed been stirring for at least a minute straight, my spoon clanking against the side. That had to have been annoying as fuck.
Francine Delgato didn’t look irritated. No, in fact, the woman looked pleasantly concerned. Jeez, was I that easy to read?
Granted, it was Mademoiselle Delgato, and she did tend to know everything. At least, that’s what it felt like sometimes.
“You all right, my dear? You’re here awful early, and normally you don’t visit the teacher’s room in the morning.”
I opened my mouth to explain before the implication of what she said hit me. “How do you know that?”
She let out a little chuckle, even though I hadn’t said anything funny, and motioned for me to sit with her at one of the two tables.
“When you’ve been here as long as I have, you pick up on things. And several windows in my room face the parking lot, so you get familiar with your coworkers’ schedules when all of those coworkers tend to follow the same daily schedule.”
“Oh.”
“And I suppose a bit of it is fairy magic.” We laughed, but then her words hit me.
Wait, she was joking, right?
“Oh, don’t give me that look, my dear. We’re alone here, and you can’t tell me that finding out fairies exist is more shocking than shifters.”
Was I dreaming? I had to be dreaming.
“F-fairy?” I sputtered.
“Through and through. This is my third time on the carousel teaching in this town, can you believe it? Every time I feel like retiring, I realize another one of my kind would have to come here and work as a wayfarer, and honestly, they would be rubbish at it.”
“Those are all words…” I murmured, and I took a big gulp of my coffee. “Three what now? And wayfarer?”
If I really was dreaming, I might as well go with it, right?
“Ah, right, sorry for using the lingo on you. I haven’t had another paranormal companion here in about thirty years. Granted, you’re not paranormal. More… paranormal adjacent.” Her kind eyes landed on me. “You’re human through and through, but you are an exceptional member of your species, I hope you know.”
“I…” I blinked at her while my brain tried to catch up. I was in the middle of having a breakdown because the man I was in love with was ghosting me, and now the eldest member of our faculty was telling me she was a fairy. “Wait, are you why Ben thought I was a fairy at first? Did your, like, scent or aura rub off on me?”
“He thought you were a fairy?” She laughed again with genuine delight. “Now that you mention it, you do have the stereotypical features, and I suppose it’s possible that yes, being in my proximity in my territory rubbed off on you a bit.” She clapped her hands, and I gave her a confused smile. “Oh, itwouldbe lovely if you were one of us, because you would be an amazing wayfarer, but you aren’t. I investigate and examine everyone here quite thoroughly, and you are wholly and delightfully human in every way.”
She shook her head. “Fairy! Really! That’s a compliment-and-a-half, if I do say so myself.”
“You mentioned wayfarer again.”
It was a strange distraction from the turmoil in me, but it was a distraction nonetheless as I continued to mechanically drink my coffee.
“Yes, I suppose I did.” She took a sip of her herbal tea. “There aren’t many of my kind left, and we usually stay hidden, even from other magical beings. But the thing about being hidden is that it’s hard to find each other—funny that, right?
“So my job, as a wayfarer, is to aid any fairies traveling through my territory who are looking for one of our communities. They are few and far between, and expertly hidden in obscure places across the globe.
“Also, very rarely, a child with fairy blood comes into power, and it’s my job to counsel them, teach them how to get by in the world, and also to reach our communities if they so wish it. That’s how I can safely say you’re not one of our kind. If you were, I would be able to tell. It’s my job.”
“I see…”
There really was an entire world right below my nose, wasn’t there? How many other shifters or magical creatures were there in my school? Was the gym teacher really Frankenstein’s monster? Was the lunch lady secretly a manananggal? One of the water fountains forged from the Holy Grail?
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because, my dear, I’ve been watching you quite a bit since you’re so new here, and I got the feeling that today you needed a little reminder that you’re not alone. There are creepies and crawlies, and beautiful things around every corner. It can be exciting as much as it can be nightmarish.”
