—Staff are not allowed to fraternize—
“Yeah, I know, but it’s stupid.”
—I’ll walk with you—
He stays a few steps behind us, and I know he’s constantly scanning for danger. Gah, I have so little time to spend with Ludo. I don’t want him to be my bodyguard, I want him to be my…
My?
Boyfriend?
The word nearly makes me laugh aloud. So ridiculously small for what Ludo is.
Once we are at the dining hall, he dips his head and then moves silently away.
I watch him go.
After food, I head into my first class, a double session of Advanced Divination. It’s something I’ve never clicked with, but once again, I’m determined to learnallthat I can—even though the majority of witches think divination is a load of hokum.
You see, divination doesn’t use a spell or a spark. It draws on the atoms of your body, which in turn respond to ripples in time and space (apparently). A very patient witch can learn to read the tiny changes in their own cellular makeup to predict coming events.
The advanced class has only five other students; all of the hippy persuasion. As I enter the room, my phone buzzes.
ALEXIS:Good morning, pulu. Did you sleep well? Can you come to my office during lunch break
ME:Yes - everything OK?
ALEXIS:Need your help with something
ME:I’ll be there
“Good morning, Ms. Wilson. Glad you can join us once more,” Professor Chen says as I quickly tuck away my phone. “You missed a fascinating discussion of fine-tuning one's body last week. Hlynur, can you give Ms. Wilson a quick recap?” The professor gestures to a tall, fair-haired Elite student.
Hlynur likes to think his Icelandic heritage gives him a superior ability in these classes. “We discussed distinguishing between the natural cellular changes and ripples from the temporal field.”
“Good, good.” Professor Chen claps his hands. “And Matawahi, do you remember the metaphor we came up with?” he asks.
“Yes, sir,” Matawahi replies in her soft, calm voice. “It was the difference between natural currents in a river and ripples caused by a stone being thrown into it.” Matawahi is from New Zealand. She has a quiet power about her and seems to read people really well. If anyone can connect with the temporal field, I think it will be her.
Professor Chen starts handing out stumps of black candles. “Today I want you to seek a future event, then try to disturb the ripples with your own actions, so the future event changes. Got it?”
“Got it,” everyone replies.
The nice thing about this class is that I don't encounter much animosity, just the odd stray snarky thought. Most people (apart from me) are too busy concentrating on a cellular level.
Once all the candles are lit, Professor Chen lowers the blinds. “And begin,” he says.
Come on then, Lumina,I tell my body, show me what you’ve got.
With my eyes closed, images dance around my brain. Nothing unusual there, but for the first time, it’s almost as though someone else is in charge of what images are appearing.
Snapshots flash quickly, one after another.
My mum doing the grocery shopping, Willow making hot chocolate, and me almost drowning in the pool.
Then things shift; there’s white sand, incense burning, Alexis frowning…and finally the carousel stops turning, leaving only one image.
Wes.
