CHAPTER 9: Two things That Can Make A Heart Dance

"Wh...What?" Ashen spluttered right before swallowing the food he had been chewing in his mouth, 

"Why are you so Useless?" His father asked a second time regardless of the expression of surprise, he could see on his son's face, 

"I agree with your father...you are dumb and terrible at magic. Who do you think you're pretending to be," asked Mara, his mother, which immediately made Ashen drop his fork altogether as tears appeared at the corner of his eyes, 

"Mo...Mother?"

"Brother dearest? Can you protect me if you can't protect yourself? I heard you're being bullied at school and you're too weak to do anything about it," his sister whispered right beside him which made him get up on his feet, unable to take more hurtful words from his only sister, 

"I heard that everything you had was stolen including your wand. What is a mage without his wand? You should just stay home with us. You can help father with the crops instead while I try again in your place. I would have gone if I hadn't fallen sick the days of the examination," Klastron said taunting Ashen who looked back at him with bewildered eyes as he tried to step away from his family while wondering what he could have done to deserve such a treatment, 

"Klastron?" He asked, trying to figure out if someone had actually taken control of his family, 

"Yes, younger brother it's me and I might as well tell you that you're a disgrace to the family," he said as he continued speaking, staring directly into Ashen's eyes as he stood up to meet his gaze, 

"I wish I never had a brother like you," spitting the words quickly almost like spitting fire, 

"I don't ever want to see you again brother," Cried his sister as she stared at him with tear-filled eyes, 

"You have done nothing for me to be proud of," his father said with a nod as he stared at Ashen without flinching, instantly making him raise up both his hands to cover up both of his ears, unwilling to hear any more insults from his family, 

"No...NO...No...I refuse to listen to you...You're not my family…," he screamed doing his best to cover his ears unwilling to hear anymore depreciating words from his family, 

"Ashen...I am your mother but I wish I never birthed such a weak and gullible son like you," she shouted right into Ashen's face as he continued to scream and thrash around, 

"no...No...No...NO...No," he continued yelling over and over again until he woke up drenched completely in night sweats as he looked down at himself, noticing the uniform he had worn to bed, which he didn't have enough time to take off before dozing off, 

Looking around in a daze, he noticed his roommate who was already dressed for class looking at him weirdly without saying a word which was what he usually did, 

Simply shaking his head, before packing his bags and heading for the door, leaving the room they both shared without any sense of urgency, 

"Well that was one hell of a dream," he thought unable to stop himself from thinking of his parents whom he hadn't seen in a year and whom he wasn't even sure would be happy to see him if he didn't somehow manage to pass the second year examination of the academy, 

In a rush, trying hard not to think about the events of the day before knowing fully well he would have to report his missing wand and try to get a replacement while being broke without any savings of any kind, Ashen rook off his clothes and took his bath, all in minutes and was in the middle of wearing the spare and only clean uniform he had left, when a button suddenly popped out as he tried to bottom his pants,

"This new day is already looking better and better," he said loudly to himself as his voice dripped with pure sarcasm at the terrible stage he felt his life currently was, 

Carefully and efficiently, he began looking everywhere for a needle and thread to fix it, knowing fully well that with his wand it would have been the easier thing to do even for a first-year student of the academy, 

He was still looking for it when the ringing of a very loud bell was suddenly heard as it rang only once signifying the time for breakfast for the entire school and immediately Ashen knew that breakfast was something he couldn't miss since he missed dinner the night before, his stomach growling loudly just from the expectation of what was to come,

Abandoning all else, choosing to go to the cafeteria and fix the issue of his pants after he got his wand, Ashen packed all the books he needed for the day and headed towards the cafeteria after locking the door of his room after him, hoping to not see more nasty decorations on his wallpaper when he got back, 

Walking as fast as he can, heading immediately for the second year food section which came after the first and right before the third, heading past the door after collecting his daily due according to his class rank, he immediately headed for the queue, 

" I just want everything to go well today. I hope everything goes well today. Everything should at least go well in the cafeteria," he murmured to himself uncontrollably tapping his feet as he tried to patiently wait in line, 

He immediately sighed in relief, the moment it was his tone as he quickly chose a simple meal order and quickly paid for it, carrying his food to a quiet and secluded part of the second year section, while keeping in mind that since there were three classes of fifty people in each year, then a hundred and fifty people were precisely in each year,  

He had just sat down, only taking a few spoons out of his breakfast, savouring every taste of it when he suddenly heard a chippy voice from behind him, 

" Hey Ashen, it's so nice to see you," a feminine voice from behind him said as he watched Ara, the most popular girl in the second-year drop her breakfast on the table he was sitting on, before sitting right beside him with a big smile on her face, 

And all the while he couldn't help thinking,  

"I'm dead. You might as well just have signed my death certificate," he thought as his heart joyfully thumped and danced in his chest, just from looking at her,