|10| Spells and Kissing Couples
The school day went by slowly. Fiona dragged herself through every class, wishing she could anywhere else. Back on earth, she'd been able to obtain a B grading using the human academic curriculum, but mystic education was a whole new ball game. What did griffin mate calls have to do with Inter-Realm Cultural Studies? By the time lunch break begun, Fiona was already enduring a nagging headache.
She and Bam Bam ate lunch together, like they'd done for breakfast, sitting at a corner of the Ally Squad's table, which Bam Bam was a part of. The fraternity's members occasionally shot daggers at Fiona, for she was not one of them, but nobody attempted to kick her out. The remaining half of the day progressed even slower. At 2:30 pm, Fiona, completely exhausted, headed to her last class of the day —Mana Management.
Fiona walked into a class filled with mostly humans, elves, and pixies. The lesson had not begun. Some turned to regard her, but others didn't, too engrossed in their conversations with their friends. Fiona scanned the faces in the crowd. Bam Bam was seated in between two humans, canceling the option of sitting beside her. Although there were all kinds of elves (wood, fire, snow), Dominic, or any other dark elf, wasn't present. She hadn't seen him since their Mystical Lifelore class. Somewhat disappointed, she took a seat at the very back of the class.
"Attention, please! Attention, please! We're about to begin." The teacher, a tall human woman, announced. She was wearing a rouge tracksuit and white sneakers, an outfit Fiona considered a bit too casual for a teacher. "We have a new student with us. Sweetie, come right up and tell us a little about yourself." She smiled kindly at the new face at the back.
A million curse words flashed in Fiona's mind. Throughout her previous classes, no one had acknowledged her, talk more of asking for an introduction. She liked it that way. Long ago, she had resolved keeping a low profile was the best course of action, not that that was going well for her. Within hours of her arrival at MARC, she had made enemies with a fraternity president and had been assaulted by her lackeys. That was sure to make the local gossip.
"My name is Fiona Obiageli Lynec. I'm human. I honestly don't think I'm supposed to be here, but here I am." Fiona said, standing in front of the class. She looked up, searching for what else she wanted to tell her classmates about herself. She found nothing. "That's it." Her shoulders shrugged.
People rolled their eyes. Here was another cocky human who thought they had it all figured out.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Fiona." The teacher replied, still smiling. "I'm Beatrice, and we—" She gestured at the class. "—will be your company till the end of your stay here." Fiona returned to her seat while she turned to the students. "For the sake of our newest member, who will explain the concept of mana management?" Nobody volunteered, forcing her to call a name. "Lidia. Why don't you help us?"
Lidia, a high elf with blond hair and green eyes, tsked, making sure it was obvious she was unwilling to answer the question.
"Mana Management is a therapy program formulated by the Sentry Alliance, geared towards teaching young supernaturals how to control their mana, the basic unit of magic. The class is specifically for beings who can use spells, like elves, sorcerers, some races of dwarves, pixies, and fairies. But fairies are too much of a goody two shoes to be in MARC. So..." She replied extensively, though.
"That's right!" Beatrice chirped. "We deal with control. Control is a necessity for all supernaturals. Without it, living in a society is near impossible. Or having friends. Or even being with our families. And that's why you all were brought here. To learn control without having to stall your regular education."
Faces stared on with absolute boredom. They'd heard this lecture a thousand times before. Beatrice was fond of repeating it whenever a new student arrived. Hearing it was getting tiring.
"Today, we'll be practicing a simple levitation spell." The teacher continued. She took out a small crumpled paper ball from a basket on her desk, then passed it to a student in the front row. The boy picked a ball from the many inside the basket and moved it on. "All you have to do is raise this to your eye level and keep it there for five minutes."
Beatrice had picked paper as the equipment for the day's experiment because it was low risk. In the case the class went haywire and crumpled balls began hitting every corner of the room, no one would get hurt. Due to the unpredictable nature of her students, the potential danger rate was a factor she often put into consideration.
Meanwhile, Fiona smiled inwardly. Levitation was a basic spell sorcerers learned in their childhood, whether or not they intended to venture into sorcery as grown-ups. Easily, she lifted the paper on her desk by pointing at it. Others, however, were having a hard time performing the simple task.
Many held the hand they were using to point, trying hard to keep their magic in check. Some balls flew across the room. The few that managed to raise the paper to their eye level could barely keep it from shaking. Beatrice, who was pacing around, and observing the class, complimented Fiona on a job well done. It was obvious she was progressing best among all others. Fiona's ego swelled; this was too easy. If this was what Mana Management entailed, the class would be a breeze.
At the end of 40 minutes, Beatrice took her scores, and students started leaving the classroom. Bam Bam walked over to Fiona.
"I still have more lessons scheduled for today. You can return to the hostel alone. I'll meet you for dinner." She said, and not waiting for a reply, left.
Sighing, Fiona walked out the door. Her day had been, more or less, uneventful. If things went on like this, she would have no problems from now on. Turning a corner, she entered a narrow corridor leading down a stair. A human and a water elf were locked in a passionate kiss, leaning on the wall. Fiona silently wished they would do their business somewhere that didn't block the road, or even better, get a room.
"Excuse me, please can you move a bit? I need to pass." She requested as politely as possible.
"Whaaaaat?" The human boy drawled, as though he had just woken up from a six-year nap. The elf girl looked up dreamily at him, then shot a glare at the one who had interrupted their makeout.
"Can you please excuse me? Fiona repeated herself, hiding her exasperation. She wasn't in the mood for this.
"Wait, aren't you that Lynec girl?" He squinted at her, leaning forward, after which he smirked. "Boy, your family just can't keep out of trouble, can they? What did they do now, set a village on fire?"
Slowly, the boy walked towards her, and with every step he took, Fiona took a matching one backward.
"Really, I'm sick of you people. The SA should have just finished you off. Maybe I can help. One less Lynec makes the world a better place, right?" His smirk transformed into an evil grin, mana converging at his right palm.
With a squint, Fiona did a quick check of his power level. His aura's glow wasn't very bright, but it was still greater than hers. She would not win in a fight against him. Fury filled her heart. The last time she'd been attacked, she hadn't felt any anger, because she knew she had technically brought the situation on herself.
Currently, on the other hand, she was being threatened for reasons beyond her control. It didn't matter where she went, she was always accompanied by the stigma of her family name. It was funny being despised for something that took place over a century ago. Funny, and frustrating.
"Don't even think about it! Mr. Make-The-World-A-Better-Place." A girl marched past Fiona and put her face in the boy's. She was shorter than him, but still challenged him with a glare.
"Stay out of this, Puff Girl. This has nothing to do with you." The boy warned, narrowing his eyes at her.
"Nothing to do with me? NOTHING TO DO WITH ME!?" She shrieked, her eyes wide with disbelief. "I decide what has to do with me. Now, SCRAM! Before I zap your itty-witty nose off your face. And take your Little Miss Sunshine with you."
The boy sneered, but still did as he was told, turning to leave. His "Little Miss Sunshine" followed behind him. Fiona watched them go down the stairs till they were out of sight.
"Hey there." The one the boy had referred to as Puff Girl spoke, causing Fiona to face her. Grinning from ear to ear, she pointed a thumb at herself. "I'm Naomi."
NB:
Fiona's father and the woman in her vision are white! Fiona is an interracial black girl. Her mother is Nigerian and her father is White American. I'm so sorry that I've been changing all these stuffs, confusing you guys. *heavy tears*. Hope you can forgive me.