The Unskillful Thaumaturge

XII

Lillian was lying on her stomach atop her bed, trying (albeit somewhat unsuccessfully) to fold an origami tiger, when Leslie entered the room and flopped into her desk chair with a somewhat despondent expression.

"What is it?"

"Well, I just got back from the thaumaturgy club meeting," Leslie began.

"And?"

"And they've elected Amandi president."

"What?" Lillian nearly fell off the bed, crushing her misshapen tiger in the process. "Well, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Leslie gave her a stony look. "This means that she looks a lot better in the eyes of the teachers. This means that she can get away with a lot more. Don't be sorry for me. Be sorry for yourself."

"Why did everyone vote for her?"

Leslie just laughed humorlessly. "You can't really lose if you run unopposed."

"Unopposed? But I thought you-"

"-ran for secretary, and won," Leslie finished. "And now I have to deal with her as well. From what I've seen, she's generally pretty nice to people, other than us. I think she's just jealous."

"Of what?"

"Of you."

"Why would she be jealous of me? She's so good at thaumaturgy!"

"Yeah, and you're fifteen. And I'm getting better grades than she ever did. Not to brag or anything." Leslie ducked her head. "She probably feels intimidated by the two of us."

"What about Daria?"

"She spends time with us, which automatically makes her a target. Amandi is... well, she's pretty smart, and she started a year early, and I get the sense that she doesn't want to be outdone. I think it threw her for a loop when we started last semester. Not to say that I like her or anything, but I do kind of feel sorry for her. Still, that doesn't mean that this is going to be any easier for us." Leslie slumped even further down in her chair.

"It's all right, Leslie," Lillian said, tossing the mutilated, crushed origami tiger in the general direction of the recycling bin. "I'll get it all straightened out when I meet up with Kern. When I come out of that appointment I'll be the best student in the class." She laughed lightly.

Leslie levitated the unrecognizable piece of paper across the room and into the recycling bin, her eyes still locked onto her roommate's. "I hope so, Lillian. I hope so."

☙❧

With a few taps of his finger, Dakota opened the shopping app on his smartphone and began typing the desired object into the search bar. "I know what you were saying about not needing the mirror yet, but the one I like takes a long time to ship."

Fine. What are you going to do if it gets here a week early?

"Put it-" Dakota gestured wildly around the office. "I don't know, behind the file cabinet?"

Fine, the voice repeated. In the meantime, why don't you order fifteen Ashes and a book on the full history of the Nine?

"You know I can't get Spalls on this app. And if there even is such a book, whoever wrote it is probably dead. And that wouldn't be available on the app either."

Relax, I'm joking. Why do you have to be so logical?

"It's the only way to deal with you."

There was a slight pause as Dakota added the mirror to his cart and began looking up his favorite brand of sunscreen.

Really?