Jiwa

Chapter Four

When I made it back to my dorm, Kelly bounced off the bed to greet me. Taking in my tired face, she conceded the bed to me, saying, "Oh, yeah, please take it. I have been sleeping since four in the afternoon." I gratefully slid under the covers and fell asleep almost instantly, not even bothering to take off my uniform. Or say hey to Kelly.

Standing in front of my lump of clay again, I lifted my hands. I pinched my fingers, then I wiggled my fingers, then I made them into fists. No matter what I did, the clay remained a motionless lump of clay. I sighed in frustration and leaned back, covering my eyes with my hands. When I opened my eyes, I was startled to find a man sitting next to me on the bench. I could tell he was not an ordinary man. Did I recognize him?

"Miss, are you having trouble with your pottery? Class is almost over." I nodded, and motioned to the clay. The man put his chin on his hand and nodded. "Well, what seems to be the problem?" I sighed, and said, "Well, I'm trying to mold the clay, but nothing is working!" the man nodded, and said, "Well, I might be able to fix it - let me try something." And he reached his hands out and-

"My gourd!" I exclaimed. He had sunk his fingers deep into the clay and was pulling it apart, forming a hole in the middle. He then dug his thumbs into the newly created hole and massaged the outside with his fingers, creating a pot.

"Why would you get your hands all dirty like that!?" I exclaimed. "I mean- magic is so much easier!" The man sighed, and handed my pot back to me. It was already dry. And fired? But I hadn't seen a kiln!

"Miss, are you having trouble with your pottery? Class is almost over."

I woke up gasping for breath. In seconds Kelly, and my other roommate Devi, were at my side, asking if I was hurt, what was wrong, was I sick, did I need anything. I put a hand to my forehead and fell back against the pillow. I smiled and tried to say, "It's OK, I'm fine," but ended up in a coughing fit halfway through the sentence. Devi reached her hand behind my shoulder blades and gently lifted me up. Kelly flicked her wrist up and mentally guided a glass of water into my hand. I smiled and said thanks.

"Hey! What was that?" Devi said worriedly. "It's not cold-season yet, although I suppose a strain is always going around..." She looked confusedly at Kelly. 

"Guys, why are you freaking out? I'm fine! I probably just swallowed my own spit or something. I'm fine. It was just a weird dream!" I said.

Kelly shrugged. "Do you want to see what you look like?" I thought to myself for a minute and nodded. She whispered a hex and clapped her hands twice. A white canvas fluttered to my feet, and a translucent paint brush started flitting above it. A few minutes later, I was staring into the face of a girl with sweaty red hair, pale skin with bright red cheeks, sunken, hollow black eyes. She was panting and looked exhausted. The green uniform bearing the crest of Ireland that the girl was wearing was rumpled and dirty. The black scarf with the schools' crest was stuck to her neck with sweat. The painting was finished by adding accented cursive of the girls' name - Fiona.

"My gourd! Is that me?" I asked in surprise. Devi looked at the ceiling, and Kelly made eye contact with me. She grimly nodded. I grimaced and she eased me back onto the pillow. When I glanced up again, Kelly was on the phone with the school nurse. I groaned and tried to get up, but my arms buckled underneath me.

"OK, here is what I got," said Kelly, after tossing her phone on the table. "You performed some serious magic yesterday, and you had barely anything to eat. So, the plan is for you to stay here and simply rest and recover. Do you want me to let Madame Tembikar know?" I opened my mouth and rasped. I shut it in surprise and nodded. Kelly and Devi exchanged a look before Kelly pulled on the school-issued raglan and went outside.

"Why does she need a raglan?" I rasped to Devi. She sighed and gently dripped water into my mouth. "Well, it is pretty early, I guess. It's like five in the morning; it's still pretty cold." I grimaced and waved away the water glass. 

"Wait, why were you guys awake?" I said, confused. "Did I wake you guys up?" Devi shook her head. "I was studying for my exams, and Kelly was helping me study." I nodded, then coughed again.

"My gourd. I don't even remember the last time I was sick." Devi bit her lip and shook her head. "Me neither. Do you need any meds?" I shook my head, then took a sip of the water and nodded.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Devi nodded and opened the medicine cabinet. She pulled out a glass jar full of tiny colored pills. She selected two blue ones and one green one and placed them in my hand. I sighed, gulped down a bit of the water, and swallowed the pills.

Devi specialized in Performing Arts. She was great at convincing, and she was a Fourth Year. She could do things like transform hair ties into dancing ribbons and sing a song loud enough to be heard on the other side of campus. She had gorgeous chocolate brown skin and short-but-luscious black hair. Her family had moved from Mexico to the Middle East so that she could attend school here.

Kelly specialized in painting. She had moved here from Libya on her own, so she saw her family during the holidays. She wore her natural hair Afro-style with a headband most of the time. She could create magic paint brushes, like the kind I had helped her with in the library, but she could also do things like use her fingers to smear paint into a flower and have it grow right off the page. She, however, was a Third Year just like me.

When I woke up a few hours later, I sat up and changed into a clean uniform. Devi and Kelly weren't in the dorm; I guessed they had gone down to get some food. I looked at the clock and realized class had started an hour ago. Still feeling weak, I swallowed another blue pill and walked slowly to the pottery studio, where Mme T was waiting.

"Darling, are you OK?" she asked worriedly, taking in my rumpled hair and sweat-stained cheeks. "If you are still feeling ill, you can go back to your dorm." That was Madame Tembikar for you. She never admonished you for being late or writing crappy essays, only for being unsafe or a jerk. Everyones' adopted mom or aunt or whatever.

I waved her away, and she led me to a stool and sat me down. I managed a smile and said, "Yeah, I'm fine," I flipped my hand over and a lump of clay whizzed into it. I sighed and spun around in the stool until I was facing a wheel. Then I started the pedal and squeezed my right hand shut. With my left hand, I made the shh sign and moved my hand up and down. I heard Mme T chuckle and check on other students in the studio.

In a few minutes, I called her back over and presented to her my sculpture shaped like an eyeball. The pupil was slightly behind the irises, and there were delicate eyelashes adorning the top and bottom of the sculpture. I turned to her and said, "Ma'am, I think I have the best version of my charm; can I try it out on the eyeball?" Mme Tembikar nodded once and barked a crisp spell to the coat hanger next to us. The hanger shook and scurried over to lock the doors. "Students, take care! Experimental charm!" she yelled. Within seconds, all of the Potters had shaped rude clay shields, and were huddles behind them in groups, under the desks. Rivi flashed me the thumbs-up, and Mme T took a step back.

I raised my hands, took a deep breath, and shouted, "Ye baird be hard, rise above ye in night!" The eyeball shuddered and shook, shrunk, and shed all of the dry clay as if it was crying. The dry clay revealed ruby lashes, a deep black pupil, and green-stained irises. I felt my fingers in shock rub my own eye, an exact replica of what was sitting on the table in front of me. And then it blinked.