In Bloom

Chapter Two: A Daisy Day

Amity was stuck in bed. She really, really, didn't want to get out. Normally she would count to three, or five, and be done with it.

But her body stayed put. She wish she could say it had a mind of its own but the only brain it was connected to was hers.

So she reminds herself of all the reasons she needed to get out of bed. If she missed school today she would have so much work to catch up on. She would also most likely get an earful from each and every one of her teachers. Also Amity had a lingering feeling in the back of her mind that there was something important she needed to do.

She threw herself out of bed, mind clinging to that lingering feeling of anxiety. She knew it wasn't the best way to get out of bed but what works, works.

She sorted through her options, landing on a cobalt blue with a white collar and white under sleeves. It reminded her of something Chloe would wear, likely because Amity picked it out in an attempt to match with Chloe.

She patted the dress to smoothen it out and noticed a strange lump in it. Curious, Amity pulled up the first layer of the skirt, searching for the hidden pocket that must be in the dress. When she found it she tugged it out, unfolding the material. It was an envelope. Amity ripped it open without a care

As she unfolded the paper inside of it she noticed that it had the same pattern Chloe always wrote her letters with. They were from a notepad she had handpicked in the early stages of her courting with Lord Jvian, Chloe's fiancé, and soon to be husband.

Dearest Amity,

I know when I leave to Lord Jvian you will eventually turn to this dress. I write this letter to remind you that I will always be missing you and thinking of you. Don't feel like you're alone because you aren't, I'm still right there with you.

But I also want to remind you of this: Don't waste the opportunities you're given. Even if you think your efforts are for naught, just try.

I know you don't think much of falling in love or marriage. That's okay, you may find it's not for you. But you don't know yet. So please, just try, for me if not for yourself.

Expect more letters from me soon.

Always your friend, Chloe Beohrtwynn

Amity re-read the letter several times more. Chloe knew her too well. Those thoughts only made Amity miss Chloe even more.

She wished that she would've spent more time with Chloe before she left. Amity should have. But she didn't.

She didn't want it to be true, she wanted to be able to wake up and realize it was all just a dream. A nightmare in which could never occur.

Amity cut herself off there, she needed to stop digging herself into holes she couldn't get out of.

She focused hard on the mundane tasks of the morning. When she was ready to head down for breakfast it occurred to her that they would already be done serving it. Another unfortunate issue was that she hadn't done the astronomy assignment due at the end of the day.

Today was going to be long and hard. One of those days that she was ready to gouge her eyes out if there were not anyone to stop her. Who would now?

The hallways of the school felt louder than ever as Amity's peers chattered and walked through them. Meanwhile Amity took her place in her first class of the day, the arts. Her astronomy homework looked like millions of lines of chicken  scratch that she was supposed to understand. She did not.

It was five pages of high level reading, stocked with jargon that Amity did not remember. Her mind had been too clouded with thoughts of Chloe's departure. Her eyes wandered towards one of the many windows of the classroom framed with pillars of white that only emphasized the brightness of the town below.

Though she couldn't see it from here, the library Chloe had introduced Amity to pushed itself into Amity's head. She had truly meant it when she had remarked about her unfamiliarity with those books.

A plan to head to the library cemented itself for afterclass which caused Amity to check the time constantly. She managed to reel her thoughts in enough to take some decent notes to study from. Each class felt as if it would never end a stark contrast to how they had flown by with Chloe.

When the school day reached its end, Amity felt excitement bubble in her.  She had thought the town would feel as cold and empty as school had become but the only thing that had changed about it was a bittersweet undertone that weighed on every glance Amity took.

The new library was no different, despite only having one memory of it not even that long ago. The pages of the books still smelt of dust and their binds leather texture reminded. A comfort Amity had long grown accustomed to.

Some sections of the store Amity skipped over, those dedicated to certain languages or subjects she didn't care to read on. The shelf she ended up at was committed to a variety of herb identification guides and plant breeding instructions.

Amity skimmed through several before noticing a couple of books near the bottom row seemed to be jutting out more than the rest. Odd, she thought, before kneeling down to pull them off the shelf. It appeared that a section of the wooden shelf had been carved out and a book had been perfectly wedged in-between them.

Her curiosity intensified as she plucked it out of its hiding place, returning the other books to their respective places. The title of the book struck her even more, 'How Magic Affects Diseases'.

Amity had never known that diseases could be affected by magic. The two seemed in totally different planes in her mind, though that was likely because she didn't know the first thing about magic.

Real magic anyway. The romances that Chloe had swayed Amity into reading had plenty of charming wizards and magically gifted protagonists. Those bits of fascinating world building had been a source of actual enjoyment for Amity.

Amity began to flip through the pages and with each turn she question more and more why it had been put in such a hidden spot.

She supposed the obvious answer was that magic was not knowledge for the masses so it should be hidden. Still, it was in a common book store, it shouldn't be there in the first place.

Regardless of how it got there, it was a chance Amity was not easily willing to pass up. It wasn't like she was learning magic anyway, just understanding how it affected her field of work.

Amity also decided to get two other books, both of the herbal variety, in an attempt to cover up her first and possibly illegal choice.

The lady at the counter greeted her and shuffled through Amity's books as she tallied up the prince. The lady only slightly eyed the magic book, but didn't seem to question it any further.

The prices were very reasonable and Amity happily paid. She called for a carriage to return to the school while she tackled her new reading material.

The first few pages were on the theoretical aspect of it all which was surprisingly interesting. It also gave her something to work with in her understanding of magic.

The author seemed to imply that magic came from people imposing their wills upon their environments. The more powerful their will, the stronger their ability to manipulate it. Each new page only seemed to amplify this belief, before the author admitted there is no consensus on how magic works.

Amity had only reached page twenty-three by the time she had returned to the school. But she continued on in her room, managing fifty-nine by the time she fell asleep. But the next few days she carried the book around, reading it between classes every chance she got. She was utterly fascinated.