The Boy Witch

11: A Little Practice

For the rest of the day I couldn't focus. The twins notice my peculiar behavior, but when they try to question me about it I wave them off, saying it was nothing. They show me the way to my last class and Rosie goes off to her own class, leaving me to sink deeper into my disturbing thoughts.

A Resident is here, but even more a stupidly powerful one to boot. "You've fucked up big time, kid," Morrigan scolds though our link. Her agitation was clear as day in our link. "I know, I know. But if we leave now, the town might become suspicious. They might think something is going on that's illegal, like domestic abuse or something like that." I sigh, trying to think of what to do now. If we leave too soon, we won't have a verifiable excuse as to why we left not even two weeks upon arrival.

I pick up the sketch pencil and paper that was passed around, half listening to the instructions given by the middle-aged teacher, Mrs. Mercy. "I'll tell you what," I start. "If that Mr. Wiser makes any move to try and harm me or perhaps tries to reveal me to the public, we book it out of town. Sounds good?" Morrigan grumbles through I link, not giving a definite answer. I wait for a moment more, hearing her sigh. "Fine, I give in. Have it your way," she hisses.

An elbow nudges my side, bringing me back to the present. I look over to Matthew, who's sitting next to me. He watches me with worried eyes, whispering, "Are you okay? You've been out of it ever since we got here."

I shake my head, trying to rid myself of my depressing thoughts. "I'm fine," I say. "Just a little tired, that's all. Anyway, what are we doing in class?" I force myself to give him a small half smile. Matthew watches me for a moment, a tight frown on his face. It's obvious that he doesn't believe my excuse, but he doesn't press any further. Turning back to his own paper, Matthew whispers, "It's just warm up sketches. You can draw whatever you want right now."

For the rest of the class I mindlessly doodle different things, filling up the whole paper. I jolt out of my stupor when a hand rests on my shoulder. I look up at the person, finding the warmly smiling face of Mrs. Mercy. "As much as I'd want to keep such a devoted student such as yourself," she starts, "I'm afraid I'll have to kick you out now along with your friends." She smiles wider when a light blush dusts my cheeks.

The classroom was empty save for me and the teacher as well as Matthew and Rosie, who stood at the doorway. Looking past them, I could almost make out the tall figures of Josh and Alex. Mrs. Mercy picks up my paper, admiring it with a smile. "You are very talented," she compliments. "Tell me, is this your cat?"

I look at my paper, not really paying attention to what I was drawing. Most of the page was covered in drawings of Morrigan in different positions, while some of the others were random drawings of people I've met in the past. "Yes, that's my cat," I say, slightly embarrassed as I took back my sketch paper. "The little she-devil."

"I heard that, asshat!"

I ignore Morrigan's insult, instead I start to pack up my bag. When I pick up my page to put it away in my satchel, I stop for a moment to stare at two of the drawings. One of them, standing tall and imposing even in pencil, was the stupid vampire leader, Varian. He smirks at the viewer, telling of his huge ego and dangerous nature. One of his canines pokes out of the corner of his mouth, making the gleam in his eye darker.

The other was of the young vampire who saw me off that night. Even though I never got his name, he will be one of the rare good-natured people I will have met. His nervous smile was a great contrast to his leader, not even the lip piercing making him intimidating. His stance communicated his unease, but his eyes held only friendliness and a hint of anxiety.

"Young man, North was it?" Mrs. Mercy pushes me out of my thoughts. I quickly pull my satchel over my head, not bothering to put the page in the bag. "Yes, I'm sorry ma'am. I'll get going now," I say, quickly making my way to the door. I push my way through the group, not really wanting to talk to them right now.