Chatoyant College Book 7: Upon What Soil

Chapter 34: Globe

Nobody had much interest in the knitted potholders (as college students, they didn't exactly use pots very often) so they walked to the next table, where a variety of different crafts were on display. "Oh, no!" said Roe immediately.

"Is this it?" Corrie asked, perhaps a bit too excited for what they were probably expecting to be an explosion.

"Yes, it is," said Roe with a sigh. She put her hands flat on the table and turned to talk to the boy sitting behind it. "Did Tricia talk to you about this?" She pointed at a round thing in the middle of the table. To Edie, it looked like a papier-mâché globe. It was kind of pretty, actually, with one hemisphere painted with a map of Chatoyant College and the back, apparently, painted with trees. She wanted to turn it around to see if there was anything different on the other side, but if this was the thing that had exploded in Roe's vision, she was afraid to touch it.

"Er... yes, actually," said the boy, wincing backward but half-smiling. "Don't worry, it's not dangerous. Just a bit of fun. This place could use some liveliness, anyway."

Roe grinned. "That's fine with me. I just wanted to make sure you were prepared. As long as it's on purpose, I don't care."

"Why would you want to blow this up, though?" Edie asked. "It's so pretty!"

He laughed, leaning forward a little more to look at her. "Thanks, but the explosion is half the point. All my art does something different than it looks like on the surface, actually." He waved his hand over the table. Edie was instantly suspicious of everything there. It included what looked like a box with a woodburned seagull on the lid, a glass vase, and a pen wrapped with wire and thread with beads added on.

Edie didn't touch anything, but Corrie poked at the vase. It fell over and she started to apologize, but then it rocked back up again like a child's toy. Corrie laughed. "I guess this won't let any water spill out of it."

"Exactly!" said the boy behind the table, looking pleased.

Dawn took Edie's arm. "Come on, let's get away from here before that thing decides to explode."

Corrie shrugged. "I'll be back."

As they walked to the next table, Dawn's grip on Edie's arm seemed to get tighter and tighter. "Ow," she finally complained in a quiet voice. She was pretty sure Dawn wasn't hurting her on purpose.

Dawn let go of her arm quickly. "Sorry. I just wanted to get you away from there."

"I'm not afraid of a little glitter," Edie said, rubbing her arm.

"The glitter isn't what I'm worried about," said Dawn. She leaned in close and whispered, "He's a faerie."

"Really?" Edie's head immediately jerked around to look at the boy they had just left, but he was leaning back and flipping through a magazine, apparently oblivious to them. He looked normal. She checked her pockets, but apparently she had left her clover in her dorm room. She wasn't even wearing her bracelets. Suddenly she felt very exposed, but she tried to shake it off. There was no reason to think he had anything against them. It just seemed that they were not getting along well with faeries lately...

She only half-paid attention as they walked around the horseshoe, looking at more of the craft projects. Dawn bought a beautifully crafted origami dragon for Rico, and Roe tested out, but decided not to buy, a red-and-black striped hula hoop. Finally, on the opposite side from the faerie boy, they reached a tall girl selling handmade cloth bags, whom Corrie and Dawn greeted as though they knew. "Hey, Tricia, I guess my warning was helpful," Roe said with a grin. "You set yourself up far away on purpose, didn't you?"

"I think he was going to tell us anyway," Tricia said. "But yeah, I did wait until he'd taken his table before I picked mine. Got any more information on when it's going to happen?"

Roe shook her head. "Sometimes I see the same vision more than once, but not this one, so I haven't noticed any new details. I do think it was more crowded than this, though."

Edie looked around, trying to judge how crowded the room actually was, and spotted a familiar pair of faces at the door. She waved. "Hey, Troy! Over here!"

Troy and Link both looked up, then hurried over to join them. There was a jumble of greetings and introductions, then Tricia, excited, pulled out a sturdy canvas bag she said was designed for guys. Link seemed interested. Edie's attention was caught by a drawstring pouch with a flat bottom that would be perfect for small knitting projects. They were all focused on the craft fair.