Chatoyant College Book 7: Upon What Soil

Chapter 43: Needling

"So does this mean everything from the craft fair is magically affected in some way?" Corrie asked, frowning.

"As far as we know," Dawn said, shooting Corrie what she hoped was a quelling look. She hadn't tested the origami dragon—she hadn't thought of a way to test it, other than to keep it somewhere she could see it in case it started flying or something—but she didn't want to bring it up, so it could be a surprise for Rico.

Corrie nodded. "Did anybody else get anything? Annie?"

"No, I didn't find anything," said Annie, looking up from the desk where she'd been doodling on a piece of paper. "Wasn't Troy going to get a bag from the same person who made Edie's, though?"

"That's right," said Corrie with a grin. She turned around slowly to look at Roe. Actually, everyone turned to look at Roe, who simply looked a little puzzled by the attention. "How is Troy, anyway, Roe? Does he have his bag yet?"

Roe finally blushed. "I don't think he has the bag... I mean, Tricia couldn't have made it yet, right?"

"Yeah, but you were with him, so you probably would have heard about it," Corrie said. She walked back over to her bed and sat next to Roe again. "We left you together. Come on, how long were you hanging out?"

When Roe seemed disinclined to answer, Dawn grinned too. "We could just go down the hall and ask Talia when Roe got back to their room." She felt a little bad about needling their friend like this, but Roe was smiling a little, so presumably things hadn't gone too badly. Besides, she was really curious.

Roe covered her eyes, blushing, but she was grinning, too. "Okay, we talked for... a little while? I wasn't really keeping track of the time."

"I guess it went well," Edie said, smiling. "So he wasn't weirded out by your little Troy voodoo doll?"

"I didn't use it as a voodoo doll!" Roe protested. "I just thought it was cute!"

"Like him," supplied Corrie.

Roe sighed and lowered her hands. "Yeah, like him."

"So, are you guys dating now, or what?" Annie asked. Dawn glanced at her and smiled—she was a little surprised Annie was taking an interest.

"Well, nothing's official," said Roe. "I mean... we don't know each other that well yet."

"But?" Dawn prompted.

"Well, we're going out tomorrow," Roe said. Over the cheers and laughter of the others she laughed and waved them down. "But it's weird, he says Link has to drive us. I don't know why he can't just borrow his car or something. I even offered to try to get you to lend me your car, Corrie."

"You could definitely borrow my car," said Corrie quickly. "I'm not going anywhere and I'm not worried about you crashing it. You'd probably see it coming beforehand. Actually, want to borrow my car and crash it on purpose? Then I could get my insurance to pay for a new one."

Rico laughed. "Your poor car. It's a good thing it can't hear you talking like that, or it would probably refuse to start the next time."

"Oh, is that why you're always defending your piece of crap?" Dawn asked, grinning. She went to join Rico on the bed and wrapped her arm around his.

"It is not a piece of crap, it's a perfectly capable automobile," he said, poking her nose. "And yes, that's why."

Corrie shook her head. "I'm pretty sure you're not being serious, but you know, on this campus..."

"I don't think magic affects electronic stuff," Rico said.

"That's just in Harry Potter," said Edie. "I would be surprised if it didn't in real life."

"Another thing to add to the list to ask Professor Lal about," said Dawn.

"We might not have to," said Corrie. "We are supposed to start learning magic this week, aren't we? We'll probably learn what magic can affect then."

"Oh, that's right," said Roe, straightening up. The blush had almost completely disappeared. "Wow, another thing to look forward to this week."

"Yeah, better than your stupid chaperoned date," said Corrie.

"It kind of makes sense, actually," said Dawn. "He's a prince, right? Maybe there are threats against his life and stuff. Link is around as his bodyguard, right? Or maybe Link has to vet you and make sure you'll be a good wife."

"Oh, god," said Roe, covering her face again. "I so do not want to think about that."

"Well, you knew it was a concern, right?" said Edie.

Roe nodded. "But I want to get to know him better first."

"I'm sure he and Link understand that," said Corrie. "It might just be a rule they have. Troy probably hates it too. But since you're going to see him tomorrow, you should warn him about the bag. When he gets it, he should test it like Edie did."

"I will, don't worry." Roe shook her head like she was shaking off the thoughts. "But shouldn't we try to do something about these magic-affected crafts?"