Dangerous Magic

25. Making Things Worse

Monday afternoon. Com-n-De.

It was bad enough that I had stayed another night. To make matters worse, I had to watch Archie's victory dance when he gained a point against me before moving on to the next person.

Divided into two lines, the students rotated partners. It might have felt like speed dating if we had been talking instead of trying to attack each other with magic.

The only reason Archie was about to land an attack was that I was too preoccupied keeping my magic from greedily gobbling all the magic out of the air. With my attention on not getting anyone killed, I lacked the capacity to block his feeble attack.

My frustration over having to look weaker than I was didn't help matters.

I should have gone already. Staying only made things worse.

I'd gone through the motions of classes I didn't care about and avoided the people I did care about. Emily went out of her way not to say hi. Jackson had stared at me without emotion. I didn't want to think about the way that made me feel.

Or the way that Jackson had landed on the list of people I cared about.

Or that I was about to lose both of them.

Tonight, I promised myself. Tonight I am leaving.

Ms. Williams blew a whistle and we shuffled down to the next partner. Only three more rounds and I would face Jackson.

More accurately, I only had to let three more people land an attack--non-lethal, per Ms. Williams's rules--and then I'd have to let Jackson do the same.

The Pyrokinetic across from me snapped her fingers and a ribbon of flame burst from the ground in front of her, snaking its way to me across the smooth surface. I made no effort to deflect it.

"Rochelle, please stay after class." Ms. Williams passed behind me. She stalked quietly along the line of students, making me feel like prey. Had I known she was watching, I might have at least pretended to try.

Magic in the air crushed around me, almost suffocating. I had bigger things to worry about than Ms. Williams's reprimand.

We rotated again and I was paired with a telekinetic who tried to get into my head; I blocked him out. Ms. Williams made a disappointed noise behind me.

Another rotation. One more and I would challenge Jackson. Thankfully, class ended before I had to find out what I would have to do to keep from being exposed.

At the bell, I sighed with relief, not caring who saw. The sooner we got out of the arena, the better for everyone. Fighting the instinct to run, I forced myself to walk with the rest of the class to gather my bag.

Ms. Williams did not realize the opportunity she presented to me. I had her copy of The Reality of Other Realities that I'd finished reading the night before that I needed to return. Elijah Kenton had some interesting theories, but I did not need another reason to feel guilty about my time at BPM.

I wasn't going to leave with a book I wasn't supposed to have. The plan was to hand it over once all the students had left. They took their time leaving. Several stood by the door. Others mulled around in small groups, glancing at me when they thought I wasn't looking.

They thought I was getting in trouble and wanted to be there to watch the show.

All I wanted was to release the energy I'd captured despite my efforts to leave the magic alone, give back the book, and get the heck out of there. The longer I stayed in a place with so much magic, the harder it was to ignore it.