The Newest Initiate

6. What Happens in the Library, Stays in the Library

I woke up the following morning with a hollow feeling in my chest, though it was better when compared to the sadness I felt each night following my lessons with Dylan. The sun rises were better than the sun sets, but not by much. The other initiates all thought I was a waste of space, and avoided me if it was possible, so I didn't have any friends to talk to. But I was determined to change that.

I walked into the library and looked at the honeycomb shelves. It was Saturday, so the room wasn't packed with trainees in one class or another, but there were still students walking back and forth from table to shelf or shabti, carrying back scrolls with assortments of information on them. I scanned the room and found who I was looking for.

As I made my way across the room, she spotted me and did something unexpected: She waved. She must not have found out about my horrid reputation in this place yet. Maybe I could make a good impression, so it wouldn't matter when she did. I smiled and waved back. I made my way across the room, and noticed a chair had been pushed out when someone had gotten up. 

'Who would she be sitting with?' I asked myself nervously. If she was sitting with Dylan, my chances of a friend were already ruined. Oh, what would he tell her? I couldn't stop it, and there was no way I would be able to make a good impression with Dylan there. I'd be sweaty and fidgety, or, at the least, quiet and boring. And once she heard the rumors...

'If she's sitting with Dylan,' I told myself, 'You're leaving,'

I curved my path to the right, avoiding her and putting a distant bookshelf in my path. I pretended to thumb through old scrolls, but made sure to keep an eye on that chair. Blaire was busying herself by writing something on a papyrus scroll, it couldn't have been anything she was interested in, because her eyes were glazed. She had that look people get when they're focusing on something that isn't there. Suddenly, her head jerked up and looked around, causing me to instinctively push myself closer to the cubyholes and lower my head, which bumped against the wood of the shelves. I recoiled and my hand instantaneously flew to my forehead. 

'Smooth, Marx, smooth,' I thought to myself. Luckily, though, when I turned around she wasn't looking at me, but the seat next to her was still empty. I went back to looking at scrolls. Somewhere along the line, someone, someone who I assume was Dylan, had marked all the scrolls by writing its name on a tag and making it magicly hang around the scroll, like it was attached to an inivisible string. I pulled a yellow tag out from the bunch and read it. Though it was in Ancient Egyptian, I could tell that it said 'How to Trap People in Amulets'. I tugged on a blue one that said 'How to Rid Yourself of Pests'. I pulled up a bright pink, half burned one that read 'How to Master Charming Fire-Breathing Magical Creatures,' Hmm. Sounds interesting enough. I tugged on the tag and a half burned scroll projectile launched itself at my face. I hadn't read many scrolls, so I hadn't yet mastered the art of pulling out one, but one thing had definitely been learned from this experiance: Too hard. I got a handfull of papyrus to the nose, whose bone got nudged sideways. It didn't do enough damage to break anything, just enough to cause a ton of pain. I held my nose in place with both of my palms, as though if I let go it might slide off my face. I stood there for a moment, my eyes closed, and then finally decided to walk away.

I turned and found Blaire staring at me, along with Bast, who had taken the seat next to her. A couple of initiates stood close enough to have seen what happened, but they had already directed their attention elsewhere. I slowly made the walk of shame toward Blaire and Bast, I had to talk to them now. There went my attempt at seeming cool around Blaire, there was no way I could reddem myself after that. I reached the table.

"Hi," I said shyly.

"Hey," Blaire beamed up at me, while Bast looked unamused beside her.

 "Did you.. see that?" I asked.

She giggled. "Yeah," Her expression was suddenly caring. "You are okay?" 

"Oh, yeah." I said, blushing. "I'm just not used to getting scrolls yet."

"I don't think I'll be getting one anytime soon. That looked pretty painful."

"It only hurts for a bit. Well, I guess I'll leave you alone."

I turned and started to walk away, but was held back by Blaire's sudden words. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to sit with us? Bast is teaching me about how to draw from my reserves. I'm sure having you around would help." She looked wistful. Bast looked like she might strangle herself, but then she looked at me and her expression softened. She sighed and rested her head on her palm.

"Sure. I'll stay."