Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

21. MORE THAN A STORY

As soon as I finished reading my story, I could tell something was wrong.

The quiet enveloped us all. As my glance shifted from one student to another, I noticed that everyone went quiet, including Ms. Cyan. After a closer look, I saw that her cheeks were wet. Had she been crying?

"That's all for today," she said and swiftly left the classroom. When the door closed behind her, confusion was all that was left.

"Have I done something wrong?" I asked no one in particular.

"No, you haven't done anything wrong," Max replied with a slight smile that looked so strange on his usually serious face. "The class is over and we are done for the week. Thanks, water girl!"

With that said, he got up and left, followed by Leo. After them, the rest of the students did the same.

"Are you coming?" Opal asked when she saw I was the only one who remained seated.

"Something's wrong," I said. My eyes focused on the patterns the tree rings formed on the table before me. "Something has to be wrong. Professor Cyan never acted like this before. She was always so composed."

"I don't know, but if you're not planning to stay here until next Friday, then let's go. Weekend has begun!" Opal's face lit up with a smile. She invited me with a gesture of her hand and I followed her, taking all my worries with me.

During the weekend, I tried to talk about it to Nia and Ardea but neither of them seemed to be interested at shedding some light on the matter. They both believed that a person is entitled to her privacy.

For a while, I even played with the thought of speaking to Mr. August before realizing that there was only one person who could give me the answers I was looking for. That person was Ms. Cyan.

I showed up at her classroom door on Monday, right after the classes ended. As I waited for the third-year students to exit her classroom, I came face to face with Mathias.

I kept my distance over the past weeks, and he kept his.

"I didn't know you were here," I stuttered, not wanting him to think I was stalking.

"It's okay. Relax," he said. "I took an extra dose of the potion today."

Did he know he was gonna run into me, I wondered? Are werewolves psychic? Naturally, I said nothing out loud.

"Still, this doesn't mean that I'm gonna stand here chatting with you," he said and left. His long steps led him down the hallway and soon he was out of sight.

It only took seconds for me to remember the reason I was there. Hesitantly, I entered the classroom. It was chilly inside, probably because of the open window in the back of the room. The table was empty, all the chairs neatly tucked under. Ms. Cyan sat on her blue chair, sorting out her papers, so she didn't notice me right away.

"Professor Cyan," I said softly. "May I speak to you for a moment?"

"Ah, Azora, it's you. What do you need?" she asked. She only glanced at me before turning her attention back to her gloved hands full of papers.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was okay," I replied, looking at my own hands. Fingers of my right hand were nervously squeezing the fingers of my left hand.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she answered with a question. She didn't even lift her head, just kept looking at her papers.

"Well, on Friday you dismissed us before the class ended..." I didn't have the chance to finish the sentence because she cut me off.