Evolution (Book 1 of POE chronicles)

Chapter 24 Wait what?

The rest of the month past in a dizzying blur, I was caught up in all the school works and activities around me and before I knew it, it was nearly New Year’s Eve.

I was hoping I would be able to go home and celebrate it with my family, but judging from the minds of the fellow students that I read, no one had ever gone home except for summer holidays. Even then, you would have to past a test on your ability, keep in close contact and check in with them personally every week.

I sighed. I should have guessed as much. It wasn’t like the POE Academy was swimming in money and throwing them to buy us plane tickets to go back home, only to potentially blow up an entire Citybases. However, I was beginning to miss my family terribly and I briefly wondered if there was a chance for me to see them again in the near future. Unlikely.

Of course, my parents had been bombarding me with e-mails about my life at the prestigious School of Medicine and Science. It was hard to answer all the questions they asked since I didn’t even know what that school looks like, but Elise had given me a few pointers on what to write and gave me an actual brochure of the school.

I hadn’t received any more letters from my grandmother, especially since I didn’t even bother to send a reply letter. However knowing her, it was very likely that she had been reading all the e-mails that I sent my parents. Despite the slightly frosty relationships my dad has with her, he still listens to what she said.

Lessons with Mr. Andrewson were going surprisingly well. There was no loss of control on my part so far, and he shone a new light into how my power works and how to use it. We usually have lessons once every two weeks and the location varies, so people wouldn’t be asking questions as to why I was constantly being summoned into the headmaster’s office.

I was able to do a lot of things that I didn’t even know I was capable of a year ago. The power that has progressed the furthest was my mind sensory skill, I could feel so much details so far that it was absolutely astonishing. Mr. Andrewson told me that there was more that I could do with my power, but we are going to take one step at a time.

We had a few more tutorials since our last one. Tom was still eyeing me suspiciously every time, but he never confronted me again and I didn’t have the energy to bother him either. Oscar was still, Oscar. He didn’t notice the tension between us, more likely he didn’t bother to notice the tension between Tom and I. I am sure Mr. Andrewson did, but he never said a word about it.

Shaking myself out of my memories, I rested my chin on my arms and gazed out at the still green school ground stretched out from a window. I missed the snow that we always have in London; the soft, fluffy white crystals that melts on your hand when you catch it. New year just wouldn’t feel the same without snow.

We will be receiving a three days holiday around the New Year, and there will be celebrations in school. I didn’t know what the celebrations would be, but everyone seemed excited about it. I caught glimpses of dresses and suits in their mind, but I was hoping that were just their daydreams.

“Why is everyone so excited about New Year?” I asked Natalie when we are hanging out in the school ground after school; the air was crisp and cool, like in autumn back home and people milled around in the playground enjoying the cool afternoon.