SpellShocked (SpellShocked Saga: Book 1)

Chapter 22 - I'll Lay You Out Before You Can Lift A Finger

"I can't believe they talked you into going running with them,' Az scoffed during our first period Apothecary class. I was actually enjoying this class because it was basically just like baking but with stranger components. We had a list of ingredients and instructions on how to create a Ward Boosting Elixir and so far the beaker in front of me hadn't exploded or started smoking, so I think it was working.

I grimaced, feeling the pounding ache of my muscles. "Y-yeah...I regret it now."

"Just because you're too lazy to join us, doesn't mean it's a bad idea," Hunter joked.

"I'm not lazy, I just prefer to use my brain instead of my brawn to get ahead in life," Az muttered, throwing some kind of weird purple powder into his beaker and causing the liquid inside to turn a bright blue colour.

"It's not about getting 'ripped', it's about being healthy and improving our magic ability." Hunter reasoned.

"Says the walking protein shake," Az snorted. I can't say I disagreed with him; Hunter was by no means 'roid rage', but he was definitely toned. I had to force myself to look away from him when his gaze caught mine. I can't believe I let him catch me staring at him. Idiot.

After the double period of Apothecary, followed by Runes, we had lunch and decided to spend it outside where it seemed to be perpetually sunny. I had taken a book called 'The Fundamentals of Illusion' with me and was reading a chapter about the five sense and the various ways they could be fooled by simple illusionary tricks. I figured Madame Thornton would be the one to give me the hardest time, so Illusion magic seemed like the priority.

"You must be really worried about catching up if you're spending your lunch period reading books." Az said and I looked up, startled momentarily. "Usually I'm the only one reading in my free time." His tone was neutral, so I didn't feel like he was making fun of me. It was hard to read Az sometimes. He usually spoke so plainly and matter of factly that I couldn't tell how he was feeling.

"I-I, yeah, I guess," I muttered. He was sitting beside me on the grass, while Hunter and Olivia threw a baseball that Hunter had conjured up back and forth between them.

"I get it," he continued, "I can always give you a hand with the theory stuff if you want, I'm pretty good at that." He frowned slightly, "Can't really help you with actually doing the magic though..." he trailed off.

"W-Why?" I asked, curiosity overriding common sense.

He looked at me appraisingly for a second – almost like he was searching for judgment – before he replied. "I'm not very...proficient...at casting spells. I don't know why exactly, I can channel fine. Something about putting theory into practise though...I don't know...my spells just aren't that strong." He looked away from me.

Damn. I could relate to that so much. I wish I was better at talking to people; I wanted to say something reassuring to him, to make him feel better. But all I could think to say was, "I-If it helps, I-I c-can't really even ch-channel properly...so you're at l-least better off than me."

He turned to face me again, frown deepening, eyes searching my face. Eventually his frown dropped, and he sighed. "It doesn't make me feel better that you can't really cast either, but it's nice to know I'm not the only one I guess."

"M-maybe we could help each other get better at casting?" I suggested, not really sure if it was even possible.

The corner of his mouth raised into a smile, "We can try, but I'm not sure the blind leading the blind will work out very well." I laughed genuinely. Of all of the people in this little group I had somehow become a part of, Az was the one I was worried about upsetting the most - aside from Maya, but she rarely seemed to hang out with us anyway – because I couldn't tell if he liked me or hated me.