Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

29. BLUE IRISES

"Aren't they beautiful?" she asked while her eyes still rested on the entrancing flowers.

"Yes, they truly are," I concurred and let my eyes wander to the flower bed once again. "How come you decided to take a name inspired by them?"

"They were the first sight of beauty I saw on dry land," she said pensively.

I looked at Mathias and he looked at me. Neither of us said anything.

"After they were done with me," she continued and I knew exactly what she meant by that, "they locked me up in a small, gloomy room. There was only one bed, a table and a wall mounted bench inside it. It only had one window, narrow and placed high on the wall. I was too short to look through it even if I stood on the tips of my toes. But I found that, if I stood on the table, I could catch a glimpse of the outside world. And there, on the other side of the window, I saw not a flower bed but a field of irises as blue as the ocean. They took my name, therefore I gave myself a new one."

She kept staring at the flowers. She hadn't blinked once while she was sharing that part of her past with us. Mathias and I still stood there silently. I tried to catch his eyes, but he lowered his head and was looking at the ground under his feet.

The headmaster was the one who broke the silence. He approached us with Opal right behind him.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, encircling us all with an interrogative look in his eyes the color of dark chocolate.

"Everything is fine, Mr. August," Professor Cyan answered. She even managed to produce a smile.

"Mathias?" The headmaster turned to him.

"I didn't do anything," Mathias replied and, to emphasize it, held both of his palms up.

"They came looking for me to express their concern about my absence," our Professor explained.

"Yeah," I agreed, looking straight into Opal's eyes. I knew she was the one who alerted Mr. August.

The headmaster's stare didn't stay on me for long, but when it shifted to Mathias, it seemed like it was piercing right through him.

"I was worried," Mathias muttered.

Professor Cyan stood up and approached Mr. August. "They did nothing wrong. Like Mathias said, they came looking for me out of concern."

The headmaster's eyes found Mathias one more time, and then shifted to me. "If that's the case," he said, "I propose that we all return to the school building and allow Professor Cyan to have her moment of peace."

°  °  °  °  °  °  °

It seemed as though Monday set the tone for the entire week.

I had to deal with Opal's endless questions which I dodged like a hunted fish would dodge a harpoon. Even worse than Opal's questions was the inquisitive look in Ardea's eyes. On top of that, there was Nia who picked up a bit of both Opal and Ardea's behavior. She would look at me as if she tried to lure the answers and when that approach failed, she would ask me directly about the mysterious conversation between Professor Cyan, Mathias and I.

There was one more person who wanted some answers. Mr. August asked me to come to his office on Wednesday. After telling me that he already knew about my discovery of Ms. Cyan's race, he demanded to hear my explanation.

"I expect nothing but the truth," he said.

"I didn't find out intentionally," I said. I must have sounded like someone who broke a priceless vase that cannot be replaced. "I just had a conversation with her, and the truth somehow surfaced. But I didn't speak about it to anybody!" I rushed to add.