As the days grew warmer, the space surrounding my heart grew colder. The main culprit for that was Doctor Kasian's phone call. I knew it would happen. After all, it was all my idea, but that one phone call made it very real and it awoke the fears that lurked in my subconscious.
He called on a Sunday afternoon. Almost an entire week would pass before she would be on her way. It was a week I wished I could sleep through. My thoughts were wrapped around my Professor all the time. She was gonna be gone only for the weekend, but that knowledge was not enough to put my mind at ease.
It felt as if a month had passed before Friday finally came. Once the classes were over, most of the students wandered off into the school gardens in order to take advantage of a warm, sunny day.
I however, was unable to walk away from a window overlooking the gateway. I waited.
A small car pulled over. The sun rays reflected off its silver metallic color straight into my eyes. I looked away and noticed a person walking down the paved path. A navy-blue scarf was wrapped around her neck and she wore the same overcoat as the day I first saw her.
"Is she going away for good?" A question came from behind me. I turned and found myself face to face with the faun.
"You startled me," I said as my heart rate began to slow down again.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that," Harper said.
He rested the palms of his hands on the window sill and turned his attention to the scene outside. Ms. Cyan got into the car, closed the door and soon after that, the car drove away.
"You still haven't answered my question," he reminded me. "Is she gone for good?"
"No," I replied. "She will be back."
"But there will come a day when she'll leave, never to return again." That wasn't a question.
I nodded without looking at him. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes and didn't want him to see me like that. "How do you know that?"
"I listened. Put the pieces together. I know that Professor Cyan wants to return to her home, wherever it may be. I think you and your roommates want it as well. But Mathias..." Harper paused at the mention of werewolf's name, "He's not thrilled by that idea."
I smiled and rubbed my eyes in an attempt to chase the tears away. "You noticed, huh?"
"It was hard to miss it."
When I turned my head to look at him, his hand was touching the part of his neck where Mathias had grabbed him. The marks on the skin were gone, but Harper still hadn't put it all behind him.
"I hope her wish will come true," he said after a moment of silence.
"I hope so, too," I responded
° ° ° ° ° ° °
Professor Cyan was back in time to teach her Monday classes. I had no idea what tests Doctor Kasian had performed and there was no opportunity for me to talk to her privately. I did see her during lunch time as she walked down the dining room, pensive. Most of the students payed no attention to her, but I was convinced that, besides me, at least four other individuals kept an eye on her.
After she exited the dining room, I gazed at the corner table. He was there. His eyebrows were furrowed when he looked at me. That was the way he used to look at me at the beginning of the school year. The only difference was that then I didn't know why he was angry at me, and now his anger was caused by my actions.
"He won't be mad at you forever," Ardea said, sitting next to me. "Give him some time, he'll get over it."
"Yeah, sure," Opal added in a voice laced with sarcasm. "Only if you remove your contacts and order him to."
I smiled blankly and hoped that Ardea's words would come true. Still, I steered clear of Mathias' path during the following weeks. Those were unusually quiet weeks because even Opal refrained herself from her typical comments.
Ms. Cyan traveled away again two weeks after her first visit to Doctor Kasian, and after that, a car painted silver came to pick her up every weekend for the next four weeks.
I tried speaking to her once after her class, however, she didn't have the time to speak to me. Mathias was still in no mood for socializing, but I was glad to see that at least Ardea was able to talk to him from time to time.
After weeks without any information about what was going on, I decided to ask the only person I suspected knew more than she was saying.
"Ardea," I said, "did your father say anything to you? About Professor Cyan, I mean. Will he be able to help her?"
Ardea looked at me with those insightful eyes of hers and replied, "I don't ask questions about that. When and if Professor Cyan decides to share that information with us, she'll do it herself."
So much for getting the answers from the elf.
After that defeat, I left the room and went into the garden where Lissa was busy cutting off withered rose flowers to trigger the bushes to produce another wave of blooms. That time I didn't join her. I was too distracted. Instead, I sat on one of the benches and placed my chin on the palms of my hands while my elbows rested on my knees.
Nia found me like that. "You still won't tell me what's going on?" she asked.
"I wish I knew what's going on," I answered.
"It's got something to do with Professor Cyan, doesn't it?" She sat next to me and focused her sparkling eyes on my face.
"What makes you think that?" I asked, tilting my head to look at her.
"Lately, she's been spending a lot of time away from school. That's very unlike her."
I had no response. I didn't want to tell her why she had been going away. Not if she didn't want the others to know. When I thought about it, Ardea and I weren't so different after all.
Just as Nia was about to ask another question, Opal came running.
"Azora! Azora! You have to come with me!" she said, panting.
"What happened?" She got me worried.
"No time to talk. Just come with me!" she repeated and turned to lead me further down the path.
I followed her into the secluded part of the garden. Ardea was there and so was Mathias. They were both looking at the person that sauntered down the path next to the flower bed. I noticed something unusual on Mathias' face. He was smiling. But that wasn't the strangest thing about him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked at the person in front of us.
"What is it?" I whispered.
"Look," Ardea said and pointed at Ms. Cyan.
I looked. I didn't exactly know what I was supposed to see. I saw her strolling in the garden before.
"Are you blind, aqua girl?" Mathias asked. After a long time, his voice was deprived of any trace of anger.
I looked at our Professor again. She was smiling. It wasn't one of those sad smiles I got used to seeing on her face. She was genuinely happy. Vibrant green scarf was wrapped around her neck, she was dressed in a dark green shirt, black pants and...
I had to rub my eyes to make sure they weren't deceiving me. I looked again to eliminate the doubt. My eyes weren't misleading me; there were no gloves on Ms. Cyan's hands.
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