I woke up the next morning with a raging headache. The potion that Alex gave me may have allowed my brain to function normally under the influence of alcohol, but it did nothing to stave off the raging hang-over.
I had always ridiculed my friends at my previous college who started their first days of semester with a hangover, and here I was doing the same thing. Karma is indeed a b*tch.
I got dressed, grabbed my bag and the campus map that Riley had given me, and headed towards my first class in the Fulminus building.
The aptitude test I had taken during my application process had indicated that I had an aptitude for Psionics: a study of magic which included telepathy, illusions and telekinesis. It also indicated that I had an innate talent for Sorcery; the study of elemental magic, also known as chaos magic.
Being a huge geek and in love with the traditional mage characters in fantasy and video games, I decided to go with Sorcery.
I entered the lecture hall five minutes before the bell rang and sat down in a sigh of relief; the last thing I wanted was to barge into class late on my first day, especially since I had begun a month into the semester.
“You look rough,” said a familiar voice.
I looked to my side and saw Alex, who had helped me and then raised such a ridiculous request. He was probably just joking but I was still pissed for some reason.
He offered me a can of an energy drink, which I took and drank deeply.
I hated that he was still being nice to me. Did he feel guilty about trying to force me into kissing him?
“Thanks,” I said curtly. I had not meant for that to come out as cold.
“You’re welcome?” Alex said with a furrowed brow. He was obviously confused by the cold shoulder I gave him.
I couldn't put together why I was being so curt with him. Aside from when he had tried to hit on me at the bar, he had been perfectly nice to me.
I chalked it up to being crabby from a hangover, but that just made me fantasize about him caring for me. Would he hold me close to him? His strong arms would hold me gently as I rested against his chest and...
I realized he was still standing there so I decided to at least try striking up a conversation.
“So, are you a Sorcery major as well?” I asked him, not making eye contact and pretending to sort out my notes.
“Uh no,” he replied, “I’m a werewolf so it’s almost physically impossible for me to perform chaos magic or any magic that requires an incantation.”
“Then why are you here?” I asked, again, a little bit coldly.
“Knowledge for the sake of knowledge, I suppose,” he replied casually. “I'm in my final year and I needed a few subjects to make up the credits. Sorcery caught my eye, but I’m actually a Druidry major.”
I remembered Riley had mentioned Druidry during the campus tour the previous day. He had said it was the study of Wild or Primal magic and was one of the oldest forms of magic. He said that mostly werewolves and other shape-shifters majored in Druidry because the flow of wild mana in their DNA was what gave them their powers, and also because they were incapable of performing other kinds of magic.
I wanted to say something nice to him, apologizing for my coldness as I wasn’t naturally a rude person, but the lecturer began to talk. I’ll just have to find another time.
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I spent the next few days trying to apologize to Alex every morning before class, but my words would always just get stuck in my throat. I was usually never shy to talk to guys; I always told them exactly what was on my mind. But for some reason Alex just left me acting...not myself. It’s like I was going on the defensive for no reason.
It was Friday. I needed to say something to Alex today after class or else I’d have to wait the entire weekend before I could have a moment to start a conversation like this naturally.
I hoped that class would end a few minutes earlier, but unlike the other lecturers, Professor John Lichenstroff lectured his class until the very last minute.
“Most people believe that Sorcery is merely casting elemental spells such as fireballs and lightning bolts,” Professor John explained. “However, the ability to maintain and control chaos mana without it consuming you and ultimately causing permanent damage to your bodies, or even killing you, takes an obscene amount of focus, understanding and discipline.
“When we begin practical lessons next week you will see exactly why we have all those water fountains outside this building.”
The class laughed while a few students looked a bit worried, myself included.
Theory lessons were supposed to be conducted for four weeks before students were allowed to practice magic. I had only been here a week and was still behind on my work. I would need to do some serious catch up if I wanted to be ready by Monday.
“Remember to study your basic incantation and please know exactly how to pronounce them,” Professor said. “Chaos mana is extremely fickle and requires strict instructions.
“I’ll see you all on Monday. Class dismissed.”
I began to pack up my things while trying to figure out exactly what to say to Alex when, to my surprise, he approached me first.
“So...do you need some help catching up with the theory?” he asked me. “I’m not hitting on you or anything, it’s just that I know you started a month late so I just want to help. I might not be able to cast spells but I do know the theory.”
I sighed softly in relief that he had broken the ice. My heart had been pounding for the last 10 minutes because of me trying to think of what to say to him.
“I would actually really appreciate that,” I answered him. “I thought this would be easy, like waving a wand and then POOF! Magic happens, but it seems more complicated.”
Alex laughed.
“It is quite complicated, a lot of the Sorcery freshmen walk around with singed eyebrows after the first week of practical classes,” Alex said warmly. “It’s much more exciting here than at the Druidry Enclave, all we do is study plants and the biology of magical and non-magical wildlife.”
“You seem quite passionate about Sorcery,” I said, trying to pick up on his interests.
“For someone who can’t do it?” Alex said, “I guess I always like the mage characters in video games so it just appeals to me.”
“That’s kind of why I chose it too,” I said with a small laugh, surprised that he was a geek deep down like myself.
There was a small pause where we were silent and stared at each other slightly.
“Well...uhm...this weekend, maybe Saturday I could help you study?” he asked, breaking the awkward silence.
“Yes, that would be amazing,” I said.
I figured that this would be a perfect time to apologize for my cold behavior towards him on the first day of class, but before I could say anything, I heard Riley’s voice call out to me from down the hall.
“I should get going,” Alex said. “I’ll see you later.”
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Alex POV
I walked away before her friend could reach us. The look that he gave me last night made it clear that he was not a fan of me.
I was about to exit the building when I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone in the lecture hall. It was on the chair where I’d been sitting. I bent down to pick it up when I heard Loren’s friend's voice down the hall.
“That guy is bad news, Loren,” he said to her. “It’s best not to get involved with him and his group. He’s really shady.”
“He seems harmless, Riley,” I heard Loren say, coming to my defense, which made me smile. “What exactly makes him shady?”
“Well basically it’s the fact that he’s basically been on the inside of every girl’s dorm room on campus. The minute that there’s a new girl he’ll zone in on her; the new girl being you this time around,” Riley said bitterly.
“Jamaiah and him had a thing when we were freshmen last year and he completely ghosted her afterwards. A lot of other girls will tell you the same thing, the guy doesn't care whose heart he plays around with; typical jock type.”
“People have bad experiences with people, it happens,” Loren said, “that doesn’t mean that they’re bad.”
“I’m just looking out for you, Lorey-bear, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Riley said.
Their voices became softer as they walked further away and I slumped down in my seat. Werewolf hearing was a power that I always thought was cool and useful, except in moments like this when you hear people talk about you behind your back.
Riley had it wrong; I had not been with every girl on campus and I had not slept with anyone I wasn’t dating.
I remembered that girl that he mentioned; Jamaiah. I had been interested in her but I felt that our personalities didn’t click. I guess I did hurt her feelings when I told her that, which was probably why she told everyone that I just ghosted her.
Riley was right about the fact that I was interested in Loren; she had caught my eye the night that I saw her at the bar. Her smile and the way her brown hair fell over her eyes just made my stomach do a million somersaults in one second.
I wanted to get to know her better but she seemed cold towards me on Monday so I backed off a little. I figured that she was probably stressed about being in a new environment, the fact that she came late in the semester meant that she had probably just discovered that she was a mage, so I didn’t want to overwhelm her.
She seemed to open up today, though. We had a study date tomorrow. I just wondered if her friend’s words wouldn’t change her mind about spending time with me.
I looked around to see if the room was empty and that the classroom door was closed. I was completely alone.
I opened the palm of my hand and felt the trickle of volatile mana rush from the air, into my veins and culminate into a tiny blue flame in my hand.
I gave a sigh of relief as I felt the mana flow through me. Hiding this part of me and not doing magic was probably how a smoker would feel if they went all day without a cigarette. The flow of magic made me feel alive, like it was as natural to me as breathing.
I allowed the flame to grow a bit bigger as I coaxed it gently with an incantation, talking to it as if it were alive.