Emille

Chapter 9

"Has he gotten to the clicker questions yet?" Isa whispered. Or, at least, that was what Emille assumed she'd said. The apple clamped between her mouth obstructed most of her words. Luckily, Emille was well versed in hungry Isa. She looked up from her laptop and nodded a silent yes.

"Shit," Isa swore, rummaging through her backpack and pulling out her laptop. The apple threatened to fall from her mouth, and she clamped down on it harder. Emille cringed as a dribble of juice threatened to fall from her lips. Professor Moore had already sent the girls a scalding look of disapproval. They were seated far enough from him to avoid interrupting his lecture completely but not far enough for their behavior to go unnoticed. Isa slid further into her seat, chagrined. She tried to present nothing short of the perfect student in class. If she was late, there was probably a very good reason. Emille slid her screen subtly over to Isa's line of sight, showing her the answers to the clicker questions.

"Oh my God. What would I do without you?"

"Die, probably."

"It's true."

"Shhh."

Emille sank into her chair as Professor Moore glanced up at them to deliver a final, silent warning. Isa sat up straighter and slid the apple out of view, schooling her features into the picture of professionalism. Professor Moore returned to his lecture on Mendelian Genetics, appeased.

Emille and Isa had signed up for this class together. St. Loyell required at least three credits of science to graduate, and Intro to Biology had seemed like a safe bet at the time. They'd come to regret this hopeful assumption. Isa was quite sharp, so the material came easily to her, but it bored her to tears. Emille found the class not only uninteresting, but difficult. When she wasn't slogging through Statistics, she was studying Biology. It was a relentless schedule for a college freshman. Or at least it felt excessive to Emille. She'd never shied away from a rigorous course load. In fact, her academic efforts were the only reason she could afford college. It was the material itself that drained her. She'd never excelled at math and science, and college was making it increasingly clear that she'd never want to.

I've made a very interesting discovery.

Emille glanced over at the note Isa had slid into her lap, and sighed. She wasn't going to retain a single second of this lecture. Taking the bait, she scribbled a response, producing a smug smile from her companion.

What was your discovery?

There's a spell that we can tweak to help us cheat.

Emille averted her eyes guiltily, her cheeks flaming. She felt like Professor Moore could hear the plan forming in Isa's mind.

No.

Isa rolled her eyes and sighed.

Come onnnnnn. Don't you want to keep your perfect GPA?

Damn. She had a point. Emille was fighting for her life in Biology, and she'd lose her scholarship if she got anything lower than a C. She glanced up at the powerpoint slide discussing population genetics, and felt her resolve crumble.

What's the spell?

Isa grinned and began writing furiously.

It's a spell to facilitate growth. Involves a lot of egg shells and plant shoots. Arthur said you can use it to increase hair or nail growth. I noticed that most of his spells are open to interpretation. Super malleable. That's why the apprentices were able to make so many alterations. Growth could mean a lot of things, so why not mental growth? I'm thinking we can add sheep's brain and morning dew to make ourselves smarter.