Checkmate

33. Damaged Dams

Just before the lunch break, Kazinski paired us up in pairs of her choosing, putting me with one girl at the back of the class. Her name, I was sure, was Penny. A part of me fumed at the back of Thomas' head as he and a red-haired girl giggled and whispered together, their work forgotten.

"I know we never speak," the blonde next to me began. "But I really find you fascinating."

"Me?" I asked, my brows furrowing as she nodded. "I'm nothing special. I mean, look at me, I'm ordinarily average."

She shrugged and shook her head slightly. "It's probably your aura."

"Aura?" I repeated, my brows furrowing once again. Penny hummed and returned to the book, her finger tracing the line I had attempted to read three times, my mind elsewhere. "Do auras have colours?"

"All sorts."

"And mine?"

The girl paused for a moment; her head tilted as her eyes scanned me. "It's sort of bluey green." Her answer made me smile.

"What about when you look at the mayor?" I asked, the question taking her off guard for only a second.

"Purple. Sometimes red."

"Huh, I expected red."

"Red, like deeeeeep red?"

"Like blood." She nodded to confirm. "And the sheriff? Emma."

She paused for only a moment before a small smile twitched in the corners of her mouth. "White. Almost heavenly."

I nodded and allowed the conversation to lull for a moment as we worked. Something the girl said niggled at the back of my mind, so I asked the question. "So, our magic affects our auras?"

Her head shot up from the work, her eyes wide as her attention was once again fully on me. "Magic?"

I nodded gently before looking around to see if anyone was listening in. "Magic has a colour depending on the person." My eyes caught the back of Thomas' head, triggering another question to emerge. "What about him?"

"Thomas?" she asked, her voice lowered.

"What colour is his aura?"

"His aura or his magic?" She winked.

I chuckled and tutted at the girl. "Just..."

Penny stared at the back of his head for a full minute as I scribbled down some answers, keeping up the pretence of working. She took a few breaths before answering. "He's green. Like your green." I hummed, having already assumed it to be the answer. "But he isn't... He's not..." Kazinski stopped her as she alerted to the class that we had five minutes remaining to finish our tasks.

We finished on record time with only a minute to spare after spending most of the time talking, the two of us beginning a strange sort of camaraderie that never extended past the school gates. When the bell chimed, announcing the dinner period, she and I walked together, choosing a hidden part of the school for me to show her a few magic tricks as we ate our lunch.

We took the time to talk, and I realised as we chatted about the mundane things, just how much I had missed talking about something other than Pan, the boy ruling my life for longer than I cared to admit. She spoke of hair care and other local gossip as we walked back to class, passing the playing field for the younger children as we went.

Suddenly a child passing us in a rush drew our attention to a commotion in the middle of the field, a group of children huddled around a sight of familiar faces. I bolted from Penny as fast as I could, dropping my bag at her feet as my eyes fixed on the boy in the middle of the hubbub. To grab control of the situation, I did the only thing I could think of and whistled shrilly. A whistle Pan would use to call them from all corners of the island to his side.