The DeVine Chronicles: The Dormant Witch

Chapter 3 ~ Carmen's Gift

"Have a seat Miss DeVine." A distracted Dean Saffron called when Carmen had entered. He sat behind a giant mahogany desk. A desktop computer, small reading lamp, medium stack of paperwork and gold name plaque that read Dean Saffron sat atop. Carmen watched Dean Saffron write feverishly on a piece of paper while typing something on his computer with his other hand.

Carmen opted to take one of the two wooden armchairs with cushy padded seats sitting in front of Saffron's desk. For a moment, Carmen just sat there. She could hear her heart beat faster than usual in her chest. Saffron hadn't looked at her once since she stepped into his office. She wondered if that was a result of his anger. Was he angry?

Carmen did not want to find out. She pushed her curly brown hair off her shoulders and tried to look as innocent as possible. But, of course she had a nervous tick. She tapped her foot silently on the white linoleum floor.

Another apprehensively long minute passed, now Carmen's palms were moist. Saffron continued scribbling something on his paper. Then, Saffron abruptly dropped his ballpoint pen. It rolled off his stack of papers and landed on the desk. Finally, he looked up at Carmen.

His mouth stretched into a thin rigid smile, but the eyes behind his glasses were cold and intelligent. "Carmen DeVine. The younger sister of Andre DeVine. Carolyn Bordeaux is your grandmother, is that right?" He asked, but he sounded as if he already knew the answer to his question.

Carmen nodded slowly, swallowing hard. Saffron continued, "Now, I was told that you had a type of...um...odd...little outburst not too long ago during first period. You were distracting another student and claimed to be hearing...someone calling your name." Saffron's plastic smile gradually fell into a grimace. Ever so slight, but certainly visible.

"I think I did. Honestly sir, I don't know. The outburst won't happen again." Carmen spoke rapidly. As she spoke, she began to realize that she most likely did hear a voice in her head, that was not her own. That detail was actually disturbing.

"Correct Miss DeVine. It will not happen again," Saffron bobbled his head in a condescending manner. He straightened his thick round rimmed glasses and continued. "You don't have any magic of your own. You're virtually useless to this school. Therefore, you do not have any room for outbursts or jokes of any kind."

Carmen dropped her head. "I'm well aware sir." She was greatly tempted to tell him that it was not a joke, but she knew he wouldn't listen.

"Good. This may turn out to be your last semester here at Winnley-Howles. We cannot have a...dormant witch at a magic based school. It simply won't fly with the board. Got it?" He sat back in his high-backed chair with a hint of satisfaction at dismantling Carmen's confidence.

"I have it." Carmen answered sarcastically. She wanted nothing more than to hightail it out of his office. This semester was already shaping up to be quite poor for her self esteem. Now she was hearing strange voices on top of it all.

"I want you back in class and obedient. I will be having a serious conversation with your grandmother about your future here at this school. Now, run along." Saffron wiggled his fingers, one of which held a class ring. No doubt this school was his alma mater.

Carmen rose to her feet and headed back to class. She wanted to put as much space between her and the Dean as possible. He clearly wasn't a kind man. Just as Carmen reached the wing on which her class rested, the bell sounded, ending the first period. Carmen breathed a sigh of relief.

Later that night, Carmen paid her grandmother a visit. Her grandmother lived alone now that her only two grandchildren had moved out and into the WHU dormitories. She didn't live too far away from them. It was only a ten minute cab ride away. Carmen barely visited her, but now she felt a strong need to because of the day's events. Her grandmother had just gotten home from her aerobics class. She was sitting on the living room couch, looking very exhausted. Her grayish brown hair was pulled into a messy bun. She smiled when she saw Carmen standing there. "Hello baby."