Connection

Chapter Sixteen: Cliff

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Chapter Sixteen: Cliff

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Cliff couldn't pay attention in class the rest of the day. His conversation with Tony ran through his mind over and over again, demanding his attention. The image of Tony running away was particularly unrelenting. Why hadn't he ran after him? Why hadn't he asked more? Cliff had made so many mistakes with this whole situation and it made him fume that he'd made another.

By the end of the day, he had mentally punched himself more than he cared to admit. He felt absolutely lousy as he trooped out of his last class, tired and wishing Tony could blossom in front of him again so they could talk more. He yearned to go see Grez that very moment, but he knew he had to make preparations first. His mother would notice his unexplained absence and he had a mountain of work for school that he couldn't just blow off.

Tomorrow-the same day he was supposed to meet Preceptor Havengaze to ask about spells-he would go to see Grez. After two hours of his thoughts drifting away from school to wondering what Tony's conversation with him could mean, Cliff forced himself to shut out everything but school. He spent the night writing essays and practicing styles of fire wielding that he may otherwise have left for the next night. It was nearing midnight when he wrote the last sentence of his final piece of work and put everything away. He rubbed his eyes, but he knew he couldn't yet go to sleep.

Standing up from his desk and moving toward his door, Cliff pulled on socks to reduce the noise to as little as possible.

As he exited his room and tiptoed downstairs, he froze outside his mother's room and pressed his ear to the door to be absolutely certain she was asleep. When he heard her soft snoring, he continued downstairs and grabbed the boots he usually wore when going to Grez's cabin. Outside, Celtic's silhouette was visible in the bright moonlight.

Cliff vaguely wondered if he would be an issue but decided he would get to the woods from The Center rather than his backyard. It would take longer to get there, but Cliff knew it was better to be certain his mother didn't catch him sneaking away to a man she thought to be guilty of a heinous crime.

As quietly as he could, Cliff creaked open their pantry and grabbed an energy bar so he wouldn't have to stop home to eat.

Lastly, he pulled his heavy jacket off the hook it hung on and brought it upstairs with his foot and boots.

Closing the door behind him, Cliff buried all his supplies under his materials for class in his school bag. Satisfied, he turned off his light and quickly drifted into a restless sleep.

When he awoke, excited butterflies fluttered in his stomach. He skipped breakfast and headed straight for school, though he didn't believe he'd be able to do much good in class when all he could think about was figuring out what was going on and why.

The day droned on just as Cliff had predicted and by the end of it he was, once again, tired, though the butterflies had only increased.

He left particularly quickly from Preceptor Havengaze's class. Behind him, he thought she may have been trying to get his attention, but he kept moving. Nothing he felt comfortable confiding in her would help him immediately.

It was with a bit of pep in his step that Cliff set off from the school toward Grez's cabin. He pulled out one of the energy bars he'd packed and began eating as he arrived at The Center and made his way through the throng of people. He'd already put on his boots, but when he finished his food, he pulled out his large coat and wrapped it around himself.

As he neared the beginning of the field, he could have sworn he heard someone calling his name, though he didn't look back; he couldn't be distracted now. If it was Preceptor Havnegaze he'd make up an excuse the next class about why he couldn't meet with her. With any luck, whoever it was would accept that he wasn't answering and turn around.