Inhibition

Chapter 29

The next day in Mr. Collins class they actually had to do work.

“This is weird.” Cat complained to Wyatt and Walt. Wyatt nodded slightly, his eyes closing, and then jerked his head up. Cat gave him a questioning look.

“What? This is my power nap time.”

Cat nodded. She could give him that one.

They were working in groups today, and Cat was with Wyatt, Walt, and a petite blonde girl. Cat thought her name was Ruth. Which just sounded so proper. Ruth and Cat were working. Walt was doodling randomly and talking to people in the other groups. And Wyatt was sleeping. They had a great group. Their assignment was to practice their symbols, and to recognize their meanings.

First, they had to identify the meanings of 24 symbols written on a sheet. Honestly, Cat didn’t see why they were that difficult. They looked exactly like their meaning. But apparently a lot of people had trouble with memorizing them. Cat could see that; just because she knew what the symbols were, didn’t mean she could draw them from memory.

After their group (Cat and Ruth) identified the symbols, they were to practice drawing them. This was to be done individually by each person, but with group supervision. According to Mr. Collins, “Things can get really . . . sticky. Four sets of eyes can catch it faster than one.” He wouldn’t explain what “sticky” meant, or what exactly they had to look for. Apparently they would just know.

Wyatt went first, the quicker to get back to his nap. Cat did have to admit that he looked pretty hot in his sleepy daze. She did feel kind of like a creeper though when she was staring at him as he slept. This must be how Aidan feels. Cat giggled at the thought.

She was a bit surprised when Wyatt managed to draw every single symbol perfectly, and identify the meaning. Really, how many geniuses are there in this school? Cat thought to herself. She glared at him.

“You anger me with your easy genius-ness.”

Wyatt laughed, which Cat took as a good sign. Usually people sighed with exasperation.

After Wyatt, Ruth went. She too was able to draw every symbol and identify its meaning, but that wasn’t as surprising to Cat. She had already surmised that Ruth was smart, since they had just worked well together, the two of them, on a project for four.

Walt went next, and he did have some difficulty. He mixed up the symbol for growth and rock. Then he couldn’t identify what a few of them meant. All in all, he did well. But he looked a little slack in comparison to his genius predecessors.

Cat went last, by some stroke of cosmic luck. She started on the first ones, doing fine. She got to about the twelfth one, which was for mountain or rock, before she hit a snag. Now, Mr. Collins had told the class that the order the symbol was drawn in was just as crucial to its shape.

Cat couldn’t remember which way she was supposed to draw it, so she drew the curl top, and then triangle base, making sure to not connect the triangle and to have the end bend in.

Then she drew it the other way, bent tip to triangle to curl.

She had both ways covered, just in case Mr. Collins could miraculously tell whether the swirl or triangle had been drawn first. Personally, Cat thought it looked better a bit thicker lined. Hey, they weren’t supposed to do anything without concentration anyways, Cat thought. Right?

But, almost on cue, the ground started to shake. A rumble traveled up from the soles of their feet, vibrating through their bones. The floor started to buckle, and then crack. Before the floor could be ripped open, small holes appeared. The tree was trying to relieve the pressure pressing against the flooring by giving whatever was pushing out, a way out.

Little rocks came out of the holes, coming out of the floor and then flying towards the middle of the room. The little rocks started coalescing into a solid mass. The little rocks quickly became a big problem. Whatever was drawing the rocks upwards couldn’t hold the weight of the combined rocks. The mass started to dip and rise, bouncing along the air currents in the room, trying to stabilize itself. People scattered under its wake.

Finally, it drifted low and didn’t pull itself back up. There was a huge thud, and the sounds of desks made from wood crunching. There were holes in the floor. Desks were totaled. Papers had flown everywhere, and personal objects had been scattered about the room, tossed by frantic people. Not to mention the newly formed boulder in the middle of the floor. It wasn’t pretty.

Mr. Collins gave a sigh. “Okay, who was working on an earth symbol?”

Cat tentatively raised her hand, knowing she was signing her own death warrant as she did so. People immediately took a couple of steps away from her. Except Wyatt and Walt. They had been standing next to her when it was occurring, and they still stood by her after she raised her hand. Wyatt put his arm around her shoulders and grinned down at her.

“Well, aren’t you a little fire starter?” Cat smiled, appreciating the attempt at humor.

Mr. Collins gave another sigh. “I thought you might be like this. Usually, symbols don’t do anything unless you are concentrating your magic. But since you are constantly leaking, any symbol you draw will activate. Pretty strongly too, from the looks of things.” He surveyed the damage slowly. “No more symbols for you.”

Cat shrugged, as if to say, fine by me. It only made her life easier.