Chatoyant College Book 2: Initiates

Chapter 28: Mistrust

Edie, Dawn, and Corrie exchanged wide-eyed looks. Edie thought her other two friends were probably thinking the same thing as she was--did Professor Strega have the Sight too? Or did she have another reason to be suspicious of Professor Lal? Either way, they probably needed to be particularly wary.

Roe didn't seem to have noticed their startlement. "She asked about the other person in my vision, too," she continued. "I don't remember anything still, but she did say she knows some questioning techniques that might help me remember more details."

"What, like hypnotism?" asked Edie, astonished. She was getting used to the idea that magic was real and was actually taught at this school, but she didn't think of hypnotism as even in the same realm as real magic--just charlatan's tricks.

Roe raised her eyebrows in surprise. "She didn't use the word hypnotism," she said slowly. "But I guess it might be. I have heard good things about hypnotism in therapy, though, so this might be the same kind of thing."

"Well, thanks for letting us know," said Corrie with an encouraging smile. "Will you tell us if anything useful happens in your tutoring session?"

"Definitely," Roe said. "Actually, can we swap cell phone numbers? I'll feel safer knowing we can get in touch with each other."

"Oh, good idea," said Dawn. She took her phone out of her pocket and they all traded numbers.

Roe walked them to the door when they had finished. "I guess I'll see you later. Be careful!"

The three of them were quiet as they hurried, by common accord, to Corrie and Edie's room. (They must have looked worried or frightened--Edie noticed Helene from across the hall giving them an odd look.) When they had reached it, Corrie locked the door behind them, and they all sat together on Corrie's bed, where they could talk quietly. "So do you think Professor Strega has the Sight too?" Corrie asked immediately.

Dawn nodded. "That's the only explanation I can think of. I mean, she actually said she didn't trust her fellow teacher? I mean, that's not something they're supposed to say, even if they don't like each other--they should support each other in front of students."

"I think it's strange that she would say that, even if she does know Professor Lal is a faerie," said Edie, frowning. "Surely she knows about the agreement? I think there must be something else that makes Professor Strega not trust her."

"Professor Lal might not know that she knows," Dawn pointed out. "She could tell I could see her real appearance because I was shocked, but if Professor Strega is used to seeing faeries, she might be able to hide her surprise."

That made sense to Edie, and she nodded slowly. "But just being a faerie doesn't necessarily make her untrustworthy... I mean, Ever turned out to be really helpful, even if it was her fault Annie got kidnapped in the first place."

"Professor Strega might not know that," said Corrie. "The odds seem to be that any given faerie is going to be pretty damn evil--she might think that any faerie is necessarily evil."

"But that doesn't mean Professor Lal isn't evil," said Dawn.

"No, of course not." Corrie sighed. "I really like her as a teacher, so I don't want to think she's evil, but the evidence is hard to ignore."

Dawn shivered suddenly. "If you could see her, you wouldn't have such trouble thinking she's evil. She seems really nice when she talks, but she has those claws and those black eyes... she just looks like she could eat your soul and still have room for dessert."

"Appearances don't mean anything, though, at least not when it comes to faeries," Edie said, remembering the ones they had met in the woods. "There were a few faeries in the woods who looked harmless or nice... there was one who was sort of goatish. And the leader was just gorgeous."

"Not the whole time," said Dawn softly. "But you're right, I don't think appearances mean anything."

"This is so frustrating," said Corrie. "We can't do anything about it, and we don't know when Roe's vision is going to happen, if it ever does."

"If Professor Strega really does have the Sight, though, there's something we might be able to do," said Edie.

"What's that?" Dawn asked.

"You could get lessons with her. There must be ways to learn to use the Sight better, right? And Professor Lal wouldn't want to help because none of the faeries seem to want you to see them better."

"Edie, that's brilliant," Dawn said, grinning at her. "You're just full of great ideas tonight, aren't you?"

Edie was embarrassed, but pleased. "Well, I hope it works."

Dawn stood up and stretched. "I feel better. Okay, I really had better get to that psych reading."

"Crap," said Edie, remembering, "we have Jasmine tomorrow, don't we? I have to finish that stupid essay."

"See you guys tomorrow!" said Dawn as she left.