Winter's Bite

Chapter Five: Rumors

Twenty minutes had passed since the beginning of class and already Rayne was impressed with my understanding of the proper ingredients needed in order to complete the Potion. The Bunsen burner worked overtime on boiling the water inside of the beaker while our leather bound textbooks were laid out in front of us alongside our notebooks.

The Elixir of Curing: Brewing Ingredients

Three strands of Unicorn hair
A pinch of Moonstone
A teaspoon of Water from the Black Sea
Mermaid's Tears

Once everything was added by accordance to the instructions on the page, Rayne and I stared at each other for a moment when nothing happened. We thought we might have missed something and decided to go over the text again when the reddish brown liquid suddenly sent out a burst of white light only to change colors in the form of coral blue with tiny gold flecks caused by the Unicorn hair.

Mr. Maldonado approached us from the front of the class as he leaned over our workstation, examining the final product. His hazel eyes twinkled with delight while a small effort of a smile tugged along the corner of his thin lips. Reaching for the beaker he raised it into the air and showed it off to the rest of the class while the remaining students still struggled to finish on time.

"See here everyone. This is a fine exception to the proper art of Potion making. Excellent work you two."

"Thank you, Mr. Maldonado," Rayne said. "But really the credit should go to, Shawn. He took to it like a pro."

"Really?"

"No, not really. I'm just good at following directions." I replied.

"Oh. Stop being so modiest. You've earned it, rockstar."

I rolled my eyes but said nothing further as the end of class came and went. Gathering up my belongings, Mr. Maldonado handed me a small vial with a rubber stopper.

"Take it home with you. Consider it a gold star."

"Uh. Thank you, sir."

The liquid drizzled into the vial like goop as Rayne finished cleaning off the rest of the table and put the beaker in the sink. But we no sooner stepped out into the hall that I realized a rumor had started. I glanced at the other students as they huddled around each other like sardines, their voices quietly whispering in hushed tones. When we reached the vestibule, the whole school seemed to take note of the seriousness of this so called rumor.

Even Keiran was amongst them. I felt his eyes on me as I descended the stairs with Rayne and came face to face with Headmistress Marchand. She pointed the way to her office as I followed. Once seated, she closed the door behind us and sat down on the edge of her desk.