Twilit Mage

Chapter 11: Prime Suspects

By the time the others woke up, Mercury had already left the nurse's office, moved into her dorm room, got dressed, and stared at her schedule and the map of the school for almost forty-five minutes to make sure she wouldn't get lost and be late on the very first day. Bonnie, who had either slept very little or stayed up the whole night, had helped her retrieve her bags and find the way, and now she was stuck with a lot of nerves and nothing left to do.

She sat down at her desk, got up again, walked around the room, sat down on her bed, and jumped up again in an instant. Her body felt cold and shaky, her head light, her heart pounding and fluttering like an anxious butterfly. Her stomach hurt. She was starving, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to eat a single bite at breakfast.

It's okay, she told herself. I've got Raoul. I'll manage.

But that thought did nothing to stop the chills running down her spine, the cold, clammy feeling in her hands, the gasps of her breath. It didn't stop the images of people staring at her, pointing, whispering, or the nagging, clinging, creeping fear of being caught spacing out and embarrassed in front of the whole class. Or what if someone pulled the same thing Georgiana had and kept her out of a room again and she showed up late? Or what if the teacher called on her and she couldn't answer a basic question about magic? Or–

Mercury squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the images as they grew wilder and wilder, more and more vivid and terrifying. She couldn't panic...she shouldn't panic. That only made it all a self-fulfilling prophecy, her mother had always said that.

Mom...Maybe she should call home. Maybe that would help her calm down...

She looked at the clock and shook her head. No, this was a bad time. Her mother should be going to sleep after her night shift just about now, no need to bother her when she needed to rest. And her father was in the middle of opening the shop and couldn't spare a minute. The last thing she wanted to be right now was a burden to her own parents.

Taking a shaky breath, Mercury reached for her headphones and tried to listen to music until it was finally time to head down for breakfast.

~ ~ ~

The breakfast room was too big and too crowded, and Mercury wasn't hungry. She didn't want to eat anything. She didn't want to be here. She wanted to go home and curl up under a blanket in her room where nobody could see her.

For the moment, though, no one seemed to be paying much attention to her. Everyone was standing in groups or sitting down around tables, laughing and talking and stuffing their faces. Mercury's eyes darted around in search of free seats. There were a few...but all around them were people, people that she'd have to go up to and ask if she could sit with them. Her insides tensed up. No...no, no, she couldn't do that if she tried. They were so deep in conversation and she'd have to interrupt them...they would mind, they'd definitely mind...

"Boo."

Without warning a pair of arms wrapped around her from behind, and a second later Raoul's grinning face peered over her shoulder, his glasses a little lopsided, his already messy hair an even messier bedhead. "Mercy!" he said cheerfully. "Good morning!"

Mercury felt herself relax a little. Raoul's tackle-hug felt warm and reassuring, a bright, cheery reminder how much she had needed the affection even though she could never muster the courage to ask for it from anyone. "G-Good morning," she said, returning his smile.

Raoul's face brightened even more, and he loosened his hug to step beside her, one arm wrapped snugly around her shoulders. "Man, good thing I found you!" he chattered as he pulled her along to get plates of food for both of them, pointing questioningly to different items until Mercury gave in and nodded at a single pop-tart, cutting through the crowd with little consideration. "It's so crowded in here, I thought I was gonna have to climb on the table and look down to spot you. Have you checked out the food already? Looks pretty nice! I bet they use magic to make really cool stuff or something. Hungry?"