Twilit Mage

Chapter 35: Out of Character

Tired. Starving. Guilty.

Raoul rolled over, taking a glance at his watch and burying his face in the pillow with a sigh. He knew it. It was lunch break already, and he was still here, lying around on his bed gaming, munching on the dry cookies he had stashed in the nightstand, and trying not to think about anything.

He wondered what Mercy was doing right now. Was she okay, trying to handle the school day without him? He was sure she was. Mercy was strong. Or that was what he told himself in the hopes that it would make him feel a little less like a failure.

Should he get up now? It might be a good time, he thought. He could sneak into the cafeteria and grab whatever was still left of lunch, and then he'd go to the afternoon classes like usual and pretend he had just overslept.

And face Mercy again. And Georgiana. And Ms. Soulless.

Dammit, he didn't want to.

If it was only one of them, he thought, it might still be fine. If he didn't have to go into that classroom facing all the people he had faced last night, all the people who had to suspect and mistrust him the most, it might be okay. But all of them together, in one spot...impossible.

Well, who cared. He had already missed half a day. He might as well stay here and take the whole day off.

~ ~ ~

Mercury had no idea why part of her had hoped for Raoul to show up for the afternoon classes, but she was still disappointed. Hour after hour she kept hoping for him, waiting, and hour after hour there was nothing, no appearances, no explanations, not even a reply to her million texts. She had given up on trying to reach him. If she spammed him any more Raoul would only get annoyed, and that was the last thing she wanted.

Still, it was terrifying, walking into the magical theory classroom past all the hostile faces and sitting down alone, knowing she would have to face Ms. Solstice in a moment, the very same Ms. Solstice who would have branded her a spy and traitor if it hadn't been for Georgiana. The very same Ms. Solstice who had hated her since day one and who, after everything that had happened and the damage it must have done to her own reputation, must loathe her even more. If she had been screwed before, now she was doomed. Done for. By the end of this class the entire classroom would see her as a monster.

She tried to think of something happier as she sat there alone, but her usual silly daydreams wouldn't come this time. No matter what she thought about, her thoughts kept straying back towards last night, Raoul, Ms. Solstice, everything that would await her now. And she was cold. Shaking. Blank-minded. Terrified.

Georgiana had taken her usual seat in the front row, but she peered back every so often, as if to make sure that she was still okay. Mercury tried to return her looks with gratitude. She didn't want to make her worry or cause her trouble, not any more than she already had.

Then the familiar clacking of heels echoed down through the hallway, and the door opened and closed with a bang as Ms. Solstice marched inside and placed her bag on the desk with little ceremony. Mercury saw her face and gave a small gasp. She looked terrifying. Her cheeks were sunken in, her eyes cast with dark shadows as if she hadn't slept all night; her irises were almost yellow and her pupils stuck as slits, her eyelids lined with red, her skin more pale and grayish than ever before. She looked more abnormal than ever, and Mercury could only shudder with the realization what that would mean for her.

But Ms. Solstice didn't drop a single word about last night's incident. "Good afternoon, class," she said in the same sharp voice as ever, scanning in the entire class with her reptilian gaze. Then her eyes settled on Mercury and the empty seat next to her, and for a second the world stood still.