Call of the Water (COMPLETE)

42. THE SECRET

When the werewolf left our room, we were all much more cheerful. I still felt guilty for interfering with his intentions to see Professor Ravens before the transformation commenced, but he assured me that he wasn't mad about that.

Things would have been normal again if there weren't for the fact that our Literature teacher was still missing. Nobody saw her over the weekend and there was no one I could talk to about the reasons for her absence. I've tried asking the headmaster with zero luck and in the light of the recent events, I thought it would be highly inappropriate to delegate that assignment to Mathias.

I fell asleep with the thoughts of Ms. Cyan.

Taking a musical journey with Professor Arian was a nice way to start the week. We were all fond of his classes. That morning, his lesson spoke of conveying emotions through the music, something Nia and Nathan understood very well. At the end of the class, Professor Arian even asked them to sing a song together and they were happy to do so.

I was convinced that, in their interpretation, even the songs from the cleaning products commercials would touch our hearts. All eyes were on them as they took us to another place using nothing but their voices. They were like magnets to our ears. Everybody listened to them without making the slightest sound.

I thought it was so strange to see Max and Leo, our two orcs, so calm and focused on something that was complete opposite to their orc nature.

Harper's heel was tapping in the rhythm of the song. I still found it fascinating how much he had changed over the past months. He was the boy in a wheelchair when the school year started. I was convinced he was unable to walk but he proved me wrong when he came back after the winter break. He used crutches then. His body got accustomed to human legs they had transplanted to replace his own legs that were a clear telltale sign of his race. Harper was a faun. A very persistent one, judging by the fact that after the spring break, he only needed one crutch and it was only a matter of time before it would become redundant as well.

He noticed me staring at his leg, leaned forward in his chair, so that his chest touched his upper legs and looked at me with a smile on his face. I had no choice but to reciprocate the smile.

The rest of the classes weren't as relaxing as the first one. Although I tried my best to focus, it still came down to waiting for them to end. I had yet another plan.

The bell finally rang and I ran out of the Biology classroom with my books in my hands. I didn't want to waste the time on putting them in my backpack. I heard Opal calling my name, but chose to ignore her completely. I was in a lot of hurry and she was just too slow to keep up.

I ran towards the Literature classroom. I didn't have that subject until Friday, but I knew who was supposed to be there on Monday. Mathias.

And with Ms. Cyan gone, our headmaster would probably be substituting her class. I hurried to catch both him and Mathias before they left.

The third-year students were walking down the hall when I turned the corner. I almost collided with a group of chatty girls, yelled 'Sorry' as I passed them by and continued my race against the time.

Once I reached the door, I took a moment to catch my breath before I pushed the door open, ready to face Mr. August and demand to get some answers. Mathias was supposed to be my secret weapon. He was supposed to back me up even though he knew nothing of my plan.

The door wasn't closed, so it swung open after a light push. I gathered all my courage and said, "Before you tell me to leave, please hear me out." My eyes were still glued to the floor as if my courage lay there somewhere. "I just want to know..." I stopped myself in mid-sentence when I glanced up. On the other side of the oval table I didn't find Mr. August.