Different Kinds of Magic

4 - Mind Tricks

Aidan makes her way down the wood and stone steps wishing Celia wasn't the one running late today. Mr. Morgan reserved the outdoor classroom for today's class. It is supposed to be a break from routine, a break that he said would allow thoughts to roam free rather than circle the same four walls of the room inside the school.

No one else is on the wood and stone stairway headed down into the woods next to the school. For a girl trying to avoid the man, she now wonders how the hell she is the first to make it to class today. Halfway down, she hears his voice. She can't see beyond the curve ahead.

He must be talking on his cell. She makes out only his side of the conversation.

"What is she doing here?"

Long pause.

"When?"

"That's too soon."

Aidan takes a few steps.

"She's not ready."

She moves a branch out of her way.

The outdoor classroom looks more like an old place of worship. Trees filled with Spanish moss circle wooden benches. A podium stands on a raised wooden dais. Behind the podium is a wall built of mismatched stones, covered in spots of lichen. All that is missing is a cross delineating its religion of choice.

"I'm not ready."

Aidan watches the man pace the dais, his back to the wooden benches.

"How - ?"

Same old jeans and boots, different shirt: blue button-down rolled up to the elbows and a darker blue tie with a smiley face large and off-center. The tie flaps in the breeze of his pacing. The boots stomp the wood.

"Fine."

Pause.

"No, I get it. Today. But be prepared."

Pause.

"You know she'll fight it."

She takes another step, a nut cracks beneath her feet. She looks down at the crushed shell on stone.

He must have slipped the cell into a pocket. His hands are empty. He raises one to beckon her forward.

"Come on, Aidan. You're the first."

She takes a few more steps, cautious. They are alone in the woods around the school. The outdoor classroom dips down into the trees, hidden from all views.

All she can think is that she is alone with the man who makes her feel like he is hell personified.

"I guess it takes longer to get down here than I expected."

"Especially if everyone else forgot," she says.

"I put on a note on the door."

The tardy bell rings, singing through the trees.

"I'll give them some more time."

"Or you could cancel the class." She makes her way through the center aisle, trying to appear as if he didn't send goosebumps up and down her entire body.

"Well, I could. It is Friday."

"It would give some of us a chance to get out of the parking lot before the Rally."

He chuckles, leaning on the stone wall. "Not today. I've planned a test next week."

"Lovely," she says, tightening her grip on her books. She lets the power part of her mind wander up the steps, searching for other students, searching for others to fill the empty benches.