Weeks flew by for Arthur. Though he hadn't talked to Kaesha directly, many smiles of recognition passed between the two, and the Englishman found himself enjoying her company more and more. Even without talking to her, just being in her presence gave him a sort of warm feeling, and he could have stayed that way the rest of the year.
But confrontation was inevitable.
It was early October, and school had been in session for just over a month. It was getting colder outside, and the leaves fell from the trees almost as constantly as the rain from the sky. The rain that fell in this little town was relentless; large, cold drops of water that beat on the windows, and the roof, and anything else unfortunate enough to be left outside. On such an afternoon as this Arthur sat alone in his classroom, lazily grading papers while the rain droned on outside. Suddenly he heard the door click opened and he looked up, not sure who to expect. And there she was.
"Oh, hello Kaesha," he smiled through his nerves, and hoped she couldn't tell how fast his heart was beating. Honestly, he thought, shes just a little girl, what am I so nervous about! "What can I help you with?"
"Well," she began, stepping into the room, "we have a question for you." And it was then that Arthur realized he and Kaesha were not alone, as "we" might have suggested. She was followed closely by three other girls, one of which was holding a piece of paper- a club application form. "We were thinking of forming a club," Kaesha continued, confidence building as she spoke, "a writing club." Then the girl with paper handed it over to Arthur for inspection, and it read as follows:
Name of Club: Writing Club
Purpose of Club: To expand our knowledge through creative writing
Club Room: 107
Club Members: Kaesha, Rose, Aubree, Savannah
Club Advisor:
Arthur looked up from the form, guessing the names of the club members corresponded with the girls standing before him, and not failing to notice the empty Club Advisor seat.
"We have enough members for the club," one of the girls picked up where Kaesha left off, "We just need an Advisor."
"So, what do you say?" Kaesha asked, "Will you be our Club Advisor?"
Arthur didn't hesitate to say yes. What mad man would turn down an opportunity to spend so much time with her? Besides, he told himself, it could be a good addition to my time in America. "Of course," he smiled, "I'd be happy to."
"Really?" Kaesha smiled, "Thank you so much!" It was that smile, Arthur realized. That smile. For all the years he'd lived, all the people he'd met, all the smiles he'd seen, none were quite like her's. So many smiles were just overused and false, a mere tugging at the corners someones lips. But her smile was so real, so genuine. Her smile was born from emotion, and not from a social expectancy.
One of the girls spoke then, jolting Arthur from his thoughts. "Yes, thank you," she said politely, and was echoed by the other two. "Kaesha, why don't you introduce us all?"
"Oh yeah," she apologized, "I almost forgot!" One by one, she proceeded to introduce her friends.
"This is Rose" she began, gesturing to the girl who had just spoken. Rose looked a shocking amount like Kaesha, having the same long, lengthy build, thought she was much paler and wore her hair much longer than Kaesha. "This is Savannah" she gestured to the next girl. She was much shorter than the others, and was shyly half hidden behind Rose. She had an adorable face that was framed by her short brown hair and accented by her large, dark eyes. "And this is Aubree" Kaesha gestured to the last girl. Aubree was strikingly beautiful, with bright blue eyes that contrasted the light golden hair falling over her shoulders, though her smile seemed somewhat forced.
"Everyone," Kaesha said, now addressing her friends, " This is Arthur Kingston, our new Club Advisor!"
"It's nice to meet all of you," Arthur smiled warmly.
However, despite his smile, the Brit felt somewhat weary of the four girls standing before him. He tried to brush the feeling off as his own stubborn shyness, but deep down he know that wasn't it. Suddenly, he realized where the feeling came from, and a wave of guilt washed over his heart. Because a mage of Arthur's level can sense when someone's been manipulated by magic, as those girls had. And the spell cast on all four of them was the one he had cast on the sick children eleven years ago...
