Most were attending UVM, but Ashley had courses on the Champlain College campus, which was almost adjacent to UVM. The discussion changed to picking up books and meeting for lunch at the Davis Student Center the next day.
“Hey, what’s up with the blonde twins and their little pack of groupies?” Ashley asked. “Personally, I think they’re going to be trouble.”
“The real trouble is that giant meathead wolf kid… Delwood. He already think’s he’s king shit,” Mack said.
“Well, Chris said he isn’t. Who do you think he was talking about?” Jetta asked.
“Time will tell. But I have some ideas,” Ashley said, “that I’m not ready to share,” she finished with a cryptic grin. I was looking at a little decorative twig house that was on the top of the built-in bookshelf on Ashley’s desk. The tone she used made me turn to get a look at her, but she wasn’t making eye contact with anyone, just looking down at her hands as she spoke. There was an awkward silence so I took it upon myself to give her a hand.
“Ashley? What’s this thing? It looks like a fairy house,” I said, more to change topics than anything else. Her head whipped up and her eyes widened. “Don’t touch that!” she said.
I snatched my fingers away before they could make contact and raised both eyebrows at her.
“It’s… delicate,” she finished, a little lamely.
I looked at it with my Sight and while I still couldn’t see into the dark interior, it fairly glowed with magic. And movement… something was inside it, something that might be alive. Not saying a word, I sat back down next to Mack and studied the little house from a distance while the girls turned to fashion topics.
After a bit, we all headed back to our own rooms, agreeing that the next day, after get our books, we would find our classrooms, possibly have lunch, explore downtown, and maybe begin some Caeco-fu lessons.
Chapter 6
As a first year computer science major, I had Website design, Calculus (yuck, more calc), Introduction to Programming, English 1 (expressive writing), and a TAP class, which if I understood it was a writing intensive seminar. Great. My TAP class was listed as Awakenings taught at an ‘alternative venue’ by a G. Velasquez on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Caeco had all different courses except the same TAP class, which was obviously the ARCANE class that Gina taught.
Mack and Jetta hitched a ride in the mighty Beast up the hill and we went to the bookstore in the Davis center and picked up our books. Jetta, still technically a high school student, was only taking three classes on the campus: an English course, a math course that seemed like it might be a combination of Trig and pre-calc, and a first-year American history class. She had to go to a local high school three days a week for a biology class and lab. Between the thought of exposure to high school and the cold of northern Vermont in January, she looked pretty down.
“Hey, you only have to go for a couple hours on three days. The rest of the time, you get to hang with us,” I said, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. She glanced up at my reflection, then huddled back down into her brand-new Eddie Bauer jacket and looked out the window.
“Awesome. Stuck at the Arctic Circle with werewolves and witches. If my ass doesn’t freeze off, someone will either bite it off or blast it with a spell,” she muttered.
“No one’s blasting my roomie with a spell,” Caeco said, looking concerned. After a moment, she seemed to reach a decision. She put her hand to the back of her neck and pulled off the necklace I’d made her. “Here, put this on. It’ll protect you from spells, right Declan?”
“Err, quite a few,” I said, looking at her sidelong. That necklace was the first gift anyone had ever given her.
Jetta put up both hands. “I can’t take that,” she said. “Declan made it for you.”
A little flash of relief crossed Caeco’s face but changed to determination. I intervened, even as I realized that Caeco must have told Jetta about the necklace before.
“I’ll make each of them their own,” I said hurriedly.
“Will they even help much. I mean, no offense, but aren’t those girl witches lots more powerful?” Mack asked.
“Ha. Don’t believe the stereotype, Mack. Declan’s magic will stop all of them combined,” Caeco said.
I wasn’t so sure about that. I mean, I knew what