J: new group chat yo
Zev: wow. you got him to speak like a human being, then?
J: shut
Zev: mostly.
J: ella where are you
J: up to no good i have to assume
Zev: so let me get this straight. you made a group chat. so you could talk to erela, specifically? and what, just keep me in the loop about it?
J: check the man’s card because i think we have a bingo
Me: What is happening
J: hey she lives
J: i figure you can pin this conversation or something, keep the whole school from drowning me and zev out
Me: What made you think I couldn’t just pin the conversation with you and the conversation with Zev separately?
J: uh
J: well the thing about that is
J: anyway we have a group chat now
Zev: okay. can this be kept to emergencies? like, whole-team emergencies?
J: i guess sure
J: so where were you anyway
Zev: unreal.
J: shit
I smiled and rolled my eyes, tabbing over to the one-on-one chat to respond.
Me: I was at the psychological building
J: is that what it’s called
Me: Yes
Me: Definitely
J: what happened this time
Me: Well an appointment freed up so I decided to get a bit more progress for the day or whatever
Me: It’s not like a thing has to happen for me to go
J: fair
Me: The girl whose appointment I borrowed is
Me: I’m not exactly keen on throwing stones in a glass house but
Me: The fact that I met her THERE and not ANYWHERE ELSE makes a lot of sense
J: bruh
Me: Oh come on you don’t even know who I’m talking about
J: is she cute
Me: Bruh
The door to my room was closed, so the sound of the TV was barely audible through the various surfaces surrounding me. My phone kicked up a bit of glare from the setting sun. After trying not to be bothered by it for a minute or so, I dove off the foot of my bed into the shade below the windowsill.
Me: How are you holding up?
Zev: fine.
Me: For sure?
Me: Absolutely fine?
Me: No doubt about it?
Zev: stop that.
Zev: look. all that happened was a small group of people found out my hair is long. that’s not the end of the world.
Zev: don’t give bee so much credit.
Me: I just remember what we discussed that one time and it seems like you WOULD be upset about it
Zev: seriously. stop.
Zev: we have enough real problems to worry about.
Zev: imagining more isn’t a good idea.
A narcissist with an inexpiable grudge against us didn’t feel like an imaginary problem, but I guess it wasn’t on the same scale as a curse declawing the police department or a pyromaniac passing an I.E.D. around as a talking stick. Still, Zev had been very clear about wanting to control the spread of information about Samina, and I couldn’t help but think that was less possible with Bee, Ez, and Iggy in play.
But imaginary or not, Zev’s problems were only my business if he wanted them to be. Pushing the matter seemed like it’d do more harm than good.
Me: Are you busy?
J: writing a paper
J: why
J: have you got a distraction for me
Me: I forgot about that
Me: Nevermind
J: nah say the thing
J: i won’t keep writing til i know what’s up
Me: I just
Me: There’s some stuff I need to work out with the glove
Me: I could use someone extra to bounce ideas off of
Me: Someone physically present, I mean
J: ah
J: old man has me on lockdown
J: he wants to read my whole essay before he sees me do anything fun
Me: You should probably do that then
I ignored a few more replies in that conversation.
Me: Is there any chance you could get away from home for a bit?
Zev: no.
Me: Oh
Me: Okay
Me: No problem
Zev: is it an emergency?
Me: I wouldn’t call it an EMERGENCY
Me: Strictly speaking
Zev: then no.
I dropped my phone, rolled onto my back, and folded my arms. With both of them busy, I wasn’t sure who else I could really grab as a volunteer for my experiment. I didn’t want to try the glove’s spell alone after what had happened with Dr. Meiri, because if it didn’t work for just me, then the spell would probably become entrenched as non-functional in my own head, and I’d never get the hang of it again. So I needed the next time I used the glove to be with somebody I knew would know it would work, so that them knowing it would work would help make sure it worked, so that I would see that it still worked and know that it not working was the fluke and not the other way around.
Ugh. Magic was so damn complicated.
My hoodie was hanging from the doorknob. I got up to rifle through my pockets, finding the slip of paper I’d kept and bringing it over to the spot I’d left my phone. I navigated to the contact list app.
Me: Hello
Me: It’s Erela
Milada: Oh, Good Evening. Would You Like To Speak?
Me: I guess
Me: That’s sort of what I was doi-
Before I finished typing and sending the message, my phone rang.
“Uh, hi.”
“Thank you for contacting me,” Milada said. “I appreciate the chance to have actual conversations with a peer very much.”
“Are you planning to call me every time I text you, or…?”
“Is that not an acceptable response?”
“Okay. Whatever,” I shook my head. “Mind if I ask you something a bit strange?”
“Not at all.”
“Do you believe in magic?”
“Is that truly a strange question?”
Um. Yes?
“I must say that the exorcism attempt proving ineffective is a blow to my confidence in the arts,” Milada reported, as if it was the most natural continuation anyone could’ve applied to the conversation.
“That. What? Who tried to do an exorcism?”
“Ah. I’ve been discouraged from talking about the matter.” She sounded remorseful.
“…Right. Well, that’s the main thing I wanted to check, I guess.”
“That is all?”
“Sure.”
“Then I bid you good night, Erela.”
I hung up. Seriously, who taught this kid how to speak?
Having exhausted even the last long-shot of an option, I set my phone on my nightstand. Regaining my mastery of hydrokinesis could wait until Tuesday. In the meantime, I had a lot of sleep to make up for, since it had been a little hard to relax after watching somebody get set on fire yesterday.
I headed downstairs.
isekara 