Page 17 of The Scars Within
He turned to me, meeting my eyes with a sigh. “Rhodes is someone you might want to avoid. It’s not you, okay? It’s him. I’ve got to get to class, but see you later?”
I nodded and walked away.
As I walked towards my next class, Intro to Earth Wielding, I felt the familiar tightness in my chest. Stopping in the hall, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The numbness in my left arm started at my shoulder and quickly spread to my fingertips. I shouldn’t have indulged in the food fight. If I get kicked out of Mageia, I have nowhere to go, no one to turn to.
No one to welcome me back home.
But being around these people with their seemingly normal lives and experiences stirs my curiosity. What would life be like if I had two loving parents? Who would I be without the nightmares of my past? How would my life look if I let these people in?
Or what if I become a burden to them, too?
After scanning the area, I ensured I was alone. I backed up to lean against the stone wall and then eased myself onto the floor. My knees bent, my arms resting beside me, and my head tilted against the wall. I closed my eyes.
No.
I will not let myself think that way.
I will not surrender to my darkness.
I took a deep breath and inhaled the smell of dry stone and old mortar.
I traced gentle circles with my fingers. Feeling the cold stone floor and tiny particles of dirt.
I exhaled.
Another deep breath in.
I focused on what I could hear. The sound of fire crackling in the wall sconces.
Then I repeated the words that have kept me going—you are meant for more.
I opened my eyes again to see what was in front of me. The opposite wall of the hallway.
Focusing my senses on my surroundings centered my gravity once again. I took a few more deep breaths before raising myself from the floor.
Just like I raised myself from Rock Bottom.
Chapter 7
I made my way towards the eastern exit of the college for Intro to Earth Wielding. Earth magic is always taught outside, rain or shine. Memories of sitting on my mother’s lap, listening to her stories about when the school allowed earth courses indoors resurfaced. After several incidents, the final straw was when an elemental produced an oak tree from the classroom floor, breaking through the ceiling and making the entire college wing unstable. The eastern wing was closed down for months.
Stepping outside, I was immediately stunned by the harsh evening light. A tall stone wall enclosed the space dedicated to earth-wielding but was large enough to host a small forest, a vegetable garden, and a pond. Three groups of cadets were already in the yard, so I began walking, hoping I hadn’t missed too much of the class.
I passed an older professor giving pointers on how to speed up the growth of plants. He motioned for a student to step in front of the class and attempt to increase the size of a small tree. Not my class, probably second-years. I continued and found another group of cadets hanging on vines they created out of thin air, attaching them to the trees within the small forest. Third-years.
Finally, I spotted Tatum and Laney cheering with the rest of the group at the back of the yard. Nudging my way through the crowd, myjaw dropped when I realized what everyone was hollering over. Cleo was in the center of the crowd with a young professor at her side, twisting her hands in a complex motion, growing a sunflower taller and taller.
“She would be the first one to channel,” I grinned.
“I think it’s badass! Go Cleo!” Tatum cheered.
The remainder of the class consisted of every first-year cadet testing their luck. Cleo was the only one to channel her element successfully. As the sun set, we were dismissed. My quad was the last to leave the yard, too busy fussing over Cleo and bombarding her with questions about how it felt to channel. It was the most I have heard her talk since initiation.
We had another amazing meal that I will forever remember, and then we departed for our chambers for the night. I followed behind my friends up the turret, passing other cadets descending with arms full of novels. “Hey, where did you find those?” I asked a cadet with a face full of freckles.
“The library!” she squealed. “It’s even more beautiful than I had imagined.”
I nodded as they continued downward and then paused on the step. Laney stopped at the door to our floor. “Scar, you coming?”
