Page 100 of Cerulean Truth
"What is so darn urgent?" I asked, as I walked back down the stairs into the garden.
James stood from the fountain he’d been leaning on.
"Nothing urgent, but it turns out I’m filling in for Matthew again tomorrow at the Scola. I’m teaching the kids about portals, practical class this time, and I thought it might be good for you to join them."
I blinked, surely he wasn’t asking me to join seven-year-old children in class again?
“You want me to…?” I trailed off.
"Just this once. I think it would be good for you to witness their struggles with translation, especially with portals."
I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. Being in that class was utterly humiliating.
Searching his eyes for kindness, all I found was a hardened stare, filled with impatience. So, I conceded. "Fine. I’ll do it. Let me know when and where, and I’ll be there."
James gave me a curt nod and left the Atrium again without so much as a goodbye.
Lovely.
The following morning,James was already in class as I walked in. He greeted me with nothing more than a short nod. What was up with him?
I nodded back dryly and took a seat in the backrow of the class, trying to create as much distance as possible between us.
His eyes followed me, but he didn’t say anything. Thus we waited for the rest of the class to arrive. In stubborn silence.
"Right," he spoke up when the class was fully seated. "Last month, we went over the theoretical basics of portals. Today, as I announced last week, we are going to apply those basics and try to create a real portal.”
The children went berserk, all talking at once.
“Everyone, shut up!” James commanded with no uncertain authority, and a giggle involuntarily erupted from my mouth. I quickly covered it up, but if he heard it, he chose to ignore it.
“Now, let’s push all the tables aside and form a line from here to there.” James motioned to either side of the classroom.
The kids eagerly rose from their seats and began their assignment. The noise of all the tables moving at once was deafening. I pushed my table aside as softly as I could to attract as little attention as possible. As a result, I, of course, was the last one to finish and stood out ten times more.Cringe.
James waited patiently for me to finish up, as I shuffled to the back of the line, my cheeks burning with embarrassment rather than exertion.
“All right, let’s get started.” He clapped his hands. “Morgan, tell me what you would do first.”
Morgan shuffled a bit, her confidence from last month replaced by nervousness.
“Morgan, I can’t hear what you’re saying; speak up, please,” James demanded. Feeling an unusual urge to comfort her, I sent an encouraging smile her way when she glanced at me.
“I would focus on my will to leave this place and go somewhere else,” she said shyly.
James nodded approvingly. “Okay, where would you want to go?”
“To the ice cream bar.”
James coughed, perhaps masking a laugh. “That’s certainly an entertaining thought, but for now, let’s concentrate on going from this side of the classroom to the other side. How would you go about doing so?”
“But I don’t want to go to the other side of the class, Mr. Walker,” she said innocently. I couldn’t help but hide a smile, and I swear I saw James doing the same.
“Well, look at it this way,” James suggested, “if this week you manage to get to the other side of the classroom, next week you’ll get your ice cream. What do you say?”
Morgan didn’t respond, but the sparkle in her eyes spoke volumes. She straightened her back and declared, “I would close my eyes and focus on the wall, while concentrating on my desire to leave this side of the room.”
“Very good, Morgan. Give it a try for me, please.”
