Chatoyant College Book 13: Chapter 28: Humidity

Corrie and Edie knocked on Dawn’s door, but no one answered, so they figured she was with Rico and went to Roe’s room. Edie also expressed concern about Roe’s appearance, which made Annie give her another glare, but Roe dismissed them again. Corrie knew better than to keep bugging her about it—it would just make her defensive and even less likely to do what they wanted. Anyway, Roe did have an appointment with Professor Strega the next day.

When they stepped out into the late afternoon, Corrie noticed that the air was getting humid. “I wish Dawn were here,” she said. “She could tell us whether there’s a storm coming.”

“I’m in that class too,” Annie said. “I can sense the air currents enough to see if there’s a storm that’s close by. Want me to check?”

“Sure,” Corrie said, grinning.

Annie stood still in the middle of the path, not flinching as a small group brushed past them on their way into Gilkey. They were all quiet for several seconds as she stayed there. Finally, though, she opened her eyes and shook her head. “I checked a little ways out from campus, but I don’t sense any storm. In fact, the air is really still. I guess that’s why it feels so sticky.”

“It’s just a humid summer night,” Edie said, patting her hair. “It’s early for it to get bad like this, but I guess we can’t escape it.”

“I kind of like the humidity,” Roe said. “It’s heavy, and it feels comforting. Besides, sometimes it makes my hair curlier.”

“Want to trade?” Edie said, rolling her eyes, and they all laughed.

Corrie was glad that Roe had something to feel good about, even if it was just the weather. Well, that and her talk with Link later, which Corrie hoped would go well.

“Hey, Annie,” she asked as they walked toward the dining hall. “Do you remember Dawn talking about a cold spot, like a cold breeze on campus?”

“Yeah,” Annie said. “And no, I can’t sense it. I’m pretty sure I would have sensed it during class if I could, but I didn’t sense it tonight, either.”

“That’s weird,” Corrie said. “Maybe Dawn is just extra-sensitive.”

Edie looked at Corrie, her eyes wide. “What if it has something to do with her Sight? What if she’s sensing a faerie?”

Corrie frowned. “Then wouldn’t Professor Lal have been able to sense it?”

“Maybe not,” Edie said. “I don’t think faeries can necessarily see through a glamour the way she can. Or we can, with four-leaf clovers.”

“Huh.” They’d reached the dining hall, and it was noisy, so Corrie just shook her head. It was certainly a possibility, but she was sure Professor Lal would have thought of it.

They found a table in a corner, where they could see out the window, and got their food. It was getting dark out by the time they sat down again, which Corrie took as a hopeful sign—it seemed early, so maybe a storm really was brewing.

They chatted about classes while they ate. Roe told them about the little work they’d done in psionics class about future sight; they’d stared into bowls of water just like with distance sight, but no one had seen anything, including Roe. She said that she’d worked with Professor Strega on that technique, and she could sometimes get a vision to come that way, but she needed to stare at the water for a lot longer.

“You didn’t even have the teeth vision?” Corrie had to ask.

“Not in class,” Roe said. “I guess it only comes at night. That’s something to mention to Professor Strega.” She did seem to be in a better mood. “Maybe if we try it with candle flames I’ll have a vision in the next class. That’s been a bit more consistent for me.”

“Well, I’m going to practice my distance sight,” Corrie said. “Professor Rook said I can probably do it without a focus, at least on campus, if I practice enough. I’ll be able to just think about a place and see it.”

“Does being on campus still matter?” Annie asked. “After what you guys said Elrath did to the magic, I thought it wasn’t concentrated here anymore.”

“I don’t think it’s dissipated,” Edie said. “There are still a lot of people doing magic on campus, after all. It just doesn’t have a mind of its own anymore.”

“Has anything changed in your magic class, Edie?” Corrie asked. “I don’t think anyone’s abilities have been affected.”

Edie shook her head. “Not that I know of, and Ginny didn’t mention it. If she thought the amount of available magic was going to change, I’m sure she would have said something.”

They continued talking, slowly eating their food, until Roe checked her phone and jumped up. “I’m supposed to meet Link in five minutes! Wow, it got really late. I’ll see you guys later.” She grabbed her dishes and left.

Corrie glanced outside to see that it was pitch dark, but definitely not raining. She sighed. “I guess it is late. I should probably go finish my Intro to Lit reading.” She looked at her plate. “But I’ll finish my cake first.”