Fifteen minutes away from the history building is a space-themed café called Café Constellation. On the way, the two girls passed the bus stop with a guy that has the blackest skin Maggie has ever seen. He was a black hole, sucking in all light. At the same time, he was a star radiating strong magical energy. Destiny did not even notice him.
The café is actually an old planetarium with a giant telescope above the store. It’s free to any student Friday night. Maggie knows because she works night shifts here and likes to look through the telescope before locking up.
“What are you gonna order?” Destiny asks as they step in line for the cashier.
Maggie recites her favourite order, “A vanilla latte with extra sugar and a carrot muffin. How ‘bout you?”
“Um...” Destiny quickly taps her foot on the linoleum tile as she looks over the menu again. “Arroz con leche,” she reads from the Latin American section. “I had it once when I went to Colombia with my family.”
“Go for it.”
“But I don’t know what the nutritional value is." She frowns.
“It’s pudding. There is no nutritional value. Just get it already.”
"Next!" the cashier calls out. They must be new because they gawk at Maggie for a second before asking for her order. She’ll never be completely used to the looks people give her for looking different.
The magicians sit across from each other at a small table under the TV. They're broadcasting live a panel of people in suits answering reporters' questions. The heading reads, "Mayor Telvo and Federal Council answer questions on new magic laws". “What are those bastards up to?” Maggie mumbles.
“Hm? What did you say?” Destiny looks up from her arroz con leche.
“Oh. It’s gonna rain tomorrow. That reminds me,” she peels down the liner of her carrot muffin, “why do you want to live in a tiny house with two other people? Your family should have enough money for you to live in a mansion with thousand dollar dogs."
Destiny shifts in her polished, wooden chair. “I can’t use their money because they don’t want me here...” She keeps her eyes on her pudding.
“What do you mean?” Maggie bites into her sweet muffin.
“My parents believe studying magic is a waste of time. It's impractical. They wanted me to go straight to university instead of taking two years to do this. My mom wanted me to go into law and politics like her since my older brother is already in the business world with our dad. I’ve spent the past few months renting out a cubical-sized apartment in the suburbs.” She finally eats some of her pudding. Maggie pictures two blond parents in business casual clothes reading court rules to their daughter as a bedtime story.
“How do you pay for it?”
She sighs. “Personal savings and shifts at the school library. Your place is cheaper and closer than my current place so of course I want it."
“So your reputation as a perfect student is just you being stubborn and trying to prove yourself to your parents?”
She frowns with lowered eyebrows. “Not entirely. I also want to make a difference in the world."
“How?”
“I want to create my own spells to help others. Like healing ones or something.”
“Creating spells is extremely hard." Maggie knows from personal experience that it takes months to come up with the perfect ratio of elements for a spell to create more than a mini explosion.
“Somebody has to do it.” They start rambling on about what courses they have, what teachers they hate, and assignments until the TV catches their attention.
A reporter asks, “How will this affect the students of the Makino Institute?”
“Well if the quota is at its max, fresh alumni must move elsewhere. If they are visiting the city, they can only enter between certain hours, depending on the day. We want to keep the concentration of magicians low for the safety of the citizens," answers a counsellor.
“Are magicians not citizens as well?”
"That is a definition we are working on still. We are also working on special identification cards for them."
“What is your family like?” Destiny asks to change the topic.
“It’s just me and my parents. They’re far off on the other side of the mountain. Across the Pacific even." She smiles at her little half-joke.
“Are they sorcerers too?”
Maggie shakes her head. “Just me. We do have sorcerer ancestors, though.”
“Interesting,” she props her arm on the table and rests her chin in her hand. Her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I didn’t realize it was a genetic thing.”
A bell starts to ring. Others in the café peek their heads up to see where the sound is coming from. Maggie scrambles to quickly pull phone from her backpack and stop the ring tone by answering the call. “Hello?”
“Hi, is this Maggie Domingo?” A male voice asks.
“Mhm. Is this about the roommate position?" She straightens her posture. Destiny blinks at her. She blinks back.
“It is. I'm Alex and my friend and I would like to take the spot.” Maggie’s brows furrow and Destiny draws in a breath. She can't hear Maggie, but the worry on her face is enough to scare her.
“I’m sorry, but there is only one spot is left.”
There’s a pause on the other side. “Could we share a room? Is that possible? Please. My friend recently became an orphan and he's being kicked out of his home.”
Ah, trying to play with my heartstrings. “Does he have a job?”
Another pause. “He doesn’t, but I do. He’s working on finding one.”
“What category are you guys?”
“I’m a bard and he’s a warlock.” Maggie lets that last word sink in. The last warlock or witch she spoke to was months ago in a summer workshop. Destiny is staring at the news again, trying to not pay attention to Maggie even thought she totally is.
“I’ll have to think about it. Is it okay for me to call this number later?”
“Yes, thank you.” For what?
"No problem." Maggie hangs up and sighs.
“Sorry for being selfish, but I hope you don't choose those two over me.” Destiny finishes the rest of her pudding and stands up. “I have assignments to finish so... talk to you later." She swings her bag over one shoulder. "Tschüss.”
Maggie finishes her food by herself. She watches the news where a bunch of normies change society to destroy her.
At home, she removes her roommate ad from her lawn and places it in the dark, empty hallway. Once again, no one is home to scold her for letting dishes pile up in the sink or littering her dirty clothes everywhere.
A bell starts to ring. There is no one around to look up for the source. Maggie slowly searches her bag for her phone. "Hello?"
"You will not believe what your brothers did at magic class this time."
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