Samara and Deborah chattered excitedly back and forth the whole drive home. Deborah’s dad listened to them with an animated grin. After the address from Professor Amelia Campbell the students divided into two groups and followed two different people around eagerly. The tour was partly a disappointment after experiencing the four mysterious rooms they went through to get to the amphitheater, but it was still fascinating to see the rest of the academy. There were six main classrooms that looked basically like much more expensive and comfortable versions of the ones at school, and several smaller ones as well. There was a large common area with fridges, coffee machines, a fully equipped kitchen, several couches, a pool table, a dining table, and a shelf full of board games. Scottie was very excited by the board games.
One thing that stood out to Samara was the lack of technology. There were no computers or TVs in any of the rooms that she saw. In fact their guide, a girl in her late twenties named Bryn, told them that no phones, laptops, or recorders of any kind were allowed in the Academy, and all the textbooks and notes had to be left in the student’s locker at the end of the day. Deborah was annoyed because that meant she could not study at home. Samara told her to look on the bright side: there would be no homework.
There was also a large room with a matted floor and walls that Bryn referred to as the Cave, although officially it was called the Training Room. Apparently there were two elevators to get into the academy. The one they had taken this morning, which led to the four strange rooms, and another one that opened into the common area. Samara had asked Bryn what was up with the four rooms, but she just smiled and said that some secrets were for later.
At the end of the tour, Bryn gave them their class schedules and told them it was the only thing they could take home with them. Samara studied the schedule. Every class name was something innocuous like English 101, Biology 204, History 102. She hoped they were fake names designed to throw off any suspicion someone might have if they saw the schedule lying around and got curious when she was attending Magic Chains 101, Levitation 102 and Intro to Sigils. If they weren’t fake names however, she was going to rebel.
Afterwards Samara, Scottie and Deborah went back through the four rooms with a few other students, and this time they all chattered and pointed things out to each other. They took the elevator back down and picked up their cell phones. Mr. Hutton waited for them with a wide smile.
“Have fun?” He said.
Before Samara realized it, she was back home. She leaned over and gave Deborah a huge hug. “See you tomorrow! Thanks for the ride Mr. Hutton.”
“No problem. Same time tomorrow. Say hey to your uncle for me.”
“Sure.” Samara said. However, she wouldn’t bother telling Jake because he would not care. He made it abundantly clear to Samara that he did not want to spend time with Deborah’s parents. He insisted that it was important that he keep his distance from the Court and all its members. Both of Deborah’s parents had been curious about Jake of course, and Samara had had to find ways to placate them for almost three years. They were probably suspicious, but neither of them had pressed too hard when they realized Samara did not want to tell them anything about her uncle.
To top off her exciting day, it was the first day in almost two months since Dane had not tried to call her. Jake must have driven home the point with his usual clarity. Samara was glad to leave Dane behind, even though their relationship had seemed so important for a time. Even before he had made out with Victoria, of all people, she had been considering breaking up with him. Early in their four-month relationship she had been willing to overlook his controlling tendencies because of his utter devotion to her. It was an intoxicating feeling to have someone so devoted to you, but his desire to distance her from every other relationship in her life should have been a red flag. Deborah had gently hinted for at least a month that she did not like him, which was saying something. Deborah seemed to find something to like about everyone.
The final hurdle of Samara and Dane’s relationship was magic school. Samara was not sure how she could hide the fact that she was going to a school nobody had heard of and learning things that nobody believed in. Dane was headed to the University of British Columbia when the fall semester started and he really wanted Samara to go there too, which would have been fine except that she wanted to learn how to use magic instead. When she asked Jake if she was allowed to tell anyone about the Academy he explained in the strongest terms that she should never even think about doing that. The Court did not allow people to tell their secrets without punishment.
“But what am I supposed to tell Dane?”
Jake looked at her. “Who?”
It had always been that way with Jake. He cared deeply for her, he had demonstrated that on many occasions, but he did not seem to care what went on around her. Even at her track and field events he had kept his distance from all the other parents. He always seemed to look out of place in social events, despite the fact that Samara ensured he was reasonably fashionable and a passable conversationalist. Other parents made efforts to engage him in conversation and some of Samara’s friends’ parents invited him to things. Jake was never very interested in the invites. His social life was limited to Thursday night chess and Sunday morning hikes
Jake had become a carpenter not long after Samara had come to live with him, and over the years he had gotten better and better. A lot of his work now came from a high-end home builder that built huge expensive houses for rich people. When Samara was wondering what she should do after high school she had asked Jake if he enjoyed his work.
“Close enough,” he said.
Samara wondered if that was what she had to look forward to in life, being ‘close enough’ to happiness. With the help of Jake, Deborah and a history tutor, she had good enough grades that she could get into UBC, but she had no idea what she was going to study. She had considered psychology. People’s weird behavior had always interested her. Maybe she would finally be able to understand why Dane had made out with Victoria, of all people. Of course magic school had put all those thoughts on hold, something Samara was very grateful for until Jake told her that most people only study at the Academy for a year and then go back to normal life.
It was hard for Samara to imagine going back to ordinary life with magic powers, even though Jake and Deborah’s parents seemed to do just that. For the millionth time she wondered what the point of the Courts was.
“They balance the Pattern.” Jake had said every time she asked.
“What pattern!”
“They’ll tell you eventually.”
“Why can’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know how to explain it.”
Samara had told Deborah to ask her parents the same question, but when they compared notes they discovered that they gave the same answer almost word for word.
“That’s disappointing,” Deborah said.
It definitely was. Secretly Samara wondered if members of the Court were like superheroes that acted normal during the day but clamored up buildings and fought crime at night, specifically Thursday night, and maybe Sunday morning. It seemed unlikely.
“My dad’s not in good enough shape to wear tights and fight crime.” Deborah said.
“Jake probably is.” Samara said.
“Maybe you should check his closet for a costume.”
The two of them decided that whatever the Academy was like, and whatever happened afterwards, they would become superheroes. Deborah was excited to design the costumes. Deborah loved old comics, not superhero comics, comic strips, like Farside or Calvin and Hobbes. Her dad loved those comics and introduced her to them at a young age and Deborah had decided to learn how to draw so she could make her own. In fact, that was sort of how the two of them met.
When Samara was twelve years old, during recess at school, she had started training her sprinting for her upcoming tryouts. She noticed a girl in a wheelchair watching her near the edge of the concrete basketball court. It looked like she was drawing something. When the bell rang Deborah had misjudged her turn and two of her wheels slid into the mud at the edge of the court. Samara ran over to help free her and had only succeeded in tipping her over. The chair fell partially on top of Samara and pinned her to the ground. As she tried to squirm free Samara apologized profusely but it was lost in a high-pitched peal of laughter from Deborah. They laughed in the mud like toddlers until some fellow students had graciously rescued them.
“What were you drawing?” Samara said as they headed towards the school covered in mud.
Deborah looked at her shyly before she showed her the sketchpad. It was a cartoon style drawing of Samara running across the grass with puffs of smoke and sparks behind her. Samara grinned when she saw it.
“I like watching you run.” Deborah said. “It looks like fun.”
“It’s so fun!” Samara said. “I like to go as fast as I can until my legs can’t keep up, then I fall.”
“That sounds painful.”
“You have to land right or it can be. When you get out of your chair you can try it.” Samara said without thinking.
“I’m never going to get out of this chair though.”
“Oh.” Samara was quiet for a few seconds. “Want to come to my tryout on Saturday?”
Deborah smiled. “That sounds like fun.”
“You can watch everybody run. Hopefully a little slower than me. My name’s Samara.”
“I’m Deborah.”
The two of them had been inseparable ever since, and Deborah had taken to drawing humorous events in their lives in comic strip form. After they decided to become superheroes when they got their sigils Deborah drew a picture of the two of them. In it Deborah had a cool costume with a flying chair that had wings like a bat, and Samara had huge hair.
“Hey! My hair isn’t that big!”
“It was just after a rainstorm.”
“Jerk.”
The chime of the front door brought Samara out of her reverie and her head out of the fridge. She stepped around the corner and saw Jake saunter in with his gym bag full of wood samples over his shoulder.
“You’re back.” He said.
“Yeah. And I have a thousand questions.”
“Still?”
“Possibly more than before.”
“You mind if I shower first.”
“Only if it’s quick.”
“Yes ma’am.” Jake said.
He dropped the bag behind the desk and walked towards the stairs. Samara returned to the fridge and rescued a slice of leftover chicken from its clutches. She considered which question she should ask first. Probably she should ask about the four strange rooms with the carvings and statues in them. They were undoubtedly the strangest part so far.
It was settled. Now all she needed to do was get a clear answer from her uncle.
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