Serial Saturday: "Fairies Under Glass" Part 27

Part 27

"Final Examinations"

Silence hung over the lecture hall in a thick cloud. Lewis moved with automated precision, scrawling his sentence responses and filling in bubbles under that overbearing sense of being carefully watched by the proctors standing at the corners of the room. His eyes remained locked on the page. As far as he was concerned there was only him, his pencil, and the Final Exam in front of him. Every lecture he'd heard, every textbook he'd pored over, every Study Hall he'd attended all led to this moment, the moment he'd make the transition from sophomore to junior. Nothing else mattered as he turned the last page and kept marking down answers.

"Time!" The proctor's announcement reached him from a great distance, and Lewis saw the welcome words "END TEST" on the page just below his last answer. He'd finished! He and forty others in the room let out a collective sigh, and followed the proctor's directions to form a single-file line to turn in the completed exams.

Lewis set his test booklet down and the girl behind him in line joked, "Now we just have to do this four more times and we're finished for the summer!"

He peeked over his shoulder with a laugh on his lips. She had curly brown hair and bright-blue eyes, and today she wore a plain white t-shirt under a soft green linen romper.
"Hi, Christine," Lewis greeted her.

"Hi, Lewis," Christine responded. "How did that one feel?"

Lewis tilted his head back and forth with a noncommittal expression. "History hasn't been one of my stronger subjects, but I think I did all right."

Christine chuckled. "At least if you can't remember the particulars of an event, it helps that the questions kind of lead you to the information the professors who grade our tests will be looking for," she said.

Lewis nodded. "If you can't answer the test, at least answer the professor, right?"

"You got it!" Christine flashed him a thumbs-up. "Good luck at your next class!"

"You too!"

Lewis headed down the corridor to the mathematics wing with a straightness in his spine and a lightness in his step that definitely hadn't been there last semester. He caught the eye contact of passersby and gave a smile or a nod as they passed each other. Those he knew by name, he waved to--and that number had even started to grow.

Perhaps nearly becoming a freak show display did wonders for one's desire to connect to other people.
It helped that the last bout of chaos (which he caused) at the carnival, coupled with his "weekend disappearance", prompted yet another change in employment. Melanie delivered a letter from Dean Rushford that officially recognized Lewis' efforts at fulfilling the required number of work hours, instead offering him a position on the Academy's social committee, in charge of networking with students and welcoming newcomers. Danielle happened to be on the committee already, so Lewis willingly accepted the position.

He reached Intro To College Algebra and immediately glanced to the corner typically occupied by Quincy, Jesse, and Henry, but all the seats around them were already filled. The opposite corner was still mostly open, while groups of students clustered around the middle tables in the room. Lewis found a table with one more open seat and took it.

The four students already sitting there gave him uncomfortable glances. He was pretty sure the boy with the thin face and shaggy dark hair was named Toby, but he didn't know the others.

"Hi," he said softly, as the professor still conferred with his teaching assistants over the particulars of test administration. "I'm Lewis. How's everybody doing today?"

"All right," said the girl, and Lewis realized that he'd seen her a few times at the carnival. "This is my first final of the day, and I'm really nervous!"

The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes. "It's just math; it's supposed to be hard! I'm just going to blow through it as quickly as possible, and maybe next year I'll actually get some tutoring."

Lewis wagged his head. "It's Toby, right?" When a nod confirmed his guess, he continued, "I remember taking my finals at the end of last year, and I definitely felt the same way! Taking classes at a private Academy like Browning is way different than grade school. But my advice would be to take the time to really focus on each question as if it's something you were already taught, even if you hadn't been paying attention that day. Approach it just like you would any other math problem, make sure to write down your methods--show your work--and even if you get it wrong, at least you might get closer than just blind guessing. Who knows, you might actually get more problems right than you think."

"That's good advice," the nervous girl said. "Thanks!"

Lewis reflected on that moment as he left the classroom in the company of his usual friend group. Where once he felt inadequate and excluded, he now had something to offer, and that helped him branch out from his usual habits.

Lewis’ stomach let out a gurgle, and he willingly headed toward the cafeteria. Lunchtime consisted of a choice between taco salad or soft tacos, and Lewis chose the latter. Drink, side of fruit, and meal secured, he surveyed the array of tables at the center. He saw Danielle sitting with a group of girls at a table that still had a few open spaces, notably one next to Danielle herself. She laughed at something one of the girls said, the sound of her voice breaking through the hubbub of chatter around her.

“You should go over there,” a voice said behind him.

Lewis flinched guiltily and turned to see Quincy, Brayden, and Jesse standing behind him. Quincy had a knowing grin on her face.

“I think she likes you,” she said to Lewis. “Or she is starting to. I don’t know how much you interacted at the carnival, but you should have seen how worried she was when we didn’t know where you were.”

Lewis squirmed uncomfortably. Did he have a crush on Danielle? Was it that obvious? “I dunno…”

“Dude, just go talk to her!” Jesse chided. “A year ago you were so awkward and reserved that you wouldn’t have even wanted to interact outside this friend group, but now? You’ve changed, man.”

Lewis felt his heart racing. He knew if Ashwyn was watching him right now she would probably be halfway to creating a situation to attract Danielle’s attention by now.

“Maybe later,” he confessed. He nodded toward an empty table across the auditorium. “My arms are getting tired of holding this tray. Let’s sit down over there.”

“Suit yourself,” said Quincy, and nobody pressured him anymore.

As Lewis finally left the table to dispose of his trash and head to his next class, a small winged creature zinged right for his neck and fluttered between his collar and his shoulder.

Ashwyn’s gentle, twinkling voice reached his ear. “I found one!”

Lewis shied away from the people milling around him, putting some distance around himself before he whispered back, “Found what?”

“A portal to Phsntasm!” Ashwyn replied. “There’s one due to open either tonight or tomorrow morning, not far from here.”

Lewis felt a surge of energy. “How close?” he asked.

“Somewhere with lots of trees,” said Ashwyn. “I’d be able to find it on a map.”

Lewis stopped in at the computer lab to select a kiosk and open a digital map. He pointed to a series of rooftops. “Okay, here is Browning Academy. Where are these trees you speak of?”

Ashwyn directed him to move the cursor around the screen till she chimed, “There is where it’s going to be!”

Lewis checked the location. “Magnolia Park, it’s only a mile from here.” He smiled. “Okay, that is definitely doable. I guess one benefit of knowing ahead is that we can be getting things ready before it actually happens—“

“Before what happens?” Quincy’s voice floated over his shoulder.

Lewis flinched and almost knocked the keyboard off the computer desk. “Um, I was just—“

“What’cha looking at?” Quincy asked, squinting at the map on the screen. “Magnolia Park? That’s a nice view. Are you looking for a date spot?“ She stared hard at Lewis and noticed his flushed cheeks. “Are you planning a date with Danielle?” Her eyes sparkled and she twisted a lock of her long dark hair around her finger. “That’s a great idea! I hope it goes well for you.”

Lewis muttered an incoherent response as he closed down the computer and bolted. Let Quincy make all the assumptions she wanted; at least it would keep her from digging for the actual truth!

Once he was outside the building, he called out, “Ashwyn!”
She flew out of his collar and hovered invisibly in the sky. “Yes?”

“I have one more class to get to, but I want you to send a fairy or two over to Rawlings Point to tell the others that we’re going to try and make it to the portal either tonight or tomorrow morning. They can meet us in those trees at Magnolia Park, okay?”
Ashwyn saluted. “You got it, boss!”

Lewis watched her zip away. A few months ago he wouldn't have accepted being the “boss” of anything, but just hearing Ashwyn say it gave him a burst of confidence that made him smile. He headed in for his final class of the day, Language Arts. The professor handed them back their final essays from the week before, each marked with their final grade, and since they had no other assignments, he allowed everyone to leave early with a book to spend the rest of the class period reading.

The only book Lewis had on him at the moment happened to be a murder mystery, so he made sure to find a sunny spot to read it. He was barely two chapters in when a voice said, “Shouldn’t you be in class?”
He looked up to see Danielle standing in front of him, a satchel over her shoulder and a grin on her face.
Lewis shrugged. “We finished all there was, so the professor let us go outside to read.”

Danielle chuckled. “Sounds like the faculty is as ready to be done with the school year as we are!” she joked. “My Classic Literature professor just did the same thing. Mind if I join you?”

Lewis glanced to the space beside him in the bench. “There’s plenty of room,” he agreed.

Danielle sat down and pulled out her book, a cloth-bound hardback copy of Peter Pan.

Lewis felt his interest perk when he saw it. “You like fantasy novels?” he asked.

Danielle nodded. “Oh yeah, anything with dragons or fairies in it is totally my jam! That’s really why I had wanted to see that Phantasmenagerie show, to see how realistic those creatures were… except the part where they started attacking the audience.” Her face fell and she shuddered.

Lewis gripped his book and fought the urge to broach the subject of the reality of the fantasy world after her horrified response. He focused on his book and the two friends said nothing more.

Lewis headed toward his dorm after finishing the last class period. He reflected on the week before, when he’d been relegated to reserve housing after Adolf had trashed his room. What a relief to be getting it back again! He almost didn’t mind the added security features it now had. At least he could still have some privacy!

He lay back on his bed, relieved at not having to study or think about tomorrow’s classes tonight at least. His eyes drifted shut, and he might have even dozed off a little, when a rap on his window jolted him awake. His room was dark because the sun hadn’t yet set when he’d walked in the room, and now night had fallen. He flipped on the lamp and peered at the window. A wide something like a bedsheet of canvas hovered outside, surrounded by many pricks of light. He opened the window to allow in the fairies carrying a blotchy piece of what looked to be canvas from one of the carnival tents.

“Special delivery!” Ashwyn jangled as they spread the dirty tarp over his bed. Lewis could see that some of the blotches were words written on the canvas—or they used to be. Most of the substance used as ink had washed away, except the words at the bottom of the note, “Your Giant Friend.”

“The fairies Queen Evalia sent found Lisa like you said,” Ashwyn explained. “And when we delivered your message, she told us to wait while she and Gathlen abandon Kharrie all set off toward the captor’s castle.” She settled on the desk as the whole throng of fairies and elves came out from their temporary village in the closet to learn what happened.

Ashwyn continued, “I was worried we were going to have to wait all night, but then Kharrie came back with the note, and we brought it to you.”

Lewis frowned. “Please tell me you read the note when it was fresh; the words have all but disappeared by now.”

The little fairy fluttered her wings apologetically. “I know, I’m sorry! Just so you know, I actually did read it. It said that she has the Gyth and they will all meet you at the park first thing tomorrow.”

Lewis smiled and yanked the canvas off the bed. “I knew they could do it!” he gushed. “They’re not afraid of Krasimir anymore; and now that I have the Chain, there's nothing he can really do to exert control over them!” He got ready for bed as the little folk celebrated with cheers and dancing.

“The portal is opening soon!” Ashwyn informed him with a drowsy half-loop. “I can feel it coming.”
Lewis nodded and yawned. “Wake me the moment it opens,” he said. “I don’t want to miss it in case it’s a long time till the next portal arrives.”

“Don’t worry,” Ashwyn reassured him. “The plan is all coming together. I won’t let you down.”

That thought comforted Lewis as he drifted off to sleep, little dreaming of how tomorrow could change his whole reality.

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