More than Magic: Semester Aboard (12 page)

I wasn't sure what to say, so I did the only
thing I could think of; I reached out and put my hand on his.
Thomas smiled a bit more.

"Her name was Hylay, if you were wondering."
I could just hear a bit of a crack in Thomas' voice as he said her
name. "She was a rabbit." He shoved the smoothie at TS. "Brought
you something."

"I just had one!" TS cried in dismay.

"I know."

"But..." TS trailed off and they glared at
each other for a minute. Then, with a sigh, TS took the lid off of
the new smoothie and chugged it. When he was done he slammed the
empty cup down on the table and made a face. "Right, that was
bloody well disgusting."

Thomas wrinkled his nose. "Grody. I may never
drink another smoothie."

"You don't like them anyway."

Thomas looked like he was about to reply, but
instead frowned in confusion and looked around. "I hear drums."

"What?" I said. I looked around too and
noticed that quite a lot of people had started to gather on the
deck.

"I swear I hear drums," he said. "Actually, I
hear flutes too."

"You do."

We turned to see Dani, Charlie, and Mariana
arriving. Dani and Charlie dragged a table next to ours and they
all sat down.

"Why drums and flutes?" TS asked.

"For the equator crossing thing," Dani said.
"Which is soon. Or rather, is now."

"Oh, right," I said. We were crossing the
equator today and there was going to be a big celebration.

"Are we close to it?" Thomas asked.

Dani titled his head back thoughtfully.
"Maybe...it feels like..." He bowed his head and squeezed his eyes
shut in concentration. It reminded me of someone trying to hear a
distant sound. Could Dani actually sense what ocean currents were
doing? After a moment he opened them again and grinned. "That's
neat. Yeah, we're practically on top of it."

Then I heard the drums too and couldn't
believe I hadn't heard them before. There were flutes and shouting
and chanting too. It got a lot louder and I realized they had come
outside. A moment later a ton of crewmembers banging on drums came
up the stairs. They were followed by our Dean, who was wearing a
flowing white robe and carrying a trident. Everyone had blue
streamers. Cheering students followed them all and soon it felt
like the entire ship was gathered on the deck. Dean Dave climbed up
on the deck surrounding the pool and started to talk. He made a
funny speech about crossing the equator and how we were all about
to become 'Shellbacks.' We were all welcome, but not required, to
participate in the ceremony. When he was done we all applauded and
the rites of passage began.

I ended up doing most of the ceremony. I
jumped into the pool, fully dressed, and kissed a fish, which
wasn't quite as gross as I thought it would be. Thomas, TS, Dani,
and Mariana joined me. Soaking wet, the five of us rejoined
Charlie. The next part of the ceremony was head-shaving and I had
no interest in that, although judging from the line a lot of people
did.

"Not going to do it?" I asked.

"Cold water," Charlie said, gesturing to the
pool.

"It wasn't that cold."

"I'm a fire. You may not have thought it was
cold, but I can't exactly go around jumping into water." He looked
at the pool. "Mid-sixties. Yeah, that's way too cold for me."

"You can tell the temperature of the
water?"

He laughed. "I can tell the temperature of
everything."

That was interesting. I'd been so focused on
what witches could do I hadn't really taken the time to think about
what the others were capable of.

"Think I'd look good with a shaved head?"
Thomas asked, eyeing the line of students. A few guys were already
walking around, showing off their new, short hair. There were even
a few girls in line. I spotted one in the chair with long hair that
fell almost to her waist. The crewmember ran the razor over her
scalp and a long bunch of hair fell to the ground.

"I do," Dani laughed. "Think I should do it?"
As he spoke he ran his fingers through his hair. I watched in awe
as it dried. He dropped a ball of water the size of a ping-pong
ball on the deck.

"No," Mariana said simply.

"You sure?"

"Very," she said.

Dani hummed and then sighed. "I think there
was a little too much chlorine in that pool, I'm going to go
shower." He left with Mariana and Charlie.

"I should go too," Thomas said. He looked out
over the water. "Going down soon."

"I feel it," TS said. "I'll see you in a
bit."

"Take your time." Thomas sighed and flashed
me a smile. "Have a good evening, Jennifer."

"Bye," I said.

I watched him head down the stairs. The crowd
was starting to thin out, now that most of the excitement had
passed. I sat back down and couldn't help but mull over what he and
TS had told me before the celebration had started. TS sat down too
and returned to marking up his study guide. Now that I was thinking
about it again, I had a horrible feeling in my gut. "TS?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something else?"

"Of course."

"If you lose your magic you can't get another
familiar, can you?"

TS shook his head. I felt sick. It was like
Thomas had lost everything. With both of his parents dead it had
probably just been him and Hylay; at least until Jon took him
in.

"When did his parents die?"

"You hear that from him?" TS asked in
surprise.

I nodded and he sighed heavily. He was quiet
for so long I wasn't sure he was going to answer. Another awful
theory occurred to me. "They didn't...they didn't die the same time
as his familiar, did they?"

TS looked out over the water and nodded once.
Maybe that was why Thomas couldn't use magic. Losing both of your
parents and someone as close as a familiar must have been an awful
shock. Maybe he had been so devastated he'd deliberately stopped
using magic and then lost it when he got older, assuming that was
possible. I felt even more grateful that he was teaching me.

"Is he ok?" I asked. "I mean, it must be
upsetting to help me learn magic when he can't use it."

"Thank you," he said after a moment. "For
caring, I mean. It is hard, but...well, you can't change the past."
He paused and looked in the direction Thomas had gone. "He's a bit
nostalgic I suppose and, of course, he'll always grieve for Hylay,
but he's enjoying helping you." He started gathering his things and
stood. "I've gotta cut out. Anything else you want to know before I
go?"

"I don't think so...you've given me a lot to
think about."

He nodded and chucked the empty smoothie cups
into a nearby trashcan. "Cheers, then."

The odd phrase reminded me that I still
hadn't been able to place his accent. It wasn't strong enough to
identify, but it was still noticeable. In fact, it had gotten a bit
heavier when he was whispering. Thinking on it, I was pretty sure I
had heard Dani say something about TS not being from America.

"Where are you from?"

"New York," he said instantly. I could just
see the tip of his tongue.

"You know what I mean."

He laughed. "Ireland."

"Oh, neat."

"I like to think so. See you in LA
History."

With that, he headed off in the direction
Thomas had gone. I wondered, too late to ask, if Irish was one of
the languages he spoke. I tried to return to studying, but couldn't
stop thinking about the prospect of getting a familiar. Were there
more than just rabbits and ravens? Every time I tried to picture it
I couldn't help but think about how it must have felt to lose them.
Was the bond between a witch and a familiar really as amazing as TS
made it sound? I couldn't even begin to imagine how Thomas must
have felt if it was.

I lingered on the deck and watched the last
of the students get their heads shaved. The sun started to go down
and a light drizzle started. I felt a bit cold. Hadn't we just
crossed the equator? It wasn't supposed to be rainy and cold here!
I gathered my things and went inside, laughing at the countless
strands of hair blowing around the deck. I swung by my room for a
sweatshirt. Laurie was there, head freshly shaved, and we talked
for a while. We ended up going up for dinner together after I
realized I hadn't spent much time with her. I wondered if I'd spend
as much time with other magical people when I got home as I did
here. Other magical people. It was still a bit weird to think
about.

I sat with Laurie and some other girls I
hadn't hung out with in a while and waved to Dani, Mariana, and
Charlie on the other side of the dining hall. My friend Natalie had
been sick all day and still looked awful. I felt bad; I hadn't even
known she was sick. I hoped none of them were offended that I
hadn't been spending as much time with them. We hadn't been on the
ship long enough to become good friends, but I still felt a little
guilty about running off with my new friends. Then again, even
though I was starting to consider TS, and Dani, and the others
friends I wasn't entirely sure if the feeling was mutual. They were
teaching me about magical beings and things, but it was obvious
they were still keeping things from me. True, they were co-workers
in addition to being friends and I probably didn't need to know the
details of their job, but it was annoying nonetheless. I hoped they
wouldn't just get me started with magic and then ignore me.
Granted, I wanted to spend time with them because they were the
only magics I knew, but I was enjoying their company too.

I spotted TS and Thomas joining the others.
TS looked awful. He didn't even get a plate; he just slumped down
into a chair by Dani and let Thomas bring him dinner. I wondered if
he'd lied to me about feeling sick. I doubted loading up on oranges
and smoothies with immune boosters the day before he got sick was a
coincidence. That was even more annoying. TS being sick certainly
wasn't MES business, I didn't see any reason they needed to hide it
from me. Maybe my theory that he had a magical disease wasn't far
off. Nobody looked particularly surprised that TS wasn't feeling
well; more proof that him being sick was expected.

When dinner was over Laurie and I headed back
to our room for the night and I didn't see anyone until LA History
the next morning. TS looked perfectly fine again and I realized
that the only times I'd seen him looking sick were at night. When
he
wasn't
human! That made the magical disease possibility
even more likely, and more concerning. I wondered what it was that
only struck him when he was a werewolf and how serious it was. When
class was over Charlie and I walked to our next class together.

"
Caricaceae
?" he asked as a
greeting.

I thought for a second. "Papaya." I tried to
think of another plant species from the study guide.
"
Passifloraceae
?"

"Passionfruit!"

We laughed and sat down, leaving an open seat
between us. Carrie came in right before class started and sat down
heavily in the empty chair.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," she said. "I felt awful yesterday.
The doctor said it's some twenty-four-hour bug going around. I'm
like the tenth person to get it since Panama. What did I miss?"

"Study guide. We've got a test when we get
back from Ecuador."

"Ick," Carrie said. "If I'd known that I
would have been sick again."

I laughed. "Is it the same thing Natalie
had?"

"I don't know, I haven't talked to her. I
woke up just feeling tired and sore all over. I felt kind of hazy
too, you know? And my neck was sort of stiff; I was worried it was
meningitis." She laughed, embarrassed.

"Yuck! I'm glad you feel better today."

But Carrie's luck only got worse. The test
was a bit tough and I had gotten a decent amount of studying done.
When I got up to hand my test in poor Carrie was still frowning at
hers. It didn't look like she had written much yet. Charlie had
finished before anyone and was nowhere to be seen when I left the
classroom. I made my way up to the dining hall and spotted Dani and
Mariana. After loading up my plate I started slowly toward them,
wondering if I should join them. Mariana spotted me and waved me
over, so I sat down next to her.

"How was your test?" Dani asked as I sat
down.

"Kinda hard. I think I did ok though."

"That's good." He snagged a potato chip off
of Mariana's plate.

"Would you stop that?" Mariana said. "If you
wanted food you should've gotten some." She sighed and then smiled
at me. "What was the test on?"

"Scientific plant names," I said. "We had to
memorize a bunch of them."

"Fifty of them, I believe," Dani said.

"Yikes!" she said. Then her eyes widened.
"Fin-rot! I have a test next period! I have to go study. I'll see
you later!" She jumped up and ran off.

"Good luck!" Dani called after her. Then he
slid her plate closer and started eating.

I pulled out my study guide and started
looking over it to check the answers that I wasn't sure I had
gotten right on the test. I saw Thomas enter the dining hall a few
minutes later. He practically stormed over to us and then sat down
next to me, glaring at Dani.

"Did you have to slug him?"

"What? Who?" Dani asked.

"Kevin."

Dani looked confused. "I have no idea who
Kevin is."

If anything that seemed to make Thomas more
annoyed. "So, you just wailed on the poor guy without even finding
out his name?"

"I haven't wailed on anybody!"

"You expect me to believe it's just a
coincidence that Kevin has a shiner then?"

Dani frowned. "Are you seriously going to
blame me just because some random guy gets a black eye?"

"He isn't some random guy he's the one..."
Thomas trailed off and studied Dani. "You really haven't punched
anybody?"