The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) (23 page)

“What’s going on?” she asked.

Elijah shrugged nonchalantly.  “Beats me.”

“Is Paul upset at something?” she urged.

“I told you, I don’t know,” Elijah said, expressing a hint
of irritation.

Master Constantine began to get settled into the classroom
and wrote on the board.  He shuffled stacks of paper at the front of the desk
and arranged them in neat piles. 

Hannah wasn’t satisfied.

“Why won’t he sit with us?”  She peered over the other
students in the class to get a look.  “See?  He won’t even look over here.  I
think he’s mad.”

Elijah again shrugged and shook his head, hoping his silence
would cause her to drop the conversation.

“I hope it’s not something
I
did,” Hannah said.  “I
don’t think it is.  Is he mad at you?”

Another shrug.

“Do you think he
could
be mad at you?”

“Hannah, I really don’t care.”

“So he
is
mad at you.  What’s going—”

“Geez, Hannah!!!  Give it a rest!  Is nothing private
anymore?!”

The entire class turned and looked at Elijah and Hannah. 
Elijah rested his head on his fists.  Hannah turned bright red.

“All right, now.  Settle down,” Master Constantine said. 
The class slowly turned back around, a few at a time once they each had their
fill of the drama.  “Let’s go ahead and take a look at your narratives.  Who
wants to go first?”

Hannah looked as though she wanted to crawl under a rock. 
She faced forward, crossed her legs, folded her arms and looked down at her
desk, somehow making herself look even tinier than she was.  Tears began to
well up in her eyes.

Elijah immediately felt awful.  He knew Hannah was only
concerned and trying to be helpful.  It wasn’t her fault Paul was being stupid,
but she kept prodding.  He wished he would have just told her that he didn’t
want to talk about it.  She would have understood.  She might have even been
able to make him feel better about it later when he was ready to talk.  Hannah
was good at that.

Elijah wanted nothing more than to apologize right then, but
he picked the worst time to blow up.  Master Constantine was already in the middle
of his lesson, droning on about including details in narrative archives and
other things he wasn’t really listening to.  Every so often, Elijah would
glance over at Hannah and thought he saw her dab at her eyes, trying to be inconspicuous.

Perfect, he thought.  One of his best friends was already
not speaking to him, and now he made another friend cry.  All in less than a
day.  Elijah buried his head in his arms for the rest of class.  Things were
unraveling fast.

Constantine dismissed the class early, but before Elijah
could even turn around to apologize to Hannah, she had snatched up her book and
homework and dashed out of the door.  Elijah could only watch with his mouth
open.  Adam watched with Elijah.  He had been sitting behind Elijah the entire class,
but Elijah never noticed.  Adam waited with Elijah in silence until everyone
but Master Constantine remained.

“Should I go after her?” Elijah said.

Adam faced Elijah.  “I guess that would depend on what
you’re planning on saying when you catch up to her,” he replied

Elijah left the room and Adam followed.  He wasn’t sure
where he was going.  He just walked.  He let his feet decide what to do.

A minute later, Elijah found himself sitting by the large
oval fire pit on the main level.  It was mostly empty due to the early release
of his class.  Adam sat across from him and waited.  Elijah appreciated that. 
Finally, here was someone he didn’t have to explain anything to.  Adam was
content to just listen or sit in silence.  And yet, ironically, Elijah felt
like talking.

“Can I tell you something in confidence?” Elijah asked
quietly.  The room echoed more than usual with it being so empty.  Only a few
students were around.

“Sure,” said Adam.

Elijah fidgeted with the sash on his uniform.  “It’s funny. 
I feel like I want to talk, but I don’t know where to begin.”

“Can I assume this is about Paul?” Adam asked.

Elijah was caught off guard.  “Yes, actually.  How did you
know that?”

“I heard you and Hannah talking about him during class. 
Isn’t that why you snapped at her?”

Elijah lowered his head.  “Yes.”

“Would you like to talk about Paul?” Adam asked.

“Not really.  I mean, Paul’s just being Paul.  He’s mad at
me for not sharing why I was gone yesterday.”  Elijah looked at Adam expecting
him to question his absence, but Adam said nothing.  Just listened.  “Anyway,
I’m kind of responsible for something.  Something big.  Something I can’t
share.  A secret that might make everyone mad at me for keeping.  And Paul
asked me about it yesterday.  I told him I couldn’t tell him, so he got mad.”

“And you’re mad that he’s mad at you?”

“Yes.”  Elijah chortled.  “I know it sounds dumb when you
say it like that.”

“So you understand why he’s mad, then,” Adam said.

“I guess so,” said Elijah.

“So why are you mad at him?”

“He’s mad at
me
!”

“Yes, I know,” said Adam.  “But you can’t do anything about
that, right?”

“So what are you saying, that I should just let him be mad
at
me
and not be mad at
him
?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Because it doesn’t solve anything.”

“Sure it does.  It keeps
you
from being mad at
him
.”

Elijah huffed.  “But what if nothing changes?  I still can’t
tell him what he wants to know.”

“True.”

“Then
what
?”

“Are you asking me what you should do about Paul or what you
should do about your responsibility?”

Elijah didn’t answer.  He knew why he was really mad.  He
hated knowing everyone was in danger but not being able to say anything about
it.  He hated the responsibility.  Why him?  Who was he other than the son of
two people who knew about the sphere?  He hadn’t done anything to suggest he
was the best person to find the sphere and cubes.  He didn’t know any more than
anyone else.  And now, he was losing friends because of it.  Because of
something he knew.  No.  Because of something he was
told
.

Elijah stood up.

“Thanks, Adam.  Really.”

“Are you okay?” Adam asked suspiciously.

“I’m fine,” he lied.  “See you tomorrow.”

Elijah never did look for Hannah.  He thought about it.  He
even spotted her later that evening in the library checking out a book as he
read by one of the fireplaces.  He felt lonely without his reading buddy next
to him, but every time he decided to get up and walk over to her, something
kept him from moving.  Maybe it was fear.  Maybe it was pride.  Maybe it was
stupidity, but whatever it was, he only watched her put the book inside her bag
and walk out.  She didn’t seem to see him, but maybe that was better.  It’s not
as if she would have run over to him after the way he yelled at her.  He went
to bed furious at everyone—especially himself—and fell asleep listening to the
thunder bellowing threats to the rest of the earth.

Saturday was going to be a busy day.  Elijah woke up early,
mostly because he tossed and turned all night and figured it would be more
productive to get ready for the day rather than continuing to thrash about. 
His talk with Adam had apparently sunk in overnight because he felt better and more
prepared to make amends with Paul and especially Hannah.

Mental training class wouldn’t start for still another hour,
so Elijah decided to read out of the meditation textbook that all students received
their preliminary year.  He practiced some of the exercises, most of them
having him keep quiet and focus on his inner thoughts, whatever that meant. 
Elijah had always excelled at mental training, but he had never quite gotten
the hang of the meditation textbook.

Master Ismai was Elijah’s mental training teacher for the
second year in a row.  Ismai was a short, thick man who had grown very fond of
Elijah the previous year.  For reasons no one could explain, Elijah had
developed, during his first year, the most acute senses of any student in the
barracks, even the Level Three Novices.  Ismai took it upon himself to further
develop Elijah’s focus by pushing the entire class to increase their training
intensity.  It was the one class in which he never felt any pressure.

As he planned, Elijah showed up to class first.  He wanted
to be there before Hannah so he could wave her over when she walked in.  She
was usually one of the first students in the classroom, so being there early
would almost guarantee time to apologize without an audience.

With fifteen minutes before class started, only he and Andrew
Glavin were in class.  Andrew sat up front and read from his textbook.  He
always sat up front in Mrs. White’s class last year, and Elijah was pretty sure
Andrew sat up front in Constantine’s class as well.

Elijah doodled on his notebook until the door to the classroom
began to open more frequently.  Each time a student walked in, Elijah’s heart
skipped with anticipation until he saw it was not Hannah.  With five minutes to
go, Elijah wondered if Hannah would show.  When Paul showed up before her,
Elijah knew something was up.

Paul walked in without Isaac this time.  He scanned the room
and saw Elijah.  As soon as they met eyes, Paul looked away and sat on the
opposite side, just like yesterday.  Elijah tried to remember his conversation
with Adam to keep him from becoming angry again.

Hannah finally walked in, just before Master Ismai.  Elijah
caught her attention and waved her over, just like he had planned.  She looked
down and gripped the shoulder strap of her bag.  She seemed to hesitate at the
door for a second before ultimately ignoring Elijah’s enthusiastic motioning
and sat between Andrew and Paul.

He knew he deserved it, but he couldn’t help feeling as
though they were being irrational.  At least
he
was willing to
apologize.  He turned around, feeling more furious by the moment.  And
suddenly, his willingness to ask for forgiveness had hardened into an icy
wall.  If they were going to ignore him, then he could do it right back.  If
this is how his friends were going to treat him, then he could find new friends. 
He didn’t have to take the cold shoulders.

When class ended, Elijah was the first one out the door.  He
marched up the stairs to his room, grabbed his letter of employment, and ran
down the stairs, just as the rest of the class was making their way to the
dining hall.  He caught a glimpse of his friends, Paul, Hannah, Isaac, and even
Adam walking in a group toward the hall.  Elijah felt his face burn.  He turned
away and jogged down to the lower floors of the library.

Elijah handed his letter to the library clerk behind the
desk.

“This is for Master Graham,” Elijah said.  “It says I need
to report here.”

The clerk looked at the paper and then said, “I think you’re
the first one.  Let me go find him for you.”

Elijah sat down on one of the chairs by the desk.  As he
waited, Becca Uribe also approached the desk with a piece of paper in her hand.

“Well, well,” she said.  “Are you here to work too?”

Elijah grinned slightly.  “I am.”

“So where’s the help?”

“Went to get Graham.  So,” Elijah said, trying with all his
might to rid himself of his anger, “I haven’t seen you around much.  Where’ve
you been hiding out?”

Becca tied her long, dark brown hair into a ponytail.  “I
haven’t been hiding.  You just haven’t been looking.”

“I guess that’s true.  Sorry.  Did you ever patch things up
with Paul?”

“I can’t say that I have.  Have you?”  Becca looked at him slyly.

“How do you know about that?” Elijah asked.

“Oh, come on!  You don’t hide your feelings well, Elijah.”

“Great,” Elijah said, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, don’t worry so much about that,” Becca said in an
overly sweet voice.  “After your little outburst to that sweet little thing you
like so much, your issues with Paul don’t seem as big.”

“Hannah’s just a friend,” Elijah said blushing.

“P’HA!”

“Keep your voice down!” Elijah begged.

“Relax,” Becca said.  “No one else cares.  Everyone’s too
busy thinking about their own problems.  If you ask me, she could use some
conflict in her life.  Especially if the rumors are true and all.”

“What rumors?” Elijah asked.

“About the Maliphist attacks,” Becca replied.  “Of course,
everyone thinks I must know all about that.”

“Why?”

“Are you serious, Elijah?  Geez, I thought you were supposed
to be intuitive.  Too bad you’ve got the memory of a goldfish.”

“Do people
still
think you’re a Maliphist?”

“Not everyone was there to see me help save your uncle and
Phinneas from prison, Elijah.  And you guys haven’t exactly been sending around
memos to everyone.  To everyone else, I’m still a possible spy giving
coordinates to the Maliphists through telepathic brain waves or something.”

“Does everyone really think the Maliphists are going to
attack?”  Elijah wondered if the secret had gotten out.  Did everyone already
know about the sphere?

“As far as I can tell, everyone’s
always
thinking the
Maliphists are going to attack,” Becca stated.  “But the talk has gotten a bit
more intense lately.  I heard someone just the other day say that the barracks
might be a target again.”

“Who said that?” Elijah blurted.

“Easy now.  I don’t know, I just overheard.  I do that, you
know.  Keen observation is a powerful thing.”  Becca looked over Elijah’s
head.  “It helps me anticipate things like a possible uncomfortable situation. 
Speaking of—good luck, Elijah.”

“Huh?”

Becca moved aside.

Elijah turned around and saw what Becca was talking about. 
Two students were walking toward the desk with their employment letters in
their hands.  The first was Andrew, and the second was Hannah.  She glanced
just briefly at Elijah as she passed by.  At first, Elijah wanted to stop her
to talk with her.  But the memory of the cold shoulder she gave him in class
was still fresh. And her obvious avoidance now made him even more angry, so he decided
to ignore her right back.