5 Ascertainment

Jenny walked into Magic Casting. Students were chatting among themselves on the bleachers, creating a small hum in the gym. Jenny spotted Sam on the first row waving to her. Jenny walked over.

"Hi, Jenny!"

"Heya Sam."

"So how was your first class," Sam asked.

"Great. I learned about weapons and which is best for which power."

"Nice. are you excited about Magic Casting? It's one of my favorite classes."

"A little," Jenny looked down at her feet, "I was hoping I could figure out my power here."

"I can help you out," Sam replied, "I'm not really doing anything anyway."

"You don't-

"No, it ok! I'm working on being a teacher's assistant, so this is good practice for me."

"Ok," Jenny shrugged.

Sam let out a happy squeal, "This is going to be so fun!" She took Jenny by the hand and led her into the middle of the gym. She turned around to Jenny and let go of her hand. Butterflies were in Jenny's stomach, making her head feel dizzy.

"No need to be nervous."

Jenny looked up, "What?"

"Your feeling nervous," Sam repeated, "I can tell."

"Is that a perk of mind powers? Can you read minds?

"No," Sam laughed, "I can sense other's emotions better and I've learned how to tell if someone is lying."

"Dang," Jenny whispered, "I wish I had mind power's like that."

"Maybe you do. There's always a chance. But remember, no two powers are alike. There is a big chance that if you did have Mind, you wouldn't be able to do that."

"Oh."

"Don't worry," Sam gave Jenny a friendly nudge, "I'm positive that your power is very unique to your personality, like mine!"

"Thanks," Jenny said, "So how do we start?"

"Well, first we do these exercises. They help get your energy flowing inside of your body, which lets you project your power onto objects, people, yourself, or just in the open. Copy me," Sam turned sideways and lifted her right hand. Her left hand came up to her heart and then touched her hands together, letting a puff of blue smoke out of her fingertips. She repeated the exercise and Jenny turned and copied her. Nothing was happening. No smoke, no light, nothing.

"It's not working," Jenny said glumly.

Sam put her hand to her chin, thinking for a moment. "Ok, let's try this," She grabbed Jenny's hands. She lifted the right one up into the air. "When your other hand does those movements, imaging there is an energy inside of you going where the hand is, like a magnet. When it reaches the fingers," Sam said putting Jenny's hands together, "Release it. Take a deep breath and let it flow out."

She let go and retook her place next to Jenny. Jenny took a deep breath. She imagined the energy inside her, flowing and sparking. She felt something strong flow in her ribs as she lifted her hand. As she lifted her hands, they clapped together and pushed against each other, a teal glow radiating from her fingers. Jenny yelped in surprise. She tried to separate them but felt a pull between the two.

"Sam?!" Jenny said in distress, "My hands are stuck!"

"What?" Sam walked over and smiled, "Ok, we got good news! It might be Gravity."

"Gravity? What kind of power is that?"

"It sounds dumb at first," Sam admitted, "But it's a really strong power, usually takes years to master."

"While that is cool, HOW DO I FIX MY HANDS?!" Jenny said desperately.

"Relax," Sam said, "I'll help." Sam touched Jenny's head and Jenny's muscles loosened. A happy-calm feeling flowed through Jenny. She looked down and her hands were unstuck.

"That's my way of calming people down," Sam chuckled.

"Wow," Jenny looked at her hands, "Gravity."

"Yeah. You can push things away, or bring them closer."

"Wait really?"

"Yeah, lucky you," Sam chuckled, "And I just finished a lesson with a friend of mine who has Gravity powers, so I can show you a little bit."

Jenny was smiling ear to ear. She felt like she was gonna blow up with euphonium, "Yes please!"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

"Now, imaging a rope on that ball," Sam pointed at the ball on the box, "Pull it in without touching the ground." Jenny lifted her hands level to the ball. "Remember," Sam jumped in, "there are two other forces working on that ball, one going up and another going down. strengthen the upper one so it won't go down."

Jenny nodded and focused on the ball. She imagined the rope tied to it and she pulled it towards-

WAM!

* * * * * * * * * * *

".....don't know! She... Jenny? Jenny!"

The world was spinning around her when Jenny's eyes opened. A bunch of faces stood around her she didn't recognize. One was a girl with black hair and red eyes. Another was a blond-haired boy with blue eyes and a scar across his face. The third was a younger girl with blond hair and silver eyes. Dark circles were under her eyes with bruises on her head.

"Jenny?" they all said in unison. The world stopped spinning and the faces flickered. Jenny blinked. Sam stood over her with Jack on her right.

"Jenny are you ok?"

Jenny tried to sit up but fell back down when her head started to spin around again. "Where," Jenny managed to say before blacking out again.

She woke back up with an older woman this time. Her cold hands were on Jenny's temple with Sam next to her.

"There," The woman said, "That should do it this time."

"Thank's Mrs. Ford," Sam said, "Jenny, are you ok?"

"I- I think so," Jenny managed to sit up this time, "What happened?"

"While you were trying to move that ball, it just flew at you and hit your head at full speed," Sam pointed at the woman, "Mrs. Ford healed you. She's the school nurse."

Jenny waved thanks at Mrs. Ford. Jack was standing in the corner, "Guess your lessons work a lot better than you think Sam, am I right Jenny?" He joked.

Sam looked distracted, "What? Oh! Yeah. Thanks."

Poor Sam, Jenny thought, she must have been more scared than I'd realized. "Yeah, you're a good teacher," Jenny agreed.

Sam smiled, "Thanks. I got to go. Jack, keep an eye on her."

"Will do captain!" He said closing one eye.

Sam rolled her eyes, "Jenny, if he gets into any trouble, smack 'em."

"Trouble? me?" Jack blinked his eyes innocently.

Sam walked out and closed the door behind her. Jack turned back around with a worried face. Jenny crossed her legs, "Is she going to be ok?"

"Yeah," Jack said, "That's just her deep thinking face."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, she's noticed something exceptional. And she's diving right into it headfirst."