Chapter 24 part 4

Monday came around and Charlie felt relieved. Her aunt, cousin, and Emily had left the day before, although, Charlie still had a hard time not thinking about what she saw in her cousin's room when she thought about either of them. She hoped that was only temporarily and would go away after a while.

She still wasn't sure about Alex's suggestion that they could both try gymnastics together. That her grandmother would foot the bill for lessons. Primarily, Charlie wasn't sure if she could accept the idea because she was so busy with all the other preparations for the expedition she was planning with her friends and with around a month left to go, she couldn't help but start to feel apprehensive about what they might be able to accomplish before then and what might have to get put to the side and forgotten just because there wasn't enough time to get taken care of.

Alex hadn't asked about the classes again, yet, but she wasn't sure if Alex would ask again before the end of the year, which meant that she wouldn't need to worry so much about it before they left.

Her classes so far had been a blur in her mind. She at least hadn't gotten detention yet, but should couldn't say what had been discussed in any of her classes for the day.

Maybe it was that she was overwhelmed with how close it was until the start of her expedition or maybe it was the stress of what she'd seen and had happen to her during her Thanksgiving weekend, or more particular on Thanksgiving.

Charlie sighed as she entered the room that Heathcliff had been allowed for her magic lessons. Which brought to mind that she didn't have to suffer through dealing with Mr. Samuels. Even though she still didn't trust Heathcliff that much, he was at least easier to deal with than Mr. Samuels.

As Charlie sat down, she was a little surprised to see that Heathcliff hadn't arrived yet. Usually he was here before she was, so waiting for him was a new thing for her. At least in regards to her magic studies.

As the bell rang signifying the start of the classes, Heathcliff still hadn't shown up and Charlie was starting to get bored. She was at least where she was supposed to be, but she wouldn't be surprised if a teacher or another member of the faculty would fault her for being here if they didn't see her with an adult in the room.

At about the time Charlie was about to stand up and walk over to the office to see if anyone there knew what was going on, the door opened and Mrs. Garfield entered.

"Sorry about that, miss Rivers," Mrs. Garfield said. "Heathcliff asked me to cover the net subject."

"What?" Charlie asked, confused.

"Well, he said that I'm much better at him with this than he is and that I'm also better at explaining what's needed for this than he could," Mrs. Garfield explained, not seeming to move to take a seat as Heathcliff normally did.

"Um, I kinda get that, but I still don't know what you're really talking about," Charlie replied, hoping the principal would give a little more detail. A little more useful detail at that.

Mrs. Garfield sighed as if Charlie was making whatever this was more difficult for her.

"Miss Rivers, you've always seemed like an intelligent young lady. Don't actu stupid now," Mrs. Garfield replied, as if she was explaining something to a small child.

Charlie couldn't help but scowl at Mrs. Garfield. "I got that you're here to teach me magic, but what you didn't say is exactly what we'll be doing," Charlie tried, hoping that would get her more information.

"Do you know how to teleport objects?" Mrs. Garfield asked.

Charlie thought for a moment. "Oh, yeah. Heathcliff mentioned something about that, but that it would only take about half a class to get through. I think he said that before fall break," Charlie said, wondering if that's what they were supposed to be doing.

"Then why did you think it might be something else?" Mrs. Garfield asked, as she sat down across from Charlie.

"Because sometimes Heathcliff mentions something but then doesn't get to it for a week or two. Occasionally we'll get to it the next day, but not always," Charlie answered.

Mrs. Garfield began showing Charlie the way to teleport items, by moving them from one side of the table to the other. However, on the fifth item she teleported, Charlie realized something that hadn't even crossed her mind before when the piece of paper was slapped on the other side of the table.

"You're the one who 'passed' me the note last school year in Mr. Samuels class," Charlie said.

The look in Mrs. Garfield's eyes made Charlie want to laugh, but at the same time, she felt a little annoyed by learning this, since she still was annoyed by that note.

"What the he-" Charlie started to say, but stopped herself quickly, since she knew Mrs. Garfield wouldn't hesitate to give her detention for foul language usage. "What exactly were you doing that for?"

"Good save, miss Rivers," Mrs. Garfield praised, then sighed. "To answer your question, I needed a pretext to get close enough to talk with you about the camp. I couldn't think of anything else to do."

"So, getting Mr. Samuels to focus on me was your idea of what a 'good idea' was?" Charlie scoffed.

"I never said it was a 'good idea,' miss Rivers. It was merely the most efficient method I could think of. I also addressed it to you as well as had it put on your desk so that you wouldn't be one of those under suspicion of having written the note," Mrs. Garfield replied.

Charlie couldn't help but roll her eyes, even though she didn't expect Mrs. Garfield to take it too kindly. "I'm still not happy about it," was all she was willing to say on the matter. Or at least all she was willing to say with respect to the rules regarding foul language in the school.

"I can appreciate that, miss Rivers," came the reply. "I'm not going to ask you for forgiveness, since I really didn't do anything wrong. Consider it a lesson in life. That things will happen to you that will draw unwanted attention to you and there's nothing you can do about it other than accept it and move on." Mrs. Garfield sighed, then added, "Now it's your turn to try. Let's see how you do."

Charlie didn't have trouble teleporting objects. With how Mrs. Garfield had explained the way to do it, Charlie found it rather easy. Although, it was rather draining on her.

Apparently Mrs. Garfield had noticed. "Yes, doing this is rather tiring. That's because of how much magic it takes to use. Now, we'll do one last item and this time, I want you to send it into my office," Mrs. Garfield told Charlie. Then as she put down a folded piece of paper on the table, she continued, "I've written this note so if it doesn't make it to my office it won't cause anyone any problems, then I can at least use the cameras to see just how close you got to my office. After this, Heathcliff will deal with the rest of your lesson for today."

Charlie sighed, After this, she hoped that she wouldn't be expected to use much magic. Which was possible, since some of her lessons with Heathcliff hadn't involved using magic at all, but rather explanations about how she used her magic or better ways to handle various uses of her magic. Though, those tended to be occasional and not anything she could plan.

Regardless, she still needed to focus on the task and do what was being required of her. This time it was rather simple. She focused on the paper and imagined it in Mrs. Garfield's office. Then as she pulled on her magic, she pushed the paper with her magic and it disappeared.

"Very good," Mrs. Garfield praised. "Now I'll head to my office to see if its there or not. Heathcliff will be here in a few minutes, so please wait patiently."

Charlie nodded and waited until Mrs. Garfield left the room before laying her head on the table and closing her eyes. If nothing else, dozing until Heathcliff arrived sounded like a good idea. She could feel the exhaustion of using her magic creeping up on her. Whatever Heathcliff had planned for the rest of her 'class' she hoped it wouldn't involve using her magic so much. She worried that it might make her final class of the day more difficult for her. Mostly difficult in regards to staying awake through that class.

However, it was only a few minutes before Heathcliff entered the room. So, wearily, she lifted her head from the table so she could 'pay attention' to what he had planned for the rest of the lesson.

"Don't worry," Heathcliff assured Charlie. "The rest of the lesson is merely discussion about what we'll be focusing on next. I hadn't expected you to really do so well with teleporting items with magic, but I did expect that it would wear you out. So, I don't plan on having you use your magic much for the next few days."

Charlie merely nodded, wishing she could just sleep the rest of the period away.

"Anyway, I know for a fact that you're a thought mage. So, what I plan on working with you is how to properly use that ability. Such as not only digging deeper than the surface thoughts of others, but also how to get past another's magic defense against just that sort of intrusion. It's a rare ability, but at the same time, for an expedition as this, you might find it invaluable," Heathcliff said.

Charlie sighed when Heathcliff paused, clearly expecting some sort of response. "I take it I'll be trying to break through your defenses?" she asked.

Heathcliff nodded. "Yes, we will be. I can't say I'm surprised you're aware of them, given the hostile nature of our relationship in the past. In fact, I think I'd have been more surprised if you hadn't been aware of them," he answered.

"Will it hurt?" Charlie asked. Partly wondering if she'd be comfortable with that, part of her hoping it would, so she could see if she could get any satisfaction from doing that from the way he'd treated her previously.

"No, but if I wasn't aware you were going to try it, I would at least be aware someone was either trying to breach my defenses or had breached them. Since I know it will be you doing that, I won't worry about it, because even though I would be aware someone is trying, I wouldn't be able to specifically identify who was making the attempt," Heathcliff explained.

Charlie nodded, partly feeling guilty at hoping it would and partly annoyed that it wouldn't.

"Anyway," Heathcliff continued after a moment. "I'm sure you've already worked out some control of this ability, to at least keep the thoughts of others from coming to you… well, essentially unsolicited, I think would be the most appropriate term."

"You mean without me wanting to hear them?" Charlie asked.

"Exactly," Heathcliff said. "Most thought mages who aren't able to master that ability can either lose touch with who they themselves are or completely lose their mind. The rest tend to burn that ability out and can't hear the thoughts of others anymore."

"Sometimes I still hear thoughts from others," Charlie admitted, wondering if she was makinga mistake doing this. "Does that mean I don't have full control over it?"

Heathcliff shook his head. "No matter how much control you have over this ability, if a thought is fueled by strong emotion or if you're exceptionally tired, you will still hear stray thoughts form time to time," he said calmly. "The only way to truly avoid from hearing the thoughts of others is to live in complete isolation, which isn't healthy, given humans are social creatures and need to be around someone or something else that's living in order to keep from losing our minds."

"You mean like the movie 'Castaway?'" Charlie asked, recalling Tim's last movie choice.

"Yes, with how he made the volleyball into a 'friend' he named Wilson. That was a way for him to have some kind of social interaction when there wasn't any to be had," Heathcliff replied. Then putting his arms on the table, he leaned forward as he continued with his lecture. "Part of reading a person's thoughts that aren't on the surface is almost like digging into who they are. At first it might feel like digging into the ground with a shovel, but eventually it'll be like sifting through sands. Yet, if you're not careful, you could hurt the person you're doing that to and the best way to avoid doing that, ironically, is to learn how to pierce through magic defenses someone has effectively."

Charlie found herself getting more alert as Heathcliff explained the theory behind the action. She'd avoided digging into people's thoughts just to keep from harming them, since she really didn't know what she was doing and had considered that she might just only be able to work with their surface thoughts if she used that ability at all. Yet, if she could do that without hurting the other person, then she might consider using it to make sure someone isn't a potential enemy or threat to herself or her friends.

"Piercing through the magic defenses can be rather difficult at first," Heathcliff continued. "However, unlike many things, the better you get at it, the more trouble you might find in doing this. Mostly because it can become so simple that you overlook the mark in your attempts."

"You mean like in the first Star Wars how the way to destroy the death star was something about six feet wide, I think," Charlie commented.

"Exactly. In some cases it almost requires a surgical precision in order to get through. Even once you've become rather adept at breaking through the defenses, you still might have trouble in subsequent attempts because of that simple fact."

Charlie nodded. When she had tried to read Heathcliff's thoughts before, it did feel like she'd run into a glass wall. One that she couldn't really feel any openings to, so what she was hearing did made sense to her.

In addition to that, hearing all this made her itch to try it out. Despite having used up so much magic already with learning about teleporting items, she found herself considering using more, even though she suspected that she was going to be having trouble staying awake in her last class of the day. History.

In spite of her interest in trying it out right away, Heathcliff made it clear that while it was simple in concept, it would take a while to explain how exactly she would need to proceed. Which would take at least the entire time they had the next day to cover.

Charlie groaned inwardly at hearing that. She'd rather just get on with it, but she did at least understand that even though it might take a while to explain, jumping into it without the lectures would likely make it take her longer to learn. She'd already learned how that worked over a few lessons since she started learning how to use her magic.

At the very least, she could see learning this to be rather useful for the expedition. Especially since they'd worked it out that Charlie and her friends would leave just after Christmas. That way they'd have the holiday behind them as well as the semester, so they wouldn't think about it as much and make themselves homesick.

That is, if the expedition took a lot longer than Charlie really hoped it would. Especially since she really didn't want it to take all that long to accomplish. Even though, she worried that it would take so much time that she might not even remember this part of her life so much when it was over.