How To Navigate The In-between

As she begins to solve, I finally relax and get myself out of the teacher-mode I had been in ever since the lesson began. With nothing else to do, I soon find myself watching her as she works. I can't help but notice how her beauty is accentuated when she is serious. Her slight frown adds a maturity that hadn't been there before. That coupled with how cute she looks when she taps her pen against her cheek whenever she tries to remember something causes me to lose myself in her face.

"So," she says suddenly, "why are you staring?"

That question shocks me back to reality and for a moment I am speechless. Does she think I am a creep? How do I explain why I was staring without sounding like a complete creep?

"Well," I say slowly, "I didn't really have much of a choice."

She looks around the classroom, then turns back to look at me, a questioning look in her eye.

"I'm serious. Wouldn't you think it was weird if you looked up to find me staring ever so lovingly at that chair in the corner, or maybe the floor would have been a better option."

She lets out a small laugh. "Why not the ceiling, it looks quite beautiful today. Well, I'm done!"

She passes the notebook where she had done the exercises to me. "I did my best, but I'm not too sure about some of them."

"Let me be the judge of that," I say as I pick up the book. I look through her work and smile to myself. She had gotten almost everything right, it's just that she forgot a step in the last question.

"So," she says slowly, "how'd I do?"

In reply, I tap the question that she missed and one that she got right. She frowns and looks closer at the two questions. "Oh," she says a moment later, "Wait, let me correct that."

She grabs the notebook and cancels the last half of her solving before scribbling something under it and handing the book back to me. I collect it and scan her work before nodding my head.

"You got everything right," I say.

"Yes!"

"And now for your homework."

She shoots me a strange look and I burst out laughing. "I'm just joking. There's no homework. But I will give you a piece of advice, if you get the chance, try to solve more questions. It'll help."

She nods."I'll keep that in mind."

We both go silent. With nothing else to do, I begin to play with my pen. I really want to start a conversation but as nothing comes to mind I just decide to keep quiet. As the silence stretches out, I begin to wonder if she wants to leave, some part of me even hopes that she will, at least that will put an end to this silence.

I glance at the clock in the corner of the room, my free period would soon end. I wonder where Mr. Sherman is.

The door opens at that moment and Mr. Sherman enters the classroom. He barely glances at me before walking to his table and sitting down.

"Thanks for the lesson," Cassandra says as she begins to pack her stuff.

"No problem," I say.

She gives me a small wave and leaves the classroom. Almost immediately I relax. I decide to wait until the free period ends before I leave the class. To pass the time I begin doodling on my palm.

Once again my thoughts drift to what is going to happen after school. It almost seems like a dream, but I know it is real. Magic is real, and I am going to learn it. It seems like the sort of secret the whole world should know about, but I guess the Laen did too good a job preventing normal people from finding out about it.

For a moment, I imagine walking up to someone and telling them magic is real before letting my magic out to do whatever it wants. The thought is oddly appealing but in the end, I shake my head. As appealing as it may be, I just couldn't do it.

The bell rings and I get up from the chair. I say bye to Mr. Sherman and leave the class. I have a physics class right now.

* * * * * *

The final bell rings and almost immediately I ignore the teacher as I pack up my stuff and leave the classroom. It is time.

I walk as fast as I can to the school's entrance and wait there for Drew. Five minutes pass and he does not appear. Just as I am beginning to get impatient I spot him walking out of the school, immediately I hurry over to him.

He nods when he sees me. "Are you ready?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah."

"Let's go then."

We begin to walk. Soon, I can see the bookshop in front of me and as my excitement rises, Emily pops into my mind. What if the lesson took longer than I expected and I came home late, wouldn't she be worried? She might call mom and if that happens, I'm pretty sure I can say goodbye to my training.

"How long is the lesson going to last?" I ask Drew again.

He gives me a look and for a moment I think he is going to say 'You'll find out soon enough' again, but surprisingly he answers. "About an hour, at most an hour and thirty minutes."

"Good. Do you know my sister? Emily? Can you help me tell her that I'll be home a bit late today?"

"Sure."

"Thanks," I say, feeling a whole lot better now that that is out of the way.

"Hold on, what will I tell her if she asks why?"

"You'll think of something."

"I'll think of something?"

"Yeah. You're a genius so that shouldn't be too hard. Just make sure it has nothing to do with school, okay? She knows practically everything that goes on in the school."

We have reached the bookshop. I reach out and open the door, walking into the small, dim space, crowded with shelves and books. The smell of paper pervades the place, giving it a sort of scholarly feeling.

Hugo, who is sitting behind his desk looks up as I approach, a friendly smile on his face. Once he sees it is me, however, the smile disappears, replaced by a normal expression.

"Good afternoon, Hugo." Drew greets him from behind me.

"Good afternoon," I echo.

Hugo grunts in reply. "What are you lads looking for here today?"

Drew nods at me. "He's starting his training today."

That surprises Hugo. "He isn't going to wait until the school starts?"

"No. The Eldest wants him to start as soon as possible."

"The Eldest!" he says, sounding even more surprised. "Hmm. Interesting." He smiles at me. "It seems we're going to be seeing a lot of each Mister Ian."

He waves his hand and the door leading to the portal room opens. "Well then, what are you waiting for? Get the boy to his Master and stop delaying the Eldest's wishes."

"Okay, Hugo."

We walk through the open door, which shuts behind us once we enter the empty room. Once again a glowing blue orb appears beside Drew's head, illuminating the room.

I take a good look at the innocuous-looking wall opposite us, trying to see if I can spot anything that will indicate it isn't as normal as it looks. It looks a bit old, some parts of the wall had paint peeling off, and there was a damp spot close to the center, but other than signs that marked it as old and poorly taken care of, I can find nothing wrong with the wall.

Drew places both hands on the wall, and remembering what happened yesterday, I steel myself for what is to come. Drew's hands begin to glow and once again that strange pressure fills the room. Strangely, it didn't restrict my movements as it did before, and also, the pressure seemed a bit weaker.

Drew takes his hand off the wall, signaling that the opening of the portal is complete.

Is that it, I think to myself. I hadn't expected the process to be so much easier than yesterday. Maybe it is because I am a Laen now. That's probably why.

Drew makes to move through the wall, and recalling what happened yesterday, I call out. "Wait!"

He turns to look at me, a confused frown on his face as he waits for me to say what is on my mind.

I say. "Don't you need to draw that thingy on my forehead?"

"Oh. Don't worry about that, you're one of us now. The portal will let you through. Now come on, I don't want us to be late. Master Hogan hates that." Without waiting for my reply, he walks through the portal and I hurry after him.

As I appear in the In-between, I can't but be awed again. The ethereal view is too beautiful, but like before, the feeling of strangeness is still there. In fact, it even seems to have increased. It almost feels like the place is yelling for me to get out.

I glance at the branches of the main bridge and the portals where they end and can't help but wonder where they lead, or if they lead somewhere. I decided to ask Drew.

"Hey Drew, those portals at the end of those branches, where do they lead?"

Drew glances at the portals. "Different places. You'll learn about all the different places once school begins."

I nod and look around, my eyes are immediately attracted by a branch growing vertically upwards. "How on earth is someone going to get to that portal?" I ask surprised.

Drew gives it a cursory glance. "Just step on it, once you do everything will reorient itself so it will be like you're just walking on a straight smooth road."

I nod, before thinking of something else. "Wait, if they all lead to different locations, how will you know which portal leads to where you are going to?"

"Look closely at the center of each portal, you'll see a large symbol at the center. It's a bit hard to see, but it's there. Each symbol corresponds to a different place, know the symbol of the place you want to go to and look for it, and voila, you know how to navigate. For instance, that portal over there leads to the Lands of Time. It's for the students who can't get there on their own yet."

I look at the portal he indicated. It starts off as an incline and then performs strange twists and turns before ending in a portal. I look hard at the portal and like Drew said, I can make out a faint symbol in the center. It's easy to miss if you aren't looking for it, but if you focus, it becomes easier to make out.

We arrive at the portal leading to the Metorium and walk through it.