What ho, FYAers! It’s Monday! Do you know what that means? It means that, even as you read this, I’ll be cursing under my breath at my computer at work, with only the fading memory of sleeping late yesterday and watching the new Downton Abbey sustaining me throughout this long day. Ugh. Work. Why haven’t I won the lottery yet?
It also means that it’s time to choose some more adventures! I hope we choose well, especially since last week you guys chose to ditch Dear Old Dad in favor of meeting Eli out at the Flying Field and getting some answers. Never ditch your dad for a boy. Only bad things can come of it.
Chapter 03: I Got An F In Flying
You decide on leaving both your dad and your boyfriend hanging for a while. They can wait. It’s not like you aren’t in contact with them all the time anyway. Well, you’re in less contact with your dad, obviously, and for a moment you question that he’s gone out of his way to contact you. Usually phone calls with your dad are full of one syllable words, an I love you and a gruffly delivered”I’ll get your mom,” since Dad’s not really one for communication that isn’t face to face. But it’s not like he sounded panicked, you reason to yourself. I’ll call him later.
Beside, you really can’t pass up an opportunity to grill the new Necromancer on whatever it is he thinks he knows. Which is probably nothing, you grumble to yourself as you stomp down to the Flying Field. Why would a Necromancer, of all things, know more than the daughter of the Chief of the High Courts?
You spot Eli standing at the far side of the Flying Field, talking animatedly to some reject girl who looks like an extra from the Addams Family show, which is something Professor Dinglesprout made you watch in your first year Humans And Magic class. Non-magic people are so weird. Do they really think there are magical people covered entirely in hair? I mean, sure, there were some born that way, but hello, that’s what the Cappelli Cancelled spell was for.
Eli barely bothers to look your way as you approach, but Goth Reject Girl does. She’s wearing some stupid tshirt that says “Teenage Suicide (Don’t Do It)” and besides being entirely out of dress code, it doesn’t even make sense. Who is this girl?
“Tabitha, meet Heather. Heather, this is the witch I was telling you about.” Damn. It’s like Eli can read your mind. Wait. Can Necromancers read minds??
“Some of them,” Eli says, even though no one has made any move to speak.
Shit.
Heather smiles at you and shakes your hand with excitement. “My first natural-born! This is a big day for me!”
Uh, excuse me? Did she just call you a “natural-born?” What the hell does that mean? You look over at Eli and see a smile tugging at his lips. Damnit. Is he reading your mind again? Well, the only way you can keep your secrets safe is to only think what you can speak. Or only speak what you think? Briefly you wonder what the difference is.
“Um. Heather, right? Look, it’s nice to meet you, I guess. But, what the hell do you mean, a ‘natural-born?'”
Heather looks at Eli with confusion and not a little reproach. “You didn’t tell her? Eli. That’s just rude.” To your everlasting shock, Eli actually looks chagrined, and shuffles his feet while clearing his throat. “Aw, m-. . .” he begins, but Heather cuts him off.
“Rude, and unlike you! Has this place changed you so quickly?” Heather looks genuinely disappointed in Eli, and then turns to you and smiles kindly. “I’m Heather,” she says. “Eli’s mother.”
Um. How can this be? This girl looks like she’s maybe all of 21. She can’t possibly be Eli’s mother. Can she? You open your mouth to speak, to say something, anything. Nice to meet you? Would someone tell me what the hell is going on? But you realize anything you say will make you sound even dumber, if that’s possible, so you close your mouth with an audible snap.
“You may be wondering how I can look like this and still be mother to a teenaged boy. It’s sort of a long story involving, well, my untimely death-” You see Eli flinch out of the corner of your eye, even though Heather is talking about her passing like it’s no big deal. You wonder if she knows that it hurts her son.
“But that’s not why I called you out here today,” Eli interrupts. Shooting his mother a glance, he turns to face you. “Look, Tabitha, the thing is, there are some secrets I think you should know. And it starts with your father. He’s . . . he’s not a good man, Tabitha.”
You start to speak, to toss some insult at Eli. How dare he say such a thing about your father? But the look in Heather’s eyes stops you. She looks kind and unbearably sad. And all of a sudden you realize that even though you don’t know what Eli’s talking about, there’s a big part of you that never wants to hear it. There’s a part of you that knows if you choose to listen further, your whole life will be upended.
Do you:
A. tell Eli, “Stop right there! I don’t want to know anything else!” and run away?
B. Ask Heather to explain, nicely, what the hell is going on?
C. Run back to your room and call your dad. He was trying to contact you. What if Eli and Heather are there to harm you??
