Cheyenne’s nostrils flared, and she turned her attention to the floating jar of pens. In one swift motion, her arm came up, and a column of purple and black sparks exploded from her hand. It shot over the jar by two feet and smashed against a framed certification on the back wall. The glass shattered, the frame thumped to the carpet, and the paper certificate burst into flame.
“Okay. Time to call it.” Mattie sent the floating jar back to her desk, then muttered another spell and shot a stream of water onto the burning paper and frame against the wall. “You can come back tomorrow.”
“I’ll try again.” Cheyenne nodded at the professor’s desk, thrumming with energy and a need to get something done. “I can do it.”
“I know you can.”
“So pick up the jar.”
“No. It’s almost four, anyway. I have a life too, believe it or not. And you need to take a break.” Mattie stepped toward the halfling and set a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Time to leave the angry place.”
“Seriously?” The corner of Cheyenne’s mouth twitched. “I don’t need a break. I’ve been standing here getting ready to do something, so let me do something.”
“You’ve done enough.” Mattie removed her hand and glanced at the soaked and charred mess. “Hey, look at that. Seventeen minutes and twenty-one seconds. New record.”
“You’re making me leave because I burned a stupid piece of paper?”
“Burn all my stupid pieces of paper, Cheyenne.” Mattie turned and pointed at the office door. “Tomorrow.”
The sparks in Cheyenne’s hands fizzled out. She took a deep breath and glanced away from the professor. “I can’t leave like this.”
“I guess you’d better figure out how to look like a Goth grad student again, huh? You have as long as it takes for me to pack my things.” With a lifted eyebrow, Mattie turned toward her desk and started piling papers into stacks.
“That’s the part you said you could teach me.”
“We’ll get there.” The professor jammed a stack of binders into her wheeled briefcase and paused. “Try thinking of a happy place instead.”
“You just told the Goth to find her happy place. I’m in my happy place.” Cheyenne’s back and shoulders still burned, but it was lighter now. Softer.
“Call it whatever you want, then. Rainbows and unicorns, maybe. Sunshine?”
The half-drow almost choked on her disbelief. “You do not understand what you’re doing.”
“Neither do you. Not yet, anyway.” Tucking her dark hair behind her ear, Mattie zipped her briefcase and grabbed the raised metal handle. “You did better than I thought you would.”
“Super encouraging.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.” With a wink, Mattie stepped around her desk and pulled the briefcase behind her. She stopped for a last glance at her student and tilted her head in cat-like consideration, then glanced at her watch. “Okay. You can’t leave looking like that.”
“Hey, thanks. That’s helpful.” Cheyenne turned her dark, slate-gray hands over and scoffed. “Hadn’t thought about that.”
“Take your time. Just don’t shut the door until you’re ready to leave for the night. I’ve rigged this place to cut the lights and lock itself. And there’s an alarm.”
“Anybody gonna show up looking for you?”
Mattie was already halfway out the door, and she didn’t stop as she called over her shoulder, “Office hours are done. Says so outside the door. Nobody ever looks for me here after four o’clock.”
Then the programming professor was gone, her Chucks squeaking on the linoleum floor of the hall, which echoed with the rolling hum of the briefcase’s wheels.
“Great.” Cheyenne turned away from the door and stalked toward the back of Professor Bergmann’s office. Some training. Might as well just teach a dog to throw its own ball. When she looked up, her gaze settled on the jar of pens on Mattie’s desk. I can just do it myself.
She pointed with careful aim at the jar. A stream of purple light darted from her finger, missed the jar, and blasted a dime-sized crater in the thin office wall behind the desk.
“Or I can take a break.” Cheyenne sighed and went to ruffle her hair before remembering she’d braided it. “After I cool off and lighten up.” She glanced at her dark-gray hands.
After two minutes of pacing, she realized she had to take her mind off being in Bergmann’s office with nothing to show for it. She shoved a hand into her pocket and took out her phone, then removed her earbuds cord and looked at the screen. No missed calls or messages. She took a chance and called Ember’s phone. Her friend’s voicemail greeting played by the time she stuck one earbud into her ear, so she ended the call. All that means is that she’s still in the hospital. Or…
Cheyenne shook her head and jammed the earbuds into her ears. “Don’t go there. She’s still in the hospital.”
With a few swipes, she pulled up more classical music, this time by Liszt, and tapped play with the volume turned all the way up. Only way to drown out everything else.
For a few seconds, she stood in the office, eyes closed, arms folded, listened to the symphony blasting through her earbuds. She took a few deep breaths, then glanced at her hands. Pale, human skin. Snatching up the end of her braid, she pulled it forward over her shoulder to see the dyed black color seeping back into the thick white strands. “It worked! Great.”
Cheyenne kept the earbuds in and dropped her phone into her pocket. After slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she took a last glance at her professor’s office. If she can’t teach me how to keep the drow under wraps, I’m gonna have to glue headphones into my ears. Or wear a hat.
She stepped into the hall and pulled the office door closed behind her. A tingle crawled up her fingers just before she released the doorknob. The lights went off, the lock turned on its own, and the office locked itself.
“Yeah, nice trick.”
Chapter Fifteen
Cheyenne left the
