The Basement - 10
As fate would have it, Calvin Freedman didn't have to wait much longer for his chance.
The clock was winding down on Dean O'Leary's class, passing quickly as the students worked on more practical magic drills. Calvin was glad that he had Mr. O'Leary's class at the end of the day. Not only did he like the class and material, but he enjoyed Mr. O'Leary's teaching style and personality. It made what would probably be a long crawl to the end of the day pass by swiftly. It did have its ups and down, as any class had; the book work they'd done for weeks leading up to the drills was, at times, very dry and monotonous, but Calvin did his best to absorb the information. He took his magical studies seriously, even though he seemed to have a natural gift for it. It didn't hurt that his parents had helped tremendously ever since his magic manifested itself. His father, Bruce Freedman, loved thinking of new ways of teaching what he knew of the magical arts, and his mother, Valerie, was a supportive, and sometimes stern, coach in her own right. Bruce wasn't someone you would see and immediately associate with a skilled mage, but he knew a lot about a lot and wasn't too shy or self-conscious to share it with his only son. Valerie Freedman, on the other hand, was a bit more subtle about her knowledge, but the way she would sometimes effortlessly clean the house after a rather eventful dinner or party, or how she knew exactly what people were thinking proved that she was on par with her husband when it came to sheer magical prowess.
Mr. O'Leary cut the class short, dismissing them for good behavior and improvement. They had moved to mental types of magic, and their first drills had been to try and read each other's minds. Mr. O'Leary would pull one person from each pair up to his desk and give them a card with a random image on it, and it was their partner's goal to try and "see" what was on the card. He instructed the students holding the cards to study the image carefully and keep it in front of them the entire time, so that they would have a fresh picture in the minds. The other students were instructed to try and see through their partners' eyes; to reach out with their minds and detect the images on the cards. They were each given three guesses before they had to give up. Predictably, most of the pairs failed the first few times, but slowly they started guessing correctly, or at least within the ballpark of the images.
Daniel Byrd was, to everyone's amazement (even if they didn't admit it), pretty good at it. Out of the ten attempts that he took he guessed correctly seven times. The only person that beat his number was Eva, who guessed correctly eight out of her ten attempts. Even Calvin couldn't hit those numbers, putting up a paltry five out of ten successful guesses. Calvin did, however, guess correctly sooner than Daniel or Eva, often seeing the image on the first of the three allowed attempts. The rest of the class trailed with mostly four or three out of ten correct. Mr. O'Leary was pleased to see that no one, not even Roger Conway, had failed at all of their attempts.
Calvin had some time to kill before his parents arrived, as they were picking him up that day. He walked slowly with Eva as they made their rounds from Mr. O'Leary's classroom, past the school offices and to her locker, then down the hall to his locker before finally looping back to the front doors.
"It was a squid, Cal," Eva was saying as they pushed open the big double doors in front of the school. The dark wooden doors squeaked softly as they gave way, letting sunlight stream in and fill the voids around their shadows as they took in a fresh breeze from outside. They made their way across the front lawn and around the front of the building to the bus loading zone. The sweet smell of freshly cut grass hung in the air.
Calvin raised his eyebrows at her. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure it was a chandelier."
"You're crazy! there's no way that looked like a chandelier! I even showed you the card after!"
"Yeah, and it looked like an upside down chandelier!" Calvin egged her on playfully as they found a spot on a concrete divider to sit and wait for Eva's bus. She rolled her eyes, sighing as she did so.
"If I knew you were going to be this stubborn, Cal, I would have requested a different partner," Eva said to him. Her eyes belied her annoyed tone. Calvin caught a glimpse of her and for a moment his mind flashed back to his dream, and he saw Eva wearing that blue, shimmery dress again. He looked away, trying not to act embarrassed.
Eva let her gaze linger on him for a moment as he looked away, admiring this boy that could be so playful and talkative one minute and so shy the next. He really had been an excellent partner, and had pushed her to improve a lot in the past few weeks. She was surprised at how easily she'd gone from admiring him from afar to working with him in the class, and then to walking and talking with him afterward.
They sat together, discussing the day's classes and their past weekend stories. As the minutes passed, though, Calvin kept hearing Richie's voice nagging at his mind.
"Seriously Cal, you better hurry..." Richie kept saying to him, over and over. In reality, Richie had been honestly concerned that his friend would miss out on his big opportunity. In Calvin's mind, though, the message warped with each new playback, until it was an awful broken record of noise, all aimed at Calvin's feelings. As the time for them to part ways grew closer the noise began to morph into a cacophony, becoming harder and harder to ignore, until it was all Calvin could do to try and have a decent conversation with Eva without breaking down and screaming at himself to just shut the hell up.
Time was running out, he knew, and before long he heard the rumble of the buses and their diesel engines moving his way. He started to panic. He and Eva had been talking about some of their hobbies. She mentioned that she enjoyed badminton, and offered to play him sometime. Calvin was telling Eva about his love of games, and playing with Richie and Kate in their free time. He now wondered how you segue from that into the upcoming dance. He racked his brain for a good connection but came up short. Calvin could feel the perspiration beading on his head from the stress.
The buses pulled into the loading zone, lining up in all their yellow splendor. Chariots for the masses of students, waiting to return them, hopefully relatively unharmed, back to their homes. The words RENARD SCHOOL DISTRICT painted across the side in big, black letters. Eva lingered for a moment, not wanting to be the first on the bus and, thus, having to wait for everyone else before leaving. By now, though, kids had gathered in the loading zone and were making their ways to their respective buses at a rather alarming rate.
Calvin still hadn't found a good way to breach the subject of the dance, but he worried that if he didn't ask now he would lose his chance.
"Well, Cal, I guess I should go," Eva said as she stood up. She picked up her book bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time, same place?"
"Yeah, I'll be there!" Calvin answered. His voice was as cool as he could make it, although Richie was now mentally screaming at him to make a move. Eva smiled awkwardly, turned, and began to walk toward her bus.
It's now or never, Calvin thought. He stood up. "Eva, wait!" he called after her. She stopped and turned slightly.
"Hmm?"
Calvin mustered all the strength he had. This was it. Mind Richie finally fell silent, waiting on pins and needles for what would come next. Calvin spoke slowly, so as not to sound like a complete idiot, although looking back on it later he's sure he still sounded like somewhat of an idiot.
"Eva, would you..." His heart jumped up and caught in his throat, stopping him mid-sentence and forcing an embarrassing silence.
"Would I what, Calvin?" Eva asked, turning to fully face him, holding onto her book bag with both hands as it rested over her shoulder.
Calvin swallowed hard and continued. "Would you like to go to the dance with me?" His face was beaming red, he could feel it, but he didn't care. His heart pounded hard against his chest, and his breathing became slightly labored.
Eva just stared at him for a moment. Calvin couldn't tell what she was thinking. Was it a look of ridicule? Of incredulity? Of...pity? He wished he knew. Maybe some more of Mr. O'Leary's lessons would help. Maybe now was not the time to think about Mr. O'Leary nor his lessons.
Eva stepped toward him, book bag still slung over her shoulder, hands still grasping the strap. She still had that look on her face. She leaned in close, sending Calvin's neck hairs on edge.
Five little words came tumbling out of her mouth, loud enough so only he could hear them.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Eva turned, letting the charm on her bag's zipper slap Calvin lightly on the arm, and then walked to her bus and boarded it. Calvin was too dazed to register anything for a second, and he stood dumbfounded near the divider. Eva found a seat near the window facing back out toward Calvin, pushed the window down and shouted at him. Calvin looked up at her.
"That's a yes, by the way," Eva said. He hadn't noticed before, but her face was almost as red as his. She pulled the window up, then gave him a wave before disappearing down into her seat.
The clock was winding down on Dean O'Leary's class, passing quickly as the students worked on more practical magic drills. Calvin was glad that he had Mr. O'Leary's class at the end of the day. Not only did he like the class and material, but he enjoyed Mr. O'Leary's teaching style and personality. It made what would probably be a long crawl to the end of the day pass by swiftly. It did have its ups and down, as any class had; the book work they'd done for weeks leading up to the drills was, at times, very dry and monotonous, but Calvin did his best to absorb the information. He took his magical studies seriously, even though he seemed to have a natural gift for it. It didn't hurt that his parents had helped tremendously ever since his magic manifested itself. His father, Bruce Freedman, loved thinking of new ways of teaching what he knew of the magical arts, and his mother, Valerie, was a supportive, and sometimes stern, coach in her own right. Bruce wasn't someone you would see and immediately associate with a skilled mage, but he knew a lot about a lot and wasn't too shy or self-conscious to share it with his only son. Valerie Freedman, on the other hand, was a bit more subtle about her knowledge, but the way she would sometimes effortlessly clean the house after a rather eventful dinner or party, or how she knew exactly what people were thinking proved that she was on par with her husband when it came to sheer magical prowess.
Mr. O'Leary cut the class short, dismissing them for good behavior and improvement. They had moved to mental types of magic, and their first drills had been to try and read each other's minds. Mr. O'Leary would pull one person from each pair up to his desk and give them a card with a random image on it, and it was their partner's goal to try and "see" what was on the card. He instructed the students holding the cards to study the image carefully and keep it in front of them the entire time, so that they would have a fresh picture in the minds. The other students were instructed to try and see through their partners' eyes; to reach out with their minds and detect the images on the cards. They were each given three guesses before they had to give up. Predictably, most of the pairs failed the first few times, but slowly they started guessing correctly, or at least within the ballpark of the images.
Daniel Byrd was, to everyone's amazement (even if they didn't admit it), pretty good at it. Out of the ten attempts that he took he guessed correctly seven times. The only person that beat his number was Eva, who guessed correctly eight out of her ten attempts. Even Calvin couldn't hit those numbers, putting up a paltry five out of ten successful guesses. Calvin did, however, guess correctly sooner than Daniel or Eva, often seeing the image on the first of the three allowed attempts. The rest of the class trailed with mostly four or three out of ten correct. Mr. O'Leary was pleased to see that no one, not even Roger Conway, had failed at all of their attempts.
Calvin had some time to kill before his parents arrived, as they were picking him up that day. He walked slowly with Eva as they made their rounds from Mr. O'Leary's classroom, past the school offices and to her locker, then down the hall to his locker before finally looping back to the front doors.
"It was a squid, Cal," Eva was saying as they pushed open the big double doors in front of the school. The dark wooden doors squeaked softly as they gave way, letting sunlight stream in and fill the voids around their shadows as they took in a fresh breeze from outside. They made their way across the front lawn and around the front of the building to the bus loading zone. The sweet smell of freshly cut grass hung in the air.
Calvin raised his eyebrows at her. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure it was a chandelier."
"You're crazy! there's no way that looked like a chandelier! I even showed you the card after!"
"Yeah, and it looked like an upside down chandelier!" Calvin egged her on playfully as they found a spot on a concrete divider to sit and wait for Eva's bus. She rolled her eyes, sighing as she did so.
"If I knew you were going to be this stubborn, Cal, I would have requested a different partner," Eva said to him. Her eyes belied her annoyed tone. Calvin caught a glimpse of her and for a moment his mind flashed back to his dream, and he saw Eva wearing that blue, shimmery dress again. He looked away, trying not to act embarrassed.
Eva let her gaze linger on him for a moment as he looked away, admiring this boy that could be so playful and talkative one minute and so shy the next. He really had been an excellent partner, and had pushed her to improve a lot in the past few weeks. She was surprised at how easily she'd gone from admiring him from afar to working with him in the class, and then to walking and talking with him afterward.
They sat together, discussing the day's classes and their past weekend stories. As the minutes passed, though, Calvin kept hearing Richie's voice nagging at his mind.
"Seriously Cal, you better hurry..." Richie kept saying to him, over and over. In reality, Richie had been honestly concerned that his friend would miss out on his big opportunity. In Calvin's mind, though, the message warped with each new playback, until it was an awful broken record of noise, all aimed at Calvin's feelings. As the time for them to part ways grew closer the noise began to morph into a cacophony, becoming harder and harder to ignore, until it was all Calvin could do to try and have a decent conversation with Eva without breaking down and screaming at himself to just shut the hell up.
Time was running out, he knew, and before long he heard the rumble of the buses and their diesel engines moving his way. He started to panic. He and Eva had been talking about some of their hobbies. She mentioned that she enjoyed badminton, and offered to play him sometime. Calvin was telling Eva about his love of games, and playing with Richie and Kate in their free time. He now wondered how you segue from that into the upcoming dance. He racked his brain for a good connection but came up short. Calvin could feel the perspiration beading on his head from the stress.
The buses pulled into the loading zone, lining up in all their yellow splendor. Chariots for the masses of students, waiting to return them, hopefully relatively unharmed, back to their homes. The words RENARD SCHOOL DISTRICT painted across the side in big, black letters. Eva lingered for a moment, not wanting to be the first on the bus and, thus, having to wait for everyone else before leaving. By now, though, kids had gathered in the loading zone and were making their ways to their respective buses at a rather alarming rate.
Calvin still hadn't found a good way to breach the subject of the dance, but he worried that if he didn't ask now he would lose his chance.
"Well, Cal, I guess I should go," Eva said as she stood up. She picked up her book bag and slung it over her shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time, same place?"
"Yeah, I'll be there!" Calvin answered. His voice was as cool as he could make it, although Richie was now mentally screaming at him to make a move. Eva smiled awkwardly, turned, and began to walk toward her bus.
It's now or never, Calvin thought. He stood up. "Eva, wait!" he called after her. She stopped and turned slightly.
"Hmm?"
Calvin mustered all the strength he had. This was it. Mind Richie finally fell silent, waiting on pins and needles for what would come next. Calvin spoke slowly, so as not to sound like a complete idiot, although looking back on it later he's sure he still sounded like somewhat of an idiot.
"Eva, would you..." His heart jumped up and caught in his throat, stopping him mid-sentence and forcing an embarrassing silence.
"Would I what, Calvin?" Eva asked, turning to fully face him, holding onto her book bag with both hands as it rested over her shoulder.
Calvin swallowed hard and continued. "Would you like to go to the dance with me?" His face was beaming red, he could feel it, but he didn't care. His heart pounded hard against his chest, and his breathing became slightly labored.
Eva just stared at him for a moment. Calvin couldn't tell what she was thinking. Was it a look of ridicule? Of incredulity? Of...pity? He wished he knew. Maybe some more of Mr. O'Leary's lessons would help. Maybe now was not the time to think about Mr. O'Leary nor his lessons.
Eva stepped toward him, book bag still slung over her shoulder, hands still grasping the strap. She still had that look on her face. She leaned in close, sending Calvin's neck hairs on edge.
Five little words came tumbling out of her mouth, loud enough so only he could hear them.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Eva turned, letting the charm on her bag's zipper slap Calvin lightly on the arm, and then walked to her bus and boarded it. Calvin was too dazed to register anything for a second, and he stood dumbfounded near the divider. Eva found a seat near the window facing back out toward Calvin, pushed the window down and shouted at him. Calvin looked up at her.
"That's a yes, by the way," Eva said. He hadn't noticed before, but her face was almost as red as his. She pulled the window up, then gave him a wave before disappearing down into her seat.
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