Faithless

Chapter Eight

By the time the weekend was over, Jasmina was still in denial and avoiding Ruby at all costs. Eventually, she had decided against messaging Cam and she was relieved when she didn't have any dreams over the weekend that would cause her even more conflict when it came to thoughts of him. Jasmina didn't want to talk to anyone, but she knew she wouldn't have the option for much longer when she woke up on Monday morning. Her first class of the day was History and that meant she had an hour in a classroom with none other than Cam's dad, Mr Black. She had been thinking about it all night long and she felt sick with nerves at the idea of seeing him. Of being stuck in that room with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

So far, Mr. Black hadn't spoken to Jasmina about anything to do with magic, or her being a witch, but Jasmina had a feeling that that was all about to change today. She wanted to put off going to class for as long as possible, but she knew she couldn't avoid the inevitable. She had never skipped class once in her whole life, but right now she was considering making an exception. The only thing stopping her was the thought that her father would be informed. If he heard that she was starting to act up, he would demand an explanation as to why, and she could hardly tell him her history teacher thought she was a witch.

Jasmina got on with her morning routines and once the bell went to signal the start of their first class, she dragged her feet the whole way with Logan in tow. He could tell she was acting strangely but considering Candice had taught him all about cramps at the weekend, he thought better of asking her about it. Instead, he just followed her quietly and they took their seats at the back of the class.

Jasmina wasn't surprised to see Cam standing at the front of the class, talking to his dad in hushed tones, but she refused to make any eye contact, just in case. She could feel his eyes were on her but she did her best to ignore it. She wasn't ready to face him yet. She knew if he got the chance he would want to ask her about any dreams she had had since they last saw each other and he probably wouldn't believe her if she told him she hadn't had any, even if it was the truth.

As usual, Cam left before the lesson started and Jasmina was able to relax at least somewhat for most of the lesson. She got all of her work done so there would be no reason for her to stay behind and she counted the seconds until the bell finally went off, signalling her time to escape. She felt like the more she watched the clock, the slower time would pass, but she couldn't bring herself to tear her eyes away from it. She kept tapping her foot nervously while she waited, but Logan soon jabbed her in the arm and scolded her for being so annoying. She sighed lightly to herself and used every ounce of will power she had to keep still for the rest of the lesson.

"Jasmina?" Mr. Black called, just as the bell went off. She felt her heart drop as she looked in his direction.

"Yes sir?" She mumbled.

"I need to speak with you before you go." He explained. It was the exact words she had been dreading all day but she did her best to hide her dismay and just nodded weakly in agreement. She stayed in her spot at her desk while the rest of the class poured out. She couldn't help it when her eyes stared longingly at the door. Mr. Black waited until the last person left, then shut the door to ensure their privacy.

"I understand you've had a conversation with my son." He stated. Jasmina just nodded. "He mentioned you're having some trouble coming to terms with what he had to say. I know you're nervous and probably scared right now, but I just wanted to say that you don't have to be. You're one of our kind and we're here for you whenever you're ready." He explained, taking Jasmina off guard. It wasn't the kind of conversation she had been expecting.

"I... Um." She tried to think about something to say but she drew a blank. Instead she just nodded weakly to show her understanding and packed her things. Mr. Black handed her a note to explain why she was late, then she headed to her next class.

It felt weird for someone not her age to be talking about magic with her. It made her want to believe it more, as if his age made him a more credible source than Ruby or Cam had been. It did occur to her that maybe an adult would be less likely to try and play some kind of sick trick on her. She might have found it easier to accept who she was if she had a power like Cam's. If she could physically see the result of her magic, rather than having visions that she has always gone out her way to prevent from occurring naturally.

Jasmina didn't pay much attention in her classes for the rest of the day. Her mind was stuck in other places and as much as she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about what Mr. Black had said. There was no deceit in his voice when he spoke to her. In fact he didn't do anything that gave her a reason to doubt his intentions. She thought about talking to Cam again, to help her work through everything, but she worried about his talk of joining a coven. Instead she waited until her classes were done and then she planned on talking to Ruby. She wondered if the conversation would go down differently now that Cam had already confronted her with the truth and she had spoken to Mr. Black as well.

She sat in the girl's dorm with Candice, keeping her eye on the door for Ruby. The pair of them hadn't really spoken much before now and she had no idea how she was going to approach Ruby, but she figured she would be able to work it out as she went along. Ruby had already tried talking to Jasmina over the weekend, but Jasmina had dodged her at every opportunity. She just hoped that Ruby hadn't given up on her already.

Classes were over and everyone had already had dinner. There were limited places students would choose to go to once they were done. Jasmina was starting to think that maybe Ruby had gone to the common room instead of heading back to the dorm as there was still no sign of her. Jasmina could have sworn Ruby preferred to hang out in the dorm more than anywhere else, but maybe she had got it wrong? She considered taking a walk and trying to find Ruby that way, but she didn't want to risk missing her either. Knowing Jasmina's luck, she would head out of the dorm and a few minutes later Ruby would appear and head straight to her room, none the wiser that Jasmina had ever been looking for her in the first place.

Finally, Ruby made her appearance and Jasmina found herself sitting up a little taller to get her attention. Since finding out what Jasmina was, it had become a habit of Ruby's to search for her in whatever room she stepped into. She knew it put Jasmina on edge to say the least, but she felt like they needed to stick together. It was why she had been getting closer to Maxine in the past week or so. They all needed someone to lean on and Ruby was starting to think Jasmina needed that more than anyone. She had been shocked to say the least, when Ewan Black, the history sub, had told her about Jasmina's powers. Ruby was brought up thinking powers like hers were a myth amongst their kind, they were so rare it was practically unheard of.

When Ruby finally made eye contact with Jasmina, she decided to risk trying to talk to her. At least in a room full of other people Jasmina could take comfort in the fact that their conversation couldn't go too far in the direction of magic. Slowly she made her way over and Jasmina couldn't help it when she rolled out her shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension she was feeling.

"Hey, can I sit with you guys?" Ruby said casually.

"Sure." Jasmina just smiled, before Candice had a chance to even see who it was. Jasmina wasn't usually the chatty type so Candice was sceptical of her for letting Ruby join them but she didn't say anything.

Candice took over the conversation straight away, grilling Ruby on everything she could possibly think of. They talked about Ruby sneaking out, parties and boys all in one go, with Candice firing off questions so fast Jasmina couldn't even keep up, let alone poor Ruby. Candice didn't question her to be cruel or anything like that, she was just fascinated by new people and jumped on the chance to learn more about anyone and everyone. Jasmina joined in here and there, but she was mostly quiet, letting the two of them chat more.

Eventually Candice's questions died down and she decided it was time to head upstairs to their room. She had expected Jasmina to follow, but to her surprise, Jasmina stayed downstairs with Ruby. With Candice out of the way she could finally talk about something more magic related without having to explain anything to Candice. They waited Candice was definitely upstairs before they finally spoke.

"So how are you doing with... Everything?" Ruby asked, glancing around to make sure no one could hear them.

"I'm okay. Jasmina shrugged, keeping her eyes down. Ruby nervously bit at her fingernails while she thought of what to say.

"Can I just say I'm really sorry for how you found out? I wanted to tell you as soon as they told me but Ewan said no because he was worried how you would handle it. I was going to tell you myself but I didn't know how." Ruby explained. Jasmina tried to give her a comforting smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"It's okay." Was all she managed to say on the matter. Ruby still looked troubled, but she let it go for now at least.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" She offered.

"We'll actually, I was wondering if you could tell me about you, I mean how they told you." Jasmina said quietly. Ruby just smiled at that.

"They didn't need to tell me." She grinned.

The girls moved closer on the sofa to make sure no one else was listening. Then Ruby told Jasmina all about being raised as a witch. Both of Ruby's parents were magic and for her it had been a part of her everyday life when she was growing up. She was homeschooled until she was ten as her parents were worried she would expose their secret before that age. Once they could trust she wouldn't accidentally tell anyone about being a witch, they let her join a mainstream school. She hadn't known many other people with magic herself, but she knew the day would come when she would be asked to join a coven.

Ruby's parents never joined a coven but they had linked to each other. They never regretted their choice but they taught Ruby it would be best for her to be in a coven regardless. It would eventually be her choice when the time came, but they wanted to prepare her, no matter what she decided to do. Ruby wasn't surprised when Mr. Black had found her and her parents at the start of the parents' evening the other day and asked if she would join Cam and Aiden in their coven. Her parents were delighted when Ruby agreed and she was already starting to get to know the rest of the coven, ready to join them officially. She wanted to finish school first and then after that she would move with them and go wherever they liked.

The idea of going wherever caught Jasmina's attention the most. She envied the idea. While she still wasn't convinced she was truly a witch, talking to Ruby at least made her feel more normal. She could tell that Ruby loved to talk about magic as well. She wouldn't go into any specifics while they were in public, but Jasmina could see her eyes lighting up with each and every word she spoke. She loved what she was and Jasmina could help it when she started to hope that maybe one day she would feel the same way about herself.

Eventually, Jasmina decided she needed to give herself some time to think about everything. She thanked Ruby for taking the time to talk to her and promised she would stop avoiding her for now at least. She headed up to her room and was glad to see Candice had already fallen to sleep. She crawled into her own bed and within minutes sleep had overtaken her.