BEL AND THE FOUR OF HEARTS

Eight

“Hhhh,” I exhaled, staring up at the ceiling as I laid in my bed.

Another day of school awaited me, but I wasn't sure if I had the energy to face it. The memory of yesterday's events left me feeling drained, and I wasn't sure if it was worth it. Would I even go to school today? Or tomorrow? Or the day after that? And even if I wanted to, would my dad let me?

Speaking of which, I hadn't seen him since I got home from school yesterday. I groaned, feeling frustrated at the thought of how I would explain everything to him.

Had my dad found out that I went to school?

He would have heard from my home teachers whom I each sent emails of my ‘not needing them anymore’.

I groaned again, groggily climbing out of bed, my muscles ached. I reached my arms up high and let out a deep sigh, feeling the tension slowly release from my body. I then stretched my legs, the fibers of my muscles pulling taut before releasing. The sensation was oddly satisfying.

With another deep inhale, I reached for the sky and arched my back, feeling a satisfying pop. I let out a small chuckle as I realized how ridiculous I must have looked.

I made for the door.

As I bounded down the wooden stairs, my feet made a rhythmic tapping sound that echoed throughout the house.The sound of my footsteps was the only thing breaking the peaceful silence of the morning. I could hear the faint sound of birds chirping outside, but it was muffled by the sound of my feet on the stairs. The tapping sound echoed off the walls, almost like it was bouncing back to me, urging me to keep moving forward.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, the tapping sound gradually faded away, replaced by the soft padding of my feet on the tiled kitchen floor.

I walked to the fridge.

There was a post-it note from my dad.

"I heard from Munroe. We'll have a discussion about this tonight. For now, don't be late to school."

Hmm. He didn't sound too mad, but I knew I was in for an earful during our "discussion" later.

I opened the fridge door; the cool air washed over my face, and I reached for the bottle of water, feeling the condensation on its surface. I twisted off the cap, and the sound of the plastic crackling was loud in the quiet kitchen. I lifted the bottle to my lips and tilted it back, the water sloshing around inside.

The coolness of the water was a relief to the parched feeling in my throat, and I gulped it down eagerly. The taste was refreshing, and I savored it for a moment before taking another long drink. I returned the bottle to the fridge and walked back to my room, still feeling uncertain about whether I wanted to go to school or not.

Just as I was about to climb back up the stairs, the doorbell rang.

Who could it be so early in the morning?

I sauntered to the door, still feeling groggy from just waking up. As I opened the door, I saw him standing there with a smile on his face.

“Hi—”

I couldn't believe my eyes when I opened the door to see Mark standing there with a wide grin on his face. Before I could even process what was happening, my eyes grew wide in shock and I quickly covered my bare chest with my hands. I was only wearing a bra and shorts.

I felt my face flush with embarrassment, and I couldn't believe that I had opened the door without even putting on a shirt!

Ugh!

Mark sucked in his lips quickly and turned away from me, his body language obviously speaking volumes of his surprise at my appearance

He was muttering something under his breath, but I wasn't sure what he said, because I already slammed the door shut in his face.

***

I opened the door, a bit surprised to see him still there. I had changed into a more decent outfit, but still felt self-conscious under his gaze. I had thrown on a big shirt to cover myself up.

He climbed up another step towards me, and started with an apology,

“Hey, I'm very sorry about earlier.”

I cut him short with a gentle but dismissive wave, trying to keep my cool.

“It's fine,”

"Why are you at my house, anyway?" I asked, peering over his shoulder to see his flashy car parked right in front of our gate. Greg was in the car, looking in our direction, but his eyes seemed elsewhere.

“I was thinking you'd like a ride to school, since we're headed to the same place anyways."

Is he trying another show off trick or what?

He then added, scanning my outfit,

"Looks like you're not ready yet."

"I can come to school on my own," I told him, my tone a bit sharp.

He shrugged, "Yeah, yeah, no qualms."

He then scratched the back of his head and chuckled awkwardly,

"Actually, I need your help with something.”

I folded my arms inquisitively.

“I haven't quite gotten a hang of the card thing, and I kinda have a feeling I'd be called on today. It's my first time in an official magical academy, you see. Hard to blend in. I was hoping you could help a little along the way to school.”

He was talking about the Tarot Phonetics Activity.

It's where random students are called on to draw a card from a tarot deck and use the symbolism and meaning of the card to craft a spell or incantation using the magic phonetics we've learned in Arcane Speechcraft class—Magic Phonetics Class in layman's terms.

Even I hadn't quite gotten a hang of it yet, and the few times I had been called on before, I only got lucky with the tricks I used, which didn't always work.

I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

"Don't tell me you crept into Ms. Melissa's mind. That would explain that 'feeling' you're having, Mr. Mind Reader," I said, smirking sarcastically.

He responded with a mischievous smile,

"Uh…not really," and I couldn't help but chuckle at his response.

However, I still couldn't shake off the thought of him possibly having an unfair advantage.

Go ask your rich squad for help, bro, I nearly said out loud but controlled myself, smiling and rolling my

So you need my help," I said, rolling my eyes playfully.

"Yes, I could use your help," he said with a smile, "anything is useful."

I let out a sigh, "Fine, give me 15 minutes,” turning to head back into the house and invite him to wait inside, but before I could even open my mouth, he spoke up.

"I'll wait in the car."

I raised an eyebrow and thought to myself, "That's even better,” as I shut the door in his face.

I walked to my room to get ready for school.

I quickly finished getting ready, grabbed my backpack, and made my way out to his car. As I opened the door and slid into the passenger seat.

“.....well, there are a few shortcuts that some students use to try and make learning Tarot easier. For example, some people try to memorize the meanings of the Major Arcana cards first, since those are the most recognizable."

Another thing some people do is try to associate the cards with specific images or phrases. Like, they'll remember the Tower card by thinking of a lightning bolt striking a tower and causing chaos…”

I continued explaining as Greg drove us.

Belinda, we agreed we weren't going to school today remember?