Jess and Blinx: The Wizard- Part 4

Thunderous applause rang throughout the room, our friends and family standing to their feet to celebrate. After three years of hard work, I had just received my GED. I had joined a class for people who were unable to attend normal schools, but still wanted to further their education. We had rented out an auditorium to have a small ceremony for everyone who finally succeeded. I was on stage, looking out into the audience, and saw my dad a few rows back, clapping for me.

Three years ago, when Prof. Theodore came to our house, he gave me an offer to attend a renowned Magic Academy. After he left, I told Dad, and accepted Prof. Theodore’s offer, then I started studying for my GED. I don’t really know what happened in his mind after that, but it was like something inside of him switched back on after having been off for a very long time. Within a week after hearing about Prof. Theodore’s offer, he started attending AA meetings, working regularly again, and even helped me pay for school so that I didn’t need to keep working my con, which apparently he knew about and insisted I stop to focus on studying. I still did it on the weekends every now and then for a bit of spending money. After all those changes in my life, everything was completely different. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but the lights were always on, and we started keeping food in the refrigerator instead of the cabinet.

One by one, we walked off our stage and went to our families. My dad had tears in his eyes as he hugged me and told me how proud of me he was, and how proud Mom would have been. Dad and I celebrated by going out to eat afterwards at my favorite human food restaurant. It was owned by a nice human family who immigrated here about six years ago. I ordered a hamburger and a side of lo mein noodles, and Dad got a milkshake and fried fish. After finishing our food and going home, I went upstairs, sat on my bed, and made a very important call.

I was so nervous my hands were shaking, and my nose wouldn’t stop twitching. The phone rang three times before a voice on the other end answered. “Hello?”

“Prof. Theodore? It’s Jess. You might remember me, I was the girl you met a few years ago. I tried to con you and you gave me all my money back, then said I should get my GED…” I said. There was a long pause on the line.

“So did you?” He asked.

“I did sir.”

“Well it sure took you long enough.” After saying that, he laughed heartily. I breathed a sigh of relief, one that he remembered me, and another that he wasn’t mad it took me so long. “So, I take it that means you are ready to come in for an interview?”

I replied quickly, “Yes sir, very. I can come in as soon as an appointment opens up.”

“That’s good to hear. As I recall, I agreed to put in a good word for you, and try to line up a scholarship too. There will be a fair amount of expectations on you, you know… I hope you are up to it.”

“Absolutely sir, I’m more than up to it!”

“Good. I will call you as soon as I get you an appointment.”

“Thank you, Prof. Theodore.”

“And Jess…”

“Yes?”

“Good job.”

I couldn’t help but smile, “Thank you sir.” With that, he hung up and I layed on my bed and punched the air in excitement while squealing like a happy little kid. I went down stairs and told Dad, then he got just as excited as I was. After we calmed down we started talking about what came next.

“After you’ve finished school, what do you want to do?” Dad asked.

“Well, once I graduate, I will be a mage, so I could do anything really.”

“Some mages got jobs in construction, and they make decent money. Do you want to do something like that?”

“I don’t know. Mom used her mage training to research potions, but I’m not really interested in that stuff.”

“Well, you will have plenty of time to think about it. Your mother once told me she changed her field of study twice before deciding on potions.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised.

“Yup.” The truth was, mages really could do whatever they wanted. Every field had a need that mages could fill in some way. Firefighters use water, fire, air, and even Earthen mages. Police use mages that specialize in memories. Even weather channels use divination mages to predict the week’s weather, but somehow they still mess up.

“What do you think I should do?” I asked Dad.

“I don’t know. My advice is just take a bunch of different classes at first and try to find out what interests you.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“Jess.”

“Yeah?”

“Go out tonight. Don’t go upstairs and study, you can do that tomorrow. Go celebrate tonight.” Dad told me.

“Why?” I was confused. I wasn’t really the type to go out and do things, and I only had a few friends; I made them during the study sessions for the GED. “You’ve never told me to go out before. Actually, I had a nine o’clock curfew until last year. Why the change of heart?”

“Because you are about to get really busy. So go enjoy it while you can.” He explained. I hugged him and took him up on his idea. I called a few friends and we went to the movies, then dancing.

I got home that night pretty late, and Dad had already gone to bed. By the time I got up in the morning, or technically afternoon, Dad had already gone to work. I got dressed and ran a few errands. I picked up some books from the library, and dropped a few off, then stopped by to see John, my oldest friend. I walked around the areas he usually hangs out. I finally found him a few blocks away from his normal spot.

“Hey John.” I said.

“Jess. I haven’t seen you in a few days. How ya been?” He said a little more gruffly than normal.

“I’ve been fine. You sound a bit sick; you okay?” I sat down across from him.

“Oh, just sick of being old is all.” He chuckled. “How did your exams go? Did you pass?”

“I did.” I said smiling.

“Congratulations! So did you call that professor already?”

“I did, last night actually. He said he would get me an interview and put in a good word for a scholarship.” I nodded my head.

“So he kept his word huh? That’s good.” John coughed hard and beat his chest. It concerned me.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay? I can stop by the story and get you some medicine.” I offered.

“Ah, well… I doubt it will help much, but if you want I won’t stop you.”

“Need anything else?”

“No, I’m doing pretty good, all things considered. I got a new blanket yesterday from the shelter, and most folks are nice enough to at least give me a few bucks every now and then, so I eat most every day now.”

“Alright, well I’ll go get your medicine. Try not to wander too far.” He chuckled, and I went to the pharmacy. After getting him some cough medicine and a few other things just in case, I dropped them off.

Leaving John, I just kinda roamed around for a while, not knowing what to do with myself. This was actually the first day off I have had in a few weeks. I was just too busy with studying and exams to find time to rest. I decided to go to the natural history museum to kill some time. I ended up taking a guided tour around, since I had never actually been before, but always wanted to. I listened to the tour guide talk to our group about all kinds of things: history, cultures, animal’s biological development throughout the years, but the part that really caught my attention was when she started talking about the remains of ancient cultures and cities. Even after the rest of the group had dispersed, I stayed behind in that section, reading every display and getting engrossed in each tiny detail. I stayed there almost until the museum’s closing time, and on my way out, I saw something that changed everything. It was a sign, a simple wooden sign with a silver plaque. It read: This section of the museum is dedicated to High Mage and doctor of archeology, Winnifred Algohn.

With that, something inside me just clicked. “Archeology…”