Chatoyant College

Well, that wasn't as much of an explanation as Corrie had been hoping for, but at least she'd heard a term she knew, "casting a circle." It wasn't something she and her mother had ever done--they weren't really into formality--but she knew others did. Edie relaxed as well. There had probably been some information about casting a circle in one of those books.

"We told you she wasn't inside," Payton said, sounding as though she were speaking through gritted teeth.

"You've seen her, now leave," said Elena.

Paul shook his head. "I have as much right to be here as anyone else does."

The rest of Corrie's day was fairly straightforward. Her mind kept wandering to what might happen tonight, and she couldn't help feeling anxious about the possibility of facing Payton and Elena again. Now that she was away from the meeting, she wondered how she could possibly have kept from saying anything to them. Maybe it was just because Edie had put herself out there so much to do so. There wasn't much more to be said. Edie had been even quieter than usual last night after the meeting, she recalled; Corrie would have to ask her roommate how she felt about going back to the club.

Instead of immediately confirming or denying the theory, as Corrie had expected, Professor Lal merely looked thoughtful. Of course, she shouldn't have been surprised. The faerie rarely seemed to talk in absolutes, after all, though Corrie thought that was a teacher thing rather than a faerie thing. Then she asked a question Corrie had not expected. "Are you sure she wasn't sensitive before that?"

"Well--no, I guess not," Corrie responded, looking at Dawn.

Dawn shrugged. "I don't even know what you're talking about."

"Okay, I have a serious question," said Corrie. Not that her question about where Professor Lal went at night wasn't serious, but she had known it wasn't going to be answered. "We were looking at old yearbooks and we saw pictures of you and Ever."

Professor Lal's eyes widened, then she laughed. "You girls sure do your homework, don't you?"

Dawn grinned. "We are model students."

"I can tell you're going to be setting the curve in my class." Professor Lal nodded. "So what exactly is your question?"

Corrie couldn't think why Lorelei would be coming in--maybe she had a class in the building?--but apparently Dawn did, because her face lit up with understanding. "Lorelei! Come on!"

Lorelei hurried up to them, smiling, and Dawn turned and led the way back to the classroom. Professor Lal was talking to a girl whose blonde hair had purple streaks on it, so they waited until she had finished and the professor turned to them questioningly. Dawn took a step closer to her. "Professor Lal, we'd like to speak with you in private."

Wednesday, September 10

Corrie was delighted to see that her prediction was correct. When they arrived at the classroom, Professor Lal had a pile of books of widely varying sizes, shapes, and ages sitting on her desk. "Cool!" Dawn exclaimed, gently fingering a huge book with heavy, faded covers.

Professor Lal smiled. "This is only part of my collection. I thought I would bring in some representative examples."

Corrie didn't see Darcy on the way back, though, and when they arrived at Gilkey thoughts of the meeting were quickly wiped away. Dawn, Roe, Talia, and Annie were sitting in the common room with a big bowl of popcorn. They waved at Corrie and Edie through the big window, and they quickly joined them.

"What's going on?" Edie asked, taking a handful of popcorn. Corrie squeezed onto the couch between Dawn and Roe, leaving Edie to sit on the floor next to Annie.

"We're watching Labyrinth," said Dawn, gesturing to the screen.

They did the spell in much the same way as they had the previous night, holding hands in a circle, pulling energy from the earth and moon, and passing the energy around. Once again, Elena directed the casting. Corrie didn't feel anything much, but she wondered if Edie did. And how Darcy felt about it. They were basically cleansing the circle of her friend's energy, after all.

Payton sat back down slowly. She and Elena turned to face the rest of the group again. Elena let out a sigh, but Darcy was staring at them in shock. "Theresa is my friend!"

"There's nothing wrong with having men for friends," said Payton in a perfectly calm voice. "But they're not allowed in the circle."

Darcy jumped up and started to go towards the door. Elena said, "But Darcy, if you choose that man over us, you will no longer be welcome in this group." Slowly, Darcy sat down, clasping her hands in her lap and staring at them.