Edie

Edie, Dawn, and Corrie exchanged wide-eyed looks. Edie thought her other two friends were probably thinking the same thing as she was--did Professor Strega have the Sight too? Or did she have another reason to be suspicious of Professor Lal? Either way, they probably needed to be particularly wary.

Roe didn't seem to have noticed their startlement. "She asked about the other person in my vision, too," she continued. "I don't remember anything still, but she did say she knows some questioning techniques that might help me remember more details."

"Hey, it's still light out," said Corrie with surprise when they left the room. "I thought we were in the library for longer than that."

"Yes, I guess technically it is light out," Edie said, looking around. She would have described it as twilight at best: the sun had already vanished behind the trees, and she couldn't see as far as usual.

Corrie smacked her lightly on the shoulder. "It just felt like we were researching for hours."

They waited quietly, all of them thinking, until the computer indicated that it had finished logging Corrie in. Edie looked around surreptitiously, not that there was anything interesting to see in the computer room; there were probably fifty computers in here, with printers at the end of each row, and a few pieces of other equipment--she saw a scanner and a photocopier--by the doors. She had only been to the library before to learn how to use the place, but she suspected she'd spend a lot of time here. She'd certainly spent a lot of time at the one in her hometown.

"Excellent," said Corrie. "Now we just have to work on you. Any girls you've got your eye on? I could probably help you out."

Edie had sat down and was discussing the joys of Goldfish crackers with Dawn (that was the not-quite-healthy part of her salad) when she heard a shy voice behind her. "Hey, mind if we sit here?"

"Of course not!" Dawn exclaimed.

Edie turned and grinned, seeing Annie and Salome behind her. "Please! Um, the seat next to me appears to be taken--I don't know if you know Marlin, he lives in Gilkey too--but you can sit on his other side or over there." She gestured at the other side of the table.

"I guess you better keep your eye out for more faeries, Dawn," Edie said.

"I will," she said thoughtfully. "Though I think it depends on how good their glamours are--I couldn't see through Ever's, at least not consistently."

"It might be good to make a list or something," Lorelei said. "It would be harder to write down students if you don't know who they are, but I guess you could just put descriptions..."

"You're really worried about this, aren't you?" Corrie asked.

Those were the only two classes Edie had on Mondays, and she wasn't sure what to do with the rest of her day. She didn't know where Dawn and Corrie were--she made a mental note to suggest they all swap schedules so they could find each other if necessary. Since they'd had an emergency before classes even started, being able to find each other quickly might be important.

"Hi, mind if I sit here?" came an unfamiliar male voice from beside Edie.

Edie looked up, startled, her flower gaining a petal that looked half-torn. The boy standing next to her was tall, and had longish, black hair that was falling into his eyes. He looked vaguely familiar. "Uh, sure," she said uncertainly. Well, she certainly wasn't going to stop the guy from sitting wherever he wanted to, though she didn't see why he would want to sit next to her when there were still empty seats.

Edie had not really been sleeping when Corrie left to go get Dawn for breakfast and Intro to Magic. She had been hiding under the covers, trying to sleep, but having a hard time because she was so nervous. She was always nervous when school started. It turned out to be unfounded every time, because she was smart and an excellent student, but knowing that didn't help. Besides, this time was completely different from every time before. This was college. The standards were higher, and the classes were different. She didn't know what to expect.

"Are you feeling better now, Annie?" Edie asked.

Annie smiled. "Yes, much better. Thank you. I can't thank you enough. I just hope I can get back into the swing of things easily."

"Well, you have plenty of time to eat and sleep before classes start tomorrow morning," Dawn said.

"I think I'll be really glad to do something as mundane as go to class!" Annie laughed. "But I am worried about settling back in. Do I still have somewhere to live?"