~ Printer & ink, scissors, tape & glue for this week's activities
When Xerena awoke the next day, she felt hollow, like there was something missing, a piece of her happiness. She dared not admit to herself that it was because Finn was gone, but it was. She considered him to be a comforting presence. That day was to be a big deal for her. If all went well, her back brace would be coming off. She’d long since dispensed with her head bandages, and her temporary stutter had cleared up. All that was left of her injuries was the situation with her back.
Tanna kindly skipped lunch to accompany Xerena to the Aesculapian Ward for a medical check of her back, just in case the news was bad.
For once, good news!
The moment the brace came off, Xerena began furiously trying to scratch between her shoulder blades, begging for a forked tool she could use to get to the hard-to-reach spots. The healer in charge of Xerena’s case had her do a few simple movements, then a few more advanced ones. Ultimately, Xerena was sent on her way with a clean bill of health and a swirlypop.
“Congratulations, Xaena,” said Tanna as they walked back to the Frond. “That must be a huge relief.”
“Yeah, thanks. I feel so much lighter. And I feel more like me.”
“Ahh, feeling like oneself is one of the best feelings ever. And let’s hope this triumph gets Kadra off your … well, back!”
Xerena chuckled. “Yeah. I don’t know what else she would have to pick on me about at this point. And I’m really looking forward to going home for the weekend. My parents made me promise to stay on campus until I healed, just to make sure I didn’t mess anything up by undergoing interdimensional travel. But now that I got the green light, yahoooo, I’m heading home after class tomorrow!”
“I’m really happy for you. I think I’ll go see my folks as well. Ever since I took over as Archon, I don’t talk to them much. That has not gone over well with my mum.”
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
* * *
The next day, during Somatic Defence class, Kadra was noticeably absent. Xerena was dying to ask the cadre where their diva was but didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of sounding like she was interested in Kadra or her whereabouts. When the master of the class asked if anyone knew where Kadra was, the answer came out. She had been forbidden by her pageant coach from engaging in any activities that might “mar her beauty or disfigure her in any way.”
Oh brother.
In place of Somatic Defence, Kadra’s family (who were people of some determination, if not influence) arranged for her to get physical-activities credit by practicing for her walk up and down the catwalk at the pageant hall.
Double oh brother.
When Xerena stepped through the portal to go home, she felt on top of the world. She no longer had a class with Kadra, her back brace was off for good, and she was settling into her life in Ignis.
She arrived at the house to find her parents giddy with glee over her return. They’d baked multiple pies, unsure which one their only child would be in the mood for, and arranged for more family-fun activities than they could do in a week, let alone two days. The first night home, they went to play putt-putt golf.
Her parents, the loveliest people you could ever hope to meet, were relentlessly competitive, but only with each other. As such, there was a good deal of cheating and chicanery that went on at the Play & Putt miniature golf course and fun zone. Ultimately, to Xerena’s horror, the family was kicked off the course and told never to come back.
No one said a word during the drive back home. But when they entered the house, Xerena had just four words for her parents: “Go to your room.”
Dear Diary,
They did it again. Mom and Pops got us banned from another amusement park. I wonder if it’s too late to get adopted.
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
All was forgiven after a good night’s sleep in her own bed. Their plans to go to a botanical garden went awry when Mother Nature saw fit to give their area a good watering, so the family stayed indoors, baked cookies, worked on a jigsaw puzzle. and watched old movies—exactly what Xerena would have elected to do in the first place.
“This is a favorite movie of my friend Frankie,” Xerena remarked as the film Captain Blood began.
“That’s nice, firefly,” her mother said, sitting on the sofa and brushing Xerena’s hair as Xerena sat on the floor in front of her. “Whatever happened to you getting that cute pixie haircut you wanted? It really would look so becoming on you.”
“What happened was I ended up smashed up with my head bandaged. I’d love to get it cut.”
“Well then, why not let’s do it?”
“You mean have you cut my hair?”
“Why not? I cut your father’s all the time.”
“Ummm.”
They both looked at the family patriarch and began to giggle. He had very little hair, and what remained was cropped very close.
“Yuk it up, you two,” he said. “At least I don’t have to set my hair in rollers and spray it with sticky goo every time I go out!”
“He’s got a point,” Xerena said.
“Since when do you set your hair?” her mother asked.
“No, it’s just things would be super simple if I had a pixie cut.”
“So then you’ll let me do it? I used to cut my sister’s hair if that helps.”
“Sure, why not. It’s a simple haircut.”
“Exactly. Nothing to it.”
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
* * *
Xerena’s eyes were still red and swollen from crying when she walked out the door to return to the academy the next morning.
“You could always wear a hat,” her mother called after her.
“Or a wig!” her father added.
Arms folded in annoyance and sunglasses firmly in place to avoid notice, Xerena stomped her way to the portal two blocks from home. She walked through the gate of a house with a rose arbor and picket fence, then continued down the side of the house to a door that appeared to lead to the garage. Instead, it led to the academy.
Once she passed through the portal’s swirling vortex of color into The Hub, that’s when the murmuring started. Those who knew who she was gawped at the sight of her strange, sprouting, short hair that made her look like a manic Dr. Seuss character.
Mom was right. I should’ve brought a hat. Maybe I can just go home until my hair grows out like six inches.
Lunch that day was unbearable. Kadra, who annoyingly was going through a very pretty blossoming phase, wasted no time pointing out the catastrophe that was Xerena’s hair, calling her an ugly duckling, comparing her to a drowned rat, and so on. For once, Xerena did not feel like crying. She was too mad to do so.
That afternoon during sports practice, Tanna showed Xerena how to wear a bandana in a way that was cute, with a few of the remaining wisps of her pale blonde hair pulled down in front of her ears.
“Better?” Tanna asked.
“Loads, actually. I really like it! Thanks, Tanna.”
“Think nothing of it. What’s a Warden for.”
That evening, with nothing to do, Xerena and Frankie decided to play a few games of Flaming Foosball in the Ignis Familial Forum. After a lot of animated action on the table accompanied by a good deal of impassioned yelling, neither player could say who won. They then moved to the firepit where they indulged in the latest s’mores craze: graham crackers with toasted marshmallows, dark chocolate, peanut butter, and bananas.
Eventually the conversation turned to Kadra, as it so often did.
“I’m so sick of talking about her,” Xerena said.
“Coulda fooled me.”
Xerena bit her s’more in half with force. “I know, I know. It’s just … well she gets under my skin.”
“Which is probably exactly what she’s trying to do. You have to put a stop to this, once and for all. It’s time to fight back!”
“You’re right. But how?”
“You take Somatic Defence class, yes?”
“Yes?”
“Then use what you’re learning to defend yourself for cryin’ out loud. Make Kadra quake in her boots, and she’ll back down fast enough.”
“She is pretty worried about hurting her face.”
Frankie rolled his eyes. “Pffff.”
“What?”
“People who put so much stock in their looks. They’ll be in for a rude reckoning when they get older. Time marches across everyone’s face, provided they’re lucky enough to grow old.”
“Since when did you get so wise?”
“I didn’t. That’s what Finn says about getting older. He’s the wise one. One of those ancient souls who’s wise beyond his years.”
“Yeah,” Xerena said softly, looking down so as not to betray the emotion in her eyes where Finn was concerned. “It’s pretty remarkable you two have become so close, being as you’re in different elements … You’re not even in the same grade level.”
“Grade levels and element designations don’t count a pile of kindling when you meet someone of quality.”
“More Finn wisdom?”
“My own,” he said with a grin, stretching and beginning to yawn. “And now, I’m going to turn in, little ember.”
“Hey, any idea when Finn gets back?”
His grin widened. “About three-eighths of an inch.”
“Huh?”
“About three weeks. I figure your hair will have grown back about three-eighths of an inch by then.”
She tossed a throw pillow at him in response then headed off to bed.
Dear Diary,
Let it be known ~ I’ve removed all the scissors from home.
