Heathcliff ushered a young man into the dining room. They both sat down near the middle of the table on opposite sides.
"Thank you for coming in today," Heathcliff said, pouring a glass of water for each of them with the pitcher he had had put on the table earlier.
"Of course. You asked, so I naturally would need to find the time to meet with you," the young man replied, picking up the glass of water and taking a small drink.
"I'm sure you're wondering what the reason for me calling you here," Heathcliff mused.
"It doesn't matter why to me. You asked, so I came," the young man reiterated.
Heathcliff sighed. "Maybe so, but just because you feel obligated to me doesn't mean you shouldn't stop thinking for yourself. The day you do that is the day that I'll have no more need for you," Heathcliff replied. While he may have been harsh, he was honest. If someone couldn't think for themselves then they wouldn't be able to handle sudden changes on their own and Heathcliff was not willing to think for others who didn't care to do so for themselves.
The young man was dumbstruck. It took him a minute before he finally could talk again. "So, what is it that you wanted me to come here for?" he asked when he finally found his voice.
Heathcliff laced his fingers together as he set his elbows on the table, his eyes peering over his fingers. "You know how I personally asked you to be a counselor in my new 'math camp,' right?" Heathcliff inquired.
The young man nodded. "Yeah, you said that if I do well that you'll consider showing me some advanced techniques with my magic," the young man replied, his eyes starting to show a hint of doubt in them.
Heathcliff nodded. "Yes, I will. However, your task will be simple," Heathcliff said, pausing for a moment as he took a drink of water. "There will be a girl who will be a junior counselor at the camp. I will need you to help guide her in her position. Once you feel the time is right, you will reveal to her about the existence of magic and subtly direct her to me as to getting her own magic unsealed, unless she asks about it herself. If you can't be subtle or feel it would be useless to try, just bring her to me then."
The young man was clearly surprised, which Heathcliff couldn't fault him for. After all, Heathcliff had always stressed not revealing anything about magic to anyone, but now he was counteracting his earlier cautions. "May I ask why?" the young man ventured.
Heathcliff smiled. Very few had ever been this bold so soon after being reminded that they needed to think for themselves. Which revealed promise in this young man to Heathcliff. "You may," he calmly replied. "She may be a key we need in order to open the gate. She might be able to open the gates with the Heart of the Forest. We're not sure, but I believe that she will be an important ally to have regardless. That said, I also think it would help us if she felt indebted to us. If she does turn out to be what we need and has tied herself to us, then who knows what else we might be able to get done with her help. She has the potential to be a critical ally that will help us in ways we have yet to realize."
The young man nodded. "Sure, give me the information about who she is and what information you have about her in general and I'll see what I can do," he said. His eyes unfocused as he clearly was in deep thought about what he'd just been told.
Heathcliff was pleased. Now what was left was mostly to let things play out and see how much of a key this girl really was.
_
Charlie sighed as she began to clean her locker out. While she didn't have the textbooks anymore to deal with, she still had a lot of other papers that had to be sorted and that meant she'd have to do that when she got home. Many of the papers were handouts she'd gotten from teachers through the year, many of which she hadn't looked at after the class in which she'd gotten them in.
She'd finished with her last class and would rather just leave all these papers. She couldn't think of a reason she'd need any of these anyway, but on the other hand, she did acknowledge that someone would have to clean the stuff out of the lockers as it wasn't going to disappear over the summer on its own. She briefly had the urge to use her magic to get the papers to disappear but quickly discarded the idea. It would be too risky to do that with the halls so crowded. Even if it was barely seen, Charlie didn't want to have to deal with the fuss that could get stirred because of it.
In all, it didn't take long, but it was still time Charlie would have rather spent leaving the building. Closing her now ex-locker, Charlie turned and started to walk away, not sure if she should look for Beth or if she should just head out.
Over the past two months, since she'd started being friends with Beth, Charlie would usually be accompanied by the entire group, though most of the time she first met with Beth at her locker at the end of the day. Where they would get together with the others was just out of sight of the school building. The week or two after they first met Petals was more of an exception to leaving school together. It wasn't until a week after Amelia's actual birthday that they had begun walking together. Though, Charlie was still struggling to feel a part of the group.
As she started to walk away, she was saved from making the decision herself as Beth appeared. Charlie waited for Beth to catch up in the middle of the hall, the crowd that passed by treating her like an island in the ocean as they continued their flow.
"Ready for summer?" Beth asked, as Charlie fell into step next to her.
"Yeah, but I have the feeling that our quiet summers are gone," Charlie replied.
"Why do you think that?" Beth asked.
"Oh, you know," Charlie replied aloud while adding more using her magic. –With what we've learned from Petals and with our magic, I don't think we'll ever be able to go back to how we were before.–
–You're probably right, Charlie.– Beth commented with her magic.
Over the past couple months, they'd gotten rather good with using their magic to talk with each other, and Charlie was the one who seemed to have the hardest time with it, being the only one who still had times she couldn't get it right. Charlie had also found that her magical stamina seemed to be growing well too. She rarely had times where she used too much and fell asleep as a result. They'd also started experimenting with what they could do with their magic, but they always had to keep it small or they'd risk what they were doing getting noticed.
While they could use magic in Petals' forest, they weren't sure if it would have any effects on the forest, especially with how unstable it was getting. Everyone was also working on deciding on a focus to use with their magic. None of them wanted words or gestures to be their focus, which meant that they still had to find one that worked for each of them. Charlie was the only one who'd settled on her focus, the crystal that had unsealed her magic, not that she'd said anything to anyone else about it. It felt like she should wait until others had chosen their focus before saying anything about it. At least.
In general, the last couple months felt weird. In a single week, she'd gone from being content always being by herself to having friends that she would hang out with multiple times each week, and not for just a short meeting. It also still felt odd to Charlie with how many things happened so quickly that week and the past couple months went by without much else happening, and while she still didn't really feel part of the group, she did find that she was starting to feel more comfortable around them, in addition to learning that Amelia was the one who most wanted to make Charlie feel included and welcome and feel a part of the group. The one who most didn't seem to care if Charlie was part of the group was primarily Ralph. Hannah and Wes were mostly ambivalent towards Charlie being a part of the group and Tim was happy to have Charlie in the group but didn't really pay much attention if she was with the group at any given time or not. At least that's how it seemed to Charlie.
"So, are you planning on continuing to wear that now that school's over or will you stop during the summer?" Beth asked aloud, indicating the butterfly pendant she'd been given and just started wearing it a week ago after realizing she'd completely forgotten about it around a month ago before finding it the week before.
Charlie lifted the necklace so she could look at it. "I really haven't decided," she replied. "I only remembered about it when I found it in a drawer in my desk last week and thought I should wear it, given I am open to relationships, but not necessarily with just anyone."
Beth laughed. "You're so cute when you're indecisive," she said, clapping her hand on Charlie's shoulder.
Charlie scowled at Beth. "Please stop that," she told Beth.
"Well, if you do decide to wear it, keep in mind that it might be good to not wear it during your math camp. So many ways you could lose it at a place like that," Beth advised.
"I'll think about it," Charlie answered, considering what Beth suggested. "But I'm also considering it as a potential focus." Which was true. The crystal might not always be readily available, as she couldn't just bring it wherever she went all the time and wearing a necklace was much easier to travel with, especially when it came to somewhere that wearing a jacket or having a bag or purse would be conspicuous. Or maybe as a backup focus. Something.
"So, are you ready for the math camp in a couple weeks?" Beth asked after they left the school building.
Charlie shrugged. "I guess, but I don't really know what to expect with it."
"It should be starting in a couple weeks, right?"
"Yeah," Charlie said, not really wanting to talk about it, despite how important a task Charlie knew it was in regards to getting a chance to retrieve the Heart of the Forest. "Though I'll need to go to an orientation or something a few days before it's supposed to start."
"Well, remember, if you can keep in touch with us. I know you haven't gotten your parents to get you a phone, but you can still use your magic to talk with us," Beth said, either not noticing Charlie's uneasiness about the topic or choosing to ignore it outright. "If nothing else, maybe you could try something else, like using your magic to try to reach us through our phones."
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I could try that. Who knows, maybe I could even use the phone lines to increase my own range with my magic," Charlie commented. Though, in reality, Charlie hadn't thought about how far her magic could reach, given they didn't live that far away from each other. Heathcliff's was farther away than any of them were from each other and he was pretty much within a few miles. At most around ten. At least that was Charlie's estimate without even having looked at a map to figure out exact distances.
"Also, remember, if anything happens, let us know as soon as you can. We'll try whatever we can if you're able to reach us," Beth said, her tone indicating to Charlie that she was done with the topic. Finally.
They continued on without talking for a few minutes when Beth opened a new topic. "By the way, did you get an invite to a birthday party?" she asked.
Charlie stopped walking. She examined Beth's face as Beth stopped walking, a smirk on her face, letting Charlie know that Beth was aware at what Charlie's issue was right then. "What birthday party are you talking about?" she asked after about a minute, not sure if she'd actually get a real answer with Beth's penchant for not revealing 'sources' of information she has.
"Come on Charlie, you know that I can't reveal a source," Beth replied, predictably refusing to answer.
"Then I don't have to answer your question," Charlie replied, hoping Beth wouldn't figure out that Charlie had already given an answer with how she'd asked her question, not that she had much hope for it to begin with.
"Of course you don't," Beth replied, her tone letting Charlie know that she did catch Charlie's real response to her initial question about the party.
"Then I can go to my home and you can go to yours," Charlie added, ready to just relax on her bed and not worry about any homework for a couple months.
"Why don't we hang out together?" Beth asked, putting her arm around Charlie's shoulders.
Charlie sighed. While she still wasn't happy when Beth did that, she had become resigned to the fact that she wouldn't be able to escape Beth's grasp. Amelia's or Hannah's too, for that matter.
"What would you want to do?" Charlie asked after being quiet for a few minutes.
"We could watch a movie together," Beth suggested.
Charlie chuckled. "You'd have to get Cherie to relinquish the TV to do that," Charlie replied, entertained at the thought of Beth doing just that.
"Don't you have your own TV?" Beth asked. "Or at least your sister?"
Charlie shook her head. "No, my parents don't feel it's good for us to have a TV in our rooms. Something about us staying up late watching stuff or something, I don't really remember what they'd told my sister the last time she tried her pitch for that, but it was something to that effect," Charlie replied.
"Well, what did you have in mind to do?" Beth asked.
"I planned on working on my garden. I've kinda neglected it a little for the last week or two," Charlie said, wishing she either had more resources to work with in her gardening or fewer typical gardening problems.
"How about this," Beth suggested. "You show me what needs to be done in your garden so when you're at the math camp, I can garden-sit for you."
Charlie considered the suggestion, which the idea certainly made her apprehensive, but she pushed those feelings aside as she took a deep breath. Although Beth probably would be better at tending her garden than her parents typically were. "I guess I can," Charlie replied, wondering if she was making the biggest mistake in her life. "Just remember, if you don't do anything to my garden while I'm gone, I would prefer that happen than if you ruin it, okay?"
Beth laughed. "I get it. Your garden is your baby," she said as she removed her arm from around Charlie's shoulders.
Charlie wasn't sure what to make of Beth's response but was confident that her point was received.
_
"So, what's your favorite flower?" Beth asked as she worked with Charlie weeding the garden.
"I like roses," Charlie replied quietly, not finding the ability to increase her volume any as she said it.
"Any particular roses?" Beth continued, putting her latest weed in the pile of weeds they'd already pulled.
"I like blue roses most, but I've only heard of them being grown from cross-pollination," Charlie replied. "I've never seen one in person before, but I have seen pictures of them online and the color is beautiful."
"How can they change the color of plants by cross-pollination?" Beth asked.
Charlie paused in her weeding. "I don't know exactly, but people did make carrots orange through cross-pollination to show respect for a European royal family a century or two back, I think," Charlie replied, turning to look at Beth directly. "Originally they were white, and that's why you can pretty much only find white carrots growing wild."
–Should you be working on this rather than figuring out how to get the heart of the forest?– Petals suddenly asked them, which Charlie could tell she'd just left her forest, and she was pretty sure Beth could too.
–If there was anything that we could do right now about the Heart of the Forest, we would be doing that.– Charlie replied. –Right now we have to wait and so we have time to work on other things, even if it isn't directly helping us with what I'll need to do to get the Heart of the Forest back.–
–I'm sure it's because you're not used to how people work and get things done, but I assure you that we'll get the Heart of the Forest back so your home will be safe. – Beth added. –Right now our best shot is Charlie going to the math camp and get closer to the Heart of the Forest than we can get without real trouble. And right now we need time to focus our minds on something else, otherwise we're not going to be able to be as effective as we could be otherwise. Hell, we might even burn out our drive to get it, which can happen to people who focus too much for too long on a single objective.–
The feeling of worry was strong in Petals' mind, and Charlie would expect her to be swinging her tail nervously if she was in front of them. –Please hurry. I'm not sure how much longer my forest has before it's gone.– Petals replied. Then Petals' presence disappeared from their minds, which Charlie could only conclude that Petals had returned to her forest.
Petals had been getting more and more anxious in the past week because she was getting pulled out of her forest more frequently. Charlie partly wondered how much longer they'd have until Petals became an impossible secret to keep from her forest continually becoming more and more unstable.
"Well, back on topic," Beth said, startling Charlie back into awareness of what they had been doing, "have you tried growing any roses before?"
Charlie looked away, towards the tops of the trees, where the sky could be seen. "Yeah, I tried. It would have been a white rosebush, but it died shortly after I got it planted." Charlie couldn't help but feel depressed over it, even now. She had put all her efforts into it and still couldn't figure out what she had done or hadn't done that caused the rosebush to die. The only thing that she could think of doing differently was to move a little slower, not that she could be sure that it would have changed how things turned out anyway.
Charlie jumped when she felt Beth put a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" she asked. Charlie looked at Beth and saw looking worried as she looked at Charlie.
"Yeah, I just can't think of what happened and why it died," Charlie answered, smiling reassuringly at Beth. "I'll be okay, it's been a while since it happened."
Beth nodded, returning Charlie's smile. "Just checking."
They continued to work at the weeding until they were finally done as the sun was close to going down.
"How often do you water your garden?" Beth asked.
"At least once a day. I have a timer set to take care of it so I don't have to always be here, like on some school days when I need to arrive either extra early, or just have so much going on that I barely have time for anything else," Charlie replied. "I don't like wondering if I remembered or not. Having a timer set lets me know that I don't have to worry about it."
Beth nodded. "I understand. When it comes to something that's important to you, relying on your own memory can be a tricky thing. I remember a time when I needed a permission slip for a field trip, but I kept forgetting it until I couldn't go because the field trip happened before I could remember, despite my mom having signed it the first day I'd gotten it. I still hate not having been able to go on that field trip."
"Well, lets hope we won't have anything that will be along those lines with my math camp thing," Charlie commented, as she began picking up the weeds to dispose of them properly.
"Well, I should get going. I didn't think this would take so long," Beth said. "I didn't tell my mom I'd be out for so long, so I'll have to get home and keep her from thinking it's going to be another situation like when we fell out of Petals' forest."
Charlie nodded. They exchanged good-byes and Beth left. Charlie hoped that her garden would be okay with Beth taking care of it. Aside from her family, and now her friends, it was the most important thing to Charlie.