Chapter 2: Magical Days

Whit sat in the back of the classroom, listening to his English teacher lecture the class with his usual boring voice. Actually, his teacher's words were going in one ear and out the other, Whit was too busy thinking about yesterday to focus on what his teacher was babbling about. His eyebrows twitched and an angry look emerged on his exhausted face. Lina had almost kept him up for the entire night. He flashbacked to what had happened.

Lina woke him up as he slept downstairs on the couch and felt the need to talk to him about the rules of magic and bits and pieces of her past. She did this –partly because she could not sleep and because she wanted someone to talk to. Whit was so weary that he nodded off constantly as Lina's mouth ran at a hundred-miles-per-hour, and every time he did she would wake him up with a whack to the skull. There was no end to her jabbering. Even when she paused for a second her voice still echoed through Whit's mind. He had the urge to tell her to shut up and go away but he enjoyed her company too much.

After she was done talking to him, he decided to show her some of the objects around the house, since she told him that she had never seen a TV or a car before and because she would be alone at the house tomorrow until he got home from school. Once it was all over, her orange hair turned black and she kissed him with unconditional love...

No wait… That was the part he dreamed last night…

Whit broke his chain of thought and pounded his fist on his desktop, gaining the attention of everyone in class.

"Mr. Alexander, is there something wrong?" His teacher asked him.

Whit glanced up at a tall, chubby man with medium length black hair and beard. "No, Mr. Cupclean."

'God, what a stupid last name,' Whit thought.

"You sure?" Mr. Cupclean said, with an amused face. "You appear to be displeased with something."

"No, it ain't nothin'," Whit replied.

A wide grin showed on Mr. Cupclean's face. He loved having the opportunity to correct his students. "Ain't isn't a word and neither is 'nothin.'"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Whit dryly said.

Mr. Cupclean let out a sarcastic laugh and went back to teaching class.

Whit went back to pondering. He recalled what Lina did to him in the morning. He had been awaken by the sunlight and had at least forty minutes before he had to leave the house to catch the bus. He ran upstairs to take a shower but to his dismay, Lina was in the shower. What was she doing up so early? She does not go to school. He was irritated for a moment, but all that drained away once he noticed that she did not fully close the door. He excitedly peeked through the crack of the door and saw a naked Lina bathing in the bathroom. Well… He didn't really see her body completely naked; the thick shower door was blocking him from getting a clear view.

He was unaware that his mother caught him in the act until she told Lina about it when they were eating breakfast. Lina handled the situation by attacking Whit with some magic whip she called a Valis Rod and if that wasn't enough she ate up two cereal boxes all by herself in less than ten minutes.

Whit snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the bell ring. He and the rest of the students made their way out of the room while Mr. Cupclean hastily told them what their homework assignment was for tonight. Whit ignored it though and headed for his next class. He caught a few nasty glares from some of the school's football players out of the corner of his eye but pretended not to see them. They were evidently angry about what had happened to Rolf yesterday. Lina's magic spell must have really injured him badly since he did not bother to show up to school today. There was no sign of Nicole either. Was she at Rolf's house checking on him or were they…? Whit wiped the immoral thought from his mind.

Back at the house, Lina was sitting on Whit's bed using the TV remote to flip through channels. Television was so odd to her; watching people in a box try to entertain her with all sorts of different things. All of them appeared boring to her in one form or another: The comedy shows did not seem to be funny, the action shows were anything but exciting, drama was too depressing for her, and she was not too fond of romance. Finally, she stopped at a show that caught her eye. It was about a teenaged sorcerer attending a high school while trying to keep his magic hidden from his peers – normally, this wouldn't have grabbed Lina's curiosity, as it seemed so bland, but it was so alike to her situation, she felt connected to it.

After a while, Lina was no longer paying any attention to the television show at all. Her mind had drifted off to vital matters. How would she get back to her own time and more importantly what happened to Gourry? What did that time mage do with him? Surely, he did not kill him. Well, she hoped not. Lina shook the horrible thoughts from her head; just thinking about it made her feel weak and disheartened but she knew she had to keep a positive outlook on how things will turn out. She will return to her own time and Gourry will be fine, but the question remained: How? How would she get back to her own time? She possessed no time magic of her own and apparently, that would be the only way to go back in time. Then an idea came to her: maybe there is a magic bookstore somewhere in this time period that might have some information on time magic. It was a far-fetched idea, but to Lina anything was better than just sitting around doing absolutely nothing. She turned off the television with the remote, stood up and headed out the room.

Whit finished jotting down his notes for psychology class and walked out the room with the rest of the students just as the bell rang. He went straight to the gym and into the boy's locker room. He was the first one there, which was not surprising, considering that most of his fellow classmates were often 'too busy' talking to their girlfriends to get to gym early or on time. This, Whit thought glumly, was something he didn't have to worry about. He had no girlfriend of which to talk to, after all, not to mention he had very few friends. Whit had always thought his senior year would be so much better than his last three years in high school, but it was the same as it was before, unless you count Lina Inverse showing up in his life.

Whit looked around the ancient gray locker room. He plugged his nose to avoid the rotten stench of armpits and trash. The janitor never cleans the locker room; it's been this way for years, even before Whit was in high school. He sat on the left steel bench and took off his backpack to get out his gym clothes. As he took off his baggy blue jeans and long white shirt he returned to thinking about Lina. He only knew her for half a day and was already dying to talk to her again. Sure she annoyed him with what she did yesterday but she was interesting, attractive, free spirited, and of course, she beat up Rolf and healed him. Ever since he met her, she was all he was able to think about. Was it infatuation? He could care less. Just being around her made him feel good. More so than when he was ever around Nicole. It was not because of her being a sorceress or some girl from the past… it was something else… something more…

A mass of male teenagers barraged into the locker room and changed into their gym clothes. Whit slipped into his gym clothes and went out the locker room and into the enormous gym. He observed all the nets connected to two poles each. Volleyball would be the sport to play today. Mr. Carl, the gym teacher came into view when he stepped out of an unknown room from the other side of the gym. He was checking his watch, obviously waiting for the students to come out of their respective locker rooms. The girls were the first to arrive; the boys came out of their locker room a few seconds later. Whit and the students got in their sitting arrangements on the floor and Mr. Carl took row call. As soon as he was done he told everyone to get into groups of four. Not waiting to be left out, Whit asked around, and placed himself in a group. Mr. Carl handed out several volleyballs and the games quickly began, with the accompaniment of a loud, rather obnoxious country song.

"All right Whit, you better not screw this game up like you did last time," one of the members on his team commented.

Whit looked back to see a pale, muscular, black haired male who was a few inches smaller than him. He was probably as tall as Lina. Whit smirked. "Don't worry, Jack. If you got my back we'll win."

"Look out!" a girl on their team shouted.

Whit snapped his head forward just in time to see a volleyball streaking towards him. He easily slapped it back to the other side, but it was quickly sent back over by the other team. Whit messed up his hit this time and Jack gracelessly dove and smacked the ball back in the air before it could hit the ground. The girl on Whit's team jumped up high and struck the ball with her hand standing it over the net. One of the guys on the other team accidentally slowed the ball down because it hit his chest. Knowing that he could not hit the ball twice he rolled out the way and another person hit the ball so hard that it almost hit the ceiling. As the volleyball dropped down the other team moved out the way as their tallest member waited for the ball to come down a few more inches. Whit and his team stood silent waiting for the opposing team to strike back. Finally the tall male leaped into the air.

"Spike it!" One of his teammates yelled as the tall male whipped the volleyball downward at an alarming speed.

Before Whit could react, the volleyball had smacked him in the face and caused him to do a double back flip and land on his face.

"Damn, that's gotta hurt," Jack remarked with a painful expression.

The other team square danced with each other for their victory dance, which fit the country music that reverberated throughout the gym. Jack and the other two members looked on with disturbance.

Lina traveled around the city in search of a bookstore but was unable to find one. Like yesterday, everyone who past by stared at her sorceress outfit with wonder and confusion. Since she was outside she thought she might as well go and eat. She entered a restaurant and ordered a large pile of food like she always does and was able to pay the waiter with a few gold pieces she kept in one of her many hidden cape pockets. She demolished her chicken and worked on her hot dogs.

"I can't believe there's nothing useful in this stupid city," Lina angrily talked to herself. "I should just wait for Whit to get home so I can ask him if he knows any places where they might have magic books." Although, Lina figured, that since there were no magic users here, there really would not be any magic books.

Lina arrived back at Whit's house and sat up in his room watching TV like she was previously. The sorcerer show had ended a long time ago and she was back to flipping channels until she quit and forced herself to watch whatever was on television. The channel the TV fell on was a story about a guy falling in love with a rich woman. At first Lina hated the movie but after a while she got used to it. The television helped Lina escape her thoughts on Gourry and soothed her mind.

After two long hours, school was over and Whit was on his way home. As soon as the bus dropped him off he hurried home like an energized little child, who only wanted to play his video games. But not Whit, he was racing home so he could meet something much more important than some video game. He squeezed through a crowd of people on the sidewalk and increased his speed tremendously when he spotted his house a few yards away. He ran up his porch, dug in his pocket, took out his key, unlocked the door, and burst through the door. "Hey, Lina! I'm home!" He happily shouted as he tossed his backpack to the side. He was so thrilled that he did not wait for her response. He ran up the stairs and went in his room to see Lina focusing on the television.

Whit stood beside her and looked at the TV. On the screen a man and woman were passionately kissing while a familiar romantic song played in the background. Whit immediately recognized it as a song from his childhood. He listened to the words.

"Oceans apart day after day and I slowly go insane.
I hear your voice on the line but it doesn't stop the pain.
If I see you next to never, then how can we say forever?
Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right here waiting for you."

Ironically, he hated this song with a passion, but hearing it again after all these years gave him a mystic and affectionate feeling inside as the song played on. He turned to Lina. "Well, I'm home," he wanted to hug her but he knew that if he did he would certainly be punched in the face for it.

A stunned expression appeared on Lina's face for a second. The movie had distracted her from her surroundings. She stood up and greeted him with a warm smile. "Welcome home, shorty."

All the romantic tension in Whit seeped out from Lina's comment. He hutched over and clinched his fists. "Shorty? You can't call me short! I'm taller than you!"

"Yeah, but only by a few inches," Lina chuckled. "You're still short for a guy."

"Oh yeah!" Whit shot back, pointing a finger at her. "Well you-"

Lina hid her fists because she knew he was going to make fun of her chest size like all men do.

"Well you…" Whit paused and dropped his finger. "I… I can't say anything… You're flawless."

Lina was taken aback by his response. No guy had ever told her she had a perfect body.

"What did you just say?" Lina asked, pretending not to hear what he said.

Whit gulped. Nervousness had taken over his body, his heartbeat quickened and he was beginning to sweat. "I said you were flawless. I can't make fun of you."

Lina hearing him saying it a second time shocked her just as much as the first time. She was flattered. She always had a high self-esteem and saw herself as a faultless lady, but most men never agreed, mainly because of her height and underdeveloped body. Lina blushed. They fell into silence and just stared at each other. Whit squeezed his fists tightly and bit his lip.

"So anyway," Lina awkwardly said, breaking the silence. "Is there a magic bookstore in this city?"

Whit wiped a bit of sweat off his face. "No, but there is a library that might have magic books there."

"It's worth a try," Lina replied.

"Yeah…" Whit concurred. "Let me guess, you trying to find a magic book that has time spells in it?"

"Yep, you read me like a book." Lina winked.

Whit sniggered at Lina's pun.

"Well, I did promise you last night that I'd help you get back to your own time," Whit reminded, walking closer to her. Lina slightly backed away from Whit as he stood so close to her. He cupped her hand in his and gazed at her with innocence.

Lina pulled away from him. She was unsure on whether he was being serious with her or just joking around. She turned back to him and scowled. "Don't get weird on me now, Whit."

"Aw, come on, you know I'm just kidding around," Whit laughed sheepishly. "We should go to the library now and get it outta the way."

"Sure, good idea," Lina commented, as she turned off the TV with the remote and tossed it on the bed. "Shall we?"

"Uh huh," Whit nodded as he led her out the house.

The two walked side by side. With Lina by his side Whit felt an incredible amount of joy consume him. He had not felt this kind of feeling since he was a kid. His house could explode and he would still be overcome with delight. He could not help but let out a bright smile, he was also greeting every person that past them by. He looked at Lina. "Hey, Lina, ya hungry?"

"No, I ate lunch two hours ago," Lina answered. "You should have been there. The food was great."

"You went outside?" Whit inquired, obviously knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Lina said plainly.

"Why didn't you just eat the food in the fridge?" Whit asked.

"If I did that you guys would have no food left in the house," Lina explained. "You know how much I eat."

Whit got in her face. "It didn't look that way this morning when you ate two boxes of cereal."

Lina snickered and pushed his face away. "Actually, I ate another box when you left."

"Damn… Where does it all go?" Whit replied, judging her slim body. "I don't think you got one single piece of fat on ya."

Lina quickly became hostile and grasped Whit's shirt. "Hey! Are you making fun of me!"

"What? No!" Whit replied, putting up his hands in mercy. "All I'm saying is that it's weird how you eat more than a hippo but don't gain a pound."

Lina freed him. "Why didn't ya just say so?"

After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at the library. They made it in just before it began to rain. Lina wasted no time in searching around for magic books. Whit on the other hand took a seat in one of the chairs next to a table in the middle of the lobby. The library was totally empty. Lina and Whit appeared to be the only ones visiting today. There were three librarians sitting at the main desk checking out files at their computer and doing other business related things. Besides the faint sounds of the computer beeping, the rain relentlessly beating on the windows, and Lina's footsteps it was absolutely quiet. Whit tilted his head back and saw the dim lights hanging from the ceiling. He shut his eyes but they snapped back open when he heard the frightening sound of thunder boom outside.

Whit looked forward when he heard Lina's footsteps gradually becoming louder as she approached him. Several books were stacked in her hands. She dropped them on the table and took a seat across from Whit.

"You sure these books have real magic spells?" Whit asked, grabbing one of the books and scanning through it.

"I'm not exactly sure," Lina responded grabbing one of the books. "But I'll be able to tell if it's real or not by looking at how it's written."

"And why's that?" Whit questioned, putting the book back down on the table.

Lina kept her eyes glued to the book she read. "Because, there's a certain way magic books are written that set them apart from the phony ones," she closed the book she was reading and pushed it away. "That one was fake."

Whit handed her the book he was reading. "What about this one?"

Lina took the book from him and quickly read the pages. "Nope, this one's a fake too," she tossed the book back on the table and took another and another and another… "Bogus, fake, forged, crap, crap, more crap," she commented on all of them. Every single one of them were fake magic books. Lina stood up and walked off and came back with more books, which were fake as well. She grabbed some more books and kept doing so until their table was piled with books from all over the library, all of which were phony.

"Well… It was worth a try like you said, right?" Whit replied, sliding a heap of books out the way to see Lina.

Lina was slightly angered by her fruitless search. She growled quietly to herself and balled her hand into a fist.

Seeing Lina angry made Whit tense up and pick out his words carefully. He did not want to get hit by Lina. Her punches hurt even more than Rolf's.

"You tried. Sorry we couldn't find a real magic book," Whit said trying to comfort her. "Don't get mad, I promise we'll find some kinda power to send you back to your time. Even if I gotta build a time machine for you."

Whit saw some of the anger fade from her eyes. He happily pat himself on the back reassuring himself.

Lina smirked. "Thanks, Whit."

"No problem," Whit answered.

"So… We're done here," Lina acknowledged, getting out her seat and walking away.

Whit reached his hand out as if he could stop Lina from walking away. "Wait Lina, shouldn't we put these books back?"

Lina stopped, closed her eyes and went into a thinking pose for an instant. Then her eyes reopened and she finally answered. "Nah."

Whit fell over with his legs twitching in the air.

Whit and Lina stood by the entrance of the library a few seconds later. The rain was pouring down fast and hard and showed no indication of slowing down. Lina showed no concern for the rain and advanced into the raindrops. Whit stood by the entrance and remembered seeing an umbrella in the library on the right side of the entrance next to the men's bathroom. He was not going to steal the umbrella… he was just going to borrow it for a while. He ran back inside in the library.

Lina absently strolled through the rain. She was a little annoyed with the constant rainfall but as long it was not harmful she was fine with it. Suddenly the rain stopped. Wait… No. Lina still heard the sound of rain beating down but she was no longer getting wet. A shadow cast over her and shielded her from the raindrops. She glanced to her left and saw Whit standing right next to her holding a black umbrella above them. She laid her eyes on his and they both stopped walking, falling into silence once more.

'What was he thinking behind those dark eyes?' Lina wondered. If only she could read his mind. Why does he always look at her like that? Was there something on her face? He was by far the strangest guy she had ever met. No guy has ever acted this way towards her and unlike most of the men she knew, he was respectful to her and friendly… almost too friendly today. Even though she was thinking about Whit, she could not help but think of Gourry too for some reason… The thick tension rising between the two was starting to get to her, she desperately thought of a way to kill the moment.

"Thanks, buddy," Lina replied, as she snatched the umbrella away from him and walked away.

Whit nearly tripped over from Lina's reaction. He frowned and felt a deep coldness sweep over him that was not from the rain.

Lina spun to face him. "Just kidding!" She walked back to him and covered them both with the umbrella.

Whit's smile resurfaced and he held a part of the umbrella with Lina as they began to walk home.