I thought my happy mood would have faded after my meeting with Jason, but it persisted into the week. I stopped going to Professor Grabiner's classes. Instead I went to red magic with Virginia about three times a week, and we both sometimes visited his office after class for extra candy. Ellen had gone back to studying white magic with Professor Potsdam, and we didn't try to stop her. Even on the weekends, I actually woke up earlier and got most of the mail and sorting done early, so I didn't even have to see Grabby. Then I would go and hang out with Donald and Thomas, or sometimes just Thomas, at the arcade later in the day. It was a happy little routine, and it was a big weight off of my shoulders, not having to worry about what Grabby was going to yell at me for next.

Still, I couldn't help but feel like there was something I was forgetting. Sometimes I would be just walking through the trails or sitting in class when I would start thinking about Professor Grabiner. I didn't know why. It wasn't really anything specific about him; sometimes it was even just his name, like someone was shouting it to me across a great distance. Sometimes I would be in class, or reading a book to myself, when I would suddenly start wondering what he was doing. It was strange. I didn't want to think about him, but I just did. But lately whenever it happened I just started humming a little tune to myself and focused on that until the thoughts of him went away. Of course I would have loved to know why I was thinking about him, but there was no one I could really talk to about that, not even Jason.

Either way, thanks to Jason, my Thanksgiving vacation was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. At first I wanted to complain to them about Professor Grabiner, but there was so much I couldn't tell them and if they thought a teacher was mistreating me they may not let me go back. Instead, I told them all about Jason and how he was such a great teacher and how he thought I was really smart and he how gives all the students jelly beans. They ate it up. They told me they had never seen me so happy, and that was when I realized just how much Professor Grabiner had been weighing me down.

The next test was the Friday after Thanksgiving break. I was teleported into the exam room as usual, but was told upon entering by a voice I couldn't quite place that there would be no doors this time. Instead the disembodied voice told me that I would encounter a series of monsters and that I would be teleported out once they "no longer posed a threat."

Upon entering the dungeon, I was immediately met with two jail cells on either side of me. I tried to peer inside of one, but it was hard to see in the darkness and I couldn't make anything out. I thought about opening one, but I wasn't sure if they were like dogs at the starting gate, waiting for the signal to jump out and devour me alive, so I moved quickly past them.

It looked like there was a crooked labyrinth maze ahead of me and I wanted to conserve my magic, so I decided not to use Awareness and to just start walking instead. I started down one of the hallways, hearing listening to the sound of my sneakers scraping against the cold dungeon floor. A right, a left, a right, another right, and suddenly I realized that I was staring down a long hallway, with little hallways and alcoves on either side. Maybe the monsters were that way?

I started walking down the hallway, holding my breath and being as quiet as possible. Ahead, I could hear things scuffling, moving around in the darkness, but it was impossible to tell what direction it was coming from. Suddenly, as if on cue, I heard a monster's snarl and saw a large black shape rushing at me from a side corridor that I just passed. As it was about to leap out at me, I quickly got down on one knee and put my hands in front of me, summoning a blast of magic. I squinted my eyes shut and turned my face away, feeling the energy leave my hands. When I opened my eyes again, the monster was gone.

Figuring that was probably the right way to go, I ducked down the side corridor that the monster had just come out of and followed a series of twists and turns that led to an abyss. I saw a pile of rocks against the wall and was about to use Stone Shape to make a bridge, when I heard something stomping towards me. I quickly put two fingers on my forehead to concentrate and used Awareness to see the other side of the abyss; it was safe, solid ground. I could hear the monster getting closer, could smell the putrid stench of his rotted fur. I closed my eyes, pictured myself landing safely on the other side of the abyss, and arrived there as soon as the monster reached where I had just been standing.

"Can't get me now," I taunted. The monster looked like he was ready to make a running start to leap over. Could he do that? Was there some other way that he could get around the abyss?

"Oh, here, I'll help you." I held up my hands and started to transfigure the stones to make a bridge. The monster seemed confused, but nervously started following the stones that I had placed, one by one. When he was standing out in the middle of the bridge, I quickly ripped all the stones away, letting them fall into the abyss beneath me, save the one stone he was standing on. It was close enough that I could see the glint of his teeth in the darkness as it snarled at me, realizing that it had literally walked straight into my trap.

"Sorry," I said casually as I lowered my hands and watched both the last remaining stone and the monster fall into the abyss with a howl.

I snickered to myself as I kept going. I was walking along a particularly dark passageway when all of a sudden I heard something growl. I kept walking, slower this time, trying to make as little noise as possible, and used Track Scent to see which direction the monster had gone in. I closed my eyes and focused. Weird…it indicated that the monster was right-

I threw up a shield which cushioned some of the blow, but the monster had materialized right behind me. SHIT! I cried out as I jumped to my knees and started running, arms pumping at my sides, again reminded that it was a good thing that I had been on the track team at my old school, and a good thing that I kept up with Virginia and attended all of our Sport Club meetings. I started to gain some lead on the monster, pulling ahead, and ducked into an extremely narrow side corridor in an attempt to lose it. I could see vines on the floors and walls all around me, and I slowed my pace as I ran through them so as not to trip or get stuck. I followed it down to the end of the passageway. I wasn't sure which was worse: the fact that I had hit a dead end, or the fact that there was another monster standing in front of me.

I cursed under my breath as I heard the monster behind me getting closer. I looked around quickly, trying to figure out some way to use the vines to my advantage when I spotted a stone clearing just a few feet in front of me, where there weren't any vines on the floor or walls. Perfect. Hearing the monster extremely close behind me, I threw myself towards it, rolling on one shoulder and propping myself up on one knee. I waited, letting each monster approach me slowly from each side of me. I could see them much better now, bright yellow eyes and sharp claws glinting in the dim light. If I did this wrong, it was going to be very, very painful. A little closer…a little closer…I took a deep breath.

NOW.

I threw my hands out by my sides, twisting my wrists, and vines started to twist around their legs and arms, holding them in place. I held it for a moment as they tried to rip through the vines with their claws. I needed to make sure that they were stuck good and tight for my plan to work. I waited for the vines to start wrapping around their bodies before I twisted my wrists again, throwing my palms upward and splaying all my fingers out at once. On either side of me, the vines burst into flames and I held my position as I listened to their groans of pain, waiting it out. As soon as the monsters disappeared, I pushed a tunnel of wind on either side of me to quell the flames.

I stood up as the charred remains of the vines slithered back into the walls. The walls themselves rumbled and then slipped down into the ground, and I was left standing in the middle of the default dungeon layout.

"Yes!" I cheered and clapped my hands, doing a little jump into the air, waiting to be teleported back into the main room. "Yes! That was so awesome!" I jumped up and down and clapped until my surroundings changed, and I was suddenly face to face with Professor Grabiner. I quickly dropped my arms to my sides and stopped cheering.

I waited for him to say something to me, but he didn't say anything. He just stood there and sighed, putting one hand on his temple as he shook his head. Why? Because of the cheering? Or did I fail?

"What, uh, what's wrong, sir?" I ask quickly. "I thought I passed the test. I defeated all the monsters."

"Yes, you defeated them," he says quietly, and there's an odd edge to his voice. "You completed the objective. You passed."

"Then why the long face?" I ask. I know I probably shouldn't take such a casual tone with him, but I can't believe it. I did amazing. Blasting that monster into pieces when it attacked me? Luring the monster out over the bridge and then dropping it into the abyss? And my last stunt? With the vines and the flames and the wooooosh? It was like I was a character in the best video game ever.

"Did you happen to notice the cells at the beginning?" he asks. I tilt my head in confusion and nod slowly.

"Isn't that where they came out of?"

"If you had investigated them, you might have found them to be quite empty," he says. "Those cells were designed to hold the creatures. As someone who professes to be quite skilled at blue magic, I would have expected you to teleport them there."

"Oh," I say slowly. It's really the only thing I can say. I didn't think about that. I had been so focused on the blasting and the running that I didn't really consider all of my options.

"Of course, we award five merits for completing the objective," he continues. "And then we usually award another five for the non-violent approach. I don't think I need to tell you that those merits will be withheld."

I wrinkle my nose. I mean, I knew that. Last year, we were given a test where I was confronted with a Hodag for the first time, and Professor Potsdam gave me the five point bonus for using Awareness to find an empty dungeon block and then teleporting the monster into it. Yes, I could totally understand that the non-violent approach was better in real world applications, but this was just a test. Surely we could have some fun now and again, couldn't we?

"That's okay, sir," I say, keeping my voice as sweet as possible. "I know I completed the test in a different way than you would have preferred, but I think I did a good job considering and I'm proud of myself." He narrows his eyes and glares at me, but I shrug it off. "Have a good day, sir."

I can hear him sigh behind me. "Tori, wait." Hearing him use my first name stops me in my tracks. I turn around to face him. "You-" He shakes his head. "You did do a good job, considering your approach."

"What?" I ask blankly.

"Despite my obvious preference for my own specialty, you reached out to other branches of magic in order to complete your objective, and as your professor I should be encouraging your-" he pauses, searching for the right word. "-enthusiasm for other magics."

I frown. Was he really complimenting me? I know I had told Jason before Thanksgiving break that I was searching for Grabby's approval, but he told me to just forget about him. There is no way that Jason would have gone ahead and asked Professor Grabiner to compliment me, which could only mean that this compliment was genuine.

"Thank you, sir," I say quietly.

"If-" He hesitates. "You have worked very hard, and you have already outpaced most of the material that I cover in my lectures. If you prefer, you could meet me after class on Monday's for, er, private lessons. This is not mandatory and this is not going to gain you extra merits. This is simply-"

"Yes." The words come automatically to my lips, and he looks surprised. I feel surprised too. Hadn't I been feeling so much better about myself since I had been avoiding him? Why would I want to spend more time with him, especially alone time, considering that he had almost attacked me when we were alone last?

I can feel the tension building between us, and I quickly look away. "Yes, um, that sounds good. I'll see you Monday afternoon, Professor. Thank you." I quickly place my hand on the doorknob and make my way out of the room.

When I had left the dungeon, my heart was racing and I could feel the adrenaline streaming through my body, but now it felt like it was happening for a whole different reason. Why did I say yes to him? I walk over to the trails and sit down on one of the benches, drawing my knees into my chest.

Last year, I had used blue magic in almost every single test to the point where Professor Potsdam had actually encouraged me to focus on other magics. I understood that I should branch out, especially because blue magic had the greatest potential to be paired with other magics, but the problem was that I didn't even think of using blue magic on this test, and that had never happened to me before.

I loved blue magic. Professor Grabiner may not have realized it, but everyone around me sure knew it. Just like Ellen focused on white magic and Virginia focused on red magic, I focused on blue magic. It was my thing. I loved teleporting, both myself and other things. I was good at it. I had a knack for it. So why didn't I even consider using it for this test? Was it because I had been avoiding Grabby? Is that why I had been thinking about him so much recently?

I think back to one of my first weeks at school here at Iris, when Professor Potsdam had explained to us that magic came from inside of us, and that we could access that power, but only by being true to ourselves. Blue magic was my thing. If it didn't immediately occur to me to use it, did that mean that I wasn't being true to myself? I think it over. I had been happier lately, sure, but fulfilled? Learning red magic was fun and all, but I didn't get the same kind of feeling in Jason's class as I had in Grabiner's. Maybe private study lessons with him were the perfect thing to get me back on track.

I close my eyes and focus on myself, on my body. What do I want? What do I want? As if in answer, the sound of my stomach growling fills my ears. "You're right," I say aloud. "No one should do this much deep thinking on an empty stomach." And with that, I stand up and head towards the cafeteria.