I finished my meal, and drank coffee with my notebook open. I stared at a clean blank page, and wondered what I needed to write. A list, perhaps.

Home.

U.

Friends.

Job?

I still shortened university to U. even though there was no risk of Mr Bishop reading my notebook. I didn’t know if I would need to find an entry level job to sustain myself, or if it would be simple enough to earn a living practising quantum mathematics. I would see about that later. Deep in thought, I looked up to take a mental breath, and there was Josh walking towards me. A smile made its way across my face as goosebumps popped up on my arms, and my heart skipped a beat.

“Hi Arcadia, what are you up to?”

“Josh! Hello! I was out of town for a bit, but I decided to come back and talk to the university about applying.”

“That’s great!” he said. “Quantum mathematics?”

He remembered!

We talked about what it would be like studying quantum mathematics. He told me about the latest device he is helping to build at university that allows people to easily measure the time of the cosmos, and that it would tell us how the cosmos functions. It had all manner of applications, such as travel and global awareness. Josh got me excited about what he was doing, and what university can do. Not only that, in this moment, I felt my life as a magician fade away. I was being born a new person.

Josh got up to play some piano, while I ordered some tea. The hairs on the back of my neck pricked up as soon as he played, and I felt myself get carried away into my new life as his fingers danced over the piano keys. It felt hard to take regular deep breaths. It was almost as if I couldn’t keep up with the new life that had only just started. Josh, the cafe, the music, the university, the freedom – it took my breath away in a dizzying frenzy of convoluted feelings and a mind racing to towards something it did not yet fathom. I thought I might pass out. It wasn’t until the music stopped that I was able to take a full breath again.