《Jess' Journey》Chapter Eight: First Class (Day One)
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She took a breath of fresh air as she stood outside and smiled. It felt clean and crisp. Perfect for Jess. She made her way to the tower, which stood high in the sky. It was a beautiful color. White and a goldish-red intermingled and reminded Jess of something historic. At the very top was a cross, possibly to acknowledge something.
Jess made her way to the abnormally large double door and opened it. Funnily enough, it was as light as a feather. Jess smiled at her joke and stepped into the room. She heard a whoosh above her and snapped her head to look at it.
"Why hello there! Aren't you Miss Brown?" She heard an angel above her and spotted him sitting ever so casually in the rafters. His voice matched his personality, in that he seemed eccentric and enthusiastic. It was slightly high, but that of Principal Willow's. He leaned over and yelped as he fell, shooting his wings out to slow his fall. He attempted to look more put together than he had by holding his hands behind his back as he floated down. Jess couldn't help but stifle a laugh.
"Yes sir. I assume you are Professor Pittman?" Jess inquired of the angel, and he nodded as his feet hit the ground, not so effortlessly mind you. He had long brown hair pulled into a ponytail as well as those golden eyes angels have. Not to mention the eye-patch covering his right one. Jess noted that it was the same at Bri's, but decided not to ask about it. He had light skin and a charming smile. He seemed to be really genuine at first glance. Maybe a little clumsy, but genuine.
"The one and the same!" He stumbled slightly, laughing as he noticed you staring. "I wasn't expecting anybody so soon- ohmygodisthatacat?" She couldn't quite understand that last part.
"What professor?" Jess had to clarify. Professor Jamie cleared his throat.
"I apologize. I am- how to put this lightly- a huge fan of cats. However I understand that this is Cheez-It, correct? What a lovely name choice by the way." He whispered that last part to you as if it were a secret, hiding his mouth from the door.
"Oh, haha, yes. This is him." You lifted your arms slightly, and Cheez-It stirred a little. "I don't get why he's so tired all the sudden."
"He. Is. So. Precious." Professor Pittman almost squealed. He must really like cats.
"Don't let him fool you, now." Jess laughed. The professor composed himself.
"Anyway. I understand he is not to be touched. Professor Anaklyn told me so." Jess nodded with a smile on her face, glad that the siren professor kept her word. "May I ask why you are here so early?"
"Oh! I just wanted to see where I was going before I was late." She smiled and the professor returned it.
"Well, feel free to look around! To your right is the infirmary, as highlighted by the health cross symbols on the doors, and to your left is a church-like pew where we hold our classes. I'm excited to see your abilities, miss." With that, he left. Well, he flew back up the rafters, watching Jess from above. It made her slightly uncomfortable, but she did her best to ignore it.
She walked over the infirmary, it reminded her of a little hospital wing. The doors would swing back and forth and there were little circle windows on them with a red cross on top. She peeked in and saw the equipment, of which there was barely any. She found this confusing until she remembered reading that angels have healing magic. Jess could absolutely not wait until she learned that. It might save her from a pickle one day, or it could help her dad when he pulled his back or something. She smiled at the thought of her dad, realizing that she couldn't text him on her phone out here. Oh well. Letters will seem more fun anyway.
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"Something on your mind, Miss Brown?" She heard Professor Pittman call. She turned her head to look at him and laughed. "You seem lost in thought."
"I was thinking about how excited I am to learn healing magic, sir, and talking to my father." The angel thought for a moment.
"You don't mean by letter, do you?"
"Well, yes." He shook his head,
"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but letters cannot leave the school and risk being intercepted. You can develop spells, correct?" Jess, though disappointed, had an idea.
"You are absolutely correct, professor. I can. Maybe.." She thought for a moment. "Maybe I can create a spell that's like a portal to talk to my parents? Would that be allowed?" Pittman thought for a second before a devilish smirk appeared on his lips.
"I don't see a rule saying you cannot, my dear." Jess jumped in excitement, startling the cat in her arms. He complained in his usual fashion and hopped down from Jess. She couldn't help but laugh at him. Her eyes peeked over to Professor Pittman and she smiled when he saw him stare at Cheez-It.
"May I in turn ask you something?" She craned her head to look up at him.
"I suppose. Why not?"
"Why do you like cats so much?" Pittman thought for a moment.
"Well, as you can imagine, living in secret means the other species cannot have pets. I can only know what I've been told or snuck to watch on the television. Have you ever seen The Aristocrats? I love O'Malley the Alley Cat, and Cheez-It seems to act so similar! Must say I'm a huge fan." He tilted his head to watch as Cheez rubbed himself against Jess' legs.
"I see, though I hate to burst your bubble, Cheez boy is nothing like the suave Thomas O'Malley. Have you ever gotten the chance to pet a cat?" Jess inquired, a small, knowing smile on her face. The professor shook his head.
"I couldn't do that to you, no matter how much I want to." Jess hmmed slightly.
"What if I let you do it once, and we never talk about it again?" She offered. The angel placed a finger to his chin, thinking for a moment.
"And you are certain this will not negatively affect you?"
"Perfectly positive, sir." Without what appeared to be a second thought, the angel soared over to Cheez-It. He landed on the ground effortlessly and, with one look to Jess, of which she nodded, stroked the orange cat.
"So soft..." He started squealing when Cheez-It purred, forcing his head into the angel's hands. He cleared his throat when he saw the amused smile on Jess' face. "We will never speak of that again."
"I would never, sir." Jess winked and the professor looked nervous. Jess laughed. "I'm just joking with you. Your secret is safe with me."
The feelings that arose from the professor's actions were nothing short of, well, angelic. Jess could feel the power of light. It felt airy and slightly warm, but she also felt a bit of clumsiness to it. His fingers would accidentally poke him as if he was nervous. Overall, the feeling was well-meaning and energetic. Jess couldn't help but smile as she placed the dots together. She could tap into someone's soul through their physical contact with her familiar. How interesting. This means... Ana isn't as mean as she seems. Again, very interesting.
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This revelation didn't last long, and Jess was starting to get overwhelmed again.
"Alright, professor. I unfortunately have to ask you to stop." Jess laughed nervously. She hated this feeling. It was like a bunch of energy fizzled itself through her very veins, and a pressure found itself building in her core and head. It made her feel nothing less than weird. She certainly didn't like it.
With a nod of understanding, the angel stopped and stood up.
"I must thank you for that. It was most enlightening," Professor Pittman clasped his hands together as if trying to appear professional. However when Cheez-It squeaked, content, the professor squealed for a split second. He cleared his throat, collecting himself. "I believe class will start soon. I must ask you to take a seat."
"Of course, professor," Jess responded with a little salute. Pittman smiled as she went to sit down, Cheez-It trailing behind her. She sat in a pew and looked around. She pushed a button next to a slit in the short wall in front of her, and out popped a small desk table.
Professor Pittman strolled by to his desk up front.
"I see you've noticed our little contraption," he commented.
"I have. It's really cool," Jess chuckled. She watched him nod.
"It's not the only thing we have like that here. I'd even say that those are some of the more tame ones." Professor Pittman thought for a second. "Say, do you know about the ball the school hosts?" Jess shook her head.
"They have one of those here?" He nods.
"Yep, after the first week of school, they host a ball here to welcome all of the new students. They usually pack formal wear at home or head to the small town outside of school to buy one." Jess tilted her head.
"I thought we couldn't go to outside towns."
"Well, yes, to human ones, you'd be correct. The town I'm referring to is adjacent to the school and it is for the other species, better known as the Folk." Jess nodded, glad she had something to call them when referring to the other species.
"What's the town's name? When can I go?"
"Well, you would have to go only on the weekends with at least one other person, for safety, and thankfully the town was already alerted to who you are. There should be no problems in that department, but I'm getting ahead of myself. That town's name is Folkhome. Pretty clever, right?"
"I suppose...?" He clapped his hands.
"Oh! I see more angels! It must be time for class to start." Jess turned to her head to look at the angels filing into the pews. Thankfully, Jess sat in the front left next to the aisle, and no one seemed to want to sit there, so at least she didn't take someone's seat... or they just wanted nothing to do with her.
Jess let out a quick sigh, but then saw Lizzie. She gave her an awkward wave, and Lizzie came over.
"Mind if I sit here?" Lizzie asked with a small smile.
"Go ahead," Jess replied, pushing the button to put the desk back into the slit, making room for Lizzie to get across.
"Thanks." Lizzie chuckled. "Sorry about this morning by the way. I totally would've eaten breakfast with you, but I can be really forgetful." She sat down to Jess' left. Cheez-It was in her lap. Her eyes flicked over to the cat. "And who is this?"
"His name is Cheez-It," Professor Pittman said proudly, but turned slightly pink when Lizzie and Jess looked up at him. He started stuttering. "I wasn't trying to listen in! I-It's just that you w-were right there and-"
"It's okay," Jess laughed."I really doubt we'd have anything to hide anyway."
"I don't know if I'd say that," Lizzie teased, elbowing Jess, causing them both to laugh.
"But yeah, his name's Cheez-It, and you would have to ask permission to touch him first. I can explain later." With an eyebrow raised, Lizzie nodded.
"Good morning class!" Pittman clapped his hands together, getting everyone to quiet down. "I would like to formally say a big 'Hello' to everyone on their first day back, and introduce myself to new students. I am Professor Pittman. Now it seems like everyone made it thanks to the full pew. I hope ya like me, because you're stuck with me all day long every day." The class laughed as he dragged out the word "all." "Today we will be getting a feel for your abilities, see what we need to focus on, and go from there, yeah?" Jess looked back to see the class nodded. "Oh!" The professor lifted his finger up. "I feel the need to address an elephant in the room." He pointed at Jess. Not again... She felt eyes on her. "Do you mind standing up, my dear?" Jess awkwardly stood, much to the dismay of Cheez-It. "Now, this is Jess Brown. She is a human, as I'm sure you all know from Principal Willow's announcement yesterday night. She will be treated with respect and her familiar, the cat standing beside her, is, under no circumstances, allowed to be touched without her permission. Am I understood?"
The class grumbled some confused agreements. It made Jess flush with embarrassment.
"What's the cat's name?" An angel boy shouted from the back.
"Cheez-It," both you and Professor Pittman stated, and the class erupted into laughter. Jess really hoped it was because they talked at the same time. Cheez-It, not so oblivious, hid behind Jess at the noise.
"Hush, HUSH!" The angel professor calmed the class down. He smiled politely, but it looked slightly strained to Jess. She decided to stay out of it regardless. "Now, how about we head outside and stretch those wings, yeah?"
Once outside, Professor Pittman presented debris to use to show off air magic with and stated that they'll go over healing magic the next skills class. Jess watched in awe as the angels flew above her, sometimes blocking out the sun and really radiating warmth and light. How she wished she could fly.
"Cool, huh?" Pittman snapped Jess out of her thoughts.
"Oh, definitely," Jess breathed, causing the angel to laugh.
"Have you ever tried?" She turned to look at him.
"Try what?"
"To fly." Jess shook her head, chuckling.
"I would want to try indoors first. I don't want to get up in the air only to float off into space." She joked, and he laughed slightly, nodding.
"Well, I can be your flying expert if you ever do, alright?" Jess nodded.
"I'll hold you to that."
"Care to show me something?" Jess made eye contact.
"Of course." He waved her over to some debris.
"I want to see what you can do." Suddenly, Jess started feeling nervous. It was the nervousness you get when you don't want to look like a total screw up. She took a deep breath, keeping herself from psyching out. I really doubt he'll be the type to judge you, Jess.
"Any requests?" Jess found the courage to smirk slightly, causing Pittman to raise an eyebrow.
"Well, let's just start by moving the stuff around. Don't use your wand, now!" He looked professional, but Jess could see it in his eyes how excited he was. She felt better, and started moving her arms and body, feeling the weight of the air. She stepped forward, causing the debris to lift into the air and be flung around. She formed a ball with the air and entrapped the debris inside, bouncing it between her fingers. Then, she gently set it all back down.
Pittman nodded approvingly.
"I see you have good control, but I have another request to see the force you can produce," he stated and took a few steps back. "Launch me."
"Eh-what?" Jess asked, bewildered. Pittman nodded.
"Launch me. I want to see how far you can make me go into the sky." Jess thought for a moment.
"What if I hurt your wings?"
"Then I'll heal them!" She sighed, but couldn't help but get excited at his expression. He really was one goofy angel.
"Okay, I'll remind you later that you asked for this."
"Do it, Miss Brown." He flung his wings out to their fullest extent, and Jess couldn't help but stare for a moment, but just a moment. She took a deep breath and closed, imagining all the air behind her under her control, flying at her will. Then, she summoned the energy flowing through her veins and scooped her arms in front of her in one swift motion. She opened her eyes to find that Pittman wasn't there anymore. Then, she heard a distant whoop.
She looked up to find the angel high up in the air, much higher than any of the others. Hell, he was a speck! The other angels came floating down to her.
"How did you do that?"
"That was you?"
"Me next!" They all pleaded.
"I-I think we should wait for him to get down first to make sure I have permission to do that," Jess laughed awkwardly. They all nodded and looked up to see the professor barreling down to Earth.
The angel looked like a pin missile, and just before he hit the ground, his wings stuck out. He wobbled slightly, looking very pleased with himself and his feet touched the ground.
"That was magnificent!" Professor Pittman congratulated Jess, causing a blush to rise to her cheeks.
"Uhm, thank you, professor," Jess chuckled, running a hand through her hair.
"Professor, can she do us next?" The angel boy from before asked enthusiastically.
"If Miss Brown hadn't launched me that far, I would've said yes. I'm afraid not, Mr. Barker. In fact, let's test your skills," Pittman smirked and Barker groaned.
"Yes professor..."
Jess spent the rest of class practicing with Lizzie. Just when class was almost over, a very tan angel started jogging up towards them.
"Oh, hey Jonas," Lizzie acknowledged.
"Hey! Woo," Jonas bent down and rested his hands on his knees. He had short, black hair that was... strategically placed. Interesting. It was just long enough in the front to frame his face, but was short in the back. Then, he suddenly stood up. "I'm Jonas, Jonas Barker." Jess' face lit up in recognition.
"You're the boy who asked for Cheez-It's name earlier," Jess recognized his voice. He nodded.
"I had to, haha."
"Well, did you need something?" Jess asked as politely as she could, and he placed a hand on his neck.
"I just wanted to ask if I could practice with you, and to say you are very powerful..." he trailed off, blushing slightly. Lizzie rolled all three of her eyes.
"Aw, thanks man. And sure!" He lit up.
"I need the extra help anyway, Professor Pittman really schooled me." All three of you laughed and started practicing.
Jess managed to give Jonas some tips and together, the three of them practiced until the bell at the top of the main building chimed.
"Alright!" You heard the Professor call across the field. "That's enough skill practice! Now take a five minute break before we go back inside!" Jess waved bye to him, and he returned it with a smile on his face.
"You gotta go?" Jonas asked, and Jess nodded.
"Yeah. No use in a human learning about how to live as an angel," she shrugged and Lizzie laughed. "It was awesome meeting and practicing with you, Jonas." He waved goodbye, smiling. "Bye Lizzie!" Lizzie smirked and waved goodbye, never taking her eyes off of Jonas.
Leaving the field, Jess headed to her next class.
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