4 The Lonely Magician

"Glacies, Aqua, Occursum!" resonated through the basement in a deep tenor. A blinding blue magic circle formed over the floor. And a damp chill permeated throughout the air.

"Damn," called out the voice of a blond 17-year-old, as he peered into a puddle of water with ice crystals forming at the edges. The boy's reflection revealed short messy blond hair, pale skin, and sleep deprived azure blue eyes. A short sleeved blue shirt wrapped from his left shoulder and buttoned halfway up his right side. As the boy turned to grab a book off of the floor, his black cargo pants and hiking boots were reflected in the puddle.

He flipped through several pages before finding a place to write.

* Experiment 3,487: Attempted to create slush by Ice, Water, Meet incantation.

* Result: Failure. A puddle of water with Ice crystals bordering the edge formed after .003 seconds.*

As he finished his entry, he could hear soft footsteps creeping down the stairs. "Jasper, honey, it's time for school," informed his mother's sweet and loving voice.

Jasper sighed, closed the well-used cover of his book and opened the basement door. "Do I have to? I still have another 36 experiments I want to complete." Plus, Caleb'll be there.

"Yes."

"I can miss this morning, right? It's just the welcome back ceremony. I could complete at least another 5 experiments. But which ones should I do?" Jasper trailed off as he became lost in the sanctuary of his ideas. Perhaps he should try combine instead of meet? That might work.

His mother smiled at him, sighed, and said, "As much I love having you at home, do you really want to walk in on your father and I again?"

"Legends! I thought we agreed to never bring that up again!" Jasper yelled as he felt the heat of a blush on his face and his mind trying to drag the horrifying memory from the depths he had, until this moment, successfully buried it in.

"I'm going, I'm going! Don't say anything else!" he shouted as he carefully ran past his mother, up the stairs, grabbed his things by the door, and dashed out. He paused for a moment to catch his breath while leaning against his front door in the pink morning sunlight.

"Well, that's unusual. What happened to you over the summer?" Centra asked as she started up the front path, her little bother in tow.

"Nothing you want to know about. Let's go before she catches us!" Jasper rushed over and urgently grabbed Centra's hand to save her from his mother's grasp. Why do mothers always have to be so embarrassing?

"Uh, are you sure we shouldn't go say hi?"

"Yes," Jasper said with a shudder. "She's in one of those gushy modes," he said with a shudder. Why does everything lead back to that horrifying memory?

"Ha ha ha," Centra laughed. "And that is why you will never get a boyfriend."

"How about we start with my inability to talk to strangers?" Jasper said as he rolled his eyes at Centra.

During the time Centra and Jasper had stopped, Corson had continued down the path to school. Eagerly anticipating the future that awaited him.