Seven Mark

Someone was shaking me awake, but I didn't want to move. My entire body hurt from head to toe. My skin felt like it was on fire, and the ground underneath me was as hard as stone. The voice calling my name sounded familiar, but I had to force myself to focus before I could make it out.

"Mark! Wake up!"

I tried to move, but my body was so sore.

"Thank the gods… he's alive at least." The voice paused for a moment. "Go get the nurse. We're gonna need some help."

The sound of footsteps trailed away into the distance.

"Mark," the voice repeated. "Come on. I need you to try to wake up."

I groaned as a pair of hands lifted me to a sitting position, the pain flaring across my body. My eyes fluttered, but I couldn't force them open. They, too, felt burned somehow, like I'd stared directly into the sun for too long or something. What was going on?

"You've caused me a lot of paperwork, I hope you know," the voice continued. "I'm gonna get my ass chewed out for this one."

Was that Tania?

"And the entire school is talking about what you did. Thankfully, none of those boys were hurt."

"Wha–" I tried to say. "What h-happened?"

Before Tania could reply, I heard three sets of footsteps suddenly rush into the room. There was a flurry of activity as more hands came to rest on my shoulders. Words were exchanged, but I was too hurt to hear what they were. I could tell a couple of them weren't very happy.

However, my focus was drawn to my shoulders, where two pinpricks of warmth were starting to spread. I heard soft chanting in front of me and tasted the tang of magic on the air. A golden warmth, like honey glistening in the sun, spread over my body. All at once, the burning pain in my skin ceased, and I felt my eyes flutter. Light came back into the world, and for the first time, I opened my eyes fully.

Standing in front of me was the school nurse, an older witch with bright blue eyes. She gave me a nod, taking her hands off my shoulders.

"You're lucky to be alive," she said softly. "That was no small piece of magic you performed. It nearly burned you up along with it."

"It shouldn't have been performed at all," a deep barking voice added behind her.

I glanced up, seeing the frown-marked face of the Dean. It was easy to see that he was furious.

"What the hell were you thinking? You could've gotten someone killed!"

"I… I don't know what happened," I replied, shaking my head.

"Oh, you just conveniently don't remember teleporting three of our finest players to the middle of Lake fucking Erie?"

Suddenly, flashes of the night before filled my mind. I remembered waking up to see three tough-looking dudes in my room. One of them was my roommate. And… they had Artie. Then, one of the guys ripped him in half on purpose. I remembered feeling terrible anger, unlike anything I'd ever felt before. Then, it was just darkness.

"You're just lucky they landed near an island!" the Dean barked. "Had any of them died, you'd be on trial in front of the Witches Council!"

"It was our fault," another voice said.

Everyone, including me, turned to see where it had come from. From the hall stepped Dustin, his wet hair plastered to his face and a towel wrapped around his shoulders. He was shivering and clearly exhausted. But he stood tall and firm, looking up at the Dean.

"We were bullying him," he said.

My jaw nearly hit the floor.

"What the fuck, Dustin?" Travis snarled.

"We didn't do jack shit!" Leroy added.

Dustin turned on his heel, growling at the pair of them. "You busted in here last night while he was dead asleep, stole his shit, and then broke it in front of him after he woke up. As far as I'm concerned, you got what was coming to you!" He took a deep breath, turning back to the Dean. "We got what was coming to us," he corrected.

"He nearly fucking killed us over a stuffed animal!" Travis yelled.

"And I've seen you punch a freshman for getting to the waffle iron before you at breakfast. Shut the fuck up."

"Enough!" the Dean ordered, holding his hands up. "All of you. I don't care whose fault this was or who started it. All I know is that I now have several pairs of concerned parents on my hands and a mountain of bullshit to deal with now because of your idiocy." He turned to me. "You are no longer allowed to perform magic on this campus for the rest of the semester."

"What?!" I cried. "What about my capstone project?!"

"I said no!" He turned to the other three. "And you three are suspended from playing for the rest of the season!"

A cacophony of cries erupted in the hallway, but the Dean didn't budge. Instead, he grabbed the nurse and Tania by the hand, leading them out into the hall and slamming the door behind him. I heard them slowly disappear down the hall, arguing the entire way.

And I just sat there on the floor, looking up at Dustin, who was still dripping water all over the floor. He wasn't yelling, and he wasn't growling. In fact, he just stood there, his head hanging as he stared at the floor.

There were a thousand thoughts in my head. But only one word came to my lips.

"Why?"

Dustin looked up, his eyes training on mine. "I just told the truth."

"But… I almost killed you."

He shook his head. "We landed about two hundred feet offshore. It didn't take a lot of effort to swim back to land." There was a small smirk pulling at his lips. "But if you ask Travis and Leroy, we were nearly killed by several dozen sharks."

"In a freshwater lake?"

He shrugged. "They aren't very smart." He paused for a long moment, licking his lips nervously. "I uh… well, I wanted to say that… I'm sorry."

I furrowed my brows, surprised by his sudden show of decency.

"I should've stopped them sooner. I didn't even know they were in the room until it was too late. But then I… well, I didn't do anything."

Who was this man standing in front of me? Surely not the same guy who had been a prick to me since the moment I met him. But, then again, I hadn't really given him much of a chance to be anything else. Every time I saw him, I lashed out, making whatever shitty comment I could think of at the time. It wasn't like me to be terribly introspective, but it also wasn't every day that some stranger stuck his neck out for me either.

"I probably shouldn't have teleported you all to Lake Erie either," I replied at last. I realized with a pang of guilt that Artie, my stuffed wolf, was probably at the bottom of the lake right now. "I… I didn't even know I could."

"It was pretty impressive," he chuckled. "Although I don't think I'm ever gonna get that taste out of my mouth."

"The lake water?"

"That," he nodded. "And the magic."

"Oh, I can fix that."

I slowly pulled myself to a standing position. Flipping open the suitcase sitting on my desk, I plunged my arm inside, rooting around for what I wanted. At last, I felt the familiar smooth box and pulled it out, revealing a small green rectangle.

"Here," I said, handing it over to Dustin. "That'll take it right out."

"Double Mint gum?" he scoffed, staring at the package. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Not in the least. Mint is a powerful herb."

He took out a stick, slowly unwrapping it. "You're telling me gas station gum is magical?"

"Everything is magical," I replied, giving him a good once over. "What the hell do they teach in your classes?"

"We're learning about philosophy," he sighed, popping the gum in his mouth. He chewed for a moment. "Wow. That actually works…"

"Philosophy?" I scoffed, taking the gum back and pulling out a piece for myself. "Is that your major?"

"Yep."

"You don't sound very happy about it."

"I'm not."

"Didn't you choose it?"

"Nope."

I glanced to the side and back again with a shrug. "Then who did?"

"My advisor. He said it would be an easy grade so I could focus on football." He sighed again, walking over to his bed and sinking down on the edge of it. I could see the disappointment practically oozing off him. "What's your major?" he asked at last.

So, we were getting to know one another now. It felt strained. But I'd nearly killed the guy, so I was willing to meet him halfway.

"Witchcraft," I replied.

"Duh," Dustin said, mostly to himself. "That was a stupid question."

"But I'm focusing on time magic."

That got his attention.

"Isn't that, like, really dangerous or something?"

I nodded. "Or something."

We sat there in silence for a long moment, both of us staring at the floor. Eventually, I tossed my gum back into the suitcase and sat on the edge of my bed. I tried desperately to think of something to say, but I just couldn't. What do you say to a man with whom you have absolutely nothing in common? I mean, hell, we weren't even the same species! How do you bridge a gap like that?

I wanted to talk to him. I really did. But try as I might, there was just nothing to say.

"Well," Dustin said at last. "I think I'm gonna hit the shower and get some sleep. It's been a long night."

"Right," I nodded. "Of course."

Silence filled the room once more as Dustin grabbed his shower caddy and left the room. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I should have been wondering about how the hell I was going to finish my capstone project.

But instead, all I could think of were those bright green eyes and how Dustin had stood up for me.

Maybe… just maybe, he wasn't so bad after all.