Jasmine nearly flew out of the room when third period, Ms. Nakahara's Japanese class ended, in her rush towards the lunchroom. The memory overload from the previous class had given her a small headache, and a desire to just have a chill lunch. While Mr. Hargreeve's math class hadn't caused her too much mental strain, considering she'd already been enrolled in that course and really the only difference between the two realities as far as that class went was going from a B to an A student, her last class had been much more of a head trip.
She hadn't thought there would be much difference, since she was taking Japanese in both realities, but apparently magic had different ideas. Triggered, it seemed, by being in a foreign language class of any type, she had two entire additional languages shove themselves suddenly into her brain, as she discovered she was already tri-lingual. Don't get her wrong, she was glad to have her knowledge of Greek and Turkish given to her, considering she now also had fond memories of speaking them on family trips to her mother's birth countries, but it was a lot to suddenly take in when you were also trying to learn a fourth language at the same time. At least I'll be able to read the other half of my book shelf now,
As she passed another hallway, she was flagged down by a flash of red hair, "Whoa, where's the fire, Jazz?" Karyn asked as she rushed to catch up with her best friend. The pair usually met on their way to lunch and walked over together, but today it seemed the shorter girl was in a hurry. Jasmine slowed to a stop and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, K, I'm just really hungry today. Sensei Nakahara was a bit of a taskmaster and I'm already feeling worn out."
Karyn smirked indulgently, "I told you to just take the Greek class and coast to an easy A, but someone had to be Ms. Overachiever." Jasmine stuck her tongue out playfully at her friend's teasing, and the pair made their way into the cafeteria. Jasmine gave the jock's table an even wider berth than usual to avoid Jon, since she still felt weirded out around the boy. She'd already not liked him in this world, and with her memories of the old one, the boy seemed to symbolize all the things she was glad to be rid of.
Since it was a nice day, the pair of friends ended up sitting at a table in the courtyard, enjoying the fresh spring air. Jasmine's friend was a real nature lover, and would always choose to eat outside if possible. Just as they were about to tuck in, Jasmine heard a voice from behind her, "Mind if Lexi and I sit with you?"
Jasmine turned around slightly to see her little sister standing with a tray, flanked by Lexi Starr. Jasmine had a brief moment of surprise, considering the old Zoe had hated the volleyball player, before new memories let her know that the two were quite good friends in this world. "Of course sis, you're always welcome!" Jasmine said brightly.
Zoe rolled her eyes fondly, "I know, sis, I was just making sure there was enough space." Karyn waved off her concerns, "Nah, Elizabeth had to leave for a dentist appointment, and Tara's out sick with a stomach bug, so it's just us today anyway." Jasmine blinked as she suddenly recalled that unlike the old world, she and Karyn didn't usually eat alone and were in fact joined by their friends who shared their lunch period. She'd never had anything approaching a big friend group as Jon, and it made her feel a little giddy to keep discovering new friends.
"I'm surprised you're not sitting with Athena and company," Jasmine mentioned offhandedly, only to be met by a confused look from Lexi and a scoff from Zoe. "C'mon sis, don't even joke about something like that. You know I try and steer well clear of the Warlock." Jasmine laughed awkwardly to play it off as a joke, and Karyn frowned a little, but soon conversation moved on to other topics.
Jasmine was stunned by Zoe's reversal on her former best friend, but slowly came to understand it. When her sister used the term Warlock, she was being specific. A witch or wizard was a human with inborn magic, but a warlock was a mundane human who attempted to manipulate mystic forces. In general Djinn took a very dim view of regular humans who attempted to gain magical power, as it almost always involved stealing it from or coercing it out of a magical creature, among which Djinn were prime targets. Athena's attempts at things like summoning circles, and curses that had seemed just odd or even funny, now took on a sinister light. Being caught in a binding circle was basically a Djinn's worst nightmare.
The new Djinn felt another flash of guilt as Zoe and Lexi argued about some sporting event in the background. Hadn't she been a warlock, after a fashion, using a Djinn's Heart as a human. Then again, I didn't know any better, and I certainly never knowingly tried to entrap a magical creature she reflected. She decided to take solace in the fact that Asteria had given her her blessing, welcoming her into her family. Whatever mistakes Jon Gibson had made, they weren't hers anymore. She wasn't that person anymore, she was Jasmine Galenos, a proud Djinn. She would repay her debt to Asteria by living her new life to the fullest.
Karyn seemed to pick up on her internal distress because she eventually interrupted Zoe by saying, "Hey Jazz, come to the bathroom with me?"
