When Linda had been a high school student -- the first time Linda had been a high school student -- there were many days when she did not want to go to school. When a flight delay meant that her family came home from vacation at 11pm on the Sunday before Spring Break ended, and she was jetlagged and operating on four hours of sleep on Monday morning, she did not want to go to school.
But she did.
When Adonis, the family sheepdog that was about as old as Linda, finally barked his last bark, she did not want to go to school the next day.
But she did.
There were tests that she did not want to take. There were projects that she did not want to present. There were fights with friends that she did not want to confront.
But despite all of these things, Linda had always found the strength to go to school.
And so, on this morning, her first as a high school student in 25 years, despite the fact that she was literally fighting with her own body, despite the fact that she barely knew her own family, despite the fact that every girl in that cage-fight of a campus had access to magic while Linda, for whatever reason, had no control over her own (and besides, adults don't use magic, and Mom had told her-- No, it didn't matter what Susan had told her), despite all of these things feeling more intimidating, frankly scarier, than every bad day she had ever had in school combined...
Linda yet found the strength to get in her Miata and drive herself to school.
But it took several minutes of psyching herself up behind the wheel in the parking lot before she was able to work up the nerve to go to class.
And as she sat down, she realized an oversight that she had made that morning. Not every girl, Linda mused to herself as Jocelynne found her own seat, had access to magic. Jocelynne, whether she understood it or not, was in much the same boat as Linda was. It would be a good idea for Linda to get close to her.
And that way I'm also giving myself an in with the cheerlea--
No. This wasn't about cheerleading. This was about survival. And about keeping an eye on the person who was supposed to be her daught-- who was supposed to be her son.
When class was over she would make her move.
