Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Bored.
That's what TJ thought as she waited for the enrollment to start. She was in the hall that looked like a ballroom with at least 200 people, and she knew no one. Her parents, on the other hand, knew everyone. So they left TJ's un-socializing ass to talk to their old friends. How considerate!
Some people were staring at TJ because she wore a dress with boots and a leather jacket. So what? This was her style! God, she felt so lonely without Asher.
"You're not alone," Asher's voice said, and she looked around but didn't see him.
"Where are you, Asher?" She whispered so no one can listen to her.
"You can talk to me without seeing me you know. We have a mind link," Asher told her.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" TJ said in her mind. It felt so weird.
"It must have slipped my mind, pun intended," Asher replied cheekily, and TJ was annoyed. That ugly, son of a gun "Hey! Stop swearing and I'm not ugly," He warned.
"Now I can't even talk to myself, this is an invasion of my privacy," TJ complained. "When is this thing going to start? I'm losing my mind, pun intended," TJ said with a small smirk.
"Ha ha," Asher said in a flat tone "I'm bored too," Asher said.
"Why are you bored?" TJ asked him.
"Oh that's because my cable got disconnected," Asher said sarcastically and TJ wanted to laugh. Asher was pretty cute when he was annoyed.
"No need to be sarcastic, smartass. I just don't know anybody here, and I'm already an outcast, being a late bloomer and all you know. I'm pretty freaked out," TJ told Asher.
"It's not that I mind talking only to you, Annie. I pretty much talked only to you, it's just that I really miss my dad," Asher told her, sadness clear in his voice.
"I'm sorry Asher. When I went to see your father he refused to talk to me. He said I was the one responsible for taking his son away from him forever. I just couldn't face him after that, Asher. He hates me," TJ said, almost on the verge of tears.
"Hey, hey. It's okay, it wasn't your fault. My dad knows that too. I just wonder how you don't know what you can do when you sent me here," Asher wondered, and TJ was curious.
"Sent you? Where?" TJ asked her boyfriend.
"Here, I don't know what it is called, but I am the only one who is here. Hey, you miss, go get you pretty ass moving, and socialize," Asher said, catching TJ changing the subject. He was smart, and TJ hated that sometimes.
"Yeah, yeah," TJ grumbled and started to walk towards her parents.
She was almost there when she collided with something hard.
'A wall in the middle of the room?' TJ wondered before stepping back and looking at the hard object which was not a wall, clearly. It was a man's chest.
A gorgeous man that too. Her mouth fell open as she took in his appearance, he was tall, taller than Asher. He had a rugged face with beautiful brown eyes and thick full lips. There was a little 5 o'clock shadow of a beard on his face and he looked dapper in the black suit he was wearing.
TJ saw him looking at her, she thought he must be shocked too as she collided with him from nowhere.
"I'm so sorry. I guess I wasn't looking where I was going," TJ apologized to the man.
"No, no. It's my fault. I was in a hurry. Are you injured?" He asked her with worry. TJ wondered if someone could die from someone's politeness. She certainly could. Gorgeous and sweet.
"I'm fine. Thanks for asking," TJ said with a smile, and he nodded.
"I'll see you later. I have to rush somewhere," He said quickly, and TJ nodded with a smile.
"Don't smile like that," Asher's voice broke her thoughts as TJ saw the man depart.
"I just started smiling again Ash, why do you want me to stop?" TJ asked with mock innocence.
"Don't then," Asher said grumpily, and TJ bit back a smile and walked towards her parents who were now talking to each other.
"Hi," She greeted her parents who smiled at her. "What's up?" She asked them.
"Nothing, just talking our old colleagues and stuff. Catching up, you know," Her father answered and TJ nodded.
"So anything new?" TJ asked.
"Yeah, unlike the old times, they are going to take you all to a simulation room to check your powers," Her father told her, and TJ nodded.
"And this would be helpful?" She asked doubtfully.
"Of course it would, they'll make you face obstacles, and I think it's the best way to find out your powers," Her mother said.
"Okay, let's see what I can do then," TJ tried to be cheerful, but both her parents knew she wasn't.
"Look, TJ. It's okay you don't have powers or have less... cool powers. We are there for you and we will always be here for you," Her father assured TJ and she smiled.
"Me too," Asher said, "Even though I know your powers are pretty cool," He added and TJ grinned.
"What is it?" Her mother asked.
"Just Asher," TJ said, and her mother furrowed her eyebrows. "Apparently, I can talk to Asher in my head! He's just stupid and wanted to be funny so he didn't tell me about it before," TJ was annoyed at her boyfriend.
"But it is funny! You know 'it slipped my mind'," Asher said trying to be funny. TJ rolled her eyes and diverted her attention to her worried-looking parents.
"You two can talk through your minds? Are you a telepath or something?" Her father asked, and TJ shook her head.
"If I was then I could have talked to you too," TJ pointed out. "Oh, and Asher says that he has seen my powers, and they are pretty cool. Whatever that means," TJ told her parents casually, but she was freaking out inside.
"Asher has seen your powers?" Her mother asked, and TJ nodded.
"Yeah. I don't even know what they are, and he said I sent him where he is now. I think he means heaven, but he says there is no one there. How can there be no one in heaven?" TJ questioned. Her parents were as confused as her.
"TJ…" Her father was saying, but suddenly there was a commotion on stage, and everyone was quiet.
There were quite a few people on the stage, including the man TJ collided with who smiled at her, and she smiled back.
A woman walked towards the centre of the stage. She had a slender figure and she wore a pencil skirt, shirt and no expression on her face. Her raven black hair was tied in a neat and stylish bun and pale skin. She looked beautifully breathtaking. This was the headmistress, Calista Thorton and she looked as familiar in person as she saw in her picture.
"Good afternoon everyone" Calista spoke. Her voice was as powerful as her looks. "Welcome to the new session at Aldcoast High. It's nice to see you all after a long break. We are happy to announce that few of our students who graduated last year are going to be the assistant mentors this year. Give a round of applause to Ms. Haley Murik, Mr. Leland Rathmore, Mr, Rehan Raven, Ms. Venus Payne and Mr. Dean Moriarty," she introduced.
The man TJ collided with was Dean Moriarty.
"As the headmistress of the school, I would like to welcome our newest member to Aldcoast and hope that she doesn't feel that she is not at home. Tiffany von Stein, come on the stage please," The lady said and TJ froze. Her parents gave her a little push, and she dragged her feet through the crowd towards the stage, terrified.
"Come on introduce yourself," The headmistress said and stepped away. TJ gulped but nodded.
"Come on, von Stein. You can do it. Aren't you the tiger?" Asher encouraged her, and she nodded slightly.
"Good afternoon everyone. My name is Tiffany von Stein, I would like if you call me TJ. I was the captain of the girl's lacrosse team back at Riverisle Academy and the MVP of the school. I look forward to learning about my other abilities so see you guys on the ground, I mean at school," TJ corrected and some of the people laughed. She smiled and gave the headmistress her position.
"That was a good introduction, TJ," Ms Thorton smiled at TJ, again she felt as if she knew the lady from somewhere. "I request the students to come to the simulation room while the parents and guardians are to be escorted to the lunch area. They would be joined by their kids soon in their rooms," The headmistress announced, and the place started to empty.
"It's very nice to meet you, TJ," Ms Thorton told TJ as everyone dispersed.
"It's really nice to meet you too, ma'am," TJ told her.
"Oh, by the way. I'm Calista Thorton," The headmistress said, and TJ nodded.
"Uh…Can I talk to you, ma'am?" TJ asked Ms Thorton hesitantly.
"Yes, of course. What is it?" Ms Thorton asked her. She was unbelievingly sweet to TJ. Maybe because she was new, and she didn't want to scare her now.
"I…I actually don't know what I can do," TJ confessed as Calista looked at her, confused. "I mean my parents and my boyfriend think I have some powers, but I don't know what they are," TJ explained.
"Oh, I see. So what made your parents, and boyfriend thinks you are an Enchanter?" Calista asked her. She was curious about what this girl had to say. How was she unaware of her powers?
"The thing is ma'am, my boyfriend…uh…died…in an accident, and I can see him. Until yesterday that is," TJ told her, and Calista's eyes widened.
"Why until yesterday? Can't you see him now?" She questioned.
"Actually, I touched him yesterday, it was for the first time. He was talking to me, and then I touched him. Today he told me that we had a mind link, and talk to each other without him appearing," TJ told her.
"I see, let's go to the simulation room, and see what we can do for you," Calista smiled at her, and TJ was grateful to her for understanding.
"I like her," Asher said, once Calista left TJ, and she was sat outside in what looked like a waiting room.
"Me too," TJ replied. "I think I know her from somewhere," TJ told Asher.
"Really?" Asher asked, "She did look familiar to me too. Maybe we saw her when we were out on the road trip. We did pass through Aldcoast town," Asher offered.
"I don't know. Maybe, but why would she be in the town? Remember Father said that the whole school is like another place, all the Enchanters live together," TJ reminded Asher.
"Maybe we saw her somewhere else, what about that guy?" Asher asked her.
"What guy?" TJ asked, really confused.
"The mentor, you liked him," Asher said a bit gruffly, and TJ found it adorable. He was jealous.
"He is hot, I was just appreciating the beauty. I have eyes, and I was just using them. Don't worry, I fancy someone else," TJ said, a smirk dancing on her lips.
"Oh, who would that be?" Asher asked she knew he was smirking too.
"My boyfriend," TJ said, pride in her voice.
"Hmm, seems like a great guy," Asher said, he was definitely amused.
"Aha, the best," TJ smiled.
"So there is no chance for the mentor?" Asher asked and TJ wanted to kiss him.
"That is for me to know, and for you to find out," TJ smirked. She loved annoying Asher.
"You are impossible," Asher groaned, and TJ chuckled, earning a few glances from the other kids, but she ignored them.
Soon everyone was done, and TJ was called at last. As she entered the room, she was in awe. There was a huge computer unit connected to a small room, and a glass wall separating them. Calista was sitting in one of the chairs outside with Dean and smiled at a scared TJ.
"Come in TJ," Calista called her, and she obeyed. "This is Dean, I explained to him that you don't about your powers, and he would be helping you," Calista told her and TJ nodded and looked at Dean who was looking at her too.
"Don't worry, I didn't tell him that you can see or hear your boyfriend, just that you need our help," Calista whispered in TJ's ear and TJ sighed in relief. She didn't want people thinking of her as a freak.
"Thank you, ma'am," TJ said softly, and Calista just smiled.
"Shall we?" Dean asked, and TJ nodded.
Dean went inside the glass room, and TJ followed him. The room was white from inside, and it didn't look like a small room but a vast space. She could see Calista from inside who was now working with the buttons and typing something.
"TJ?" Dean called her name, and she looked at him.
"Yes?" She asked. Wow, he was really hot.
"We would go a bit easy on you as this is your first time. I would throw some stuff on you, and you would have to dodge them, do your best. We'll increase the speed with passing time, and wait for your powers to show," Dean told TJ and she looked at him with shock.
"What if something hit me?" She asked and Dean gave her an amused look.
"Don't worry, you won't be hurt physically. It's a simulation room. Nothing is real here," Dean told her and TJ sighed in relief. "Are you ready?" Dean asked her.
"As ever," TJ said, it was what she said while she was on the ground. Dean gave her an impressed look and raised a thumbs up to Calista as she pulled a lever, and suddenly Calista disappeared.
Instead of the glass walls, the room changed into a living room. There were fully stocked bookshelves, vases on different tables, 4 couches consisting of two single-seaters, a loveseat, and a three-seater couch. The walls were decorated with paintings and photo frames. The room was too pretty to be used as a battleground or whatever it was going to be.
"TJ you have to concentrate alright? Just focus on what is coming to you and protect yourself," Dean said moving to the other end of the room, and TJ nodded. She planted her feet firmly on the ground just like a goalkeeper.
At first, nothing happened. Then suddenly a book from nowhere came towards her, she ducked her head, and it flew past her.
She looked at Dean who raised his finger, and a vase flew towards TJ, she ducked it again. TJ realized that Dean Moriarty was telekinetic. He could control objects through his mind, and from what she could see, TJ was sure Dean was powerful and had full control over his actions.
Dean threw objects at TJ at a moderate speed which helped her to recover. She ducked and jumped, even hit things with her hand but still, there was nothing out of ordinary. Suddenly the things started gaining size and speed.
"Stop!" TJ shouted, jumping as a huge painting went from under her.
"Focus!" Dean told her. TJ diverted her attention to the task at hand and tried to force herself.
"Come on," She muttered to herself. Dean was across the room, and there was everything between them but it seemed like the room was much empty than it was before.
Soon Dean was throwing tables at her from all sides and TJ panicked. She jumped around as the tables crashed on the walls.
"Do you want to kill me?" TJ shouted at Dean who looked at her angrily but didn't reply. TJ was getting angry. What the fuck was the crazy man trying to do? What if she got hurt?
"I don't think you have any powers, TJ" Dean snapped at her, "You are too ordinary and useless to be an Enchanter," He said and TJ found her anger boiling but didn't say anything and dodged a chair. "I think your parents are stupid to think you are anything good. They are stupid humans, and you are one of them," He told her with a smirk, and TJ found her anger exploding.
"How dare you say anything about my parents!" TJ shouted as Dean threw a one-seater couch at her.
TJ saw the couch coming straight at her, as she tried to duck it, her foot slipped, and she raised her arms in a feeble attempt to stop the couch from hurting her and closed her eyes.
After a minute when she heard silence, TJ opened her eyes to see that Dean had stopped throwing objects at her, and was staring at her with his mouth agape. She looked around and saw the couch on the other side of the room like it was kept originally.
What had just happened?
***
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone