Chapter 1

         The classroom was a windowless prison; one way in and no way out for two and a half hours. It was filled with desks all turned to face the professor, who was currently boring the room with his lecture on socio-economic trends. Most of the chairs were empty and that fact somehow made the lecture even more exhausting. I couldn’t help but wish my chair was one of those empty ones.

         But it was already a little late for that.

         I leaned my seat against the back wall and watched my teacher. He was wearing one of those suede suits with the elbow pads, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew he was playing into the stereotype of boring lecturers.

         But then again, at this point, it might have been interesting. I wouldn’t exactly know, because as soon as my eyes started drooping, I popped my earphones in. It was hilarious to hear the singer’s voice coming out of the old man in front of me.

         The person sitting to my right hit my leg, trying to get my attention. I looked to him and he motioned toward the teacher. “Um… What?” I asked wide-eyed, pulling my ear buds out.

         “Please refrain from listening to music while I’m speaking, Mr. Astor.” He gave me a pointed look and waited for me to pocket my music.

         “I’m sorry M-” I searched my mind for his name, but there was nothing, I kept drawing a blank. Two months of this class and I couldn’t even remember his name. Maybe I should’ve been paying more attention. “M-Maaan.”

         He gave me that confused/disappointed look that older people are so good at. “Just don’t let it happen again.” He turned back to the whiteboard and continued his lecture. 

         The whiteboard was covered in terms and charts that meant nothing to me. It all just seemed too impossible to catch up to, I was so tempted to reach into my pocket to try and sneak just one bud back in.

         But no, I had to give it a shot.

         I opened the notebook in front of me to an empty page. I scribbled the words down as fast as I could, telling myself I would figure out what they meant when I got home. Though with my procrastination skills, I probably wouldn’t.

         “Hey Gabe, you lost?” The guy to my right whispered; the same guy who notified me earlier.

         I breathed a self-mocking chuckle. “You could say that. This is gonna be on the test, isn’t it?”

         He typed something I missed the instructor say into his laptop. “Yeah, but if you want, I can send you an email of my notes.”

         Well, that was weird, I mean I’ve barely talked to this guy and here he is, offering to save my ass. “Wow, really, that’d be a lot of help.” It might’ve been weird, but I wasn’t about to say no.

         “It’s no problem,” he pulled a card from his shirt pocket and held it out to me, “just write down your email address and I’ll send it after class.”

         “Of course, no problem.” I accepted the card and turned it in my hand. It was a business card for a caterer; Kevin Zaris’ Exquisite Cuisine. Guess that makes this guy Kevin. Good to know, it would’ve been really awkward to admit I didn’t know his name even though he knew mine this late in the term.

         I turned the card over and wrote my name and email on the blank side. I handed the card back with a wide grin. “Thanks Kevin.”

         He took the card back and I assume he was about to say something like you're welcome when Mr. Snoozefest raised his voice abruptly. “Mr. Astor?”

         “Yes?”

         “Am I boring you, Mr. Astor?” He crossed his arms behind his back and stepped closer to me.

         I wasn’t going to say anything but, “No, not at all.”

         He completely ignored me and continued his tirade. Man, this guy loved to hear himself talk. “Am I boring you so much that you have to distract the other students?” With every word he moved toward me, and I could hear his corduroy pants with every step.

         He eventually made it to my desk on his creaking knees and practically slammed his hands on my desk. “If I’m boring you so much, then why don’t you just leave?”

         My mouth was wide open, unable to put together a response. Was this a trap, it sounded way too good to be true. It was clearly one of those teacher things where he was either trying to tell me to pay attention or telling me to leave. I wasn’t entirely sure which one was worse at that point. If he just wanted me to pay attention, then I’m not in that much trouble, but I’d have to stay awake through the rest of his lecture; if he wants me to leave, I get to leave, but it could have lasting consequences.

         “What are you waiting for?” He started moving away from my desk and back to the front of the room. “Go, we’ll see you next week.”

         “I’d like to stay,” I lied. Seemed like the proper thing to say though.

         He waved my response away like a bothersome fly. “We’ll see you next week.”

         I took a deep breath and held in my anger. A few years ago, I would’ve exploded at this, but I could control myself now. “Alright, I’ll see you next week.” I packed my notebook into the bag at my feet before slinging it over my shoulder. I walked to the exit and opened the door.

         “Goodbye, Mr. Astor.”

         I stood in the doorway and just couldn’t let him get the last word. “Have a good weekend!” I hurriedly shut the door behind me hushing any response he could’ve had. So, in summary, I ended up on top in that confrontation. At least that’s how it worked in my head.

         I looked at my watch and saw that it was only one. Thanks to Mr. Stick-Up-His-Ass, I had an extra hour of free time. That meant I had a good two hours before I had to head to my next class.

         So, what does a college kid with too much time on his hands end up doing with it?

         Get some food? Nah, no money, and even if I did have any, I wouldn’t waste it on the overpriced food on campus.

         Study for the upcoming finals? Nope, as a giant procrastinator, studying was about the last thing on my mind. I relied way too heavily on luck.

         Maybe go hang out with some friends? Ah, see I would, except thanks to my professor, I had all this free time while they were still in class.

         So no, none of those, I was stuck with one thing left that I could do. And ironically enough it was one of the things that got me kicked out of class. I put my ear buds back in and cranked the volume to max, not caring that anyone nearby would be able to hear.

         My school is next to this nice wooded area. It wasn’t like a park or anything, but more like a miniature forest. Whenever I found myself with some alone time, I’d head over there where I have my own special little clearing no on visits. Mostly because its so far from the main campus buildings.

         So naturally, I headed there. I was alone for most of my walk through campus since most of the classes were still in, but every once and awhile I’d catch someone looking my way, probably hearing the music and wondering why I’d have it up so loud. I enjoyed myself too much to care though, sometimes even going so far as to sing along with the song.

         Yeah, I’m a little weird, get used to it.

         My special clearing was empty like usual. Sometimes on particularly nice days, there would be a couple making kissy face or someone practicing the guitar, but this is Oregon, where sunny days are about as common as snow, even in spring.

         I dropped my stuff near the middle of the glade and sat down straight in the middle. Surrounded by greening trees and growing grass, the smell of nature and the tickling sensation of the grass on my skin as I laid down. It all worked together to send me to some other dimension where I had no school, no finals coming up, no… anything.

         I looked up into the sky and made pictures out of clouds. There was a bunny rabbit, a racecar, a soaring bird, and even a skull and crossbones.

         With all the clouds identified, I let my eyes close and relax as the song playing turned to one I had recently fallen in love with. It was a Japanese song with a name I couldn’t read or probably pronounce properly, but it was so hauntingly beautiful, it didn’t matter that I couldn’t understand a single word of it.

         Just as the song reached its most dramatic point, that part where you feel most connected to it, the sound cut out. I was suddenly without alone there in my glade, my musical friends leaving me with as my battery died.

         I pulled my earphones out and pocket them. “You’ve got some kind of timing.” I chastised. Sure, my MP3 player might’ve been an inanimate object, but at least I wasn’t talking to myself.

         I sat up stretched my arms out like I was just waking up from a long rest. I heard the birds chirping in the distance and the squirrels hustling up trees as the breeze rushed through the trees toward me, nature’s own brand of music. Not bad, but not my thing.

         “No wonder you died.” I said as I looked down at my watch. It was already two, I found it hard to believe I had been lying in the grass looking at clouds for an hour, but it wasn’t impossible.

         I opened my bag and moved my music player into one of its pockets, not wanting it in my pants pocket if I couldn’t use it.

         With my music gone and class coming up, the clearing was suddenly losing its appeal to me. So I figured I had better start heading back to campus soon. Better to be early than late.

         Yawning, I stood up from my bed of flattened grass and dusted any dirt off that might’ve stuck to my butt or back. I kneeled and picked up my bag, slinging it around my shoulder. It felt heavier than before, but it was probably just because I had gotten weaker while lazing on my back.

         I turned to head back to campus, but stopped in my tracks when I saw it. There was this small cherubic figure hovering at the edge of the clearing. It seemed to be inspecting me, like a cat approaching a stranger.

         It slowly began to advance toward me and I got a better look at it, or he, I guess. He was maybe two or three feet tall, it was hard to tell with the way he was hunched over; there were bright rays of light cascading off his back, his wings I guessed, it would explain how he was floating; and all the baby faced creature was wearing was a diaper. He kind of reminded me of a classic cupid.

         I took a step back only to run into something. I turned around and saw another one, identical to the first one floating behind me. The only difference between this one and the first one was that this one was smiling, while the other one was frowning.

         I turned back to the original floating baby only to gasp as I saw that I was now surrounded by smiling cherubs.

         “What’s going on?” I asked, not entirely expecting a response from the oversized flying babies, but you know, just in case.

Glamours

/Glamours are a type of spell, they were originally designed to hide objects, but over the centuries they have evolved and become particularly popular among the more monstrous denizens of this world. They are now used as costumes to hide a person or creature’s true appearance. These aren't necessarily perfect disguises of course; for example, those with particularly high intelligence can see right through them. There are many different kinds of Glamours; personal glamours to hide yourself, targeted glamours to hide another person or thing, and then there are specific glamours that changes how a specific target views something. To sum it all up, never take things for face value, we aren’t the only things out there that wear masks./