Enchanted High Book I

James couldn’t understand what made him rise so suddenly the next morning. He hadn’t seen any abnormal vision of him drowning. In fact, his sleep was quite peaceful and restless. When he woke from his sleeping bag; he saw June and Nicole, lying on the bed, fast asleep. The sun was already clearing through the trees, filling the room with an unusual, angelic light.

He walked down the bright passage, entering the living room and finding Robbie, puffy eyed. He sat at his desk at the far end near the balcony, fiddling with the small parts of the watches. James wondered whether he even slept.

Robbie glanced up at James from the rim of his spectacles. ‘Well, good morning.’

‘Morning,’ James looked out the window and saw the sky; partly cloudy. Light drops of rain fell into the island, and, mixing with the light that peeled through the clouds, a breathtaking rainbow arched over the sky.

‘Thinking about the pot of gold?’ Robbie asked, without looking up from his work.

‘The pot of gold?’ James repeated. ‘The myth that leprechauns made up so they could have a bigger name than faeries?’

Robbie laughed. ‘Oh, it’s not a myth, James,’ he said. ‘It can only be a myth if you treat it like one.’

James glanced back out the window. A gentle breeze swept by, settling on his skin and swaying little strands of his hair sideways. His stomach interrupted with a mediocre growl for food. He realized that the only thing he had eaten since yesterday was the Rainberry. ‘What’s for breakfast?’ he asked.

‘Breakfast,’ said Robbie. ‘As soon as the girls wake up, we’ll go and get it.’

James nodded. Then his brain processed the words and he frowned. ‘Go and get it?’

‘Yes,’ said Robbie. ‘We have to go out into the jungle. Make our food from scratch.’

James ran a hand through is damp hair. He realized he was quite used to the laziness of getting up every morning and having breakfast ready at the cafeteria. ’Do you do that every day?′

‘Not every day. Sometimes when I’ve gathered extra ingredients, I try to use it the following day.’

‘Right.’ The moment he said it, June walked into the room, one eye half-closed sleepily, with a bright and fresh Nicole following.

Nicole’s eyes dashed to the watches on Robbie’s desk. ‘Are you done with them?’

He removed his spectacles. ‘Not quite.’

June rubbed the sleep away from her eyes. She nudged Nicole. ‘Why don’t you try to repair it?’ she whispered.

Nicole shuffled her feet. ‘I don’t think that it would work –’

‘Girls,’ said Robbie. ‘I can hear you.’

Nicole glared at June irritably. ’Fine, I’ll try.′ She took a watch in her hand; June watched her pupils disappear into grey mist as she concentrated her energies. The watches made faint jerking movements on her palm, as if they were attached to some string, but that was all they did.

After moments, Nicole let her hand drop to the table, her eyes returning to her original color. ‘My powers are not working on it. It’s like there is a block.’

The words lingered in June’s mind. A power block ... June could sense a question rising from Robbie, so quickly, she decided to switch the subject. ‘The weather hasn’t changed a bit.’

Robbie looked out into the darkened sky. ‘Never did, never will.’ He turned to June, his eyes narrowed in curious thought. ‘Agent Price.’

June insides collapsed. Agent Price? How would he know? She thought of something to say, an excuse, any excuse –

‘Never,’ said Robbie, ‘lend your things to strangers. It’s amazing how much about you they can find out with it.’

Nicole glanced June’s way, her expression was just as bewildered.

Robbie sat forward and said softly, ’Tell me the real reason you are stuck on this island. You can trust me.′

June, Nicole and James poured out everything to him. From the moment they entered the gates of Enchanted high to the time Charlie assigned them on their mission. They told him about Dominic. They told him about The Rungee Desert and Flaming Pearl hot springs. The library and Prince Xavier. But June left out her hunch about Charlie being the one behind everything; she couldn’t confirm that this was true. Nicole looked hesitant about every detail that was unveiled; June felt that way too, but she also felt like she could trust him.

When they were done, a hush fell over the room, broken only by the light drops of rain that splashed in the puddles outside and the ripping wind. Robbie sat in silence as he considered what they had told him. James crossed his arms and tapped his finger on his elbow; Nicole paced the room impatiently.

Finally, Robbie stood and nodded. ‘I believe every word you three said. I’m not surprised either. I’ve known by experience, that you can never live a peaceful life while attending a magical school.’

June wondered how right he was. ‘What do we do now?’ she asked him.

‘Now,’ said Robbie. ‘We get our breakfast.’

It was not what she expected. But she didn’t disagree. Suddenly, she was reminded how badly she would like a meal.

Robbie shuffled through his drawers and uncovered a thick, worn out book, sliding on a cap as he did so. He handed June the book. ‘This is my journal. For the past fifteen years, all the plants that I’ve collected, I recorded them in here. It’s a leisurely part of my research, you can say. I want you to keep it while we go out into the jungle.’

June smoothed her palm over the cover. Its skin was rough, ragged at patches where it had been battered by weather. I want you to keep it.

‘The Mirachi flower, nicknamed Bouncy.’

June, James, Nicole and Robbie were staring at an abnormally small plant, with mustard colored petals. It hopped from side to side, jumbling itself into a frantic waving motion.

James laughed. ‘Can we eat it?’

‘No,’ said Robbie, taking several steps away, ‘its constant movement is not helpful while trying to swallow it.’

They followed Robbie as he navigated through the island with experienced prose. June referred to his journal constantly, picking up strange names and habits of plants that didn’t exist in the human world. She learned how to identify the Rainberry tree, spot a poisonous plant and, according to one of the footnotes, recognized the recipe to the powder that made the giant lizard that attacked them unconscious.

The air was light and cool, moist from the constant rain. James seemed to be enjoying himself, as if he go on walking through this heaven and it would never end. But Nicole, she looked irritated. She was itching and she desperately wanted to get back indoors. The quicker the better.

June was reading through the text about a plant similar to the one they found in the Rungee Desert, when she spotted a black flower, blooming among the green. It was beautiful, like an elegant and beautiful, yet dangerous, dragon.

‘Oh my,’ said Robbie from beside her. ‘Looks like you just found The Troublemaker.’

‘The Troublemaker?’ June asked. ‘Is that its name?’

‘Yes, yes, you’d find it in my journal ... brings all sorts of bad luck, horrible memories and makes the most pleasant person turn into a nightmare. It’s the probably the worst version of nature.’ He shivered. ‘Moving on ... we’re looking for a small, yellow herb ...’

Nicole paused in mid-step. ‘Does it grow like a hedge?’

‘Indeed,’ Robbie replied, without turning her way.

‘Does it,’ June heard sniffing, ‘have a really good scent?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then I found it.’

Robbie swung around and leaped towards Nicole. ‘Yes, yes, you did,’ he plucked a handful of them. ‘All we need now is The Heart Petal Plant.’

June flipped through the journal and stared at the picture of a light red, almost pink flower, with petals that looked so delicate she felt like they could be blown away by a simple sneeze. And then she realized why it was called the Heart Petal Plant; it had four petals, each in the exact shape of a small heart.

James gazed at it from over her shoulder. ‘I’ll feel bad to eat it.’

‘Trust me,’ said Robbie, ‘you won’t after you’ve tasted the meal we make out of it.’

It’s hella delicious, I guarantee you. And Robbie is good chef.

Love from all the fur on my back,

--THUG.