THIRTY-FIVE

“So, this is science camp, huh? Doesn’t look like much of a science camp to me,” said Enrique.

“Science camp?” Thomas’s brain was three steps behind, still trying to get a handle on the fact that Enrique was actually there.

“Yeah. Science camp for gifted kids,” Enrique answered. “That’s what your mom told my mom, anyway. She said she’d arranged a scholarship for me to come, too.”

“My mom said I was at science camp?” said Thomas.

“Yeah. I knew that was BS, but I had no idea where you really were. Obviously, I had to find out.”

“I’m totally and completely lost.” Thomas looked at Adelia for help, but she just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

“Of course, you are.” Enrique jabbed Thomas in the arm. “You can’t just disappear and expect me not to come looking for you. I came over to hang out and nobody was home. You didn’t answer your phone or return any of my calls. Then you weren’t at school, which never happens, so I called your mom to see if you got sick or something. She didn’t answer either, so I waited at your house until she came home. She said you were visiting relatives on the East Coast, but I wasn’t having any of that. You’d have told me if you were going out of town.”

“Of course, I would’ve,” Thomas replied. “But how did you end up here?”

“It’s kind of a long story,” said Enrique.

“I’ve got time, I think.” Thomas looked at Adelia for confirmation.

“You do,” said Adelia. “Come on. You can talk while we walk. Enrique hasn’t seen this place yet. We can give him a tour while he fills you in.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Enrique.

“Ditto,” said Thomas. He followed Adelia and Enrique into the hall. “So, what happened?”

“I ask your mom more questions, and she starts acting all weird and sad, like she might cry or something. She said you were at camp and that she didn’t expect you home for at least a couple of weeks. I asked if ‘camp’ had something to do with the book you’d shown me. Her eyes got all big, and she said, ‘What book?’ I said the weird little book you kept in a box under your bed.”

“You told her I showed you the book? That was supposed to be a secret!” Thomas was horrified, but Enrique didn’t seem to mind.

“Interrupting again, are we?” Enrique quipped, his left eyebrow raised. “Anyway, I told her you’d shown me the book and how the next day it changed a bunch. She said, ‘Interesting,’ and asked if I’d be around for the next couple days. I said yeah, of course. The next day, she shows up with Adelia.”

Adelia shrugged her shoulders and looked pleased with herself.

“They talk to me for a while about my family. You know, a whole bunch of questions about my mom and dad, aunts, uncles, grandparents. Weird stuff, like if anyone ever told stories about people in our family having unusual abilities. I never heard of anything like that, but at the end, they give me a wooden box and tell me there’s a book inside like the one you had. Adelia gives me the same spiel you got. Keep it hidden. Don’t tell anyone. Read it only when you’re alone. Yadda yadda yadda.”

Thomas could hardly believe his ears. Could this possibly be going where I think it is? “Then what?”

“Your mom sends me to your house to start reading the thing. You know how it is at my place. It would have been impossible to ever get a minute alone. So, I start reading the book, and within a couple days the cover starts changing. At first, it’s little stuff like you said. Pictures moving around, but only a tiny bit. Then the color started showing up.”

Thomas’s eyes got big. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously,” said Enrique. “I still don’t know what any of that means, but I tell your mom what’s going on—they said it would be okay to do that, so long as I don’t tell anyone else—and next thing you know, she and Adelia show up at my place again. I get home from class, and there they are, sitting in the kitchen talking to my mom.”

“No way!” exclaimed Thomas. His heart was racing now.

“Yes way. They were telling her about a scholarship to a special science camp. Super fancy and exclusive. At first, my mom didn’t want to hear it, but they kept telling her what a great opportunity it is, and I start begging, so eventually, she says yes.” Enrique paused and looked around the room. “Now, call me crazy, but this ain’t science camp. What is this place, and what are we doing here?”

Adelia looked at Thomas. “Maybe you should tell him?”

“For real? You’re sure?” Thomas could hardly believe what was happening. It was literally a wish come true.

Adelia smiled and nodded. “Positive.”

“Tell me what?”

“You’re here to learn magic,” said Thomas. “Real magic.”

Enrique stared at Thomas as if he was looking at a crazy person. “Great. Now you’ve lost your stinking mind. Let’s try this. Repeat after me. There. Is. No. Such. Thing. As—”

“You know your favorite comic book?” interrupted Thomas. “The first run Ghost World? Where is it right now?”

“On the top shelf in my closet, like always,” Enrique replied. “Why?”

Thomas closed his eyes and took a breath. When he opened them, the comic was on the desk in front of him, still in its thick plastic case.

“H-how? What the—?” Enrique’s jaw dropped to the floor. He looked from the comic to Thomas and back again. His mouth opened, closed, opened again. “Are you telling me you can do magic? For reals?”

Thomas nodded. His smile practically cracked his face in half. “For reals. And making things appear is just the beginning.”

“Sweet mother of guacamole! You can do magic.” An uncertain expression flashed across Enrique’s face. He looked questioningly at Adelia. “Are you saying I get to learn magic? That I might be able to do that, too?”

Adelia’s smile was both amused and radiant. “And yes, that’s exactly what we’re saying. You’re here to learn magic.”

“B-but how?” asked Enrique. “How is it possible?”

“Magic? Or your ability to learn it?” asked Adelia.

“Both. Either. All of it. I don’t know.”

“Magic is real. It’s existed for thousands of years, if not longer. As to why you have the ability to learn it, we’re not yet sure,” said Adelia. “In every case Huxley and I ever studied, the gift has been acquired from an object of power or passed down genetically. We haven’t yet figured out where in your family history such an event occurred, but The Book of Sorrows is never wrong. You have the gift. It’s only a matter of time before we figure out how and why.”

“Ah, there they are,” said Professor Reilly as Thomas stepped into the great room. “This must be the infamous Enrique Rodriguez. Enrique, I’m Professor Reilly, and this fine gentleman here is Huxley. You’ve already met Adelia.”

“It’s very nice to meet you.” Huxley smiled and extended a hand toward Enrique. “We haven’t managed to scare you off yet, have we?”

“Nice to meet you, too,” said Enrique, though he shook hands with the look of someone who wasn’t quite sure he was actually awake. “Not yet.”

“Good! We have work to do, and not much time to do it in. Are you ready to get started?”