Her mind swims with fairy tale twists topping a relatively dull 16 years of life. Optomism tries once more to creep into her outlook. She thinks of everyone's happy ending, of swan-ducklings and princess beggars and prince frogs and... male roadblocks and tumbling books.

She leaps away from the boy in her path, almost jabbing herself against the classroom door in the process. A circle of advanced students stand in a semicircle around the doorway. Taya winces by reflex and lowers her eyes, watching his pencil roll across the wooden floor and stop by her toe. Her eyes remain fixed on the pencil. She can be brave so long as she doesn't have to face anyone.

"Sorry, I didn't look where I was..."

"Did you hear something?" The roadblock sneers and crosses his arms. The semicircle of students hush, as students usually do before confrontations, and stare at the overturned textbooks that litter the ground in front of him. Evidence of guilt.

"I said I was sorr-"

"Because I /know/ that the Magimute wouldn't speak to me when it could be leaving." Taya can feel him glare at her and wishes desperately to be part of the floor. "Maybe a real first year would waste my time like that, but not the Magimute. It's learned its place."

Times before this, Taya would raise her head and turn from face to face like a cornered animal, searching for sympathy. Not even her roomates have offered as much, though they always repeat apologies in the safety of private. She's learned, by now, that nothing can be gained by prolonging these encounters.

Sandborne-Sensei finishes lining the walls with incense and ignores every sound that filters through the open door. Teachers, Taya has found, have amazing selective hearing.

Sighing, she kneels down to pick up his spellbooks. His boot slams in place over the closest one, inches from her hand. The pages crinkle. "Do not touch my things. You'll jinx them."

"Ugh. Did it just try to speak again?" The roadblock turns to his jury of peers. "Not a terribly bright one, is it? But then, look at it, what was I expecting?"

A few of the students twitter and laugh as Taya flees the circle, pushing between rows of her peers. She can hear them carry on until she turns the corner, rushing to her room.

Entertainment gone, the students file inside Sandborne-Sensei's classroom.