Where the North Star Shines... ภายใต้แสงดาวเหนือ

I walked into chemistry class with a banging headache,my ears ringing badly and I looked tired and pale.

I took my seat in the back roll of the classroom and that same moment our chemistry teacher walked in.

Mrs Elliott~our chemistry teacher ~started handing out their safety goggles.

“Alright class,today we are going to be studying about metallic reactions- no fooling around. The thermometers are fragile and Silver nitrate is not your friend.”

I wasn't paying much attention, I was rubbing her hand against my temples to see if she could calm the pounding,my ears were still ringing.

I could hear what everyone was muttering under their breaths,the little sound from them was too loud for me and it was like I  was going insane.

“Aria!”Mrs Elliott snapped.“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,I'm fine. Sorry.”I apologized. 

“Are you sure you are fine?You've been weak since Monday,maybe you should go to the infirmary.” Lois, my seat partner and best friend asked.

“I'm fine.”

We got to work,mixing all the solutions,measuring temperatures,writing out theories.

I was trying so hard to ignore the prickling heat at the base of my palm, that i didn't realize I  was doing it all wrong,till I  heard a crack. My thermometer broke.

 

 Silver nitrate splashed across my skin- cool and shiny like melted metal.

“Oh my God- Aria.” Lois panicked and grabbed my hand. “That stuff burns.”

“What is going on?”Mrs Elliott asked,turning away from the board.

“Aria's thermometer broke and silver nitrate spilled on her hand.” Lois said,rushing her words.

“Oh no.” Mrs Elliott said and grabbed my hand.

“It didn't burn me.” I  said removing my hand from Mrs Elliott's grip. 

 

Mrs Elliott grabbed it back to check,indeed i wasn't burned,it wasn't red either,no reactions or anything,my skin was normal.

“ Just go run it under water to make sure you didn't get any chemical burns.” Mrs Elliott said.

 

 I forced my body into motion.

“Yeah yeah.”

 

  I ran my hand under the water and still felt nothing,no heat,no pain,no reactions,nothing at all.

   

 But as the water slid across my skin,something weird happened.

  

A faint silvery shimmer of a tattoo or more like a rune flickered across my  palm.

 

I  was shocked and taken aback,I  pulled out my hand from the water and the tattoo showed.

I scrubbed my eyes to see if my eyes were playing mind games like they did this morning when I  saw a wolf in my backyard. 

   

No,the tattoo was still there,glimmering faintly on my  palm,i  scrubbed my  hand to get it off,but it wouldn't  come off.

  I  returned back to the class. 

“You are quite lucky Aria,it didn't leave a burn.” Mrs Elliott said and let go of my  hand.

“Yeah,I guess I must be.”

  

But no, I was shocked or rather amused. 

‘Can't Mrs Elliott see the tattoo.’ I  asked myself. 

  

 After a few minutes the class ended and the bell for the last class of the day rang.

*She's weird and creepy*

*She didn't even flinch*

*Heard she had no burns*

*This confirms my suspicions,she's a witch*

 Even though they were just whispers muttered under their breaths,i could hear them loudly, I  covered her ears and walked straight into History class.

    

   I saw a boy seated in the empty chair beside me,for a moment there I  was puzzled,but I  sat down anyway.

  

“ You're Aria Cresswell right?” He said and looked up.

  I  froze.

“.....Do I know you?”

“ No, you don't but you stood out today.” His voice was calm and steady.

“You heard about the thermometer.” I sighed.

“I didn't hear,I saw it.”

“You were there?” I asked curiously. 

“You should be more careful,people notice things like that.”

“It was an accident.”

“No it wasn't.”His voice low and demeaning.

My mouth went dry, “Who are you?”

“Kael, and it was a pleasure meeting you.”

 

The teacher walked in before I  could say anything.

He started his teaching, “I need someone to stand up and give me names of great people of history and what they did?” Mr Rodriguez asked.

 

 Flora smirked and raised her hand, “ She's actually a great woman, her name is Aria Cresswell,the first person to survive a silver nitrate accident without any burns or reactions.”

   

  The whole class burst into a loud laughter. 

“Flora!!” Mr Rodriguez scolded.

“Sir it's true,and the teacher claimed it was normal,in my own honest opinion,I guess she's a witch.” Flora added.

The whole class burst into another round of laughter and they didn't stop laughing. 

 

The bell for the closing rang, I  grabbed my backpack and left school,but not without people mocking me or calling me a witch.

  

              LATER THAT NIGHT

“Aria,dear, come help me clear the table.”my  mom said.

“Okay,mom, I'll be there in a minute.”

“Remember what I told you,if you feel weird or strange or you notice some changes in your body,do tell me.”

“Yes mom of course I will.”

“That's good.”

 

I went to my room,while brushing my teeth, I  stared at the mirror for too long and I  could my her eyes show a faint silver color. I  rubbed my eyes and looked in the mirror again but my eyes were back to normal.

I went to bed that night with so many unanswered questions in my mind.

“What was with this tattoo on her palm that only she could see?”

“Why did her eyes shimmer that way when she looked in the mirror?”

—----------

AUTHOR POV

“She hasn't started to manifest anything.” A woman clad in all black said to the person beside her.

“Are you sure you are monitoring her closely?”

“Yes, she promised she would tell me if she notices strange things on her body.”

“Then that must mean she informed you about the silver incident. 

 “What silver incident?”

“Like I assumed,you knew nothing about it.”

“You are just too incompetent,Lila should have left her protection to me,I don't know why she trusted you.” The masked stranger said and left like a whoosh in the wind.