Nothing.I just realized that this was cut off at the top! A big thank you goes out to Roach's player for helping me figure out how to write for Mr. Tseng
Lark tried getting irritated about the fact that nothing was happening but everything was working against her; the scented lavender candles, the warm chamomile tea, the soft music. She tried getting irritated about the fact that she wasn’t irritated. It didn’t work very well. He’d done his homework. The pillows were soft and everything was beautiful and symmetrical and lovely. There were curtains up to make the room feel cozier. Safe, even.
He’d done his homework; Mr. Tseng asked about her social life as class had just started and offered her tea and the two just talked about the good things. Boys, clothing, swimming, friends – every good thing he could figure out to ask after and he just let her talk until the smile stopped being so guarded and seemed honest. They’d spent five minutes just talking about the colors in the room – well, Lark talking and Mr. Tseng patiently listening as she went on and on about the red with a little green. About yellows and oranges and whether they went together or not. Once the curtains were belted, once the tea was finished, once the candles were lit and gossip was gossiped… Then it was time.
“Just one thing today,” he said. “I just want you to effect that globe, however you want. Throw something at it, make it move, scare it into rolling – whatever works best.”
It took a few moments before Lark realized the inherent problem. She looked at the globe but nothing happened. She squinted. She gestured. She swiped her hand. Nothing. Mr. Tseng watched with that same patient smile he always had when they worked together, standing just over her left shoulder as he watched on. Lark attempted to smile back but hers was testy with frustration – attention going back to the little steel globe in front of her. She squinted, she grimaced, she frowned.
Nothing happened.
“I told you, Mr. Tseng, I can’t do anything like this.”
“If you can’t have power when you’re centered, you can’t have control when you’re not. Add in an ohm and a wise old man voice so it suits my schtick.” He put a hand on her shoulder chuckling and Lark relaxed a little. “It’ll come at its own time. Just relax and breathe and try your best. This is a new thing, so, it’ll take time.”
Lark wished he had just barked ‘try it again’ so she could get upset about being ordered. She wished that he’d left the room a mess so she could get frustrated about that. She wished that he’d told her that everyone else could do this already or that it was simple or anything that she could latch onto. As it stood, all she could do was watch and squint and frown but he smiled so much and was so supportive she couldn’t even get too upset over failing.
“You can’t keep driving yourself crazy. It’s too exhausting and it’s cruel to do to yourself. You have plenty to be happy about, so, let yourself be happy. Breathe in, breathe out, feel your powers. You have friends, now, tell me about them and try to focus.”
“Like… actually just start describing them?”
“If you don’t want to say it, think it, but just think on them and focus.”
She breathed in and out and tried to do what he said. She thought about the way that Cassandra snort-laughed when she was surprised, about the piggy-back rides Syd used to give her because of her heels. She thought about the way Faige pulled her shirt when she was nervous, but Espinosa moved to his toes like he was preparing for something, and Chase turned up the charm. She thought about the way that Mia held the sand dollar on the beach as if were a magical artifact and the callous she felt on Matt’s hand from the way he held pencils when they held hands when he came to save her. Lark thought names, faces, hats, hairstyles.
Ten, fifteen, twenty, thirty five minutes of nothing.
The bell rung.
“…It’s hopeless. Everything is… just… all sealed off when everything is fine, Mr. Tseng. It’s just not how they work.” Lark stood up, straightening out her skirt and fixing her hair, twisting the pillow a little to make it a diamond opposite of the stand with the globe. She curled in the tassels so they made a circle. Something pretty. Something nice to look at. At least that was right.
“Oh, no, no, no. Everything is just going groovy, you just need to get used to it.” He fixed her hair. Lark fixed it back. “You did things one way before, so, we’re just stretching our muscles to try another way. Learn all you’re capable of.”
“I know what I’m capable of.”
“All you are capable of now, Lark. You’re not done growing, inside or out. Do you think your powers are?”
She believed they were. She believed a lot of things already about herself, but, that was all the more reason for Mr. Tseng to smile. He told her good work and Lark even managed to smile back, exchanging goodbyes before she headed off to class and he picked up the precariously balanced globe from its stand.
Tomorrow was another day, after all.