Chapter One:

Of Meetings and Meditations

            It had been two weeks since the all night conversation and magick working had occurred between Josh and Jenn. Two weeks and subtle glances and chuckles had passed between the two friends, but the topic of magick practice was rarely, if ever, spoken of. They didn’t realize what their conversation had begun—they didn’t see the threads of their lives, and those of others’ lives begin to snake closer and weave together into something larger, something tangible.

            The friends had jokingly, and half seriously, discussed the notion of practical magick; of creating a small, but seriously minded, study group. They didn’t want anything past that, past the ability to practice. The two were not prepared for what they had set into motion. They weren’t prepared, but this was something that they both desperately needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

            The smell of powdered hot chocolate and vanilla chai mix hung in the air, creating a sickly sweet cloud behind the burgundy and black Formica counter of the campus coffee shop. Dressed in a pair of faded blue jeans, an overly large blue polo shift and a Velcro visor that matched the blue of the shirt, Jenn stood back behind the bar looking nervous. In her hands, which were sticky from spilled cups of steamed milk and a dozen different flavored syrups, she held a recipe card flipbook and was reading it slowly, her lips moving without a single sound in an effort to memorize. Her coworker, a shorthaired and sometimes short-tempered young man laughed with good nature as he took another order at the register and quickly moved to make the drink without calling for her help.

            A hearty, masculine cackle roused her from her memorization efforts and caused her to whirl towards the door, a somewhat sheepish grin on her face. Standing in front of the counter was her companion, Josh, dressed in a pair of light khakis and a worn, green, short-sleeved shirt that was emblazoned with the signet of his comic book hero: The Green Lantern. He grinned and pointed at her, earning a dirty look from the girl behind the bar, laughing once more in earnest. Standing just behind and to the right of Josh was a young man with brown and blond hair that was half long, and half buzzed, who was attempting to look apathetic and was failing miserably at it.

            “What?” She managed a half-hearted glare and a small snarl at Josh before allowing another smile to escape and play over her lips. “Shut it or else I won’t make you your drink.”

            He shook his head with another smirk but stopped giggling under his breath at her and the blue of her work uniform. “E-board meeting starts in fifteen, twenty minutes, I’m already sitting at the dining room table…” she gestured towards a formal looking table that was off to the side of the café. The boys nodded.

            Josh gave a small nudge to his companion, who muttered something indistinct under his breath and glanced up at Jenn. “This her…?” Josh gave him the barest of nods before taking a step backwards. The other man ran his fingers through the longer part of his hair and offered his free hand to Jenn, “The name’s Storm.”

            The reaction of the two friends was completely different and yet completely complimentary in its nature. The moment Josh’s associate had introduced himself, Josh rolled his hazel eyes in mild exasperation and Jenn chuckled and locked eyes with the newcomer, “No, it’s not.”

            “John…” Josh nearly grumbled as he lightly smacked his friend, “He always does this.” He looked apologetic to Jenn.

            Jenn’s glance swept over to Josh for the briefest of moments and then back at Storm, now John. “This is John? Best friend John, ‘J’ John?” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Josh nod, “Oh, well, nice to meet you John. Heard a lot about you…” her voice was soft, neutral, but her eyes were dark and plainly searching the man across from her. “Grab a seat, guys, and I’ll be done back here in just a few minutes.”

            The two boys nodded and moved in tandem as they shuffled to the table that held a proverbial avalanche of paperwork that was covered with the words ‘Pagan Student Union’ in one way or another. They sat quietly and engaged in hushed conversation, every so often glancing back to the bar where Jenn and her coworker paced like caged animals, chattering to pass the remaining minutes they had on shift.

            When the clock read six, Jenn disappeared into the small storage room behind the bar and emerged a minute later in a black tank top and a blue over shirt. She ambled to the table where the two sat talking and she slid onto the bench that rested directly against the wall. Instantly, she began to rifle through the papers on the table and the plastic bags from the bookstore that were sprawled out on the floor. She pulled out three thin black binders, complete with page dividers, and several spiral notebooks that had the school’s crest branded into the covers.

            She spared a moment of her organizational spree to look up at the two young men across from her, “Why’d you introduce yourself as Storm…? It’s not your name…” she kept her voice gentle; she was inquisitive, but not willing to pry where she was not welcome. She offered him a small, careful smile and waited silently.

            John shifted in his seat and crossed his arms in front of him; his faded black t-shirt crumpling as he moved and adjusted in the uncomfortable seats. He ran a nervous hand through his reddish-brown goatee, buying himself a few moments of thinking time. Finally, he spoke, “It’s a wrestling thing…there’s more to it…but…” he stopped short and looked down, unwilling to elaborate past that point. Jenn offered a small nod of understanding before opening up one of the binders and beginning to file papers away, allowing the boys the privacy to continue their conversation without her intently listening.