• I didn’t even bother with getting a tour around the school. My mind was already wandering and my ears were hurting from the loud music that played in every hallway.
    “We’re celebrating” was what Mich says every single time I sigh.
    “Whatever” was always my reply.
    But right now, it didn’t matter anymore because I’m in Lenschi’s dorm. He shares the room with Mich and El. When El saw the room, Mich welcomed him. It was like his first time in it, I think, I’m not sure. I lay on Lenschi’s bed, my head dizzy.
    “Here” Lenschi came back from the bathroom holding an ice pack.
    “I don’t want it” I turned my head the other direction.
    “You’re sick” he puts his hand on my forehead.
    My face flushed—not from his touch, but from my fever. “So what? I can deal with it on my own. I have a strong immune system!”
    He laughed at that, “Yea, that’s why you got sick in the first place. Remind me to thank your strong immune system” I shut my eyes as the ice pack went on my forehead. “What a baby”
    “Oh shut up! Just leave me alone. Go out there and celebrate your party”
    “I can’t. I have to baby sit tonight. Plus, I don’t need to celebrate today. The day after tomorrow will be even better”
    I looked at him. “Why is that?”
    His eyes stared back at me with surprise. “You don’t know?”
    “Of course I don’t know!” I huffed.
    Lenschi smiled big and began talking, like a kid speaking about his presents on Christmas. “It’s the day that we weirers have been waiting for! After passing Daishaw’s test, we began practicing for the ceremony. The ceremony is the biggest event in a young weirer’s life!” he walks over to the shelf and picks up one of two boxes. The box was made out of pure wood and had nice designs on it. It was gold and red; a silver lock was between the lid and bottom. The box was like a mini treasure chest. “My dad gave this to me” he exclaims, “And my grandpa gave it to him. It’s been passed down for generations, and I don’t even know how old it is”
    “What’s inside?” I asked him. The box was really pretty and I wanted to see what it held.
    “It’s a ballo” he said that with a strange accent. “A ballo is what you give to your shohn. Your shohn also gives you something, but it’s not a ballo, it’s a nish”
    “Ugh, please, no more!” I tell him. “I don’t now any of those words or whatever you’re saying! Like, what’s a ballo and a nish? More importantly, what are shohns and weirers?”
    He apologized, still excited. “Ballo’s are these” the box opened with a click. He reached in and pulled out a…
    “Paper flower?” I said disappointedly. It wasn’t a flat cut out flower, but 3D like origami. The paper was white and very shiny. In the middle was a red jewel encircled in thin gold. “That’s…a nice origami. How long did it take you to make this? Ten minutes or five?”
    “What’s origami?”
    Oh gosh. “It’s the art of paper folding” I told him.
    “Then this is not origami” his voice was a bit harsh, but then changed back to its normal self. “You make ballo’s when your level gets raised. The paper forms through different skills, so technically it’s a physical look of your powers. Ballo’s tell a story”
    “A story?”
    “Yeah, when you give it to your shohn—” he frowns, doesn’t say anything for awhile, then puts the ballo back into the box.
    “What…is it?” I ask. My voice was soft, nervous, because Lenschi seemed sad all of a sudden. His happy enthusiastic self went downhill instantly.
    “When you give it to your shohn…” he tries to smile but I could easily tell it was a fake. Lenschi patted my head but his gaze dropped. Now it seemed like he was talking to himself. “Your shohn will accept the ballo. The ballo would shine and dissolve into them…its beautiful and indescribable, I’ve heard”
    I was starting to feel sick to my stomach. The more he talked about it, the more I just wanted to die. I could tell he was getting depressed and it hurt him. I hate it when people feel like this because I become a mirror, my emotions matching theirs. “So that thing—you’re the one that brought me to this world, right?”
    He paused. “Yes”
    “Oh—okay. I was just wondering” I cursed in my mind. That’s just great. Before I came here, when I was still at the orphanage and Lenschi began talking to me in my mind, he had said ‘you’ve won a trip’. When I was in the middle of transporting though, he said ‘what? I did it wrong?’
    “Oh, well, I got to put this away” Lenschi walks back over to the shelf.
    “Say, can I ask you one more thing?” I say nervously, almost stuttering.
    “Sure, what is it?” his cheery voice would’ve annoyed me, but right now it scared me.
    “How many times can you get a shohn?”
    “Well…” he says it long, stalling. I didn’t mind though because I was afraid to hear it. “You only get—”
    “Lenschi!” someone shouts, barging through the door. It slammed back against the wall with a loud bang. I turned to see who it was and saw Mal. “Lenschi, come on and enjoy the party!”
    “I—” Lenschi begins before I interrupted.
    “What are you doing here?” I growled, angry. She just had to come barging in right when Lenschi was going to tell me how many times you can get a shohn!
    “Come, let’s go to the party!” Mal grabs his arm and tugs lightly, playfully. “We’re all waiting for you”
    “But—” Lenschi turns to me.
    Oh great, he’s not going because of me. “Just go” I tell him. “I’m tired anyway. I’m going to sleep right now, so you can just leave”
    “You sure?” Mal asks, her voice mocking.
    “One hundred percent”
    Before Lenschi could argue, she pulled him out the room and shut the door tight. My ice pack instantly fell off my forehead, landing on the floor beside the bed. I could feel the heat come back to my cheeks, but my body was still too paralyzed to move. Oh well, it’s for the better. I shut my eyes, ready to sleep even though I wasn’t the least bit tired. It’s my fault after all, I said to myself. Lenschi was trying to get a shohn but instead he got me. I ruined his big ceremony. But I could be wrong. Maybe you could get more than one shohn. I doubt that though, because Lenschi looked really sad when he was talking about it.
    “I ruined his big ceremony” I said again, out loud. “I…ruined his ceremony…”

    part 5