The Otherworlders Academy - An Original Teen Fantasy

Ep. 4.12 (R) - The Obstacles in Our Path

Perviously on The Otherworlders: Inez, Fiona, Ava, and Sr. Hidalgo arrive at the Enchanted Chancellor's Ball in a fancy stretch limo. Even though the girls are elegantly dressed, Fiona is nervous about the Enchanted paparazzi, but Inez reassures and guides her through the throng.

Inside, the extravagant hall impresses the girls as they greet Chancellor Reneau warmly. But the lecherous Vice-Chancellor makes inappropriate comments, embarrassing Inez's father. Gabriel, the Chancellor's son, takes a liking to Fiona; and later, the Vice-Chancellor privately pressures Inez's father to financially support his controversial border wall plan, but Sr. Hidalgo refuses, offended by the scheme and inappropriate request.

Patrick is back from visiting with Stephen's mother and is processing that and the uncomfortable and somewhat violent run-in with his father, back at the tribal compund.

**********

Out on the Academy training field, Patrick has been running the red clay track for hours.

Aidan, who's been sitting on the hill above studying, alternates between practicing spells from Dickinson's Book of Minor Magic and discreetly watching Patrick the entire time.

After reaching his breaking point, Patrick — exhausted — bends over and, hands on his knees, struggles to catch his breath. After a moment, he plops down and laying a hand on his chest, collapses back onto the grass on the side of the track.

Seeing this, Aidan jumps to his feet. He squints to see if Patrick is still breathing, but it doesn't look like it.

Aidan rushes down to the field, "Patrick! Patrick! You okay?" No response, "Patrick! You all right?!"

When Aidan reaches Patrick, he slides onto his knees, bends over and checks to see if Patrick has a pulse. Panicking, he leans over and is about to give Patrick CPR — or maybe mouth-to-mouth, he's not sure quite which — when Patrick's eyes fly open.

Seeing the face of this crazy-ass Enchanted kid hovering above him, Patrick startles. He pushes Aidan back as he springs up, like a jackknife, into a seated position. "What the hell, man?!" he roars.

In response to the strength of Patrick's response, Aidan teeters backwards and lands flat on his ass. His heart racing, he rests his hand on his chest and breathes in a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the gods," Aidan gasps, "you're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive, you goofball!" Patrick says as he wipes the sweat off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. "Seriously, what the hell, dude?!"

"I was watchin' you run the track and suddenly you collapsed. After a while, it looked like you weren't movin'! I thought maybe you were dead!" Aidan screeches in defense.

"Watching me?" Patrick's eyes narrow. "What do you mean 'watching me'? Have you been spying on me this entire time?"

"Of course not!" Aidan scoffs, offended at the accusation. "I was just sittin' up there on the hill, studyin'. And then I looked up and noticed you'd been running the obstacle course like a madman for hours. So, when you ultimately dropped to the ground like that, I thought maybe you'd had a heart attack or somethin'!"

Patrick brushes the grass from his shirt and then from the back of his shorts. "I didn't have a heart attack, Aidan," he says. "I was just exhausted. I was blowing off steam, and I guess I over did it."

"Well, I'd say you did." Aidan retorts as he shifts and crosses his legs, then leans forward and starts to pick at the grass. "It's not unheard of, you know," he adds as a defense for his earlier assumption. "I've read of cases where very young, very healthy Otherworlders suddenly drop dead..." He snaps his fingers for emphasis. "...just like that. Right out of the blue!" He shrugs. "It's some weird cardiac event or somethin'. I'm not quite sure." He sneaks a peek at Patrick's heaving chest and mutters, "Although with your ginormous grizzly bear heart, you'd probably be okay."