"'Do the whole belief thing?'" Rachel repeated your words. "Owen, you don't 'try to do the whole belief thing'. You either believe or you don't. And when you believe, you believe unconditionally or you fail. And you say you moved a mug. Sounds like a pretty decent 'hello' to me."

She looked at your plate and saw you were only nipping your food. "If you want to develop your power, you should start by taking better care of yourself. You look tired, you're not eating. Performing magic costs energy. You need to be well-fed and rested when you practise. Otherwise you'll fail for sure." Sensing your foul mood she added "I'm sorry, but that's just the way it works." Kind of a 'don't blame the messenger' type of comment.