by K M Charron
"Are you not embarrassed with your performance?" her mother asked without actually needing an answer. "Do you have nothing to say for yourself?"
"I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. I’ll study harder," Syd said in the first opening that popped up.
"Sorry doesn’t cut it in this family," her mother said, as she simultaneously steered the car and reapplied her ruby lipstick in the rearview mirror. "I swear to God, I raised you and your brother the same yet he’s off helping to teach a coven in the Czech Republic, while you can’t get through a basic magical skills test, skills based on our family proficiency."
As if Sydney wasn’t already aware of her brother’s perfection.
"Are you trying to embarrass me?” Her mother droned on. “Is that what this is, some way to get back at me for not being your idea of the perfect mommy?"
She hadn’t felt her mother inside her head just now, using her magic to read Sydney’s private thoughts, although, to be fair, her mother could’ve read this off Syd countless times before. Closing her eyes and letting her head roll back on her shoulders, Sydney prayed for relief. Maybe a pack of wild boars would step in front of them, or a giant crater would open in the ground and swallow the car whole.
She glanced out the window at the endless row of evergreens and sighed.
"Don’t you dare act like you’re the one that’s exasperated."
Syd wanted to say that she hated to disappoint her mother, that she was taking this seriously, but she remained silent. It was safest.
The last turn before the school came into view. Sydney would be at Ashford Academy in under two minutes and away from her mother’s condemnation. She had to hold on, to let her mother’s words wash over her and not burrow deep into her marrow until they became part of who she was.
Her mother drove down the winding drive and slammed on the breaks in front of the school’s grand archway. Sydney’s body jerked forward, the seatbelt tightened painfully across her chest.
Her mother turned, slid her sunglasses lower on the bridge of her nose, and fixed her violet eyes on Syd. "I care about this family and that you succeed—whether you choose to believe that or not." With a deep breath, her mother removed the glasses altogether, folded them, and placed them on her lap. "I want to be proud of you. I know you can live up to the family lineage. You are my daughter." Catching herself in the rearview mirror, her mother ran her pinky along the underside of her lip, making sure her lipstick was perfect. "So put your excuses aside and be a Lockwood. If you can’t manage to prove you’re serious about your magical studies, I may have to send you to your brother. I cannot have you as a distraction in the coven. What are the other apprentices going to think if the High Priestess’ daughter fails? It’s unacceptable."
Right. Syd managed not to roll her eyes. Her mother pretended that her concern was for the coven, but it was really about her own embarrassment. Not once did she ask Sydney how she felt about failing the testing or why she might’ve bombed it in the first place?
The door locks popped open. "This is your last chance, Sydney."
"Last chance. Got it." A rush of dizziness didn’t stop Syd from bounding from the car as fast as possible. Her mother exited, moving toward the trunk.
Sydney stood and steadied herself for a second before closing the car door behind her. She wanted to grab her bags from the trunk and get as far away from her mother as possible.
Her mother waited at the rear of the car for Sydney to yank out her suitcases, her high-heeled foot tapping on the ground, marking each passing second.
Syd opened the trunk and began hefting the large suitcases out, her thoughts a jumble of last night’s debacle. Sydney hadn’t been lying to her mother. She didn’t know what had happened during the first testing last night. She’d spent half the summer studying for the first phase of testing, Primis—First, in Latin, one of the coven’s primary languages. But when Sydney had gotten up there, it was as though everything she’d studied merged into a jumbled mess in her head. She could still feel everyone’s eyes on her as she faced off against Scarlett Choi, a perky High magic apprentice, in an illusion charm. Illusions were a Mental magic proficiency, so Syd should’ve nailed it as those were practically baked into her genes. But she’d choked under the pressure, thinking about her brother's near-perfect scores and the fact that everyone was always watching her, scrutinizing her, to see if she had the same talents as the rest of her family.
Scarlett created the image of a flawless tree that seemed to root in the middle of the Main Hall. Sydney needed to project the same illusion, and it had started off perfectly. The trunk grew straight and strong, branches extending with green leaves sprouting, but they didn’t stop. Sydney had accidentally mixed up the end of the spell with one for conjuring rain. She was powerless as the leaves detached and melted in mid-air, causing a green sludge to fall on everyone.
The screaming still echoed inside her head. The image of everyone ducking, flailing, and trying to find cover, how was she supposed to face them again after that kind of epic disaster? And how was she going to manage when the testings got progressively more difficult and dangerous? This was only the first of four testing phases each year, and if she couldn’t hack this what would happen as the testings progressed.
She had to calm down. So what if she blew the first test? It was only the start of the first phase. It would be okay. Primis Testing lasted through November, giving her plenty of time to show everyone—especially her mother—what she could do.
And it wasn’t as if the other apprentices were perfect. She’d seen some pretty bad screw-ups over the past three years of training. The reality of how much harder she had to work made her furious. But that was life in the coven. Fairness wasn’t a luxury she was afforded. Everyone expected more from a Lockwood.
She sucked in a deep breath to settle herself. How could this be her life?
"Will you please stop wallowing and move faster?" Her mother’s voice startled her back to attention. She hefted her second suitcase and shoulder bag onto the pavement. She was aware of her mother’s eyes on her, probably judging each clunk. Syd should’ve let them scrape alongside her mother’s car—taken some paint off in honor of this shitty moment.
"Hey, Sydney. How was your summer?" a voice called out.
She spun around to see a girl she barely recognized waving at her. The girl stood with a stupid grin on her face from between two huge, perfectly manicured topiaries. She didn’t know the girl’s name, but she wasn’t a witch, just a middling like most of the students at Ashcroft. That was what they called people without magic. Middling simply meant average or moderate. Syd could think of a least five far more suitable terms.
Syd gave a wan smile because her mother stood at her side. She didn’t need to be told off for being unfriendly on top of everything else. Her mother, the great Andrea Lockwood, was concerned with image above all, regardless if she was among middlings or her coven. That image consisted mostly of everyone seeing how perfect her family was with less concern about the fact that she was snapping at Sydney in public.
"I haven’t got all morning. Grab your bags. Let’s go," her mother demanded.
"I don’t need you walking me to my dorm. You can leave if you want."
"I need to speak with Headmistress Chambers,” she hissed in a barely audible whisper, “to assure her that your failings in the coven won’t transfer to your classwork here. You’re lucky the headmistress is a coven member, or you might have found yourself going to public school." Her mother’s lips twisted with disgust. "Headmistress Chambers will be informed that you will be sent away if you don’t keep your performances up, both at Ashcroft and in the coven. Hopefully, that will be all the incentive you need." Her mother, clearly impatient with how slow Syd was moving, yanked one of the suitcase handles from her.
The tingling sensation that meant her mother was poking to get inside her head started. This time she was sure. The aggressive pangs beneath her skull were a reminder that her mother w
as far more powerful than she. Sydney fought the intrusion, concentrating on pushing the magical tendrils out. Too late. Her mother had glimpsed something. Sydney’s breath hitched. She refused to meet her mother’s eyes, focusing instead on the massive, gray-bricked building in her line of sight and plodding on.
Her mother’s voice trailed after her. "It’s too bad you wish you had a different mother. You still can’t see the reasons I’m strict with you. What could happen if I wasn’t. I’m not going to apologize for loving you and doing my job."
Sydney prayed no one could hear her mother. She glanced around and was met with a few pinched faces, eyes that incurred hers only briefly before dropping away. No one dared look her in the face. They knew better. She might not be in her mother’s good graces right now, but she still held the Ashcroft student body under her thumb.
Sydney restrained an eye roll as they walked the long path to the admin building that held Headmistress Chamber’s office. The headmistress was one of her mother’s cronies. She was a High magic witch but shared many of the Mental magic specialties, which impressed her mother. Her biggest talent, however, was the depth to which she could shove her fat head up Sydney’s mother’s ass. Whatever Syd did wrong at Ashcroft would be whispered straight into her mother’s ear.
If she found out.
Some of the professors were witches, but most weren’t. Even if the middling professors couldn’t directly tattle to her mother, she still needed to fly under the Ashcroft radar.
Movement in the corner of her eye drew her attention.
A brunette in a hoodie, combat boots and cut off jean shorts walked with her parents on the adjacent walkway. It was unusual attire for the Ashcroft population who generally sported posh name brands and always appeared camera ready, a necessity in the time of Instagram. Syd didn’t recognize her, which wasn’t odd considering that there was an entire freshman class arriving today, but there was something beyond this girl’s tacky outfit that stuck out. Maybe it was the contradictory way she carried herself—confident yet nervous.
Syd slowed as she stared, and her mother reached the front doors before her, opening them and waiting.
"Hurry up."
She followed her mother inside and immediately slunk into one of the leather armchairs. The waiting area could’ve easily been mistaken for a credit union with its brown on beige tones, giant floral centerpiece, and marble floors.
Her mother dropped the bag she’d pulled next to Sydney's chair before storming off.
Sydney exhaled. Her shoulders dropped with relief, her lungs no longer feeling as though they’d been gripped in a vice.
There was no way in hell Sydney would stand simpering in the headmistress’ office while she and Syd’s mother discussed her current failings or plotted ways to force Sydney into being the plucky, straight-A student they both wanted. Her mother generally kept Sydney’s "failures" confidential, but her bestie, the headmistress from hell, tended to be kept in the loop. Her mother needed a spy after all.
Sydney pushed it from her mind and sank herself farther into the cozy chair, pulling her cell from her pocket. It wasn’t as if she didn’t want to be a talented and prominent witch. She did. But nothing ever seemed good enough.
Looking out the window, she spotted the brunette with the combat boots and the girl’s mom walking toward the door, the dad staying behind on his phone. Clearly, this family wasn't from money because their mouths formed matching o’s as they entered the foyer, which wasn’t that impressive. Sydney kept the pair in the corner of her eye.
"This place is beautiful, but it’s so much bigger than I’m used to. Thank God for maps and GPS."
Sydney watched the girl’s mom put an arm around her and squeeze. “Oh, honey, you’re going to have the best time here, I just know it."
Sydney’s heart sank. Her mother had never used a sweet nickname on her, let alone given her a one-lined pep talk. Syd scrolled through her texts. A few from Khourtney and one from Ava.
"I’m so proud of you, Ainsley."
Sydney lifted her gaze to peek at the girl—Ainsley—who smiled widely. Sydney saw the grin yet sensed something was off. The girl’s ice blue eyes seemed troubled despite her bubbly persona.
Why not tap into this Ainsley, Sydney wondered, to see what was going on? As an intuitive empath, Sydney could tap into people’s emotional and physical feelings, although she wasn’t strong enough to read other witches yet. Their magical energy functioned as a psychic barrier—at least it would until her powers grew stronger and she’d be able to penetrate them, the way her mother could.
She closed her eyes and visualized the coils of her magic floating through the air and landing on Ainsley. Waiting for the usual warmth and pulsing to flow through her, she breathed from her diaphragm, trying to go deeper with her magic.
Nothing happened.
How could that be?
Opening her eyes, she glared at the girl, standing at the counter with the mom. The girl was still there, barely ten feet away.
She straightened, using all of her senses to focus in on the brunette, and tried again.
Her throat thickened with panic when no new sensations surfaced.
No.
First, she’d bombed last night’s testing, and now she couldn’t use a simple talent she’d been flawless at since she was ten?
Waves of warmth made her vision fuzzy. Was something wrong with her magic, or was it this middling?
"I’m finished."
"What?" Sydney looked up, startled.
"Pay attention, girl." Her mother stood before her, arms tightly crossed. She had styled her red hair into a twist to highlight the emerald drop earrings that had been in the Lockwood family for centuries. Sydney used to picture herself wearing them but not anymore. She didn’t want anything that belonged to her mother.
"Are you waiting for an engraved invitation? Up." Her mother grabbed one of the suitcases and headed out the doors, leaving Syd sitting awkwardly in the leather chair.
The girl and her mother stared at her with what appeared to be pity.
Sydney’s face burned. She tried to read the girl again, implanting the fact that No one should dare pity Sydney Lockwood.
Once again, she couldn’t get anything.
She shoved her phone away and leaped from her chair, grabbing the second suitcase and bag before storming outside to where her mother waited, hand on hip. She prayed for her mother to leave. She wasn’t accustomed to being in anyone’s shadow at Ashcroft.
"I’ll let you handle it from here." Her mother rolled the suitcase in front of Sydney and dropped the handle. "Remember what I said. You have until the end of the Primis Testing to prove yourself. If I feel you have not, you will be on the first plane to the Czech Republic. Maybe Gerald will have better luck with you." With that, she turned and sauntered down the winding walkway as if it was a catwalk.
Sydney refused to let panic take over. She worked best with goals, so having a plan to kick ass through the rest of the phase one tests was necessary. Even if that meant playing a bit dirtier than usual. In a few days, the next test would happen. After that, a Black magic proficiency exam was scheduled. The specifics would, of course, be kept confidential until the moment they were asked to perform, but she did know how to get her hands on a shit ton of Black magic spells. She’d just have to break inside the coven after hours.
"Why do you have your evil plotting face on?" Ava asked, seemingly coming from thin air.
Syd stifled a startled expression and cultivated a smile, greeting her best friends and fellow witches with cheek kisses. "No plotting. Just wondering where you two have been."
"I slept in," Khourtney said and then yawned. "You know I need my beauty sleep."
This was laughable. Khourtney was Chinese and strikingly beautiful, much to Sydney's dismay, not that Syd would let her know it. Khourt was tall and slender, with sparkling brown eyes and long hair that rippled when she walked like a black curtain on a windy day.
Ava
, who seemed to be barely paying attention to them, raked her fingers through the blonde pixie cut which beautifully framed her black skin and dark eyes. "Sorry, I wasn’t in a hurry to officially say goodbye to summer."
Khourtney twisted her long ponytail through her fingers. "In a way, I’m kind of happy the summer is over. We’re free from living under our parents’ roofs for another ten months. Freedom, ladies." She looked genuinely relieved, although Sydney didn’t know why. Khourt’s mother had died years ago after giving birth to her, so she only lived with her dad during the summer months, but he spoiled her rotten. He probably felt guilty that she didn’t have her mom, but still. Khourtney and Ava had no clue what it was like to live in a state of constant scrutiny.
"And you get to room with me, you lucky bitch." Ava winked before making a pucker face and giving Sydney an air kiss.
Living with Ava was a welcome change from her family estate, despite Ava’s messiness and propensity for early rising. Perhaps Sydney could spell her to sleep-in on the weekends?
"I think you mean, lucky you. Me as your roommate and freedom? What more could you want?" Sydney said.
She thought about the headmistress keeping watch over her from afar. There was no point overanalyzing what could happen. Sydney had managed to keep a low profile last year—she’d just give Headmistress Chambers a repeat performance.
Sydney inhaled and shook her head, letting her long bob swish and trusting it to settle perfectly back in place. "Where’s Beth?" she asked, referring to Ava’s mom. They were close enough that she could skip the title, Máthair—mother in Scottish Gaelic, the other ancestral language of their coven. The Wildes were big on titles, especially in witch spaces. Syd suspected that it was just an excuse for the Elders to feel important, but she still followed the rules like a good little Lockwood.
"She’s bringing my last suitcase over from the car." Ava checked her lipstick in her compact, not looking away from her reflection.