Powers in a Teenage Witch

by Ian Schrauth

  I was the first one done, and I handed it in for him to grade.

  “Good job Selena!” he said. “How did you know this so quickly? Did you pay attention and write notes?”

  “No. I know it because I am an advanced student,” I replied. Maybe if I get sent to the office again, Huxvey will switch me.

  “Um…Nevermind…” he stated.

  I swear, if all these classes are going to be this easy, I might NOT be able to learn magic!

  ***

  The final bell then rang, and I was free! Hallelujah!

  I rushed out of my study hall, and headed to my dorm where I found a big pile of homework. It was all from English, and it looked like it was the stuff we would learn all year.

  That was madness!

  “I would just do the homework if I were you,” Megan said while she was doing her homework.

  “Why?”

  “Because the teacher seemed angry when he came in here about five minutes ago.”

  Why would he come into my dorm and give me the homework?! Why?!

  “Are you going to do it?” Megan asked.

  “Hell naw,” I said, took the papers, and threw them out the window.

  “Well, now you have littered this planet,” Megan said and looked out the window. The papers landed on someone, and he was knocked out.

  “Who was that?” Megan asked.

  The man looked like a gangster a little. He had jet black hair, a wizard robe, and a crazy hat on. Kinda like a pointy witch hat. Except bent.[I27]

  “Who is that?” Megan asked.

  “Don’t look at me,” I replied. “All I know is that I might go to jail.”

  “Students, please go to bed now. It is time,” Huxvey said over the intercom.

  I walked over to my bed, and fell asleep.

  11

  The next morning was the worst, but at least I didn’t have to go to English…

  I wrote down the dream that I had and got dressed for the school day. I had a bad feeling that it would be bad.

  I have this feeling inside me whenever I will have a bad day, and whenever I have a good day.

  “What’s wrong?” I heard Megan ask me. I must have had a bad look on my face because she asked that.

  “I just have a bad feeling inside of my stomach that I don’t like,” I replied.

  “Oh.”

  As I was packing up my stuff, I saw my Feleth write something. That was the first time I had seen the Feleth write something for me.[I28]

  When the Feleth was finished with the message, I took it and read it.

  It was from mom!

  Selena!

  Please read the newspaper I attached to this letter! It’s important!

  Mom.

  “What is this about?” Megan asked as she picked up the next page. “Nuxsums has escaped from prison,”

  “Who is Nuxsums?” I asked Megan.

  “Who?”

  “Nuxsums,” I repeated.

  “Don’t ask me. Why don’t you read?” she said. Girl! Don’t give me sass!

  As I was reading the article mom sent, I noticed it was time for us to start school! Why didn’t Huxvey tell us?

  “I don’t have time to read this. I have to get to class,” I said.

  “What time is it?”

  “Six o’clock.”

  “Oh,” She replied, grabbed her things, and walked out.

  After I gathered my things together, I walked out and headed to my Saturn Government class. Another day in misery and boredom.

  * * *

  It was about fifteen minutes until the class was over when I decided to read more on that Nuxsums issue.

  I opened the webpage and started to read what he looked like.

  A man who looks like a gangster with jet black hair, a wizard robe, and a crazy hat on.

  That described the man that I had accidentally hit with the papers! Was that him? Or was it not? That had gotten me sacred a little.

  “OK, since you were so good today, I will let you leave early to your dorms,” He said. “See some of you tomorrow.”

  I sprang up from my seat and ran straight to my dorm.

  “Girl! You’re in a rush!” Megan said as she was entering with me.

  “Where’s the thing to talk to mom with?”

  “Over there on your desk.”

  I headed to my desk and started to write.

  “Megan! Check if he’s still down there!” I yelled.

  Megan walked over to the window and saw he wasn’t there. “Nope.”

  Mom!

  I had read the description of that man, and he looks like someone I saw! I threw something out of my window the other day, and the man looks exactly like him! Have any suggestions?

  Selena

  I sent the letter through the Feleth and headed to my bed.

  I needed a nap…

  PART II

  12

  One Month later

  The dream I was encountering was strange. I was in a golden cornfield, and it was dark out. I could see no clouds and only the moon. It felt like I was in hell.

  As I walked farther and farther north, I encountered a man. He looked like a man with a suit. He had a face made out of the color of snow, and he had long arms and legs.

  “Hello?” I asked.

  He didn’t answer.

  “Hello?” I asked again.

  “Selena Dixon…” a devilish voice said. It sounded like it came from him… creepy… “Lord Nuxsums will seek his revenge.”

  “Who’s Lord Nuxsums? And who are you?” I asked.

  Right before my eyes, long TENTACLES came out of his back. That’s when I knew I was dreaming. It’s impossible for someone to grow tentacles from their back.

  Then it hit me.

  I had read a story online of a man called “The Slender Man,” and he was JUST LIKE the man I saw.

  It was him…

  “I will find you…” he said. “And I will hurt you[I29].”

  “How so?”

  “Don’t mess with me,” He said, and the tentacles came at me.

  As the tentacles came at me, I woke up. Covered in sweat and drenched in fear. What was he up to? Why is Nuxsums angry? What does he want? Those were all the questions going through my head as I got up to check the time.

  Four-thirty. Thirty more minutes until school starts. I didn’t want to stay awake,[u30] but then again, I didn’t want to go back to sleep. I was too scared that I would run into him.

  “Selena?” Megan asked, sounding tired. “What are you doing?”

  “I had a nightmare.”

  “Oh. Just go back to sleep. You need it,” She replied, turned over, and went back to sleep.

  She was right. I needed to go back to sleep, but I was also afraid of little ‘ol slendy. We were going to learn how to defend ourselves in my dreaming class next unit, and that would be a while. I think.

  I decided to go with my gut, and fall asleep… which was a big mistake.[I31]

  13

  The bell rang, indicating class was over.

  I wasn’t expecting the class to be over so soon. I had only one more question to be done, and he said, “Turn in what you have.”

  We all turned in what we had, and walked out of the class. Finally! The class is over!

  Next: Potions.

  I walked into the potions classroom and sat down in the seat that was assigned to me. I had forgotten who I had sat by because my brain was, like, in a cloud, but I would soon find out.

  As the students piled in one by one, my table formed, and I remembered clearly!

  I sat by a jerk! A very, very, very bad jerk!

  Her name was Melanie[I32] – Mel for short – and she was spoiled. She was rude, selfish, and she demanded everything her way. I wish I could just call her a fat pig and tell her that she is just a stubborn girl who will get nowhere in life by treating people like garbage. But hey, that’s life. Plus, I would get in trouble again!

  “Now, are you goi
ng to get in any more trouble?” Mel asked in a rude tone.

  “I’ll have you know, miss, that you are the one who should get in trouble.”

  She looked confused. “Why?”

  “Because you’re a spoiled brat and you will not get anywhere in life by treating people like junk!”

  “Excuse me! But I am not that way!”

  “I know you are. And so does everyone else at this table.”

  “You just said what I wanted to say for the whole year!” one kid said.

  She looked at us, and said, “I don’t care what any of you say! I am perfect! And that’s all that matters! Now I don’t want any of you to –”

  “Enough!” Ms. Xjung yelled. “Now, you will stop arguing, or else you will get written up,” Great,[I33] I can’t afford another write-up. Or another office referral. Or anything that would get me in trouble.

  “Now, you will be making your extra sleeping potions. Just about a word of advice, do not eat the potion. If you eat the potion, you will fall into a deep sleeping spell. When we learn the wakeup potion in the next six weeks, it will help. Do NOT trick someone to eat it. If you do, I will write you up. Now, get started.”

  We all got our lab stuff on, and we went to go wash our hands. The water on Saturn is different from the water on Earth[I34]. It is green, and you are not allowed to inject it because it will make you very sick. Well, if you are a non-witch or a non-wizard, you would get even sicker than if you are a witch or wizard.

  But that’s not important.

  As we were finishing with all of that sanitary stuff, the rude girl came in and said, “OK, I am the cook. OK?”

  “Umm…Selena is actually the cook,” One kid said.

  “Do I care if Selena is the cook?”

  “Well…”

  “I honestly don’t care. I make the decisions, and I am the cook. Selena is the dishwasher, Blake, you are the waiter, and Kim is the assistant cook.”

  “You can’t make me the cook just because you are friends with me!” Kim said.

  “Hey! Do you want to help?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Then be the cook with me.”

  “Hold on just one single second,” I said. “Just because you are spoiled back on Earth, doesn’t mean you can be bossy to us!”

  “Hey! Just because you are an author, doesn’t mean you get special treatment!”

  “Just because you are a spoiled brat doesn’t mean you get special treatment.”

  “Girl!” she said, went into the cabinet, and grabbed a plate. “I will smack you with this plate if you don’t shut up!”

  “Oh?” I said.

  “OK. Enough!” Ms. Xjung said and walked over to our kitchen. “If you don’t play nice, I will send you all down to the office! Understand?”

  “Well, they don’t want to play by my rules! So I have to punish them.”

  “You don’t play by my rules, so I have to punish you,” She said, walked over to the computer, and typed up something. “You will be called down to Huxvey’s office at the end of the day to discuss your punishment.”

  “Thanks a lot!” She yelled, and smashed me over the head with a plate!

  I didn’t know what was happening, but I fell down, and I think I passed out.

  * * *

  I woke up to the smell of potions, and also the smell of blood. Yes, I can smell blood.

  “SELENA! Are you OK?” I heard a voice ask.

  “Where am I?” I asked.

  “We sent you to the nurse’s office,” Ms. Xjung said. “You passed out.”

  I think I knew that… “What day is it?”

  “It’s still Sixth block. You just missed the lab. Don’t worry, you won’t have to make it up.”

  Darn! I wanted to put sleeping powder in her food!

  “Can I have the recipe for it, just in case?” I asked.

  “Why?”

  “Just in case I need it,” I lied. I was going to get that girl back!

  “OK. Come by my class at the end of the day and I will give it to you.”

  “Thanks,” I said. My head then throbbed in pain. “Oww.”

  “Does your head hurt?”

  “Yes. It does,” I replied with pain in my voice.

  “Good. Because someone was nice enough to make a potion for any sort of pain, there is,” Ms. Xjung said and gave me some powder. She mixed it with some of the water and gave it to me.

  “I thought the water was poisonous here.”

  “Only if you drink it bare,” She said. “Now, drink.”

  I took the glass, and it smelt like rotting corpses. Not a good smell. And the taste…Oh my gosh…the TASTE! It tasted like someone had eaten dog puke, picked it up, had an elephant eat it and blow it out of his nose, and a monkey then sits on it. Then, they put it in powder form and gave it to us to torture us. Descriptive enough?

  I had to drink the whole thing.

  After I had made that face that it tasted terrible, I gulped it down and gagged a little. The aftertaste. Oh my gosh! It was even worse than the taste. Like if you were yawning and money chucked fesses in your mouth and when you closed it, it squished around. Then you puked and the monkey threw THAT in your mouth. Descriptive enough?

  “See. It wasn’t that bad,” Ms. Xjung said.

  “No, it wasn’t that bad. It was that bad. It was terrible! Terrible!” I said and gagged again.

  On the other hand, I was glad I had taken it because my pain had gone away.

  “Well, that helped my pain,” I said and gagged again. “Gosh, that’s going to be in my mouth all day!”

  “Well, get over the taste and concentrate on your day,” Ms. Xjung said. “You won’t be in here forever.”

  “OK, time to take the bandages off,” The nurse said and took them off my head.

  She took those off, and the potion I had taken made the cuts go away. I could tell because of the scars on my forehead. “Don’t worry, those scars will go away.”

  “Thanks.”

  I have to warn you. If you daydream from now until five hours later, you will encounter that people can go into your daydream and harm you,” The nurse said, and walked me to the door. “Good luck.”

  I then walked out of the classroom and back to Potions I.

  * * *

  When I got to my Intro to Dreaming, I sat down and waited for the teacher to appear. I mustn’t daydream. I mustn’t daydream.

  When Mr. Sauda appeared, he had a crystal ball with him and a wizard hat on. “Class, we will learn how to read people’s dreams with a crystal ball today,” Mr. Sauda announced and sat down the crystal ball, “But first, we will take some notes.”

  We all got out our laptops – or notebooks if they were an Almen or Finalmen – and started to copy what Mr. Sauda had on the board. Usually, his notes are boring, but I HAD to pay attention. Yuck.

  While I was taking notes, I had a USB microphone hooked onto the front of my computer to record the teacher so when I need his guidance, I didn’t have to go to after-school tutoring with the bossy Doctor Fruno. Yuck. She is a pain in the rear because she is old, nasty, and selfish. Why they hired her? Because they were stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.[I35]

  While he was talking about the human brain and how dreams work, I started to daydream, which was a mistake because anyone could have had a chance to attack me and possibly kill me.

  But I came prepared with a top-secret weapon. OK, maybe it wasn’t ‘top secret’, OK, I didn’t have a plan. I was just ‘gonna daydream and see what will happen.

  In my daydream, I was at one of my book signing events. All went well at the beginning. Teenagers (about 13 and 14) came and wanted me to sign my young adult novella for them, and adults told me their sob stories about their failed writings. Don’t try and butter me up and steal my literary agent! Won’t work!

  It was all good…When a man came up to me with all the books I have written.

  “I am a total fan of your work, Selena Dixon!” He said with excitement i
n his voice. I could tell he was a huge fan, “Will you sign all of these?”

  “Sure,” I said as I take the first book from his pile, “To whom may I sign it to?”

  “To me, of course.” Something was up… Why didn’t he want me to know his name?

  Smart Alec…

  “Yeah, what’s your name so I can direct it to you?”

  “Doctor Charles Nuxsums,” He replied.

  Great… I could understand if someone like Huxvey or Mr. Sauda came in, but I didn’t know the dangers Nuxsums would come in. Why would he want me? Because I dropped the papers on his fat head? Or did something else happen?

  I stood up from my chair, but he brought out his wand and used a spell to control my mind! I thought it was the end for me, but I heard a voice in my head.

  It sounded like Mr. Sauda.

  “Selena, can you answer this question?” He asked.

  I was back to reality! Phew!

  “Selena, do you how dreams occur?”

  “Uh… the rapid-eye-movement, A.K.A the REM, stage of sleep?” I replied, acting dumb while reading his mind at the same time. Hopefully, it would work.

  “Correct, and don’t daydream in my class; that includes all of you!” He said and his eyes turned red.

  About half the kid’s eye’s turned red and they were wakened from their daydreams. That proves how boring the class was.

  * * *

  There were five minutes left in class, and it was time for the lab that Mr. Sauda had planned for us. I was surprised he’d still do it because almost everyone was daydreaming. Oh well, at least he was doing it!

  He put on some weird ring, and he said, “I need a volunteer!”

  Nobody raised their hand; including me.

  “I’ll let the crystal ball decide,” Mr. Sauda said as he put his hand on the crystal ball and it hummed.

  It shows my name. Great…

  I walked up to the front, and Mr. Sauda put his hand on my head and the other – with the ring – on the crystal ball. It seemed like it would be bad, but then, I was excited at the same time.