by ERIN BEDFORD
“The catch, as you say,” my mom started, “is that you would have to go to a witch school to learn how to control your abilities like your grandparents and I did before me.”
“Okay, that doesn’t sound so bad.” I shrugged, not really sure where she was going with it.
“What your mom isn’t saying,” my dad continued for her, “is that being a witch isn’t like being a vegetarian. You can’t hang out with the same people as you did before. You’d have to give up your life as a human. Which means ...”
“No Brown with Callie,” I finished for him, my heart sinking. “But mom married you, and you’re not a witch. She doesn’t have any witch friends, right? You’re just a New Age shop owner.”
My mom pursed her lips, a sadness covering her face. “That was my choice. I chose to leave the magical community to be with your dad. Your grandparents disowned me because of it. That’s why you never see them. And as far as magical friends? I still have a few, but it’s hard. Certain rules have to be followed to be a witch. Rules that will make it impossible for you to keep your human friends.”
Mom breathed deeply and grasped my hand. “What I’m trying to tell you, Max, is that if you choose to be a witch, you’ll have to leave this life behind. Is that something you want to do?”
I was quiet for a moment, my mind whirling with all the additional information. The prospect of being a witch, of having this whole other side of me I never knew, was hard to give up just like that. I’d always been an academic type. Having a new world of possibilities opened up to me was every academic's dream. I wanted more than anything to pursue it.
Except ... what about Callie?
I voiced that very question to my parents.
My mom shrugged. “You can still talk to her, but you can’t tell her you’re a witch or anything about the magical community. Can you live with that secret? Never being able to open up completely to her again?”
“But you told dad,” I pointed out. “Obviously, the rules were broken there.”
My mom smiled sadly. “That’s because he found out despite my best efforts, not because I told him.”
Dad laughed. “I’ll have to tell you sometime about how I figured it out. It’s quite a story.”
Mom gave him a look, shutting him up. “For a witch to marry outside of our kind isn’t unheard of or forbidden, but they certainly make it hard to live with. It’ll be easier to keep it from Callie if you’re in different schools and who knows? Maybe you’ll make a new best friend.” She shrugged and offered me a soft smile.
Standing to her feet, my father followed her toward the bedroom door. “Why don’t you think about it for a bit? But you’ll need to decide soon. Winchester Academy is like any other college. You have to put in your response if you want to go.”
“Okay,” I said quietly, watching them leave, but my dad stopped at the door.
“Don’t think of it as losing something, Max. Think of it as gaining a whole new part of your life that you didn’t know you had. It could be quite an adventure.”
I nodded, not answering. I understood what my dad was saying, but what I didn’t know was if this adventure would be worth the costs.
Chapter 3
“If I’ve been a witch since birth, why did I only start showing my powers now?” I asked a few days later at breakfast. I grabbed a bowl and poured myself some cereal before scooping some into my mouth. “I mean, I didn’t have an inkling of my magical abilities until graduation. Why then? Why now?”
My mom picked up her cup of coffee and moved over to sit in front of me at the kitchen table. “First, don’t talk with your mouth full. Second, you didn’t have powers because I put a spell on you.”
I choked on my mouthful of cereal. “You what?”
Shrugging, my mom took a drink of her coffee. “I wanted you to have a normal human life. So, I put a spell on you to hide your powers. I was going to tell you this summer and let you decide for yourself, but then ...”
Suddenly the conversation I’d overheard the morning of graduation came back to my mind. “My powers got too big for your spell.”
“Yeah.”
Thinking about her words, I continued eating my cereal. Eventually, I noticed someone was missing. “Where’s dad?”
Mom sighed. “At the museum. They’re bugging him again about going on some exhibition over in the Middle East. I was hoping he’d have a little more time off before going off again.”
I recognized the sadness in my mom’s voice. My dad might be a big superstar to the archaeologist crew, but a lot of the time, that meant he had to be away for weeks, sometimes months at a time on a dig. My mom used to go with him, but when I was born, she chose to stay behind with me. I knew it put a strain on their relationship and always made me feel a little guilty.
“Well, why don’t you go with him?” I asked, standing and putting my bowl in the sink.
“I can’t do that.” My mom shook her head though I could see the hopeful spark in her eyes.
“Sure, you can. I’m going off to school. There’s no need for you to hang around here. You should be off having adventures of your own.” I waved a hand in the air, trying to convince her.
“But I have the shop to think about and my students,” she tried to argue. It was a halfhearted attempted I could tell.
I continued to try to convince her. “You have a manager, don’t you? And I’m sure your students will understand.”
My mom seemed to think on it for a moment and then she glanced over at me. “Why are we talking about what I’m going to do when we should be talking about you?”
I winced. She caught me. I’d been delaying my decision as much as I could. So much so that I’d been avoiding Callie as well. I didn’t want her to think something was wrong, and I knew that if she asked me, I might spill everything.
“So, have you decided?” my mom lifted an expectant brow.
“No ... yes. I don’t know.” I sighed and flopped down into my seat again. “I want to go, I do, but I don’t want to leave Callie.”
“I understand.” My mom nodded. “It’s a hard decision.”
That was putting it mildly. This was a monumental decision. Something that couldn’t be decided on the fly. Or in a matter of a few days.
On the one hand, there was magic and a whole new world for me to explore. I would be one of the few people in the world allowed to access this phenomenal world, and I would be giving up a lot to pass on this chance.
However, there was a lot to say about being a human and living a human life. I’ve seen plenty of movies and read a crap ton of books that showed me the perils of being a magical being. I could wind up casting a spell that puts my head on my butt or worse killing someone. But as a human, the only hazards I faced were the normal kind. Okay, not so many differences but still, at least I wouldn’t accidentally blow up the house because I couldn’t handle my emotions.
There was also the question of Callie. By my mother’s warnings, I pretty much would have to give up my best friend to enter this world of magic. That wasn’t something I could ever imagine. Callie had been there for me from the beginning giving her up for the possibility to pull rabbits out of hats seemed like a selfish move.
But magic...
But Callie...
Ugh, my head hurts.
“Even worse because Callie and I were supposed to share a dorm at Brown. So not only would I be leaving her, but I’d be leaving her with some stranger. I don’t know if she will ever forgive me for that.”
She took my hand in hers, patting it. “I’m sure she will. You wouldn’t have been best friends for this long if you let something small like this break you up. You can still talk to her, just don’t tell her about being a witch.” My mom shrugged like it was no big deal.
“But it’s not small. I’m leaving her to face Brown alone so I can go be Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.”
My mom giggled. “Not really. There’s no finger-wagging involved.” She paused for a moment and th
en winked. “Well, not much.”
That was something, I guess. It gave me hope that I could possibly have Callie and my magical heritage too. I mean it was doable. I’ve kept things from Callie before. She still didn’t know that Leo Bartlins didn’t break up with her because he was gay but because I caught him cheating on her and threatened to rip his balls off if he ever went near her again. Leo still runs the other way every time he sees me.
I smiled despite myself and then sighed. “So, say I did want to go. What would that entail? Would I have to click my magical shoes together to get there?”
Rolling her eyes, my mom stood up and went to the island. Opening a drawer, she pulled out an envelope and brought it over to me. “Here. This is the school. It’s actually here in Georgia. So, you can drive there.” She grinned.
The envelope she tossed in front of me was the one I’d seen the other day. Winchester Academy. The blue-green emblem with a scroll and owl still decorated the corner of the paper. I tore the envelope open and pulled out the brochure that most colleges sent. Opening it up, it looked like a normal college. A big stone building with the smiling faces of their students staring back at me. Quotes sat next to each smiling face.
“Winchester Academy helped me find my destiny,” a female voice said aloud, startling me into dropping the paper. I stared down at the picture of the brown-haired female student next to the quote. Her grin grew, and she winked at me, making me gasp.
“It’s true!”
My mom cocked her head to the side. “And you still doubted it after everything?”
I slumped in my seat. “No, not really, but a part of me thought it was some elaborate dream, and I’d wake up any second.”
“Well, it’s not. I can promise you that.” She grabbed the brochure and opened it up to another page. Pointing at the page, she said, “Here’s the class list. Just like any other college, you want to focus on one course of study. Your first year, of course, can be spent finding out what exactly it is you’re good at.”
I glanced down at the paper and started to scan the course list. Spellcasting 101. The Hazards of Potion Making. Herbology and Me. On and on the list went. Some were classes that made sense to me, but others like the Black Arts creeped me out.
“Don’t worry about picking anything right now.” My mom placed her hand on top of mine. “You’ll want to take the basics your first semester. Most of the kids going there will have a large advantage over you because they have been studying most of their lives. So, you’ll need to play catchup.”
“And whose fault is that?” I stuck my tongue out at her playfully.
“Hey, you’ll thank me for it someday. Being a witch isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.” My mom lifted her coffee mug up and gestured it toward me.
“Yeah, ‘cause I’m sure being able to make money appear out of thin air is such a hardship,” I said sarcastically, flipping through the brochure.
“About that.” My mom stood up and took her cup to the sink. “That touches on some of those rules I was telling you about.”
“What? I can’t make money magically appear?” I gasped as if I hadn’t already figured that out. “There goes my plans for world domination.”
“Now, I didn’t say that.” My mom grinned, picking up her purse and putting it over her shoulder.
“Where are you going?” I raised a brow at her.
“We are going shopping for school supplies.” She grinned, wiggling her car keys at me.
I frowned and rushed after her. “School supplies? You can get those here?”
“If you know where to look,” my mom said mysteriously as she got into the car. We rode down the street, the music blaring and singing along to it as we headed toward wherever mom thought we could do school shopping.
What exactly did you buy for a witch school? A cauldron. Maybe a set of feathered quills. Or maybe I needed a familiar. I had allergies so I couldn’t get a cat. Maybe a frog? People used frogs, right?
“What’s running through your head?” my mom asked as we pulled into a normal looking strip mall.
Frowning at our surroundings, I said, “Just wondering what kind of shopping we would do. Like do I need a wand? Spellbooks?”
“A wand, no. But spellbooks, yes. You’ll need quite a few.” Mom led us toward the shopping strip and into a boring-looking knickknack store.
My nose wrinkled instantly at the incense filling the air. Walking down a line of shelves, holding glass cats and unicorn figurines, I asked, “Why are we here?”
“Patience.” Mom’s voice came from far away, and I turned to find her no longer near me. “Hurry up now, Maxine. We don’t want to get separated.”
I hurried toward her voice, catching glimpses of her blonde hair as I go around a corner. I moved further into the store a lot further than I expected it to go until the bookshelves started to be filled with other things, things that looked more like it should be in a Halloween shop than a knick-knack store. Crystal balls and jars filled with gelatin-like fluid and animal parts decorated the shelves with little price tags. Rows and rows of books changed the nose-tickling incense to a musty scent. My mouth dropped open, and I gaped around me. Who knew a store like this was sitting here and I never knew about it?
“Strange, isn’t it?” My mom’s voice popped up next to me, and I jumped, grabbing my chest.
“Don’t do that!” I smacked her on the arm as she laughed. “How long has this been here?”
Mom glanced around the shop, thinking about it. “I’m not sure. Since I was a little girl. Most students of the Academy come here to replenish their supplies since it’s so close to the school. Come on, over here.” She grabbed my arm and led me to a shelf of bowls.
“Mom, I don’t think I need kitchen supplies. I’m sure the school will have a cafeteria.” I raised a brow and smirked.
She ignored my poke and grabbed a stone bowl from the shelf, bypassing the cedar ones next to it. “This is for crushing herbs for potions, not cooking.” She picked up a weird little bat thing and handed it and the bowl to me. “You’ll need these for your Potions 101 class. Also, you’ll need ...” She reached out and grabbed a set of goggles that I actually recognized. We used the same kind for Chemistry.
I took the goggles and the bowl and bat thing in one arm as my mom started to put more things in my hands that I couldn’t even begin to name. Struggling to hold on to all of them, I didn’t see that part of the carpet was loose, but I sure figured it out when my foot found it.
Flying forward, I tried to keep a hold of the items in my hands, but I couldn’t grab them and keep myself from face planting. Eyes squinted shut, I braced myself for the impact. However, before I hit the ground an arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me flush against a hard, warm chest.
I took my time opening my eyes. My hands curled into the fabric of the shirt on the most remarkable chest I’d ever had the pleasure to be pressed again. Blinking up at the neck that was attached to that gorgeous chest, I followed it up to a sculpted jaw finely covered in dark bristle. A pair of kissable lips sat below a strong nose and piercing hazel eyes. I could stare into those eyes forever. They were a mixture of green and gold that twinkled with amusement, I could only assume caused by me. My fingers itched to dig into the dark hair curling at the bottom of his neck and around his ears and find out if it was as soft as it looked.
“Maxine!” my mom’s voice snapped me out of my hormonally induced haze.
Glancing at those kissable lips, which had curved up into a devilish smirk, I shook my head and pushed away from my delectable savior. “Uh, mom. Sorry, I think we need a basket.” I searched around for the stuff I’d lost in the fall but found them floating above our heads. “Your doing?” I peeked over at the glorious specimen beside me.
“You’re welcome,” a low graveling voice answered, the sound of it doing something visceral to my body. I forced back the shiver of delight and focused on my mom, who seemed all too amused by the situation.
“Well,
thank you. Whoever you are.” My mom grinned at him and then winked at me.
The guy next to me didn’t answer my mom’s obvious question and simply nodded. He shot another panty melting smirk my way before heading into the shelves without another word. My eyes followed after him, dipping down low to the jeans covering his tight backside.
“Maxine!” My mom bumped me on the arm with a grin. “At least pretend not to be staring.”
I couldn’t help the grin on my face as I giggled. “Mom, stop.” I blushed and ducked my head.
“Seems you’re already making friends, and you aren’t even at the school yet.” My mom bumped me once more and started down the aisle again.
“Yeah, seems so.” I followed after her and added, “Callie is going to be so jealous. She thinks Rhode Island guys are way hotter than Georgia guys. When she finds out someone like that is right here in town? She will have a field day.” As if knowing I was talking about her, my phone buzzed.
Callie: Where you at? Want to go shopping for our dorm? I want a waffle maker.
I laughed at her silliness but then frowned. I still had to tell Callie my decision. I couldn’t begin to think of how I would break the news to her. She would be so heartbroken. Betrayed. Not to mention she’s a huge drama queen and would take this to the nth level.
“Well,” my mom continued, not realizing I’m having a crisis right behind her, “I’m sure she will find plenty of Rhode Island hotties to keep her occupied. Now, while I’m not opposed to having a bit of fun, I do want you to make sure you’re focusing on your studies. No one wants a sloppy spell caster.” She chuckled and pulled a few more things off the shelves. “Believe me, I know. Once I turned my roommate into a rabbit for a week because I was too distracted to pay attention during transfigurations.”
I nodded my head like I understood what she was saying. “Sure. Sure. I gotcha. Not something I plan to do.”