by ERIN BEDFORD
Anger and embarrassment filled my very being. Why did I even try to hide from her? What happened to my bravery? I stood up to her before and now because I tried to avoid confrontation, I made an even bigger idiot out of myself.
Finally scrambling to my feet with the help of Dale who also gathered my papers back up for me, I glowered at Sabrina who kept glancing back at me and giggling. I wouldn’t let her get to me. I was bigger than that. I’m the bigger person.
Just then Sabrina started to imitate what I had looked like going down, wailing and flailing her hands. The others around her laughed and pointed in my direction.
Okay, no, I’m not. I’m not the bigger person.
I didn’t know what I was doing, I’d never purposely tried to use magic, but I knew it was controlled by my emotions and the ball of light inside me. So, I grabbed all my anger and humiliation and focused on that light in my mind’s eye. Stupid Sabrina Craftsman and her stupid big hair. Her perfect smile and her annoying friends. They weren’t any better than anyone else. They weren’t anything but a bunch of irritating birds. Squawking just for the sake of people hearing them.
There wasn’t any kind of magical sparkle or glowing evidence of my spell, but there was something in the air. It thickened and crackled until suddenly ...
“Squawk!”
Sabrina jumped to her feet, her hands up in front of her face as she tried to get the words out of her mouth but all that would come were more varieties of squawking. Her friends hopped up and tried to comfort her, but they too could only squawk. Their faces reddened as they tried to get some kind of sentence out. The guys, who had only moments ago flaunted and flirted with them, tried to comfort them, but they soon started to exchange looks, and the laughter started.
Others in the library noticed Sabrina and her friend’s predicament and, instead of trying to help, only laughed and giggled behind their books. A hand grabbed my elbow and dragged me out of the library before Sabrina could turn her squawk on me.
“That wasn’t very smart,” Dale told me once he had us out of the library and into the hallway. “Are you trying to paint a target on your back?”
Covering my mouth with my hand as I tried to hold back my laughter, I shook my head. “No, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. She’s such a—”
“Bitch. I know, but Sabrina is a Craftsman. You shouldn’t poke at that snake. Especially if you’re not going to claim your Mancaster name.” Dale shook his head in disapproval, but the small smile on his lips showed he wasn’t completely against my actions.
Lifting a shoulder, I grinned. “What can I say, I’m a beacon for trouble.”
“Well, you better get that beacon turned off and fast.” Dale poked me in the forehead, making me wince. “You’re going to draw the wrong kind of attention, and with no official training, you’re a sitting duck.” He paused and stared down at me for a moment. “How did you do that, anyway?”
Starting back toward the quad, I lifted my hands in front of me. “Not really sure. I just thought she sounded like a bird the way she kept going on and on for anyone to hear and viola!” I grinned and flared my hands in front of me.
“While that was some impressive magic, only being able to cast spells when you’re emotional is something a five-year-old would do. You need to get a hold of your abilities before you think about going head to head with anyone soon.”
I thought about what Dale said and frowned. I really shouldn’t have picked a fight when compared to Sabrina I was nothing more than a novice. I’d have to start improving and fast before she and her goons caught up with me again.
We made it back to the quad and the line of frozen students still waiting for Dale to come back. He didn’t immediately go into the office. He seemed to want to say something to me but wasn’t sure how to go about it.
“There’s a lot more to show you, but I think today we should stop before you cause any more damage. Sabrina will no doubt figure out that spell came from you,” Dale warned me, his eyes firmly on my face. “If I were you, I’d keep my head down and learn everything I can.”
I nodded firmly. “Thanks. I will.” I started to turn away but then spun back around. “Thanks again for showing me around. I know you didn’t want to.”
Dale flushed and adjusted his glasses, something I was beginning to think was some kind of nervous habit. “Don’t worry about it. I needed a break from the line of idiots who have already lost their class schedules.” When I raised a brow at him, holding my own class schedule close to my chest, Dale quickly added, “Not you obviously. Since it wasn’t your fault. Anyway, I better unfreeze these guys before I lose my job and my scholarship.” He started to shift away but then paused. “But first.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, and the air felt thicker for some reason. Then all of a sudden everything was back to normal, and Dale opened his eyes. “There one blurred memory of your time in the office. You should be in the clear.”
“Thanks.”
“Think nothing of it. See ya.”
I watched as Dale stalked back into the office, the line of students unfreezing the instant he was behind the desk, none of them the wiser that he’d been gone. I studied him for a few more moments. What an unusual guy, but at least I’d made another friend, a cute one at that.
With that thought, I made my way to the cafeteria where Trina was still eating. The moment she saw me, she started to wave me down. Walking toward her, I took in the dining area, which was set up with a buffet along one side and chairs and tables on the others.
“There you are. I got you a sandwich,” Trina said, handing me a plastic wrapped sandwich as I sat down. “I thought you never were going to come. What happened in there?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” I grinned at her as I unwrapped my sandwich. This was going to be an interesting school year, to say the least.
Chapter 8
The first day of classes started like any other first day of school. I woke up, albeit begrudgingly, got dressed, and headed to breakfast with Trina, who thankfully also wasn’t a morning person. Anyone who could be cheerful before ten o’clock was an alien life form in my book.
“So, what was life like back home?” Trina asked while we made our way through the breakfast line. “I mean, you went to a human school, right? That must have been cool.”
I smiled at her as I grabbed an apple and put it on my tray. “Not really. It’s like any other school.” I paused for a moment, grabbing a cup of orange juice. “I mean, I’m not sure what magical schools are like. I mean besides this one, but humans schools are pretty much like this. You get up, go to school, go to class, socialize a bit in between. I mean, you have your cliques just like here, but the only difference really is that we don’t have as many shortcuts for some of the mundane parts.” I finished my explanation just as we stopped at the checkout. I handed my meal card to the lady behind the counter who swiped it and gave it back to me.
Trina led us through the tables until we found an open one. As we sat down with our meals, Trina asked, “But what about your mom? You never knew she was a witch? I mean, I’d find it hard not to do magic. You don’t think I get this beautiful fro on my own, do you?” She puffed her hair up with a proud grin.
Laughing slightly, I took a drink of my juice before I answered. “No, she was good at hiding it, apparently. Or at least, I’ve never seen her use it.” I tried to think back to any time she might have used magic without me knowing and came up blank.
“Maybe she wasn’t using it,” Trina offered up, dipping her spoon in her cereal. “If I were trying to stay out of the magic world, I would think that stopping cold turkey would be the way to go.”
I hummed my agreement as I chewed my food. There were a lot of questions about mom and her life before dad and me that I hadn’t had the chance to ask yet. I’d called her last night just like I’d promised, but our conversation more involved making sure I was doing okay and her getting to Cairo than a history of her life. I
’d have to make a note to ask her about it some time.
“What about you? What’s your family like?” I asked, trying to take the attention off of me. I still hadn’t told Trina that my family was apparently of the elite variety. That wasn’t something I really wanted to get into now. Especially since it might mean that I could lose one of my only friends at the school.
Trina grinned, more than happy to tell me all about her family. “I’m the youngest of two older sisters, both of which are perfect at everything.” She rolled her eyes and groaned. “They can practically do no wrong, and both graduated with Sorcerer degrees.”
“Sorcerer degrees?”
Trina’s frowned. “Oh, yeah, sorry. I forget you are new to this. A Sorcerer degree is the highest level you can get in the school. Below that is a master’s which takes four years, a Sorcerer takes six, and below that, there are the Practitioner degrees for those who are doing the bare minimum to get a decent job. Those only take a couple of years to get. Usually, those going into things like astronomy and herbology get those kinds.” She clearly found them to be some of the less desirable subjects.
“Understood.” I nodded though it was quite a bit of information to swallow before breakfast was over. “What about friends back home? Any special someone’s you left behind?”
A small grin crept up Trina’s face answering the question for me. “Well, there is this one person that I liked, but I don’t know if they liked me or not. I mean we did kiss at a party once, but it could have been nothing.” She shrugged and tried to play it off.
“You kissed?” I gasped, leaning on my elbow as I tried to urge her to tell me more. “That has to mean something.”
Trina waved a hand in the air and shook her head. “Nah, I’m sure it was nothing. She’s not like that.” She seemed a bit deflated to admit it. For sure, Trina like this person more than she wanted to admit. Turning the attention off of her, Trina asked, “So, what about you? Friends? Lovers? Tell me the deets.”
Giggling, I waved her off. “No lovers. Not anymore anyway. But I do have a best friend. Callie. She’s like a sister to me.”
Nodding eagerly to hear more, Trina asked, “So what’d she think when she found out you’re a witch?”
Brows furrowed, I stared at her. “I didn’t tell her.”
“What? If she’s your best friend, I’d find it hard not to tell her.” Trina stabbed her cereal with her spoon.
A bit perturbed at my lack of secret divulging to my human best friend, I grumbled, “I was told it was against the rules.”
“Well, technically it is.” Trina lifted her spoon in the air, her eyes lifted to the sky as she thought. “But who else would you break the rules for? I mean, I’d do it in a heartbeat for the right person.”
I frowned at her explanation, my stomach starting to twist into knots at her words. Callie was my best friend. We told each other everything. She knew the moment I had sex with Jaron and was there to help me eat a whole pint of ice cream as I cried over him and his asshole excuse. If she hadn’t proved herself trustworthy by now, I didn’t know what would ever do it.
Thinking about Callie made me realize I hadn’t called her at all since messaging her yesterday. She probably thought I had fallen off the face of the earth.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I stood up. “Uh, I’ll meet you at lunch. I need to make a call.”
Trina waved me off as I rushed out of the cafeteria and onto the open terrace next to the dining. Quickly hitting Callie’s name on my phone, I waited with anxiety bubbling through me as the phone rang. What would I tell her? Would she even believe me? The longer it took for her to answer the more nervous I became, and I almost hung up just as a groggy voice came on the line.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Callie.” I tucked one hand into the pocket of my shorts and leaned into the phone.
“Max! Is that you?” Callie’s half-asleep voice transformed into a high-pitched squeal. “Oh my god, I thought you’d been kidnapped by some sex traffickers or worse, forced to work in a sweatshop where they make those really cute but really shoddy shoes!”
I smiled at her ridiculous accusations and shook my head. Remembering she couldn’t see me, I said into the phone, “No, I’m fine. I’m actually not at my grandma’s house like I said.”
“I knew it!” Callie shouted, making me wince. “You lying hussy. You thought you could pull one over me, but I knew you weren’t there because your phone GPS says you’re still in Atlanta.”
“You traced my phone?” I gaped, and half laughed.
Callie sobered slightly. “Well, the app was still on my phone from that one time you lost it when we went to the state fair. I would be a bad best friend if I didn’t check up on you. By the way, why didn’t you tell me you were going to some hoity-toity college here? What about Brown?”
I sighed and tried to figure out how to tell her the most mind-blowing information of her lifetime. “I’m sorry about Brown. I really had every intention of going, but my mom dropped this bombshell on me, something about our family and how we all went to this college over here and well ...”
“You caved,” Callie finished for me with a sound of finality. “It’s understandable. I mean, you don’t know anything about her family. Of course, you’d want to get closer to her side. Maybe even meet your grandparents. I guess the hotties there are just as good as the hotties at Brown.”
“Callie ...” I tried to interrupt her, but she would not be stopped.
“There’s only so many things one can expect of a best friend before they have to spread their wings and find their own way,” she mock-sniffled as if she were going to cry. “Fly, little birdie, fly.”
“Callie, I’m a witch!” I shouted into the phone and then quickly glanced around me. A couple of students on their way to the cafeteria stopped and stared at me, but nobody came running to arrest me for my declaration.
“Sure, you’re a witch. You left your best friend to go to college on her own so that you could go to some rich people school.” Callie sniffled again. “I get it. It’s cool. I just hope you remember me when you’re married to a Senator and I’m shaking my tits down at the strip club trying to make ends meet.”
Rolling my eyes at Callie’s dramatic turn, I huddled into my phone and hissed, “Shut up. You couldn’t be a stripper if you wanted to.”
“Could too. I might not have the boobs, but have you seen my butt? You could pop a quarter off that thing!”
“Callie, I'm serious. I’m a real witch. I’m talking pointing hats, riding broomsticks – actually, that part I’m not sure is real - but remember when Jaron caught on fire at graduation?” I paused for her to confirm that she remembered. “That was me! And the soda cans exploding at my party too. I’m a flippin’ modern-day Charmed One!”
There was silence on the other line for a moment. I had to look at the phone to make sure I hadn’t lost her before the line filled with laughter.
“Oh. My. God. Max, you almost got me.” She giggled hysterically. “Like you could cause Jaron to spontaneously catch on fire. He was smoking like the teachers said.”
“Yeah, the same Jaron who’s dead against smoking and wouldn’t jeopardize his chances of keeping his football scholarship by picking it up on graduation day!”
Callie went quiet for a moment but then slowly said, “Okay, say I believe you. Say you are in fact a witch. Prove it.”
I glanced around me and then threw up my free hand. “How the heck am I supposed to do that? I can’t control the crap let alone show you over the phone.” A clock dinged in the distance reminding me I was about to be late for class. “Look, I have class until four, meet me at the gates and we can go somewhere, and I’ll show you. Okay?”
Letting out a huff of breath, Callie clipped, “Fine, but you better not be trying to pull a fast one on me because I’m not one of those wild theorists. I have my standards and a hardcore Christian mom who would kill me if she found out my best friend was Satan’s spawn.”
Bursting out laughing, I quickly promised once more to meet her later before hanging up the phone. Shaking my head, I headed back into the building. I wasn’t sure how I was going to show Callie that I was a witch. Like I’d told her, I wasn’t exactly in control of my abilities, but I’d have to think of something. Maybe I’d bring a textbook with me? Or even my class schedule. Would that be proof enough?
Either way, I’d have to think about it later because at that moment I had A Magical History to get to and I was already going to be late. What a sorry witch I was turning out to be.
Chapter 9
I ran down the hallway toward my first class of the day. A Magical History. Not that I was particularly fond of history, but I had a feeling any kind of history dealing with magic had to be better than learning of about the Great Gold Rush of 1849.
When I arrived, the door was already closed. Without knocking, I threw the door open and darted into the room. My feet froze to the floor as six sets of eyes fell on me. Adjusting my book bag on my shoulder, I awkwardly shifted in place.
“Don’t just stand there, take a seat.” The older man at the front of the room, who I could only assume was my new teacher, glared at me and waited with arms crossed for me to do as he said.
Ducking my head down, I quickly found a seat in the many open seats, trying to make myself as small as possible. As the professor started again, I noticed the name on the chalkboard. Professor Piston.
“Now, as I was saying,” Professor Piston drawled, “we don’t offer this course to very many students as you can see by the small attendance.” He gestured around the room with an increasingly annoyed expression. Obviously, he wasn’t teaching this class by choice.
I shifted in my seat, feeling even more out of place. The others seemed just as uncomfortable, like we were unwanted in our own classroom. My first day of classes wasn’t starting off too well.
“Most of our students here learned all they need to know about how the magical community came to be when they were in their diapers.” Professor Piston pushed his glasses up his nose, shooting us a condescending glower. “Despite my protests, the Headmaster has found it necessary to allow students who have not acquired the required education before allowing them into our prestigious school.”