Chapter #5"Am I under a curse?" by: Gigajules    
"Pardon me?" Chantess said, eyebrows raising. Melona flushed and reiterated her question.
"I think I might be under a curse. I've studied and practiced and worked as hard as I could but I no matter how hard I try nothing magical I ever try works. I know the theories and the incantations and the history and everything, I understand magic, but for some reason I just can't do it!"
Chantess' eyes narrowed and Melona shrunk into herself, suddenly hyper aware of her oversharing.
"Ms.Pearsly, long-term curses are a very serious matter, it is unbecoming of a witch to ever try use them as an excuse. Real people struggle with very serious conditions because of them and..." Chantess trailed off, realizing that Melona was beginning to shake.
"I-I' not..." She muttered, eyes watering, "I'm not lying...! I'm not trying to get out of anything! I-I'm... I just..." Melona sniffled, yanking her hat down over her face, "I wish I was lying! I wish I could do anything! And I know I show up late and I miss quizzes and I..." She gasped, her words becoming shaky and strained the longer she spoke them, "I'm a bad student but I just... It's so hard to keep trying when you know you'll fail! When you know that nothing you ever do will ever be good enough...! I..."
Melona broke down into sobs, a lifetime of suppressed frustrations pouring out of her.
"M-Mrs. Pearsly, that... I-I mean..." Chantess stammered, for the first time looking completely unprepared. She fidgeted nervously with her glasses, glancing at the door as if someone would appear who could handle this instead of her. No one did. As she did, she thought back on the written tests she would pass out. She always regarded Melona with suspicion for her written grades, but never had any proof to go on that she was cheating. A witch who couldn't even cast a simple fire enchantment couldn't possibly be able to get such high marks on a written test... right?
But a lazy witch looking for excuses wouldn't become such a sobbing mess in front of their teacher, not to this extent. Chantess had dealt with a lot of liars in her day, she knew what fake crying looked like. People would scrunch up their faces and get their eyes to water, and maybe the more clever witches would use a spell to raise their body temperature, making them look more flushed. But none of them ever seemed to understand how truly ugly crying was. How it made your nose run and your body shake, dulled your speech to a blubbering mess, contorted your face as if to seal yourself up. Melona seemed to understand, though. Weather she wanted to or not.
"Uh... Th-there there..." the Professor muttered, trying to pat Melona's shoulder, "Um, i-it's going to be alright?"
Melona didn't seem to register her teachers attempts at consolation. Chantess sucked in a breath. Right. She had to take care of this like a real witch.
Melona's sobs stopped if only from sheer surprise, as she was suddenly pulled into a hug.
"P-Professor...?"
"Ms. Pearsly.... Melona..." Chantess said, looking down at her student, "I'm... I'm sorry. I had no idea..."
"It's... It's okay..." Melona muttered, wiping her eyes, "I know I'm not normal..."
Chantess shook her head. "That's no excuse. I shouldn't have just written you off so easily. You're my student, and I've failed you as a teacher. I've never heard of a curse that could inhibit magic to such a degree but..." Chantess pulled back, adjusting her glasses. "I'm willing to at least take a look at it."
"Really...?"
"Yes, I ought to at least do that much."
"Thank you!" Melona cried, hugging Chantess even tighter, squeezing her ample breasts against her own flat chest, "Thank you thank you!!!"
"Y-yes, well..." Chantess quickly slipped out of Melona's grasp, having had more than enough physical contact for the day, "Office hours are at six today so..."
"I'll be there!"
Chantess realized in that moment that she had never seen Melona smile before that moment. And then she wondered how she'd never realized this before...
---
Later that day, the tests would begin. But while Chantess had become worried, she would have never guessed that...  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
<<-- Previous · Outline  · Recent Additions © Copyright 2024 Gigajules (UN: gigajules at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Gigajules has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work within this interactive story. Poster accepts all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for the content uploaded, submitted to and posted on Writing.Com. |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author