A Witch Story; Chapter 1

I stared dejectedly at the calender on the wall. A neat little red X was drawn so ominously on one of the squares, as if September 3rd was a day to look forward to. The first day of school. Ugh.
Perhaps for some people the first day of school would be something to celebrate. Sure, seeing your friends after a summer apart, a fresh start, new teachers, all that. But for someone like me, someone who just managed to stay in the average mark range, the first day of junior year wasn’t something to celebrate.
I groaned, hitting my head against the wall. My eyes drifted to my bed, the covers drawn back so invitingly. Without thinking, I was walking towards again, flopping onto the mattress with a dull thud. The warmth was delicious, and I drew the duvet over my head, smiling as I let sleep overcome me.
“Lacey, you better get downstairs or you’re going to be late!” Mum’s impatient voice yanked me rather rudely out of my doze. I scowled, but managed to pull myself out of bed.
Walking to the hamper, my steps heavy with sleep, I rummaged through the pile of clothes in the basket. After tugging on whatever was clean-ish, I clambered downstairs to the kitchen.
Madeline, my 11 year old sister, was already sitting at the counter, her copper curls tied into a knot at the nape of her neck. She was excited for the first day of school, of course. She was babbling on and on about something to Mum as I entered.
“There you are. Now, grab some breakfast.” Mum didn’t look up from the toast she was buttering as she spoke. She was dressed smartly for the office, in a tweed jacket and skirt with tasteful brown heels.
My cheerios seemed less than appetizing, and I could only stare at them as they grew soggy. It took me a couple of moments to realize that’s Madeline’s absent-minded chatter had died off. I looked up to see Mum staring at me with disapproval.
“Lace, would it kill you to do something nice with your hair? Maybe wear that new outfit we bought last week?” Mum frowned as she appraised my sweat pants and tank top.
I shrugged wordlessly, inwardly shuddering at the thought of wearing the outfit Mum had bought me. I’m not saying it was ugly. The denim miniskirt and polo she bought would undoubtedly look great on any of the slender girls in my class. But on me? Not a chance, what with my boney, toothpick, alabaster legs.
Mum sighed, but didn’t push it. “Well at least have some of your cereal.”
To her relief, I finally had a spoonful of the cheerios. They were soggy and disgusting from sitting in the milk for so long, so I hastily washed them down with water.
“’Kay Mum, got to go.” I said breezily, abruptly standing up. I managed to tune her out, and all her reminders and worries, as I grabbed my jacket and slipped on my vans.
“Yep, got it. Don’t worry.” I smiled with as much reassurance as she could, opening the door. Before she could say anything, I had put the layer of wood between Mum and me, to be greeted with the raw, bitter air of a Winnipeg September. I pulled my jacket tighter, hunching against the cold.
My hair swirled around, untamed, in the breeze, and I struggled to smooth it down. One could say that I got the brains, and my sister got the looks. She had gorgeous curly hair, with starry gray eyes and fair skin. While I too had fair skin, it was more sallow than lovely as in my sister’s case. My hair was flat, boring brown, and my eyes followed suite, being dull grayish blue. Madeline had subtly attractive curves, while I was boney and dreadfully thin.
I sighed, continuing to the old Subaru parked in our driveway. No point pining over something that would never change. I slid into the car, cranking up the heat as soon as the car was turned on.
The engine roared to life before idling at a low hum. I pulled out of the driveway and set off, fumbling with radio for a few moments before finally adjusting the tuner to a station that was somewhat audible.
My neighborhood was a small, quiet one, one where everyone knew everybody and everything that was going on. Mrs. Wilkson had bundled up and decided to brave the cold, now out in front of her house raking leaves. Mr. Saunders, next door, was scraping frost off his windshield, a stream of curses most likely emitting from his mouth. The Jefferson twins that I babysat every Wednesday night, Jamie and Anna, were running around on their front lawn, screaming and laughing as poor Mrs. Jefferson tried to control them. I gave her a sympathetic smile as I passed, although she was too distracted to notice.
Finally, I pulled up to a house that was forever ingrained in my mind. It was small and quaint, and the tasteful blue paint on the shudders was chipped in many places. I had been here hundreds and hundreds of time throughout my childhood, so many times that I had every nook, every ridge of the house memorized.
After a few moments, the door was pushed open. Out stepped a girl my age with wild red hair, half in her face, and sharp tawny eyes. She wore a stylish charcoal peacoat and jeans, tucked into boots in a trendy fashion. She stumbled down the pathway, pausing halfway as her phone began to ring. Swearing, she doubled over and rummaged through her bag until she finally fished out a silver, chunky phone, flipping it open.
I opened the door for her as she neared, and she mouthed a thank you to me as she slid into the seat.
“Yes, Mom, I have everything.” She confirmed to her mom, giving me a meaningful roll of her eyes. I could hear the nervous, soprano voice of Ms. Adams on the other end, and smiled to myself.
“Okay, Mom, I really do have to go now. I’m in Lacey’s car. Yes, okay. I know. I know. Okay, I’m going to hang up now. Yes, I’ll be fine. Okay, bye Mom. Bye Mom.” she finally flipped the phone shut, tossing it in her purse. She gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Lace. You know how she is. Last night, I swear she actually started hyperventilating, going on and on about how I was growing up and how worried she was about me.”
I laughed, and grinned at my best friend. “It’s fine, Jenna. Don’t worry about it.” I turned the radio up again and pulled away from the house.
“Ah yes, I see we’re going for the ‘I don’t care what I wear as long as it’s clean’ look again.” She commented teasingly as I drove, eyeing my outfit in a fashion very much like Mum does.
“Oh stop it.” I shot back in mock annoyance, smiling. Jenna and I had been best friends since Grade 1. I knew her too well. She was the fashion queen, the one who knew every trend and fad before anyone else. Her style was always flawless, and she was one of the more popular girls in school. Jenna was the reason I hadn’t become totally invisible, a social outcast. She kept me in the loop.
We chattered on throughout the rest of the ride, and I had almost forgotten my worries as we pulled into the school parking lot. However, they all came rushing back to me as I stepped out of the car, and suddenly I felt sick.
Teachers were strolling outside of the school, as though already scouring out trouble makers. Students were huddled in clusters, chatting animatedly to each other about the summer vacation. Winona Brooks Highshool stretched out before us, the campus already flooded with people.
One of the groups opened up as we stepped out of the parking lot, and the small crowd of girls began waving and yelling excitedly at Jenna, beckoning her over. She waved back, staying at my side, but I could tell that she wanted to go over and greet her buddies.
“Go ahead.” I encouraged, and with a grateful smile she trotted over to them. By the way they closed right up again, I could tell I wasn’t exactly invited to join them.
Brushing a piece of hair out of my face, I strode over to the nearest bench and sat myself down. After rummaging through my bag, I finally retrieved my very worn and well used copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Yes, I was a fantasy fan. I didn’t know why, but the world of the fantastical and the unreal just intrigued me. When I was a child, I used to think that witches and wizards were real, and would fly around the kitchen on a broomstick. Mum eventually set me straight, though. That kind of stuff just doesn’t exist.
“What are you reading?”
I jumped, my book almost falling over my lap. Startled, I looked up. There was a girl standing over me. She seemed to be my age, and she must have been attending Winona Brooks High if she was on the campus at this hour. Yet I didn’t recognize her. I may not have known everyone at the highschool, but I liked to think I knew most faces.
But it was not that fact that I didn’t know her face that struck me. It was that she was so…different. Her skin was pale, paler than mine, and her jet black hair contrasted immensely with it. She wore an inquisitive, innocent expression, one that you don’t see on every day teens very often. Her eyes were starry grey, and seemed to take up most of her face they were so big. They were framed with feminine, long lashes, the same ebony color as her hair. A nd she was…beautiful, in some strange way.
I suddenly realized that I had been staring at her for quite some time, so much so that those wide grey eyes were puzzled. She smiled a breath taking smile, and said, “What? Do I have something on my face?”
Her voice had a very melodic ring to it, and was very fitting. I coughed to cover my embarrassment, quickly looking away. “Er…no. Sorry. It’s just…”
“I suppose I don’t look like the average tanned girl here, do I?” she finished for me, her voice understanding.
“Yeah.” I said rather lamely, shifting my bag. I bit down on my nail, and suddenly said, “Harry Potter.”
“Pardon me?”
I stared at her for a moment yet again. The only people I knew who said ‘pardon me’ were my parents. However, it didn’t take me as long to recover. “Harry Potter. Er, that’s the book I’m reading.”
“Ah.” She replied, and suddenly she looked as awkward as me. There wasn’t much else to say. “I have to admit, I’m not a big Harry Potter fan.”
“Oh.”
“Yes, I find it rather…unrealistic.” She eyed the book in my hands with an odd expression. For a moment, I thought I caught a trace of indignation in her eyes. Surely she couldn’t hate the book that much that it was annoying to her.
Nevertheless, I hastily put the book back in my bag, fumbling with the zipper for a moment before finally getting it shut. Her distasteful expression evaporated, and she looked at me again.
“So,” I mumbled, fiddling nervously with my coat button. “Er, are you new?”
She nodded, smiling. “Yes, my brother and I just transferred here over the summer from New York.” I didn’t say anything, so she hastily added, “We like it here very much.”
“Oh. That’s good.” Was all I could reply with. This was a very uncomfortable conversation indeed. Something was puzzling me, however, so I built up the nerve and finally said, “Um, not that this isn’t nice, but why did you decide to talk to me?”
Fortunately, she didn’t look offended. She shrugged, saying, “Oh, I don’t know. My brother thought you looked interesting.” She hooked her thumb over her shoulder, and I looked in the direction she was pointing. He was sitting alone on a bench, staring at us seriously. I would’ve thought he was handsome, but his emerald eyes were so dark and intimidating that it was hard to get past them.
“Okay. Umm, he looks nice.” I forced myself to say, trying to hide my discomfort under her brother’s hard stare.
The girl laughed, an almost musical sound. “Oh, you don’t have to lie. He scares a lot of people with those eyes of his, you’re not the first.”
I exhaled in relief. Good, it wasn’t just me. I was about to say something, but the bell cut me off. Students began to gravitate towards the doors, and the girl stood up.
“There’s the bell. I better get going-wouldn’t want to be late for my first class.” She grinned at me, and then darted off towards the door, moving so elegantly and lightly. I watched as his brother stood up and hurried after her, moving just as gracefully to my utter surprise.
I stared after them for a moment, in a sort of daze. Finally I realized that most students had filtered into the school already, and I hastily grabbed my bag and sprinted towards the doors.
I went through my morning in that same daze. Try as I might, I could not forget the strange girl who had spoken to me. As I entered each class, I glanced around, a small part of my brain hoping that she would be sitting at one of the desks. Why I felt this hope, I didn't know.
Jenna seemed to pick up on this during lunch, as I distantly pushed my pasta around on my plate.
"Lace? Lace? Earth to Lacey?"
It took me a few moments to hear her, I was so engrossed with my own thoughts. "Um, yeah?"
She eyed me in concern, sipping her coke. "What's up with you? Even for someone like you, who's always in their own little world half the time, this is getting extreme. Something bothering you?"
I was about to answer her, but an unexpected surge of annoyance came over me. "I am not always in my own little world." I snapped, stabbing rather harshly at a tortellini. My own voice surprised me; I never got annoyed easily.
It surprised Jenna, too. She shifted uneasily in her chair. "Calm down, Lace." she said slowly, "I was only kidding."
After that I completely tuned out Jenna and her friend's conversation. I was scanning the cafeteria, searching for [i]her[/i]. Unsurprisingly, she wasn't found. I slumped down in my chair. I don't know how I was so obsessed with finding this girl that I talked to for not even 10 minutes.
It was actually really absurd. Why should I be pining over a stranger? I scolded myself harshly, shaking my head. It was so stupid, to be honest.
Having a change of heart, I leaned forward, trying desperately to commit myself to Jenna and her friends' conversation. I was just about to say something when something, or rather, someone, caught my eye.
It was her. She entered the cafeteria with a smile, her ebonite, untamed tresses swaying behind her. I could see now that they cascaded to almost the small of her back. Her brother walked behind her, and to my relief, he didn't turn his frightening eyes on me. They were scanning the room, making people shift uncomfortably.
My eyes were trained on their backs as they strode towards a table, sitting down and pulling out packed lunches with a flourish. The girl seemed utterly unaware of the stares, and started chatting lightly with her brother. He, however, was eyeing the students warily.
Whispers rippled through the crowd, all most probably about these two newcomers.
"She was in my biology class." Jenna was saying quietly, eyes wide. I leaned forward to listen. "Mrs. Henry really likes her." she snorted in contempt. "Just because she's a know-it-all, answering all her questions correctly..."
They continued chatting animatedly, and I looked back to the strangers. She hadn't struck me as a know-it-all, not in the least.
"The boy is really gorgeous, isn't he?" One of Jenna friends, Kerry, commented.
"Yeah, except for those eyes." Rachel, a slender brunette, shivered. "Creepy to the max."
They all nodded, and even I found myself agreeing.
"What are their names?" I blurted out rather abruptly, interrupting Kerry. She narrowed her eyes at me, obviously not happy about being cut off by a complete loser, and I turned red.
"Dunno." It was Jenna who answered, saving me from Kerry's wrath. "Probably something really weird.
The rest of lunch was devoted to talking about the pair, and I eventually stopped listening. I popped a tortellini in my mouth, chewing slowly. So I wasn't the only one who had noticed these strangers. Well, obviously they'd be a subject of gossip for a while. New students at Winona Brooks were precious and rare.
The lunch bell rang and I headed to my next class, no more satisfied than I was before. I somehow managed to fall twice on my way, and just made it in time for algebra.
When I entered, most of the desks were taken, and I bolted towards the nearest one, dropping my stuff on it. I prayed that Mr. Levitt wouldn't notice I was late; I was known for being tardy.
Thankfully, he was too absorbed with some papers on his desk to notice, and by the time he stood up to address the class, I was sitting upright in my desk and didn't look remotely like I had just sprinted from the stairwell to the classroom.
He opened his mouth, but was cut off by a smart rapping on the door. Frowning slightly, Mr. Levitt strode over.
He opened the door, and started speaking to whoever was on the threshold. I was doodling on my binder, not paying attention. Probably just another tardy student.
"Alright then, ladies and gentlemen, we have a new student among us. Let me introduce Miss...Miss...Ay-ow-wife?"
My gaze flew up to the center of the room, and there she was, standing beside Mr. Levitt.
"It's pronounced Ee-fa." she said understandingly to the teacher, who looked rather flustered.
"Ah, yes. Well, it is a pleasure to have you at Winona Brooks, Miss Aoife. Please take a seat." he straightened his tie, obviously trying to regain some dignity.
Aoife nodded, smiling, and walked to an empty desk. As she passed me, she grinned and made a small little waving motion. Nervously, I waved back.
Jenna was right-Aoife [i]was[/i] smart. Everytime Mr. Levitt asked a question, her hand shot up, earning her some annoyed looks from the rest of the class. I, however, watched curiously, my earlier intrigue rekindled.
When the bell rang, Aoife left the class without speaking to me. I felt a pang of sadness, which was stupid, because I barely knew the girl. The fact that I hoped feverently that she would be in another one of my classes-which she wasn't-was stupid. What was it that made her so engrossing?
I drove home with a swimming head, alone, as Jenna had gone off with her friends. My brow was still furrowed as I pulled into the driveway of my house, and my thoughts were still dominated by Aoife. It was the strangest feeling, really-I would try in vain to think about something else, like what was on tv tonight, but my thoughts kept dragging me back to her.
I entered the kitchen to find Mum home from work early, now marinating some fish for dinner.
"How was school, Lace?" she asked brightly as I entered, looking up at me.
I opened my mouth to answer, but words didn't come. I wasn't really sure what I was feeling at the moment, to be honest. So answered the way I always did.
"Fine."