10 | Trials of Magic

Seaside, California September 4, 2012

Lillian

I couldn't get that image to abandon my mind. I had the next period with Cel and Amberly, we sat in the back corner of the classroom. When I whispered to them both what happened this morning, Amberly thought it was ludicrous.

Mrs. Dupont, our Chemistry teacher, sat at her desk, completely oblivious to the classroom's light chatter. Normally she hated anyone talking in class, but today she just didn't seem to give a shit.

"I just can't believe how it could be possible unless your parents lied about the day you were born," Amberly murmured as she twirled a blonde strand of hair around her finger, "Maybe you were adopted?" she added, eyeing me with uncertainty.

"Well, for one, Lily and I were born on the same day, in the same hospital, we even have photographic evidence," Cel butted in, she was sitting at the desk behind me.

"There is no denying me anyway, I look like both of my parents," I added, my light green eyes were identical to my mother's. The blonde hair, however, did not pass on. I had my father's nose though, and his hair. Brown, thick, and almost unmanageable.

"I'm just fearful that something bad might happen," I whispered. My hands started to feel clammy.

"Don't think about it, think about the delicious, mashed potatoes we will be eating for lunch!" Cel chuckled.

"Yuck," Amberly said, her face contorting into a grimace. The school food wasn't that great, but for some reason, Cel was in love with the mashed potatoes.

"Not only that, I have to deal with Brandon again, he has art with Elle and me," I remarked, Cel's eyes narrowed. She wanted to run him over with her car last year, now I wish she would have done it.

"Well, besides that," Cel replied, "This year is going to be better I hope, for everyone."

I looked up towards the front whiteboard, the clock was ticking above it. It was almost 11:20. Almost time for my Economics class with Mr. Mendoza, the most laidback teacher known to mankind. For most of the year anyway. The bell then rang overhead, and everyone picked their bags up and headed for the door. Amberly darted out the door, Eddie's class was right by ours.

That image kept flickering in my mind, trying to piece something together, it was making my brain go haywire. That, and I had an urge to hurl everywhere, maybe I was coming down with a bug or something. Or I would just pass out.

I couldn't decide which was worse.

"I don't feel good," I groaned as Cel and I walked out the classroom door. Cel linked her arm around my free one.

"You'll be fine," she assured me as we walked toward our lockers.

With its gray tiled floors and blue-painted lockers, the hallway looked bland in my opinion. Classroom doors spread between the openings of the lockers. The bulletin boards that were on each end of the hallway were filled with colorful filers. Especially ones for Homecoming in October. I began spinning the dial to my locker, the locker squeaked in protest as I pulled it open, these things were ancient.

I shoved my Chemistry book in beside my other books and pulled out my Economics book.

I noticed Cel was pinching her cheeks in her locker mirror. She then pulled out a thin bottle of mascara and applied it to her already thick long lashes.

Hell must have frozen over, Cel was wearing makeup. I know she had just met Zach, but if she was already like this, she must have been falling for him.

I began to smirk as she noticed me watching her. She slammed her locker shut, "Developing a crush, now are we?" I chuckled.

"Maybe," she replied, her face slowly turning redder. "He and I have English together with Mr. Petrescu."

"He always talks like he is from a different time," I mumbled and slid my Economics book inside my bag.

"True. Half the time I can't even comprehend what he is saying," Cel sighed, "English isn't that hard, it's just you know I can't write an essay to save my life."

I grimaced. "Believe me, I know."

"Anyways..." Cel trailed off and she turned her head.

I followed her gaze, we saw Zach walk into Mr. Petrescu's classroom. I glanced at her with humor.

"I'll see you at lunch," Cel blurted, quickly making her way after him.

"See you then," I muttered to where she was standing only seconds before. I closed my locker shut and snapped the lock back in place.

The hallways were beginning to empty as everyone scattered to their classrooms. I ran to the stairs, taking two of them at a time.

I slowed as I got to the top, there were plenty of people still in the halls getting to their classes, the first day was always a little hectic, but for me today, literal hell. I readjusted my bag on my shoulder, my hand gripping the strap of it as I weaved my way through other students in the halls. As I got closer to the classroom, I felt someone tap me on the arm, turning, I saw Scott, he had his class schedule in his hands.

"Oh!" I blurted out involuntarily, he started to smile at my flabbergasted expression. "Hi," I chuckled, and glanced back down to his schedule, he must've been trying to find his class.

"Hey, sorry to bother you but do you know where Mr. Mendoza's class is?" he asked, my eyes widened.

"Mr. Mendoza? I'm heading there too," I replied, just as I said that the final bell rang, and some people started running by us.

"I suppose we better get to class then," he suggested, looking up to one of the speakers where the bell sound was being emitted from. Scott seemed to wince at the sound.

"Follow me," I said, I began speed walking towards Mr. Mendoza's class, it was on the other end of the hall, and Scott was right beside me. "One thing about Mr. Mendoza, he is an awesome teacher, but one thing he doesn't like is tardiness," I muttered.

"Are you alright?" I heard him ask me, I turned my head, seeing his blue eyes look at me with confusion.

"What do you mean?" I gawked.

"You don't look like you feel well," was all he said.

"Oh, well I am fine. I think," I replied nervously as we walked through the door into the class, everyone was settling in their seats.

"Miss Rezza, late on the first day, now are we?" Mr. Mendoza drawled, he was in his early 50's, with graying hair, and he always wore a long-sleeved shirt with a vest, even if it was 90 degrees outside.

"I'm sorry I was—"

"She was helping me find my way to class, I'm uh new to the school," Scott interjected, I shot him a quick glare for interrupting me.

"Well then, welcome to Franklin High," Mr. Mendoza replied, then looked at his student roster, surely seeing we were the only ones that were unaccounted for. "Scott Pierce, I presume?" Mr. Mendoza added.

"Yup that's me," Scott replied, he almost sounded like he meant it sarcastically.

As I walked towards the back of the class, sitting as far as I could from anyone If I had a freakout, I didn't want anyone near me. Most of the seats were filled except for some of the seats in the back.

I took the seat next to the far corner beside the window. Scott sat down in the row across from me. I noticed a few of the students glancing at him briefly.

Especially Maggie Crawford, who then whispered something into her friend Isabel's ear. She giggled in response. Scott was looking at his schedule again.

I peered at it quickly, he had all advanced classes besides this, and for last period, he had gym with Coach Jennings, so we had another class together. I also noticed that he wore a thick brass ring embedded with a fire opal in its center. It looked antique, just like the necklace I wore. Perhaps antique fire opal jewelry was coming back in style? I turned my head away quickly as Scott looked up towards the front of the class.

"Just because it's the first day of school ladies and gentlemen, does not mean I'm exempting any of you from work. If you have your book with you, open to page 13, and begin reading the first chapter. I want a full summary on it tomorrow," said Mr. Mendoza.

I guess he was cracking down on us this year.

I pulled my Economics book from my bag, and laid it on the desk, flipping through the pages, I noticed we would be reading about the rise of stock markets, how awesome. Not really.

DURING the past 47 minutes, I have nonstop spun my pencil mindlessly. That and I've glanced at Scott several times. One minute he was reading. But for the past 35 minutes, he appeared to be asleep.

I wanted to sleep too. This class was boring.

I wonder, does he do this in all his other classes too?

Glaring at the clock, the seconds seemed to stretch by at a sluggish pace. Suddenly, my entire being became engulfed with dread, the pencil slipped from my fingers, falling to the ground with a light thump. I turned to see Scott staring at me, his blue eyes looking alert. I gulped nervously; both of my hands suddenly held the edges of my desk in a death grip.

Both of us turned our heads in unison to the door as it opened. My mind snapped into panic mode.

Will this shit just end already?!

A petite-looking girl walked in. Her raven black hair was long and straight and when she slightly turned her head to look at the teacher, you could tell she was beautiful. She looked like the type that belonged to some private rich kid school, not an ordinary high school.

She handed a piece of paper to Mr. Mendoza and was exchanging words with him.

Something about her seemed familiar, but I could not pick up on why.

I finally looked back to Scott, only to see him sitting stiffly in his chair with his hands gripped to the sides of the desk.

Did he know this girl? He didn't seem particularly happy to see her. He almost seemed murderous.

My hands were beginning to go numb; the girl slowly turned her head in our direction. A smirk formed on her face, making my stomach turn in an uncomfortable way. I felt myself wanting to scream. Her eyes were a steel gray.

Cold and emotionless.

But then the class morphed into what I had been dreaming for days. Instead of being gray, her eyes were endless black pits.

She was standing over me this time. I felt smaller, and younger like this had happened a long time ago. She said something to me but then I felt like I was thrown back into my body as the scene snapped back to the classroom with a bell blaring,

The room felt like it plunged twenty degrees, I could feel goosebumps on my arms. The girl had run off somewhere as did Scott. My classmates were packing up their belongings. Isabel shot me a curious glance as she walked out the door with Maggie.

I looked out towards the window; people were spilling out of the other buildings for lunch. I let go of the desk quickly, my body was shaking as I stood up and left the classroom.

Her soulless black eyes kept flashing in my head, I wanted to rip my hair out at this point. I kept pushing forward towards the staircase till I saw Scott in front of me.

He was looking at me with a strange expression. Then he started running towards me urgently.

Oh god, what now?

"What the hell?" I protested as he tugged me to the side of the hallway, gripping the sides of my shoulders gently.

"Lily, do you know what is happening to you?" Scott asked.

I gaped at him stupidly.

Does he know what I am?!

Finally realizing his hands were still gripped to my shoulders, I ripped myself from his grasp,

"Nothing is going on with me, now leave me alone," I remarked, my voice shaky. The lie felt rotten coming from me, everything that could have gone wrong has. And I knew he was just trying to help.

"Something is wrong, you gave off a little show with your eyes in the classroom," Scott replied, his last remark seemed to be laced with sarcasm.

My eyes widened in horror.

"Are they right now!?" I spluttered.

"No," he replied.

"Well good then! Now if you'll excuse me I need to find my cousin," I chuckled nervously.

Another vision shot through my mind before I even took a step. One minute I saw the hallway then the next were woods at night. I felt someone grip my arm, I turned expecting to see that woman again only to see Scott.

"I think you need to go home," he cautioned.

"I know, I'm going to call my mother, but I need to get to Cel first," I affirmed. "I have to give her my car keys."

"I'll take you to her, I'm sure she is with Zach anyway," he guessed.

"I know, I'm sure they are in the cafeteria," I added, I could walk straighter now once we were nearly out of the building. Scott let my arm loose but kept close.

He swung the door open, the noisy chatter from outside flooding my ears. Were there more freshmen this year or what? People were just literally everywhere.

We walked side by side, till I stopped.

"Wait!" I burst out.

Scott glanced at me, looking confused.

"Out of curiosity, can you care to explain how you know what is going on with me?" I asked.

He knew what I was, perhaps he knew why my magic decided to appear early.

"I know a few things about witches," he admitted quietly.

He continued walking forward, and I followed.

"I didn't know it would come so early, usually we get out magic at 18," I muttered. "Do you know why it is happening?

Yes, Lily, I am sure he is a fucking witch guru.

"I don't but your parents would likely know," was all he said.

He opened the cafeteria door for me; the smell of food made my stomach grumble.

"Scott there you are!" I heard someone yell enthusiastically; it was the girl from the classroom.

"Hello Seana," he addressed, it felt like the air had tensed between them. His face became completely devoid of emotion.

Seana walked up to us and eyed me curiously. "And you are?"

"Lily," I mumbled uncomfortably.

I needed to get the hell away from these people, the air felt like it was humming. Or I was just about to pass out.

"Uh, it was nice meeting you, but I have to go, bye!" I chuckled and dashed to the lunch line.

After I had finished getting the least gross-looking piece of pizza, some pineapple, and more mashed potatoes for Cel, I made my way over to where she was sitting. Zach was sitting beside her. I sat down in the seat across from them.

"Hey guys," I said as I set my bag on the seat beside me.

"Hey! There you are!" Cel exclaimed and stabbed her spoon into the mashed potatoes.

"How has your first day been so far?" I asked Zach.

His brown eyes snapped to mine as he gave a big grin.

"It's been great!" Zach began. "I'm looking forward to gym last period though."

Awesome, we all had our last class together. I started nibbling on my pizza, then cringed. It was awful. I set the pizza back down and turned my head. Scott and Seana were still there, she had her back turned towards us. Scott shot me a glance.

I looked at them curiously, I wondered what they were talking about. I turned back around; I saw Cel looking at me with a funny expression. However, Zach was looking past me, right where Scott and Seana were.

I saw his arms tense up slightly, did he have a bad feeling about Seana too? I turned back around and noticed Seana walking out, Scott stood there, his gaze locked on Zach. Scott had a pained expression on his face.

What the hell was going on with everyone?

"Do you know her?" I asked Zach.

He looked angry but then gave me a reassuring smile.

"Not at all, but I gotta go. I need to uh, talk to Scott about something," Zach mumbled and stood up.

"See you next period!" Cel shouted after him.

He gave her a quick smile and grabbed his tray then took off toward Scott.

Cel and I had our eyes locked on both of them as they looked like they were trading insults or some shit. A second later, Scott yanked Zach from the cafeteria.

"That was weird," Cel piped in and grinned at me. "Are those for me?"

She was staring at my mashed potatoes.

I just slid my tray over to her. I couldn't stand our school's potatoes, they tasted like cardboard.

Something was way off with Zach, I know I hadn't seen him in seven years, but something just wasn't right. I knew that werewolves could be a little temperamental.

But I had more pressing matters to worry about, like giving my car keys to Cel.

Her driving abilities terrified me.

As I was thinking about everything at a thousand miles per hour, Cel kept giving me funny looks.

"Whatever you are thinking just spit it out!" I exclaimed.

"You have been walking around with Scott, eh?" she giggled as she took in a whole mouthful of the mashed potatoes.

"No, we just have economics together," I muttered.

Cel just gave me a questioning look but I just ignored her.

"Do you have sunglasses I could wear, just until I call my mother?" I sighed. "I don't need people seeing me with creepy glowing eyes."

Cel dug into her bag and pulled out sunglasses, ones that make you look like a mosquito. What compelled her to buy such hideous sunglasses?

"These will do just fine!" she chuckled and handed them over to me.

"Where did you get these?" I grimaced. "They're ugly as hell."

"No, they are not!" Cel cried and gathered up all of her stuff.

I forgot that there was supposed to be a practice fire drill later today. Thank God I wouldn't be here, I hated them. Last year, a fire broke out in the cafeteria, and people were falling over and screaming.

I was one of them.

I glared at the ridiculous-sized glasses.

"Put them on Lily," she insisted and tossed our trays into the trash. I was fixing to go home; I was so not wearing these tacky things.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" I exclaimed. I pulled out my car keys and handed them to Cel.

"Thanks!" she chuckled as she took the keys.

"Please be careful with my car!" I cried.

Cel rolled her eyes as we walked through the patio. I noticed two familiar figures not too far ahead, it was Zach and Scott. Cel quickened her pace a bit, she was getting way too obsessed with him.

They were talking, but it got clearer as we got closer.

"I think I can take care of myself don't you think?" Zach hissed towards Scott.

"What's going on?" Cel asked.

Zach turned towards her looking surprised.

"Nothing!" Zach chuckled anxiously. "Scott and I were just talking about some things, like uh, homework?"

"Did you know that you're a really bad liar," Cel smirked. "But really what is going on? Is it that girl you were talking to?"

Cel was eyeing Scott now with suspicion.

Scott sighed and thought for a moment. "She is just an ex."

Great.

"Oh," Cel mumbled. "Well! Nothing like some good old drama!"

"Lily, are you okay?" Zach asked. "You don't look so good."

I turned back around and sighed. I was tired of people reminding me I looked like crap. "I'm alright, except that my magic came early for some reason."

Zach's eyes widened, as did Cel's.

"Lily! You can't just tell people what we are!" she gawked.

"Well I mean I've known she was one since I've known her so..." Zach trailed off.

"I'll be right back," I mumbled to Cel and walked into the building.

It was empty and silent, it honestly felt creepy. I reached into my locker and pulled out my phone. I pressed the button to turn it on, but it did nothing. The thing was dead.

Lovely.

I heard the hallway door open and noticed Cel walking toward me.

"Did she answer the phone?" she pried.

"I can't call her," I groaned, showing her my dead phone.

As Cel reached into her pocket for her phone, I felt my head start to spin. My breathing started to become heavy and the hall started to blur.

I thought I heard Cel shouting my name, but everything just faded away.