North End: The Black Forest

by Amanda Turner

  Since I had my answer, I didn’t need to continue the conversation. There was nothing much I could do about it besides go to the Headmistress to have a formal complaint meeting. I could retaliate and sabotage her in some way. But then I would be breaking the rules, too. And Frances would run to the Headmistress the second it happened. She certainly wasn’t above being a snitch if it benefitted her.

  I brushed past her and made my way to the mirrors. I heard her giggle as I walked away, as if she enjoyed making me miserable. I looked down the long line of mirrors, scouting for an open one. The bathroom was shared by the whole floor. There were witches of all ages and grades on my floor so it could get pretty crowded in the mornings.

  The mirrors were much too large. The black siding on them started at the green marble floor and stretched all the way to the ceiling. There were more than a dozen lining the wall, but only one was open. I rushed to claim it. I was between two girls I recognized from our frequent run-ins at the bathroom, but I had never actually spoken to them. I remembered them from their eyes though. That might be one of my favorite parts about being a witch, as shallow as it may sound. I loved looking at the different colors of my fellow classmates’ eyes. The girl to my left, a third year, had deep blue eyes that looked like the ocean at night, but they still shimmered somehow. The girl on my left, a final year, had golden eyes that were so brilliant they were almost yellow.

  I realized I had been staring too long when the final year gave me a side-eyed glance as if my gawking was intrusive. Oops. I mumbled a “sorry” and started unpacking my makeup. When I looked in the mirror for the first time, I groaned. My long, black hair was a complete rat’s nest. I had obviously slept well. I took a second to look at my own eyes in the long mirror as I yanked my black brush through my hair. They were emerald green and glaring, with long, thick lashes lining the edges. My eyes were my favorite part about myself. I loved the way the color glowed. They reminded me of my mother’s, and I could feel a sense of comfort wash over me every time I looked at them.

  “Hey!” yelled a familiar high-pitched voice in my ear as two hands clamped down on my shoulders. “There you are!”

  “Hi, Lillian.” I was awake enough now to think rationally and wasn’t annoyed with her anymore. My oversleeping was thanks to Frances, not my innocent best friend.

  “I didn’t want to wake you this morning. You were out cold,” Lillian said, tip toeing to stand beside me in front of the mirror. If I had to choose one word to describe Lillian it would be “delicate.” She was small, even shorter and thinner than I was. I stood at 5’3” and Lillian was nearly a head shorter than me. Her hair was bright red and styled into a pixie cut, although she was attempting to grow it out. It was past her ears now in an awkward in-between state. I still thought it looked cute—almost anything would look cute with Lillian’s dainty features—but she felt self-conscious about it. In fact, as soon as she jumped in the mirror beside me, she began tugging on her hair, obviously displeased with how it looked. I hated to see her feeling anything but self-assured. So, I gently tapped her hands and pulled them down from her hair.

  “You look cute,” I reassured her. Her purple eyes softened, and she dropped her hands. A small smile spread across her red lips. Everything about Lillian was unique, down to the shoes she wore. She stood out from the crowd in a way that would make me jealous if I didn’t so desperately desire to blend into the crowd. I looked at her smooth, pale skin through the mirror and smiled with pride. My best friend was really something special. “I did sleep well. Thanks to Frances,” I informed her as I tossed water over my skin, rinsing my face wash off.

  Lillian’s thin, brown eyebrows raised, shocked and confused. “What...do...you...mean?” she asked slowly.

  “She put some kind of spell on my alarm clock,” I whispered, so no one could overhear any gossip. I had already decided I wasn’t going to tattle. “Or maybe she used a sleep charm on me. I don’t know. I sort of confronted her this morning.”

  “What did you say?” Lillian whispered, eyes still wide with surprise. “It’s against the rules to do that! She can’t use spells on her classmates.”

  “She was really the one who said something to me first, which tells me she is responsible no matter how innocent she acts.” I rolled my eyes.

  “What is her problem?” Lillian hissed. “Do you think we should tell the Headmistress?”

  “Honestly, I just want to avoid the confrontation. Unless she does something worse than a sleep charm, I think I’ll just handle it myself.” I was almost finished getting ready. I applied one layer of mascara before shoving everything back in my bag. “Are you ready for class?” I asked. We had our first hour together, and she was already dressed in her burgundy skirt with black tights underneath. She had her black, silk shirt buttoned up to the top, so it was nearly a turtleneck, and tucked into her skirt. I hated our school uniforms, but Lillian always made them look cute. She even had on a small pair of black heels with studs decorating the top to complete the look.

  “Yep!” she responded, eyeing me up and down. “I’ll walk with you while you change, though. Let’s go!” I glanced at the clock. We had 10 minutes to make it across campus.

  Lillian grabbed my hand, I grabbed my bag, and we took off back down the long, dimly lit hallway and into our room. I unlocked our door as quickly as I could, running to my wardrobe beside my bed. Luckily, I had already ironed my clothes and hung them up. The high neck, black silk shirts were required for everyone, but we had a tiny amount of freedom when it came to our bottoms. Lucky us…

  We could wear pants, shorts, skirts, or capris, as long as they were the same shade of burgundy the dress code required. I had my favorite pair of high-waisted pants picked out. I struggled to shove my legs in and almost fell over a couple of times, sending Lillian into hysterics. I finally got them on, tucked my shirt into them, and slid on my black ankle boots. I did a quick look in the mirror. I hadn’t had time to style my hair. It was naturally wavy which meant on good days I didn’t even need to curl it, but on bad days I looked like a tangled mess if I didn’t. Luckily, today was a good day.

  “Good enough,” I shrugged. “We’ve got six minutes.”

  “We can make it!” We both took off down the hallway again, this time towards our classroom. We didn’t run this time, but we were walking much faster than our fellow classmates. Several people turned to gawk. The stone halls were small, and we got stuck behind witches taking their precious time on our way. That slowed us down a bit, but as soon as there was a break in the crowd, we wiggled our way around them. Scurrying down the main spiral stairwell, we finally made it to the garden. Almost in the clear.

  The air was cool as we stepped outside and I shivered. October on the island was chilly, but somehow still green. As we walked through the garden, I noticed most of the flowers were out of bloom, but the trees and bushes were still dark green. I glanced at my watch. “It’s 7:12,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re going to be two whole minutes early!” Slowing our steps, we began to walk a normal pace and catch our breath. We continued down the dirt path to the classroom doors on the other side.

  When we reached the classroom, it was mostly full. People usually arrived 10 minutes early to this class since they knew how important being on time was to Professor Rose. I made my way to my assigned seat in the back while Lillian made her way to the front. We were in alphabetical order, which meant we never got to sit together at assemblies or in classes where professors actually still assigned seats. I was always towards the back since I was a Parker, and Lillian was at the front since she was a Bishop.

  We sat at tables of two, so we had a partner to work with when we practiced charms. My tablemate was already seated with his book out. I only saw the back of Miles’ head as I walked towards my seat, but my heart was fluttering. I didn’t know how I got lucky enough to have a last name close to “Preston,” but I thanked the Divinity I had him as my partner.

  As soon as I sat down at our table,
a smile spread across Miles’ face. His white teeth stood out against his dark skin making his smile even more breathtaking than I would have thought was possible. When he smiled, it wasn’t just with his mouth. It lit up his whole face, including his green eyes, which were just a shade darker than mine today. His eyes were one thing I always looked forward to on these mornings. They alternated between blue and green, so I never knew which shade to expect.

  “Hey, Josie,” he greeted me.

  “Hi, Miles,” I smiled back, feeling a hint of pink touch my cheeks. I couldn’t help but blush whenever he acknowledged me. Pathetic, I know. I had been obsessed with Miles all of last year despite the fact that we had barely spoken when we sat together at assemblies. But this year we had two classes together and became friends. I actually thought we were a little flirty now, but that was probably all in my head. Most of the girls in our grade thought he was gorgeous, so I knew it would be a far stretch to think he was interested in me.

  Last year was Miles’ first year at the school. I still didn’t know how he got away with not coming to the school for the first few required years. I was too scared to ask. If his parents were hitches, then he wasn’t here because he wanted to be. And who knows what would have happened to his parents in that case.

  “How are you this morning? Cutting it a little close,” he teased.

  “Yeah, I know. I overslept,” I said, rolling my eyes at myself. He didn’t need to hear the Frances drama. I admired his deep blue, velvet blazer. That blue was the required color for 5th year students. Miles was technically old enough to be a 5th year, but he was still in several 4th year classes since he came to school late.

  Just then Professor Rose appeared at the front of the classroom. It was impossible to tell how old she was in human years since witches all aged differently, but I’m sure the number was high. Small wrinkles were beginning to develop around her eyes and her hair was a shade of grey. Even witches eventually started aging. It just took a little longer than it did in the human world. Despite her age, she was still gorgeous. The way she carried herself was elegant, and I had never seen her look anything less than glamorous. She floated down the rows as she addressed the class.

  “Good morning students,” she smiled. Her voice sounded like velvet. I watched the way she moved and hoped I would age as effortlessly as she had. Even though she was a strict professor, I admired her. And everyone respected her. That is probably why they gave her the most interesting class to teach: “The History of Witchcraft.” We learned about the origin of spells and covens. We even covered the witch trials that occurred around the world and how the leaders of covens had to work hard to keep our kind a secret. The way she taught it was captivating.

  “Good morning, Professor Rose,” the class responded in unison. She continued floating through the rows as she reviewed our lesson from last week. Her dress was tight and light pink hitting just below the knees. She had on a white blazer with shoulder pads, which may have looked outdated on most people, but not her. Her heels were incredibly high, but she breezed past my desk with ease. Her lashes were so long and full I thought they surely must be fake. She was stunning, but that didn’t distract anyone from her brilliance or kind heart.

  The class was an hour and a half, but it always passed quickly. Partially because it was so interesting, but also because even when the material wasn’t captivating, Miles was. I found myself peeking at him out of the corner of my eye from time to time. I had carefully developed a technique to admire him undetected. I propped my head on my left hand and leaned forward slightly, letting my hair fall over my face. Then, through the spaces in my hair, I peeked at his face. It sounds creepy, sure, but I honestly could not help myself. I started today’s admiration at the bottom of his face. He had smooth skin with a strong jawline, but it was still gentle somehow. I was in the middle of admiring the curve on his bottom lip when I saw his eyes on me, as well. Crap! I was caught. Red-handed. I slowly turned my eyes back to the front of the room, but before I did, I could swear I saw him wink. My face was blood red now, so I kept my hand glued to my face in an attempt to hide the shade. I didn’t dare look at him for the rest of the class.

  As soon as Professor Rose wrote our homework on the board and dismissed us, I scooped up my books and started to walk out of the room to meet Lillian. Before I turned to leave Miles stopped me. “Josie, can I ask you something?” Oh no. He thinks I’m a freak. Please don’t call me out for staring. Please. Please. Please.

  “Sure,” I responded with a voice three octaves higher than my usual pitch. Keep it casual. If he did call me out, I could say he had something on his mouth. Food. Leftover food from breakfast. That is why I was staring directly at his lips. That seemed believable enough.

  “Are you free tonight?” he asked, his smile as brilliant as ever. What...did he...just ask?

  “Uh, y-yeah,” I stuttered, still shocked by the question, and dropped my books on the table a little too loudly. Why were my legs suddenly numb? I put my hands on my hips then let them fall at my side, then put them back on my hips again, unsure of what to do with them. This was officially embarrassing. Oh, get it together!

  “Would you want to do something? Just the two of us?” By this time students were filing out of the classroom so I knew Lillian would be waiting for me and watching our interaction. I prayed she couldn’t overhear the conversation. I was already nervous enough and my pink cheeks were giving that away to anyone who walked by. She would be grilling me after class.

  “Yeah. That sounds fun,” I replied keeping my voice calm. “What do you want to do?”

  “I’ve got something in mind. Can I meet you at your room around 8:30?” he asked with a slight smirk.

  “Sure.” The less I said the better. If I started rambling, I would embarrass myself even further.

  “Cool. It’s a date. I’ll see you then.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the room. I made sure he was gone before I let my jaw drop. When I regained feeling in my legs, I turned around to find Lillian standing right behind me. I could tell by her face that she had heard everything.

  “Holy Divinity! Josie!” she squealed. Professor Rose, who was still at her desk gathering papers, turned to look at us. “Sorry, Professor Rose. We’re leaving now,” Lillian apologized. Professor Rose smiled slightly, and I hoped she hadn’t heard my conversation, too.

  The chilly air rushed across my face, cooling my hot cheeks. It felt nice and cleared my head a little. “Is this real life right now?” I whispered, partially to myself and partially to Lillian.

  “How are you so calm? You’ve been crushing on him all year! I’m freaking out more than you!” Lillian exclaimed too loudly. The garden was filled with students traveling from class to class. Heads turned in our direction.

  “Lillian, lower your voice!” I whispered yelled. “Believe me, I am freaking out, but I can’t go around campus screaming ‘hip hip hooray.’ I have to remain poised.”

  We made it back to the main lobby of the school with the large spiral staircase. We didn’t have the same class for the next hour, so we walked here together every day before splitting up.

  Before Lillian headed in the opposite direction, she grabbed my arm. “You are going to give me every detail later.” I just nodded. “See you later, Mrs. Preston.”

  “Shhh!” I turned to go in the opposite direction as quickly as possible, with the biggest smile planted on my face.

  Fireflies

  My room was a disaster when Lillian tiptoed in, bouncing around piles of clothes and mismatched shoes that were spread across the room. She was so agile she reminded me of a ballerina. I had been in the room for an hour, searching for something to wear tonight. I knew it didn’t really matter what I wore. I’m sure Miles didn’t ask me out because of clothing, but he had only ever seen me in a school uniform. I wanted to feel confident. At least that’s what I told myself. If I was being honest, I just needed the distraction. If I thought about tonight too much, my stomach fe
lt uneasy. Focusing on clothes was much easier.

  I ran out of room on my bed and started tossing reject items onto Lillian’s bed. She didn’t even attempt to move anything. She just sat on one of our roommates’ beds instead. It was already 8:00, and I hadn’t been able to talk Lillian about the upcoming date. We had lunch together like usual, but we were never the only people at our table. She knew better than to bring it up in front of a crowd. I told Lillian pretty much everything, but she was the exception. I was a private person otherwise.

  I found it difficult to trust people. I wasn’t sure where the trait came from since my parents were the exact opposite. They trusted everyone and didn’t have a shy bone in their bodies. I always admired them: the way they could walk into a room and make conversation with anyone there; the way our dining room had constantly been filled with people, witches and humans alike, over for dinner parties. That was so far from the person I was, and sometimes I hated that. I wanted to be more like them. I wanted to be more like my mother, who would have had no problem walking into this date with her head held high and hours’ worth of conversation ready to go. But that wasn’t who I was, no matter how hard I tried to force myself to be open. Lillian knew that better than anyone. So, she knew asking about a date would not be a casual lunch conversation for me.

  “You can borrow something of mine if you want,” Lillian offered, and I felt so thankful to have her. Anxiety was written all over my face, and even though I knew she was dying to know the details, the first thing she did was try to help me. I dropped the white blouse that was in my hands and trampled over the pile of clothes to hug her, feeling instant relief when her tiny arms wrapped around my waist. “Are you really that nervous?” she giggled, dropping her arms.

  “I am really nervous, but I’m also glad I have you for a best friend. You’re basically the only person I can trust.” She smiled with pride. I knew she felt the same way about our friendship. “But your clothes are way too small for me. Thank you for offering though. I’ll just have to find something in this mess,” I spun around gesturing to all the clothes thrown around the room, “because I’ve cleared out my whole closet.” I wasn’t even exaggerating. My closet was bare except for one pair of old, navy heels that I only kept for special occasions and a grey sweater dress, which was far more itchy than cute. I should probably just throw it out.