A Magical Person Quest (Working Title)

You might have magical powers, but school is still school, with all the wonders and horrors that accompany high school life. You're only in your second period of the day, English, and already feel like your brain has been reduced to mush and your soul is trying to escape its body. You want the day to end already, so you can go learn magic. Instead, you have five periods to go after this, where you won't learn much at all. Normally it isn't this bad, but you never were good at being patient, and the fact that you have a substitute instead of your regular English teacher just makes it worse. He isn't even trying, having just handed a short worksheet out to everyone before retreating behind his desk to drink coffee. You let out a small sigh, and you triple check your completed worksheet. Even if you cut class, it wouldn't do you any good. All your fellow "enchantresses" were also in school.

Your cast a quick glance across the room at Bethany. You share two classes with her, in addition to sharing the whole magic thing. She was the one that approached you, to 'invite you into the world of magic,' but here in class she doesn't really stand out. She looks just as bored as you are, fiddling with her braid, dressed nicely in a cream skirt and purple plaid blouse which isn't quite in fashion. It's hard to reconcile how mundane she is, and how, for lack of a better word, enchanting she looks when she activates her magic powers.

It does make you feel a bit better, though. Just like her, when you transform you become something more.

The thought makes you extra aware of the bracelet on your left wrist, and you run your thumb along the fine, delicate chain. Every enchantress has some piece of jewelry that unlocks their full power, and yours is a silver charm bracelet with three charms: a key, a moon, and a cat. You aren't sure about the other two, but the cat is supposedly a reference to Morganna, the most powerful enchantress in the world. She apparently likes to show off by turning into a cat, though you've never met her personally. It had been years since she had stopped by to check in on things, but that wasn't surprising given she had the whole world to look after.

"Hey, Maeve. Since you're spacing out, I'm guessing you already did the math homework?"

You startle slightly, before looking over to the girl sitting next to you. Emma Bierly, a straightforward girl who is a little on the chubby side, probably counts as your closest friend in this school. You share four classes with her, and she doesn't seem interested in the uncomfortable little games for social status that a lot of the other girls seem to play. She's giving you a grin, no doubt for having made you jump, and you notice she isn't even bothering with pretending to work on the worksheet, with her math book and calculator out on her desk.

"Well, yeah. It's due next period," you reply dryly, leaning over to check her progress. "Are you going to finish in time, Em?"

"Nope! I need you to rescue me," she says, in a tone halfway between serious and joking.

You sigh, and the larger girl scoots her chair over to make room for you.


A few minutes pass as you and Emma get started, and you take the opportunity to double check some of your own work, catching a minor error or two. Of course, a minor error in math still means you have a wrong answer, so you're glad you caught them.

It isn't long until Bethany slides into the open seat beside the two of you, and a quick glance shows that pretty much everyone has abandoned the pretense of working on the worksheet to socialize. She gives you a smile, which you tentatively return. It's not unusual for her to pop up and chat for a few minutes before wandering away, it's something she does with just about everyone. Now it feels different, though, since you have a secret in common. Almost thrilling.

"Making your usual rounds, Bethany?" Emma says, not bothering to look up from where she is furiously writing away.

"Oh, you know me," Bethany says with a wink, "There are just so many people to talk to, catch up with, et cetera, et cetera. You know, Em, one of these days you'll have all your homework done ahead of time. What will you even do with yourself?"

"Oh, you know me," Emma echoes, "I always have something to do. I'm pretty sure that's a law of the universe."

"So, uh, hi!" you say, interjecting yourself into the conversation. "How was your weekend, Bethany?"

You haven't seen her since she had given you your bracelet and helped with your first magic lesson, which had gone really well, at least according to Bethany.


Bethany is just about reply when a voice cuts across the room, and your stomach sinks.

"May B. Walsh!" The athletic looking girl bounding up to your desk is, as far as you can tell, your own personal nemesis. Having never been in public school before, you hadn't thought twice before you had introduced yourself in class as 'Maeve Beatrice Walsh,' which had resulted in a few people pointedly referring to you by all three names as a joke... but she had come up with her very own little nickname for you, insisting on calling you 'May B.,' because it sounded like 'maybe,' oh my gosh, wasn't that so clever?!

And that's how Hannah had entered into your life. You are fortunate to only have two periods with her, but you have to share gym class with the girl. She bothers you constantly in gym, always showing off and humiliating you every chance she could get. And it is even worse than normal, because gym class is special.

It is special because it is your only class with William, a really cute guy whom you had gotten to talk to on the first day, who had seemed really funny and nice. However, you haven't been able to say a word to him since. A small bit of that is that you just aren't quite sure how to approach him, but mostly it's Hannah just being so amazingly loud and attention grabbing and around you constantly that you have no hope of not being forced to the background.

"May B., I heard it, but I knew it just couldn't be true!" she declares, causing others in class to look over in your direction.

"Hannah, what can't be true?" you respond, forcing yourself to keep your tone polite.

"Well, I know you don't always hang out with the right crowd," she says, glancing over Emma and Bethany, "But I know you wouldn't join that so-called "club" of theirs."

"I did," you say flatly. Hannah only blinks at you in confusion for a moment.

"Sorry, Hannah, she joined last Thursday," Bethany cuts in, sounding apologetic. Hannah stares at her for a moment, face slowly reddening.

"Well, I guess I was wasting my time with you," she seethes, before dramatically turning to walk away. Her hip catches the edge of the Math textbook, and it clatters to the floor, along with half of Emma's homework.

"Oh, sorry," Hannah says in a tone that means anything but. Did she do that on purpose?!