I closed the door to my locker to see Aisha standing just behind it. A smile crept on to my face against my will. She had made school tolerable. Most of the time. And sometimes she was the one intolerable. But a net gain regardless.
"So," she began with a sly smile. "Is today the day?"
"We'll see," I told her, turning around and walking towards class.
"Oh come on," Aisha whined, moving to follow after me. "I've been with you longer than any of the others. And shouldn't I have it before the big night?"
"Shh," I snapped, looking around to make sure no one was paying attention. They probably couldn't tell what we were talking about, but better safe than sorry.
Aisha rolled her eyes at me. "Fine, whatever. I guess I'll just go without. Not like I need to be as best equipped as possible or anything."
I let out an exasperated sigh. I glanced around again, then grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the nearest bathroom, surprising her enough to elicit a yelp. I pushed the door shut and locked it. When I turned back, Aisha was already checking the stalls to make sure they're empty. I was beginning to think maybe this was becoming too common.
Eh, people probably just think we're doing drugs or something.
I set my book back down and started ruffling through the backpack. After a moment, I found what I wanted. A thin silver box about a little more than twelve inches in length. I took the lock off the side of it and reveal the object inside. Aisha looked confused.
"Taylor, isn't this your wand?"
"It was," I explained. "I've created something better recently. We practise in the same Schools, so it shouldn't be an issue."
"I guess not." Aisha grabbed the wand out of the case and held it up. It was made of a long dark stick with a deformed skull on the casting end. I didn't think it was a real skull, just because it was cartoonish shaped and seemed more like metal. In the bright bathroom lights, it was possible to see it look strangely dark. As if it was inside a constant shadow.
"Does it have any spells?" She asked.
"Seven Death Trap cards."
Aisha groaned. "Death Traps are crap spells."
"That's the point," I said archly. "It kind of hard to have a terrible accident with them. And they don't cost any pips to cast. In fact," I said, reaching into my bag again. "I'm going to give you three more for the thing tonight. In case we decide to do the thing."
I held up a small pack of paper, carrying the three cards. Aisha groaned again, but took them anyway before reaching into her own bag and producing her previous wand. A long white and grey spike made to look like a unicorn's horn. The handle was carved from the same material as the wand itself, making a smooth transition from one to the other. I took it from her and put it in the box I had carried my previous one in.
At that moment, the bell rang. We were late for first period.
Ashia stowed her new items in her bag and threw it over her shoulder. I winced inwardly at the thought of the cards getting jostled around inside.
"We're still meeting in the same place tonight?" Aisha asked as we stepped back into the school hallway.
"Yep. We'll finish giving Char her initiation, then we'll get ready for the big night."
"Sweet. We're going to kick ass." The hallways split and Aisha gave a little wave before darting towards her class. I nodded and turned toward mine. It was just two rooms down, so I didn't bother running like her.
I slipped through the door while Mrs Knott was still calling the roll. She gave me a look for a moment, then went back to calling roll, deciding not to make an issue of it.
I sank into my seat silently and immediately opened an internet browser. I waited until Knott began teaching the other students before opening my email. As usual, the very first one caught my eye. I opened it and scanned through it quickly, committing the information to memory.
"Taylor, got the pinewood box you left under the thing. I'll put it to good use. Lent a few of my extras to Char for tonight. She's excited.
Julia's got a water balloon filled with ranch dressing. Which for it next period. She won't throw it, but if she can't get it in your bag she might slip it under you before you sit down. The Two are planning on doing something at lunch, but aren't sure what yet. They'll have to find you first. They stuck some raw meat inside your locker, hidden under your books and paper. They're hoping it'll start to rot before you notice. Don't worry about it, I got you covered on that front.
-Madison"
I deleted the email as soon as I was sure there wasn't anything else. Madison had proved to be an incredibly useful friend to have. Even if she still participated in the bullying, it was all to keep an eye on the Two. It's been helpful getting through the day, if nothing else.
School hasn't been nearly as bad as it used to be. That's not to say it was good by any measure. It was still Winslow, after all.
I quickly pumped out another assignment for the class before I had some free time again. I checked the clock. Twenty minutes before the class was over. I nodded to myself and pulled out a couple dozen sheets of paper and started stretching a rough design of a new card.
Designing a card was one of the more difficult things. The designs required a sort of three-dimensional circuitry. I would design anywhere between twenty the thirty layers to encapsulate the spell, then collapse it all down into a single card before placing the final seal. Most times I failed. Different kinds of cards had different rules I was only beginning to learn about through trial and error. And it's not like I had anyone else's experience to work of.
I drew out the layers for a simple Life spell. Just the bare bones, stuff I could fill in afterwards. A few ideas popped into mind on how to fill it out. I put some stuff down, only to erase it again. I thought I might have been on to something but I was interrupted by the bell ringing.
I shook my head and shuffled the papers away. Time for next period and for the real day to begin.
***
I wiped the last of the ranch dressing out of my hair and left the building angrily. I had managed to avoid it during second period, but that only made Julia save it for later.
So I was walking out of the last class of the day when suddenly something heavy collided with the back of my head. And the rest… was messy history.
I triple checked that no more specks of ranch could be seen in my hair before walking out of the bathroom. In the time it took me to get clean, the hallways had mostly cleared out. Emma and Sophia had stayed behind though, snickering as I left.
"Sure you don't want me to kick their asses?" Aisha asked, moving away from the wall she had been leaning against. I shot a glare in Sophia's direction. She fixed me with this unreadable look. I shook my head and turned away.
"No, they're keeping their distance with you nearby by anyway. It's not worth the effort dealing with the teachers and bull if you hit her."
"Eh, fair enough," Aisha said with a shrug. "I could totally take her though."
"Sure," I drawled. "Can't take the teacher that would expel you."
"Well, I technically could."
I rolled my eyes. "Let's just get going. I want to test out this new card."
"Ooo, I like cards."
"It's a Life card."
"Damn it."
We walked down to the bus stop and managed to barely catch the next one headed out. It was headed the wrong direction, meaning we would only get by my house when it was making the return trip. In the meantime, Aisha enlightened me on all her ideas for cards.
Most of them were just really big guns. I was not shocked.
By the time the two of us had made it to our house, my father was already home. He wasn't in the living room or kitchen. I left my backpack on the table to let him know I was home and immediately duck into the basement, Aisha right behind me.
I laid out all the papers across the ground for Aisha to see. These moments were the only times I saw her giving her full attention. I smiled as I pointed at the first piece of paper.
"Going from left to right, these all stack to make the framework of a spell. Something like sixty to seventy percent of the spell is the framework."
"It's different from the last one you showed me." Aisha pointed out. I nodded, a little surprised she remembered from the brief moment she saw it.
"Yeah, this is for a Life spell. See these runes along the edge? They mean things like growth, sunlight, heart, food, and other things. And the framework itself is really round."
"Yeah, the last one had a lot of jagged edges. Which one was that?"
"Death spell," I said with a nod. "Death doesn't really do circles. Hard edges and disconnect is its theme. But I wanted to show you the Life framework because of how it contrasts with Death. One is organic and flows, the others is abrupt and confusing."
"Alright, I think I get it." Aisha picked up one of the papers and held it closer. "But why are there so many of them? What happens if you only use, like, five?"
"That's… actually a good question." I said, looking at her oddly. She shot me an impish grin. I shook my head. "It'll either fizzle, pip, or pop."
"Fizzle, pip, pop," Aisha repeated with a blank expression.
"Things fizzle if you lose control of the spell and the energy dissipates before you can activate it," I explained. "A pip is when loose magic, either magic you fizzled or was floating for some other reason, collects together into a small ball of energy." I turned three papers over and quickly sketched out the layers. "Pips are stored in things like this, with just three layers."
"And pops?" Aisha asked curiously.
"A middle ground between the fizzle and the pip. Where the energy is trying to dissipate, but you're trying to contain it. If you contain it, it's a pip. If the containment fails, it pops. Explodes, essentially. You don't want things to pop."
"Makes sense," Aisha said with a nod. "Just one question, where did you come up with these names? Like seriously, what about a potentially explosive ball of energy makes you think 'pip'?"
"I, er, don't know?" I admitted. "It just sort of-" Suddenly the doorbell rang. Aisha and I were on our feet immediately and started running up the stairs.
Dad was answering the door just as we arrived, revealing Madison and Charlotte on the other side.
"Maddy, Char," Dad greeted with a happy nod. "Nice to see you again. I think Taylor and Aisha just got here."
"We did," I answered ducking under his arm to greet them. Maddy grinned when she saw me, but looked a little troubled underneath that. Probably about the dressing. Charlotte was beaming through. She was ready.
"Well then," My dad said with a chuckle, taking a step back. "I guess you girls are off to do what you always do?"
"Yep," Aisha answered for me, shooting a grin at Charlotte.
"One day you're going to tell me what you get up to down there," Dad stated. "And I don't believe for a second you're playing Risk every other day."
I did my best to shrug nonchalantly. "What can I say, it's a hobby?"
He snorted. "Yeah, right." He turned and started walking away. I look back at the other two and smiled lightly.
"You ready?"
"Yes," Charlotte answered immediately, stepping into the house.
"Been waiting all day," Madison stated as she followed just behind Charlotte. She hesitated a moment as she passed me. "Uh, Taylor about the-"
"Don't worry about it," I said hastily. "Let's just get downstairs."
Madison perked up at that and followed Aisha as she led the way. I brought up the rear as we disappeared into the basement. Boxes were being moved before I even got there. In five minutes, a space on the floor had been cleared.
"We're ready," Madison as Aisha pushed the last box out of the way. I looked around at them and smiled. It was nice to have friends again, not to mention a power I could share with them.
"Charlotte, stand in the middle of the floor," I ordered. Immediately she got in place. I didn't even need to tell Maddison and Aisha what to do. They got in place immediately, letting me take my normal spot.
We were arranged in a triangle pattern with Charlotte in the middle. Ashia drew her wand, prompting Madison to do the same. Hers was made of a blue wood with a lighter blue crystal on the end.
I raised my hands and took a deep breath. I put my thumbs together, stretching my palms straight and keeping my fingertips about an inch apart.
"Alright," I stated, letting a cold calm wash over me. "Let's make you a mage."