Reckless Magic

I parked my car in the lastremaining spot and paused a moment to take a deep breath and check myself. Mymind was protected and my magic flowing through me naturally; well at leastwhat I had been told was natural. It seemed as if I’d known this secret mywhole life, but in actuality it had only been about twenty four hours; I guessI wasn’t really an expert.

I made it to class on time, excitedto see Lilly and have someone my age to talk to about this crazy new life.Instant disappointment met me however when I opened the door and realized shewasn’t there. Although Principal Saint or Amory or whoever told me she wouldn’tbe, I still had held out hope. The hardest part about learning your true identityis coming to terms with the very real legal system you never knew existed.

I found it ironic how easy it wasfor me to believe the whole super-human, magic skills thing; but how hard itwas to take the Monarchy, governing council, rules and regulations partseriously. Maybe because I’d never personally experienced a ruling class inaction it seemed more fiction than reality. I wondered if I had someinteraction with the Monarchy if it would feel real or not.

And then I remembered that I had. Iwalked into class and quickly made it to my seat before the bell rang. Kiransat to my left in all of his pomp and circumstance. I understood now why thegirls fawned over him; it was the idea of a crown…. and maybe his amazing goodlooks. But I wasn’t falling for it. At least that’s what I kept telling myself.

“Well, well, well…. look who itis,” he whispered snidely as I sifted through my book bag looking for my copyof Romeo and Juliet. A fleeting memory of Principal Saint telling me to leaveKiran alone crossed my mind before I just as quickly dismissed it.

“Hello, your Highness,” I respondedsarcastically. He may have been the Crown Prince, but he was still a jackass.

“Finally, you’ve caught up with therest of us. Congratulations,” he clapped his hands quietly in mock applause. Igave him a sharp look and found the constant smirk he wore already in place.

“Well, we can’t all have parentswho are um, alive,” I sighed, still trying sarcasm, but regretting the words asquickly as I had spoken them.

“I guess not,” his tone softenedand I thought for a second I made him feel bad. “It’s a pity though; I had somuch fun watching you struggle,” Cue the smirk. “Thanks for the other night,”he whispered even softer and I heard real emotion in his voice, I turned to saysomething to him but found that I was speechless looking into his eyes.

The door to the classroom openedand then slammed. In walked Mr. Lambert and another teenager whom I had neverseen before. The sight of Mr. Lambert usually made me feel uneasy and nervous,always like I was about to be yelled at; but today when he walked in, anoverwhelming feeling of serenity passed over me. Not only that, but I felt morefocused than usual; my senses became heightened and the magic became more alivein my blood. The feeling reminded me of the other night in the woods, sending ashiver down my back.

“Excuse me,” Mr. Lambert clearedhis throat in an attempt to draw the attention of the class forward. He triedagain a little louder. “Class, please give me your attention; this is AvalonSt. Andrews. He is a transfer student from Brazil, please welcome him toKingsley.”

Mr. Lambert directed him to Lilly’sseat and my heart dropped into my stomach. As the new student sat down, Irealized the very real possibility that she might never be coming back. Iwatched Talbott for a moment and though his expression was frozen in place Iimagined I could see the sadness in his eyes.

I turned my attention back over toAvalon St. Andrews, thankful that I was no longer the newest kid in school. Bythe looks of things however, he was going to have a lot easier time fitting inthan I did. He was almost too big to be a high school student; although he waswearing the same white collared shirt and navy blue tie every other boy waswearing, the muscles in his arms were clearly defined through the light cotton.His dark curly hair was long, maybe to his shoulders, but he had it tied in amessy pony tail, giving him the appearance of a biker or something. His nosewas pronounced and vaguely familiar, although I couldn’t place it. And his eyeswere clear green and penetrating.

His most interesting feature wasalmost invisible, but my eyes drifted there immediately. Under his hairline,covering the entirety of the back of his neck and clearly marked was a veryintricate and elaborate tattoo. What looked like angel wings were spread widecovering all of the skin between the base of his shirt collar and hairline.Complex, but beautiful feathers fa

“Ms. Matthews…. Ms. Matthews,” Mr.Lambert called loudly from the front of the room. I looked up to see that whileI was staring at the new kid, the entire class had turned to stare at me. Myface blushed red and I cleared my throat instinctively.

“Ms. Matthews, now that I have yourattention, please read the part of Juliet,” I silently came to the conclusion Iwould never cease to disappoint Mr. Lambert.

–-

The lunch room seemed a much moredaunting place without Lilly. I grabbed a tray of food and headed to the backof the cafeteria. I was a little bit earlier than everyone else today since Idid not stay after class to crowd around Kiran with the other girls and makesure he was Ok after his near death experience on the camping trip. I alsorefused to throw myself at…. I mean introduce myself to the new kid.

I sat down to an empty table andrelished the few moments of silence I had. Now that I was not threatened withthe possibility of losing all control, I had been able to observe mysurroundings today. All throughout the day I noticed students and teachersusing magic.

In small ways and in big ways theyused it for everything they did. Students used magic to pick up a pencil off ofthe floor, and teachers used it to close a door that was left open. Mrs. Woodsenused magic to close the windows in her classroom and then again to open themwhen I was pretty sure she had a hot flash. Kiran used magic constantly; towrite, to open books, to get a drink. At first I thought everyone was justlazy, but after a while I began to realize that the magic was so much a part ofthem that there was no other way they were able to function. It truly was theessence of their very existence, and I supposed mine too.

A small portion of me was jealous.I had to remind myself that the magic was at my disposal too and then I had toremind myself that I needed to use it. When I didn’t use the magic that waswhen I began to have problems. And although I knew I was just like everybodyelse, they apparently hadn’t gotten the memo because I was still a socialpariah. Not that I really minded; I couldn’t really imagine that a girl likeSeraphina Van Curen and me would ever be friends.

Speak of the devil, Seraphinaentered the cafeteria on Kiran’s arm and suddenly the granola bar I’d just takena bite of was threatening to resurface. I saw that now too, not just the magicbut the respect and reverence Kiran demanded. His very presence elicitedsycophantic behavior from everyone, both student and teacher. I also noticedhow protective Talbott was, but in a more natural, body guard way; he neverleft Kiran’s side. I saw him always on the defensive, and after last Saturday nightI could hardly blame him. Kiran looked my way and I quickly bit into my granolabar again, staring down at the table. I rechecked my mental force-field andfound all intact. I breathed an audible sigh of relief, but it appearedpremature. A uniformed boy plopped down across from me. I refused to look upfrom my lunch.