Lovesick Witches

Opening Up

"Beatrice and I are doing so well with preparation for the head girl competition," said Mildred as her, Maud, Enid and I sat in my room on my bed. 

"That's great!" I said. 

"Beatrice needs to win," said Mildred. "I can't lose to Ethel. I have to prove my point." 

"You've already won one head girl competition, Mildred," Maud said. "I'm sure you'll be able to win a second one. You're a much better witch than Ethel." 

"Thanks Maud," said Mildred. 

"How is Beatrice feeling?" I asked. "I know her and Clarice used to be best friends. Now they are competing against each other. That must be hard on Beatrice." 

"Yeah," Mildred said, "but she still has Sybil on her side so it's not like she's lost all her friends. And I'm sure once this head girl competition is over with, they will make up." 

"Yeah," I agreed. 

"Guys, you know when I said I was studying last night?" I said, cautiously. 

"Yeah," said Maud. 

"Well I should probably tell you that I wasn't studying alone." 

"What do you mean?" asked Mildred. 

"Well, you see, I moved here this year from Pentangle's, as you know. But the way magic works at Pentangle's is very different to how it works here." 

"Different, how?" asked Enid. 

"Well, here we practice traditional magic. At Pentangle's, everything was more modern. The way we did spells and made potions was very different there to how we do them now. And as a result of that, I have been having to re-learn everything from scratch." 

"Well how are you doing that? That's years of education that you're having to re-learn in less than a year!" said Maud. 

"Yes. And that's why I'm not studying on my own. I need help to catch up with everything." 

"And who is helping you?" Enid asked. 

"HB." 

"Seriously?" Maud said with surprise. 

"Yes. I've been having extra study sessions with her to catch up with what I've missed. She has helped me so much." 

Enid laughed in shock. "HB! I'm sorry but I just can't imagine HB being nice to anyone! And helping you, out of her own free will? It must be awful having to spend so much time with her." 

"Actually," I said, "she is brilliant. She's no where near as strict as she is when we're in class. And she teaches me so much. She is actually very kind and caring." 

Enid laughed again in disbelief. 

"Ana is right," said Mildred. "HB is kind and caring. Once you get to know her." 

"Exactly," I said. 

"Well I am happy for you, Ana," said Maud with a smile. "If the study sessions are helping you with your work, then it's great. And that is really kind of HB. I'm actually very surprised that she would do that." 

"I was surprised too," I said. "But like I say, some people just aren't what you would expect." 

"I'm happy for you too," said Enid. "It does surprise me that HB is helping you with that but if you are benefiting from her help, then I fully support you." 

"Yeah, me too," Mildred said. "You are one of my best friends Ana and I would hate you to feel behind with your magic. It isn't nice, believe me. I've spent five years trying to catch up to everyone else. But I did catch up eventually. Partly because of HB, actually. She believed in me and pushed me past my limits to achieve what I never believed I could. I'm very grateful for her. So if she can do the same thing for you, then I'm really happy for you, Ana." 

"Thank you so much, guys," I said, smiling. "It means a lot to me that you're understanding and supportive." 

"Of course," Maud said. "That's what friends are for." 

I didn't tell my friends about my feelings for HB, of course. That was very private and I wouldn't have wanted anyone to know about that. If people found out about our relationship, I would be expelled and Hecate would get fired. That was the last thing I wanted. I couldn't do that to Hecate. So even though part of me wanted to tell my friends about us, I knew I couldn't. 

"So yeah," I said. "I just thought you should know that that's why I keep disappearing to study. Miss Hardbroom is helping me catch up with my work." 

Just as I said that, there was a creaking sound from the floorboard near my bedroom door. All four of us stood up to see what the noise was. We walked over to the door and noticed that it was open slightly. 

"I think someone was listening to us," said Mildred. 

"How do you think that?" I asked. 

"Well, I definitely shut the door when we came into your room. Now it's open and we just heard the floorboard creak. Meaning that someone was there." 

"Come on," said Enid. "Let's follow them." 

So the four of us left my room and ran down the corridor. As we turned a corner, we were stopped by Ethel standing there in front of us. 

"So Ana is getting special treatment from HB," Ethel said, spitefully. 

"You were eavesdropping a private conversation, Ethel!" said Maud. 

"Yes, well I heard everything. It is so unfair! Just because Ana decided to move here from Pentangle's, she gets extra study sessions with HB! You're not even a talented witch, Ana. I am the best witch here so HB should be helping me to reach my full potential, not Ana! I am the best so I deserve to get special attention. I should be HB's favourite. But first, Mildred ruined HB's good opinion of me, and now Ana is getting special attention for no reason! I work harder than all of you so if anyone is going to be her favourite from now on, it is going to be me. Just you wait," she snapped before running down the corridor, leaving our sight. 

I turned to my friends in panic. "What is she going to do?" 

"I don't know," said Enid. "But it can't be good." 

What had I just done...