United We Stand

Christmas in the Bedroom~ Sophie, Tracey

Sophie-

                Christmas break had come faster then I’d expected, but it was just as awkward as I’d imagined. I mostly just stayed in my room for the first couple days, which I tend to do a lot anyway, but this time was different. It wasn’t to have some peace and quiet, or to have some time by myself, it was to escape. We were all trying to act like nothing had changed, but that was doing no good at all. I could see the tentative ways they all looked at me.

                There was a knock on the door frame, and glancing up I saw Isobel standing there. I shrugged and looked back down. Apparently she took that to mean enter, because she came in and sat on the edge of my bed.

                After a long, awkward pause Isobel said “You don’t have to hide up here, you know.”

                I shrugged, my book still open on my pulled up knees. “Believe it or not, I’m not a big fan of awkward silences.”

                “They’re just—not sure how to handle this. Once they get used to it, things will go back to normal,” Isobel tried to sound reassuring.

                “Back to normal?” I sat up, putting the book to the side “Normal? I go to a magical boarding school halfway across the country, and you want to talk about normal?  Things will never be normal, not so long as I have magic, and you parents still hate it—“

                “My parents don’t hate magic—“

                “Yes they do!” My shoulders slumped “And why shouldn’t they? They have every reason to hate it. I hate it too. The only difference is they don’t have to deal with it, I do.”
                “Just give them time,” Isobel set a hand lightly on my knee “they’ll come around.”

                “I’m not so sure,” I looked away, staring wholes into my bed spread.

                “It can’t all be bad, tell me about you’re school. What’s it like?” She seemed genuinely interested, but I knew she was just trying to make me feel better about it.

                “They use magic for everything. Literally everything. They use it to light candles, poof food into existence, to make something fly to your hand, because it’s so hard to walk three feet to grab it—“ I shook my head “I hate it.”

                “You don’t have to go back,” Her face was genuine, and I knew she was right. Aunt Lucy and Uncle Rob had told me multiple times over the summer that I didn’t have to do this, that if I wasn’t ready I didn’t have to go.

                “Yes I do,” My hands were twisting the blanket tighter and tighter “I have to learn to control it, so that I never—never tu- turn out li-like—“

                My whole body was shaking, hands clenching the blanket. In a heartbeat Isobel was up on the bed, her hands on my shoulders “Hey, calm down, it’s okay. Listen to me, there is no way you will ever turn out like him, ever. You understand me? Magic or not, you are nothing like him and you never will be.”

                I took long, slow breaths. Finally my body relaxed, and I nodded, acknowledging Isobel’s words. She dropped her hands from my shoulders, but still sat facing me “Know come on, there has to be something good about school.”

                After a momentary hesitation, I said “I think I might have made some friends—“

                “That’s great,” Isobel broke into a big smile “Tell me about them.”