The Medallion

Allison: The Shift

There was a strange shift in the air. I could feel in the wind. Something just wasn't right and it sent shivers down my spine. I called Nilla and listened to it ring. As usual, Nilla was ignoring her phone. I assumed she was somewhere enjoying the free time that comes from having an obscenely rich family and I pondered the sad truth that life just isn't fair sometimes. I sent a quick text for her to call me before calling Nilla's friend, Halo.

I never really thought of Halo as my friend. I just put up with her because Halo and Nilla had been friends since grade school. I didn't see a point in trying to compete against Halo for Nilla's attention. I felt like Nilla would always choose Halo over me anyway...always.

Halo supposedly got her name because she looked like a little angel when she was born. I didn't see it. She never seemed much like an angel to me either, but figured it was because of her blonde hair and huge blue eyes or something. I always thought blonde hair was overrated. After all, I was born with blonde hair too, not that I kept it that way. Halo's crazy, bubbly personality really got on my nerves too.

Halo answered the phone soon enough. I pictured her having it in a gun holster and the second it vibrated things turned into a Wild West quick draw.

"Hey, Ali!" Halo sang in her irritatingly chipper way. No normal person could possibly be that happy all the time.

"Hi. Have you talked to Nilla lately?"

I could only imagine Halo shaking her head with the phone to her ear. I heard the rustling in the pause it took for her to realize she was on a phone and not video.

"Nah, she might be out diving again. I think she's back from Tokyo by now."

"Ah." Oh, naturally. Just always overseas as easy and going to the store for milk.

"Something wrong? You get a bad vibe?"

I may have thought Halo acted like a complete stereotypical blonde bimbo sometimes, but there were times when she was intelligent and extremely perceptive.

"Just a feeling I had, a strange power or something."

She gasped. "Strange power?"

And with that one phrase, I'd had my fill and wanted to get off the phone so my tone changed. "Yeah, strange power. Look, I've got to get to my part-time job, so...."

"Have you consulted your crystal ball?" Halo asked innocently.

Something about the way she asked that made me so angry.

"No, and I haven't done a tarot reading yet either," I said defensively.

"No need to get snippy," Halo chided. "You called me, remember?"

I took in a deep breath trying to calm the rage that had set up camp in my gut. "Fine, well, I also got the schedules for later since she never got back to me."

"Okay, that's cool."

There was an awkward pause.

"Yeah, well so I do need to get going. Some of us have jobs. Just let me know if you get in touch with her, okay. I'm a little worried."

"Will do, Ali."

I hung up. School would begin tomorrow. Surely I would get to talk to Nilla then about how I was feeling. I knew Halo would be right there putting in her own annoying two cents and then I'd have to listen to them use their stupid nicknames for one another. Ugh, and my "oh so handsome and perfect" jock stereotype of a taller twin brother, Steven, would probably be there too trying to hit on the grace and beauty that was model-shaped Nilla whose beauty could rival that of even the flawless Beyoncé. The thought of it started to give me a headache.

As much as I wasn't up for people, I still needed to head out for work. It's not like we needed the money, per se. We weren't as well to do as my other friends, but we weren't exactly destitute. Mom always seemed so stressed about money. The deal became that if we wanted something, we'd have to get a job and pay for them ourselves. This included clothes and stuff for school activities as well. All she'd give us was a roof over our head, food, and sometimes even love if she was feeling generous that week. Steven took it all in stride. How he managed to get what he needed for all his sports, get all his homework done, and still work as much as he did was beyond my understanding. I could barely manage the schoolwork without getting stressed.

My plan was to save up as much money as I could and ditch this place the second it was legal for me to do so. It seemed like a task so impossible that I needed a wand to get it, but I had faith that if I wanted it bad enough, and believed in it enough, I would get the magic I so desperately needed.