Changeling Witch

Stumbling In

"And then, Casey reveals that the true murderer was none other than the victim's own brother!" Hunter narrated dramatically, holding up the little makeshift figurine and a garden snake. "But he's prepared for this, and he's brought a secret weapon---the dreaded Shadowfang Serpent, the deadliest snake in the Republic of---"

Camilla cleared her throat. "Hunter, what is this?"

He paused, then set the figurine down. "Uh... my book report? You saw me writing it?"

"Yes, but you weren't acting it out."

"That's the point!" He adjusted his jacket with a smirk. "I definitely did a lot better than everyone else, right?"

Principal Hal let out a heavy sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Mr. Noceda, your book report is the reason you're here in the first place. The other two snakes you brought---"

"Don't worry, none of them are actually poisonous," Hunter said quickly. "All of them are garden snakes that I found in the woods and adopted."

"But two out of three of them escaped, and we found them firmly latched onto two of your classmates."

Hunter blinked, then shrugged. "Eh. They probably deserved it."

"And what were you planning on doing with this?" Camilla asked, holding up a few miniature fireworks tied together.

He hunched his shoulders. "Act three closure?"

"Mijo, don't get me wrong, I love your creativity," she told him, kneeling down in front of him. "But it's gotten out of hand lately. Don't you remember why you were in the principal's office the last three times?"

Hunter remembered. Vividly.

The first time, he'd been trying out for Macbeth in the school's production, but his death scene was apparently a little too realistic (he'd soaked sausages in ketchup to make it look like bloody intestines pouring out), and everyone had freaked. The second time, he'd brought his spider collection to school, accidentally left the door to the cage unlocked, and they'd escaped---and everyone had freaked. The third time, it was Spirit Week, and they were supposed to dress up as a book character. Hunter had dressed up as one of the characters in his favorite book series, Casey Cane, Vampire Detective, and had added jelly to his fake fangs to make it look like they were dripping blood.

And everyone. Had. Freaked.

He was already a bit of a weirdo at first glance---mostly black clothing with gold highlights, ears that had always had a little bit of a point to them, and eyes that were inexplicably a dark reddish-pink. And ever since he was a kid and had first read the Casey Cane books, he figured he might as well own it. Unfortunately, that meant he got into trouble. A lot.

"Sorry, Mama," Hunter mumbled, looking at his feet. "I just thought it'd be cool."

Camilla sighed. "We all love that you express yourself, but if you can't learn to separate fantasy from reality, then you may need to spend the summer here." She handed him a pamphlet for a summer camp that was horrifyingly titled Reality Check. To make matters worse, there was a little cartoon of a kid inside of a box---and he actually looked happy about it.

Hunter steeled his face and looked back up. "Don't worry, Mom, I won't let you down. No more weirdness!"

The exact second he said that, the garden snake slipped out of his hands and latched onto Principal Hal's beard, causing him to let out an ear-piercing shriek.

Hunter winced. "Uh... that doesn't count, right?"

................

It counted.