Scarlet (An SGE Fanfic)

The Coven

Anadil

"I can't believe that obnoxious, lying, good for nothing princess!" Hester growled as she stalked down the hallway, Dot and I flanking either side. Since school started a little more than a week ago, she had taken to commanding us like we were her henchmen, despite that I was ranked third for Evil, only several points behind her on the leaderboard. I didn't mind, not really. I was used to being ignored, used to being ordered around. After enough of it, you learn that their opinions don't matter. Let them have their sense of authority. The only one who matters is yourself.
"Yeah," Dot agreed. "We definitely underestimated her. She almost killed you, and it's barely the second week of school!"

Hester's demon tattoo twitched on her neck as she ground her teeth. "She'll pay for that, don't you worry. I'm going to be Class Captain. She won't take that from me."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I didn't understand why Hester cared so much about the title. Titles only brought expectations, and expectations were easily crushed.

A rowdy group of Neverboys slammed into me, sending me crashing to the ground in a very undignified manner.
"Hey!" Hester barked, grabbing one of them by his collar. "Don't touch her."
I froze just as I was about to stand, both perplexed and surprised. "You don't need to–"

"Apologize," Hester snapped, tightening her grip.

The Neverboy looked down at me, fear in his eyes. "I'm-I'm sorry," he stammered. Hester let go of his collar, shoving him into one of the other Neverboys. They fled around the corner, casting spooked glances back at Hester.
I pushed myself to my feat, brushing the dust off of my uniform. I glared at Hester. "I don't need your help. Nor do I need your pitiful protection. Nevers don't have friends."

Hester scowled, looking away. "Nevers can have allies," she countered. "After all," she added quickly. "You're my henchmen."

"Not yet we're not," I reminded her calmly, though a spark of anger brewed beneath the surface. "We don't get tracked until third year. Imagine if I'm tracked as leader and you as my henchman. You can kiss my boots then."
We glare at each other for a long moment, neither of us backing down.

"Oh!" exclaimed Dot, trying to break up the silent fight. "If we're not leaders and henchmen, at least not yet, can we call ourselves a coven? Ominous, right? Three fearsome witches ruling the school for Evil." She grinned. "And you have to admit, 'the coven of room 66' has a nice ring to it."

Hester broke eye contact, continuing down the hall. "Fine," she hissed. "It's ridiculous, but fine."

The coven of room 66, I thought, glancing at Hester. Demon spawn, a witch who can turn objects into food and…me. I sighed. It's a disaster waiting to happen.