It started with a book in Barnes and Noble.
"Witches, Wiccans, and Its History" was the title. It had a pastel blue cover with a crescent moon on it, cute, I thought. I remember walking towards it curiously, as if I was a dog sniffing the hand of a new person. The clearest memory of that time was when my mother gripped my hand and started walking away from it as if it was a corpse. I didn't understand in the slightest.
"What's so bad about a book?" She looked at me with a sad face, tired.
"You can look at it when you're older, okay? Just, wait a bit " I nodded my head despite not understanding a word she said. I didn't voice this, but the book was in the back of my head the entire time.
It feels like that a lot of the time, like I don't understand why my mom does the things that she does. Talking bad about people for no reason, or at least for a reason I can't understand. Or why dad acts like he's superior to me everytime the weekend rolls around and I'm stuck with him. He knows what is best for me, but the frustration I feel when he speaks still exists.
"You finished writing that thing?"
I set my pen down and dart my gaze up towards him.
"Sorry, Sorry."
"Don't apologize, that makes you seem-"
"Submissive." Shit. his lips form a steeled line as he looks towards me, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"Can I get two words out without you interrupting me?"
That was last week, and the history of Witches and Wiccans is still nagging me like a mosquito bite. In my parent's house, at school. And currently, it's bugging the shit out of me in Spanish II. It just takes one google, "Wiccans" that's it. Like a little flick on the shoulder, her voice rings out. You're not Ready. She's right, I mean, I don't get it, but she's right...... when in doubt, do nothing. It'll go away soon enough. "Stand firm in faith. God will light my path to heaven." The mantra softens the knots in my stomach.
"Senor William!" Senorita Noceda snaps me out of my train of thought, I ignore the slight discomfort in my stomach at the "senor". She has a polite but annoyed look on her face, the smile being polite, and a tiny furrow of the eyebrows is the indicator that she's not in the best mood.
"Perdon Profesora!..... Er, ¿Cuál era la pregunta?" I think that's the correct pronunciation.. Lucien is snickering at me while the rest of them politely look away, a few glances turn my way.
"Podría estar mejor, lo siento señorita Noceda" It looks like she's calmed down a bit with my response.
"Está bien, solo por favor presta atención."
"Si, Senorita!" and with that, her attention on me wanes away a bit.
I feel a tiny buzz in my pocket, and take out my cell phone, it's not the most special thing, just a black case and a web of cracks at the top. There's a little notification from Maggie
"You doing okie?" I send a thumbs up back and try to pay attention to learning about the preterite.
The bell rings and I happily and frantically pick up my backpack and computer, a grin on my face as I try to walk as fast as possible to the rectangle shaped room at the back of the school. Probably the only class i truly enjoy, courtesy of Mrs. Donnet. The nicest, most excited middle aged woman I've ever met. I slowly open the door, and i'm greeted to the familiar room filled with long tables and desktops. Mrs. Donnet is already taking camera bags out, and Rafe is trying to start up Premier on a desktop. I jog over to Mrs. Donnet, arms outstretched to help grab one of the torso-sized bags. I startle her when i ask to assist
"You need some help?" She shakes it out
"Will! Sorry, I didn't see you there. I can get these out myself, and you need to start editing!"
She shoos me away to a computer, arms stretched out as she waves me away. I sit down next to Rafe, trying to make conversation
"How's Null Doing?" they groan and rest their head on their palms. "Everything was going fine until half the editing forgot to save. Fuck, I hate premier pro."
"Yeah, I know the feeling, sorry."
"It's alright.... I just need to re-make it today, I got this.'' They focus back on their computer, and i press the large silver on button on the computer, and the loading bar appears as i wait for it to load.
