Earnshaw Heights

Chapter One

Chosen. Predestined. Naturally talented. The words had lost all meaning with their frequent use over the years - Normani had heard them since she could remember. She couldn't deny the truth to them, as her magic had sparked early on and had only grown from there. However, she wished she were actually talented enough to change the path laid out for her. Normani shrunk as she saw her mother standing tall with pride at the podium just outside the large stone wall signalling the entrance to the grand castle. She looked out over the range of the future students, likely taking note of just how far above the rest her daughter was. Normani shifted nervously, grinding the heel of her boots into the dirt, catching side-eyes and whispered appraisals from her peers. She felt outcasted, and she had not yet even been given a chance. Yes, Normani wished for nothing more than to be able to change her path.

Just as Normani had caught her mother's eye, and had begun imagining what it might be like to not be bred into a life as the daughter of the power-couple of the magical community at large, the other half of the problematic pairing appeared quite literally out of nowhere next to his wife, planting a chaste kiss on her cheek, bringing about a startled laugh from Normani's mother. The scene evoked awes and a round of applause from the student body as Normani sunk into herself to all but disappear, something she had perfected with much practice over the years. Normani took the opportunity to steal a glance around the courtyard. Everyone looked like such normal teenagers, filled with excitement and nervous energy for the journey that they were about to embark on together. Their camaraderie was something that Normani had been secretly yearning for when she had been counting down for this day, yet with every passing moment, it became more and more clear that the judgements of her peers and the expectations of her parents would be the factors hindering her from ever fulfilling that desire.

As Normani glanced through the crowd around her, she saw smiles and warm hugs, hints of flirting, and exchanges of laughter between her peers. She saw bouncing blond curls, red, glossy lips, freckled-covered cheeks, and a flash of emerald. Normani's eyes darted around, attempting to locate the emerald source, but her father's voice interrupted her pursuit.

"Welcome, each and every one of you, to Earnshaw Heights, your soon-to-be home for the next two and a half years." Normani's father had a booming voice, his charm lacing every syllable he announced out to the students. His voice had always given Mani anxiety - the tone naturally soothing, but her own mind fighting the effect, knowing fully well it was merely magic causing her reaction.

"You have all been blessed with gifts, whether you be exceptional of mind, of heart, or of spirit. Whether you've grown with your talents since birth or have recently acquired them. Whether you have been dubbed unusual or weird, feeling out of place or alone. No matter your background, you are here now for one reason: you are extraordinary." His speech was commended with yells and applause from the entirety of the group, the praise becoming so loud that the ground shook with the stomps of the student body uniting together as one. Normani wished that she were able to join them as she had been praying for, but she held back upon seeing her parents' gazes focused directly at her, silently scrutinizing her every move - as always. Normani's mother switched from her stern, set-in-stone stare to a warm, welcoming attitude as effortlessly as flipping a switch.

"We have been given the incredible honor to introduce you to the program where we ourselves were able to grow and flourish many years ago," Mani's mother projected out to the students. "The next two and a half years will try you in every way imaginable. You will be subjected to rigorous tests of your abilities and knowledge gained, and you must be prepared for any circumstance from the moment you enter the castle." Normani knew the warning in her mother's words was not just for effect - all of them had heard the stories of the students who did not make it past the tests that the castle presented to them. It was a known fact that not all of the one hundred students accepted to the program would endure to its completion.