Creative Writing Assignments

Spellbound Secrets

Dear, Ester
Your smile is one of the heavens. Your face is one of an angel. Your eyes have stolen my soul and taken my heart. From the very start, I knew you were the one. Even if we are hated and shunned. My love for you is endless and has been from the start.
- Your Secret Admirer -

I'm blushing. I can feel how heated my face is. Why do these letters always have to be so beautiful? I probably look like an overripe tomato right now. Dumb secret admirer, making me blush feverishly everyday. I have been receiving letters like this every morning for a few months. I don't know who they're from or how they seem to appear in my locker. Our lockers don't have any holes or openings for these to be slipped through. Not to mention they have protection spells to prevent break-ins. I feel I should report this to one of my professors or maybe the headmaster, but then they'll up the security and I'll stop getting the mysterious letters that warm my heart everyday. It is to be expected that a school that specializes in witchcraft and wizardry will be well protected, but sometimes they go a bit overboard. The lockers are protected with strong magic that only high level magic-users can bypass. High level magic-users are those who have graduated from Primrose Magic Academy with high marks or twelfth year current students, and those who have a strong family bloodline. Wizard families are extremely irregular. Many witches and wizards come from human families, but leave to hone their magic abilities. Those with a strong bloodline come from a long family history. Most times, their parents and grandparents are witches and wizards. Those family dynamics are few and far between. Humans largely outnumber the wizard population. However, they don't know that we exist. My parents are both magic-users, but both sets of my grandparents are not. I guess what I'm trying to say is that only someone in my grade and with magic-using grandparents could be leaving these letters here. Unless it's not someone like that and they are just asking someone else to open my locker for them. Ugh! Now I'm more confused. I can't think about this right now. I'm running late for my potions class anyway.

I walked into my potions class with my textbooks in hand. The classroom is poorly decorated. The room is scarcely decorated with banners that display the school's logo of a white raven. The desks can fit two people. That means we have to have lab partners. Fortunately, I got lucky.
"Ester!" I looked beside me and my best friend Lin appeared next to me. Lin is a practical witch. She believes in only using magic for everyday tasks. No using her magical abilities to cheat or get ahead in life. She uses teleportation spells to get places, but still knows how to get there by foot. I guess that stems from her parents' Chinese roots. And her upbringing. Lin is a very pretty girl. Her hair is jet black and she always has it up in a classical bun style. My hair is similar, it's shorter and has purple highlights. You do not want to know how much I tried to convince her to dye her hair with me. Clearly I failed in convincing her. Anyway, she comes from a family that doesn't believe in magic. Her parents denied her magical abilities when she received her enrollment letter. They believe they sent her to a traditional finishing school, in reality, she is studying magic here. "Hey Lin." She smiled at me. "Are you ready for today's lesson?" She tilted her head in confusion. I raised an eyebrow at her. She forgot. "Lin, you hate spiders." Her eyes widened. "We have to use live spiders in our potion today." Lin's eyes widened more and she clasped her left hand over her mouth. "Nooo." She whined. Her posture slumped and she laid her head on our desk table. I laughed. It was objectively funny that someone who could make the small creatures disappear with a flick of the wrist was so afraid of them. "Come on Lin, it's not the end of the world." She groaned in response. "Sit up, class is about to start." She looked at me with an annoyed expression. "Fine."
Class was typical. Lin was the observer and I was the experimenter. Even if she is a bit of a wild card, she's still my best friend. Even when laughing and chatting with Lin, I could feel someone staring at me. I usually wouldn't look, but today it just felt like I needed to know who it was. I cautiously looked around the room. I was right. Someone was staring.
Laurel. Laurel Cumington. She's basically magic-user royalty. She comes from a long line of witches and wizards. Her entire family are magic-users. Her bloodline is pure, and extremely strong. Her mother Serena is a witch, her father Toman is a wizard, her grandparents Willa and Damon are magic users too, and so are their parents. She's as pure as pure can be in the magic world. You may be wondering how I know so much about Laurel's family. You see, Laurel, Lin and I used to be best friends. The three of us have known each other since we were seven. That's when we started attending Primrose Academy. We were like sisters. We were roommates and we all complimented each other. Lin was the wild child. She was always going to parties and attending school events. Laurel was the funny and optimistic one. She was always telling jokes and trying to make us laugh. She was great at helping us relax when we were stressed and acted like a supportive sibling to us on a daily basis. I was the calm and collected one. I kept them under control when Lin convinced Laurel to partake in her crazy ideas.
All our happy moments and memories completely fell apart when Laurel started dating Cain last year. Cain is two years older than us and is what some would call a 'super senior'. Typically wizards graduate from Primrose when they are 19, same with witches. Cain is 21. He has failed his final exams twice. In order to graduate you need to pass a final exam from each class you have taken. If you don't pass even one, you are withheld from graduation.
I truly don't see what Laurel sees in him. He is violent, unintelligent, and overall just a jerk. When I say violent, I mean physically and emotionally. I'm neither stupid nor naive. I see the way Laurel's eyes have lost their sparkle. I see the way her face drops when he sits next to her. I see the sad smiles she throws towards Lin and I everyday. I see how her spirit has been beaten down and destroyed. I see how her eyes gloss over when he yells at her when he thinks no one is looking. I was looking. I saw everything.
When Laurel stopped talking to us and iced us out, Lin began to change as well. She became less outgoing and more reserved. She went out less and opted to stay in and study. I changed too. I'm more hesitant to trust people. I am more self-conscious about my appearance in public. Before our friend group broke up, Laurel was the one who helped us escape our insecurities. Without her around, It's hard for us to see ourselves in the best light. She was the dreamer. She encouraged us to always chase our dreams, no matter how hard it would be to achieve them. She told us to not worry about what others thought. I miss her. I know Lin misses her. She doesn't talk about her much, but I know she does.
Laurel and I made eye contact. She quickly looked away, I didn't. I continued to stare at her from across the room. She is gorgeous. She has long brunette hair that naturally curls up her shoulders. She has a beautiful Brazilian tan and a small heart tattoo above her elbow. Her eyes are the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. They're a rounded shape and the color of blue bell flowers. They have a natural shine behind them that has disappeared as of late.
Ok. I admit it. I have a crush on Laurel. I have for a while. Ever since we were 15 and we were first starting out advanced magic. She is just such a beautiful person, notjust in appearance, but in soul and personality. Her recent change in behavior could never cause my feelings to subside. If anything, it makes me want to show her love even more. The notes my secret admirer leaves in my locker are nice, but I can;t help but read them and imagine her writing them.

Potions class just ended. Lin has calmed down, thank goodness. We got up and walked towards the exit door. However, we were stopped. By Cain Phaeton. "Stop right there, losers." His voice was hoarse, clearly he had been smoking something. We stopped and looked up at him. "Excuse me?" I asked politely. "I couldn't help but notice you staring at my girlfriend during Professor Robin's lesson today." This time her voice was rougher, more threatening. He may be taller than me and a little older, but he doesn't intimidate me. I stood my ground. "Never look at her again." His face was hard and full of anger. "It makes her uncomfortable." I saw Laurel hunch down when he said that. Alright, my turn. "Oh really?" I started, hands on my hips. "Me looking at her makes her uncomfortable?" He looked confused. "Personally, I think she looks more uncomfortable anytime you're around her." Cain's face wrinkled in anger. He took a step closer to me and Lin, who was hiding behind me. He moved closer and closer until his face was in my face. In a slow, menacing tone he said. "Don't you ever talk about our relationship like that again." After that he straightened up and walked out the room, dragging Laurel behind him. As she was dragged, she turned around and smiled at Lin and I. It was her genuine smile. The smile that could stop wars. I smile back at her. Then they both disappeared behind the door.

The next morning was typical. I woke up, got dressed in my uniform and left earlier than Lin for class. When I got to my locker and opened it, I saw a letter tucked away inside, just like every morning. I took it out and read it. In my excitement I nearly missed what was written at the bottom.

Dear, Ester
My heart longs for you. My mind longs for your heart. I have loved you from the start, all those years ago. I cherish our memories with all my heart. Even though we have changed, my love for you will always be the same. I love you, Ester.
~ Laurel ~