Moonlight Magic

Chapter 23

My fingers moved deftly as they weaved the two ends of the long red ribbon into a loose bow around my neck. I fastened the buttons on the black vest before donning the black blazer jacket. I stared down at the dark blue converse sneakers that covered my feet. They were a little too snug as they belonged to Chloe. Anna's shoes were slightly too big.
Today was the first day I officially announced my presence as the new girl to the rest of the school. I imagined it would be quite different to my first day at my former high school, Verisa High. Way different.
I picked up the new timetable I received last night after leaving Madame Cremlim's office. I had bumped into Ophilia as she was heading in the opposite direction and it was then that she handed me the piece of paper.
The original blanks had been filled in with periods for Sorcery and Necromancy history. The other two remaining classes I had were Necromancy and Sorcery. Anna had explained that these two were actual lessons about the art itself where there were spell practicals.
"I had hoped that maybe you were a witch," Anna had pouted while Chloe was very happy. They still didn't know any of my background story. I wasn't sure it was a great idea to tell them yet.
What unnerved me was the 'no extra tutorial classes'. As if they expected me to get the hang of it straight away. Reasonable, seeing as my parents were powerful evil casters. There was no learning how to crawl before walking then. Seemed like I was going to have to go from sitting to flying.
"Come on, Becky." Anna was impatient to get going. So off we went to the mess hall for 'breakfast'.

Students flooded the hallways as the first bell rang, signalling the start of first period. Lanterns hung along the walls to light the way. Metal doors squeaked open and banged shut. Voices of everyone filled the air.
We managed to slip past bodies and reach our lockers. Anna and Chloe were already near each other. Most probably Ophilia thought it best if she assigned my locker next to my buddies. Right between the two.
"You have Sorcery with me first up." Chloe's eyes twinkled, completely unable to conceal her enthusiasm.
Anna leaned in close on my right. "Watch out. With her in that state right of the bat..." She shook her head though she had an amused smile plastered on her face. Slamming her locker door shut, "I'll see you guys later," Anna said and left.
As Chloe and I turned in the other direction to get to class, I first sensed the presence more than saw. Further down the corridor, a pathway opened up as students scurried out of the way. Three girls strutted towards us. It was obvious they were making a beeline for me. Why did I smell 'Lauren Tiffmen'?
I stiffened my spine and squared my shoulders, getting ready for a showdown as a busty blonde stepped into my face. She was most likely my height but I had to tilt my head up to stare into her in the face as she was wearing five inch heels. The other two hung back a bit, watching on in amusement. One was sucking on a lollipop while the other -a redhead- pretended to examine her perfect manicures.
"What do we have here?" The girl looked from me to Chloe and back. "The new girl hanging with the failure." Chloe shrunk back.
Obligatory laughter sounded upon her comment. By now a small crowd had gathered around to spectate this spectacle. I take back what I said before. This was more normal than I thought. The one difference was that this chick actually had the looks.
Not the least intimidated, I retorted, "You are?"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Can't believe you have yet gotten acquainted with my name."
"I don't see the point. What makes you so important."
Her eyes narrowed. "You've got some guts new girl. If I were yo-"
"The name's Becky and if I were you, I'd watch who you piss off. Excuse me." With that I shoved past the replicas of Lauren, grabbed and pulled an openly gaping Chloe away from that stupid crowd.
As we slowed down and Chloe seemingly began to finally process what had just happened, "You do know that was Bridget Schlick, right?"
"Does it matter?"
"Becky, she's the most popular and smartest girl at this school. Not to mention she is powerful in terms of magic and money," she ranted. "She's like the worst enemy you could make."
"Is there such a thing as the 'worst enemy'? It's not like there's a 'best enemy'," I joked.
"I can't believe this. Don't blame me when I warned you beforehand."
I laughed. "But that's what makes life more interesting." It appeared that every school had at least one stuck up bitch for my entertainment.

We entered the classroom just as everyone was settling down. Straight away, I spotted Ivan. He was sitting next to another tall guy centre up front. Behind the two boys were Bridget and one of the other girls -the redhead. They were both glaring at me. So they were sorceresses. My question was how'd they get here faster than us?
The middle-aged teacher spotted us by the door. "So is this the new transferee tonight?" he said as Chloe whispered good luck and walked off and I sauntered up alone to his desk at the front. The teacher introduced himself as Darren Filmore. "Please feel free to call me Mr. Fil."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Fil. I'm Becky Elles."
Mr. Fil turned and faced the class. "May I have your attention please." Gradually, the class quietened down and focused on him. Gesturing to me, "This is the new student, Becky Elles. Please behave yourselves and welcome her." Facing me again, "If you have any questions I'm sure Ivan there," he pointed to the front row, "won't mind clearing things up."
Whispers rose and their gazes directed at me. Bridget was of course staring daggers.
"Why don't you go take a seat by the window there next to Chloe, Becky," Mr. Fil said.
"Thank you." I swiftly made my way over to Chloe. She stood up so I could take the window seat and slid in next to me. There was still an empty seat by the aisle.
"Is there someone else that sits here?" I whispered as all the other voices died downed.
"Yeah. It's-"
"Sorry, Mr. Fil!" Someone bursted into the room through the doors just as Filmore was starting to scribble on the blackboard.
"Soran, good to see you late yet again," Mr. Fil said sarcastically to a tall, lanky boy. "Quickly, take a seat. Stay behind when class is dismissed."
"Yes sir."
The still panting boy dragged his feet towards our desk.
"Don't tell me," I whispered into Chloe's ear. She simply nodded
The guy plonked down on Chloe's other side. "Good evening, Soran," Chloe casually greeted him.
"Evening." He looked behind Chloe and saw me. "You.." I raised an eyebrow.
"Yes?" He continued to stare.
Up front Mr. Fil started speaking. Unfortunately, he soon noticed statue Soran. "Soran. Soran! SORAN!"
He slightly jumped out of his seat and finally snapped out of it. "Sir?"
Mr. Fil took a deep breath and closed his eyes momentarily. "I know Becky is new and pretty and she caught your eye but can you please focus on the lesson after you rushed into my class late. You can make a fool of yourself afterwards but not in my class," he snapped.
"Sorry, sir." Soran became bright red, especially the top of his ears and his eyes fixed down at his lap where his fingers were twisted together. The other students snickered at Mr. Fil's comment, further embarrassing him.
"Don't sweat it," I said under my breath. He looked up. "I'm Becky, the new girl. You're Soran, right? Nice to meet you," I smiled.
"I- I-"
"Geez, she's not gonna eat you," Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Nice to meet you," he mumbled.
"Cute. I like shy guys," I teased. He instantly blushed again.
"Guys, let's just pay attention for now. I don't want to be chewed by Mr. Fil," Chloe quietly warned.
From my perpetual vision I saw Filmore paying more attention to our table than I would have liked. Better put my head down and get to work. I'll have to work extra hard to understand everything and no need for word going around to the teachers about me being a troublemaker.