Elvira, and the beginning of magic

Building tensions

- please let me know what you think of my story. Which bits you like and which bits you don't like -

Two boys glanced up at her, Elvira froze at her school desk. They knew she was different.  She'd been discovered. The boys looked away and she tried to shake the self conscious feeling.  They didn't know, they couldn't know. Stop imagining things. She tried to concentrate on her schoolwork.

The energy roiled inside her. A storm barely contained. She forced it back down, stuffing it tighter into the frustrated ball within her chest.
Elvira breathed in through her nose. A long, slow, calming breath. She released the air through her teeth, which were gritted against the strain of restraining the... whatever it was.

The peculiar energy had been building for years, and it was getting harder and harder to stay in control. Elvira had no idea what it was, and that scared her.

She looked sideways at her best friend Lucy, wondering as she sometimes did, if she was alone in her strange struggle, or if other people experienced similar things. Maybe it was a hormonal thing all teenagers went through it? She contemplated asking Lucy about it. She stole another sideways glance at her. Lucy sat at her school desk, books and pencils organised neatly before her. The epitome of calm concentration.  It didn't appear as though Lucy was experiencing anything like what Elvira was feeling. Lucy's biggest worries seemed to revolve around exams and failure. Beyond that, she looked totally comfortable in her own body.
Elvira felt embarrassed to admit it, even to herself, but deep down she felt like she was dealing with something supernatural.  She stayed silent about her internal struggles. Fearing judgment for being different, or worse, crazy.

Another student in front turned around to glare at her. She froze, fearing discovery, then realised her knee was bouncing up and down, foot tapping noisily.  She forced it to stop moving, but immediately began to shift and squirm impatiently in her seat. She felt as trapped as the energy within her chest. The school's rules creating invisible restraints against the freedom her body seemed to need.

The clock on the wall seemed to slow down.
How had it only been 5 minutes since she'd last checked it!

She caught Jack's eye, enjoying a sense of shared frustration.

Finally, the shrill call of the school bell marked the end of the lesson. Elvira practically sprung from her seat. She raced Jack the long way to their next class, her legs enjoying a moment of freedom.

They quieted their giggles as they approached the classroom, dressing their faces with more appropriate expressions.

"You're eager for English today," their teacher, Mr Hutchinson, greeted them.

They were not, and failed to mask it fully.

Mr Hutchinson's expression dropped, "I see," he sighed, his tired expression showing disappointment.

Elvira felt guilty. She honestly did love learning, it was just getting harder and harder to sit through the long days of school.

The rest of their classmates got settled, including Lucy, who spread her books and pencils out on her desk in front of her in anticipation.

"Welcome back from your summer holidays," Mr Hutchinson greeted his class. "As you embark on your second year towards your GCSEs, it is my duty to remind you that you are studying towards the most important exams you have ever faced. How you perform in these exams will define your future..."

Elvira felt her gaze shift to the window as the the teacher's tired voice droned on. How could he take so long before he even got started? Honestly if it really was that important, which it probably was, shouldn't he get on with it and actually teach them something?