Daughter of Magic

Chapter 1 ~ I Accidentally Set the School on Fire

I have no idea what just happened.

One second I'm drawing innocently in my notebook, the next, Ms. Cantis is standing next to me, 'reading' it.

'How does she do that?' I wonder. She's reading this long spiel of words that I know for a fact I didn't write.

The stranger thing is, they're about the topic she was telling us about.

"...and the way they sacrificed all their stuff is truly amazing to me," she finishes. She sets my notebook down. "Very good, Lyla! Your remarks on Lewis and Clark's scouting adventures are inspiring."

Everyone snickers a little.

I'm still bewildered. All I know that was in that notebook was my idle drawings of faces. I love to draw, but there are certain things I'm still trying to perfect. For the most part, eyes. I can never seem to get them to look right.

For the next fifteen minutes, I try to figure out what just happened, looking at my notebook at several different angles to see what she was reading.

My best friend, Tyler, leans over. "You okay?" he asks.

I nod, still staring at my notebook.

He chuckles a little. "It looks like you're trying to get it to burst into flames," he jokes.

I smile weakly. He looks a little uneasy though. "Is there something wrong?" I ask.

He shakes his head quickly.

Too quickly.

I've only known him for the school year, but I know him well enough to know when he's lying. Besides, he's a terrible liar.

I suppose I should explain about only knowing him for the year.

Ever since I was 6, in first grade, every year something has gone wrong. My dad keeps moving me from school to school, but it keeps happening.

I told the police several times that I hadn't touched anything.

But, story of my life, they didn't believe me.

The first time, when I was in first grade, the climbing wall in the playground toppled over when Bobby Christensen was on it. He had been teasing me earlier that year, and I wasn't even close to touching the wall, but there he was, on the ground, pinned beneath the climbing wall, screaming that I had pushed it over onto him.

'How is a six-year-old strong enough to topple a 50-pound wall?' my dad argued with the police.

Regardless, I was expelled and forced to switch schools.

Second grade, the tin platform right outside the portable I was in collapsed under Sydney Podmore. She had a broken leg and she claimed that I had pushed her down onto it. I hadn't touched her, but after looking at my records, I was expelled. Again.

Third grade... well, you get the idea.

I really hope that nothing like that happens again, especially since the summer is so close...

Anyways, I shake my head. "You're a terrible liar, Tyler," I say, grinning.

He shrugs and smiles guiltily.

I turn serious again. "What's wrong?"

He bites the inside of his cheek. "I'll tell you later," he finally says, glancing about.

I give him a weird look, then shrug and go back to doodling before the bell rings.

I shove my stuff into my backpack and take off to P.E. It's a heck of a lot better than history, that's for sure. It's also the last period of the day, so I'm that much closer to going home to Dad's welcoming hug. Tyler has P.E. too, but he goes the other way at the intersection to the boys' locker room. Not like he has to change; he stays in his jeans all day because of a cripple he got when he was a kid. That's what he told me, at least. He has a note that excuses him from P.E. for, like, life. He can run when it's nacho day, though. It's weird.

I get into the girls' locker room and change quickly, then go and talk to Mrs. Peterson. Everyone kind of thinks she's a devil, but I like her. She's really not that mean.

We chat for about five minutes, then I walk out into the gym and sit down at my spot. I'm in the third row, my last name being Frost. I notice Tyler a few rows next to me, his last name being Reed. He's avoiding eye contact; something's definitely going on.

Mrs. Peterson announces that we'll be playing dodgeball today. I love dodgeball, besides the fact that I always get out, I tend to be the last one standing. Not sure how...

She splits us up into two groups, then, on the count of three, we start the game.

I dart around, handing people squishy dodgeballs and avoiding ones getting thrown, not necessarily at me.

People around me get out, then back in through someone catching a ball, hitting a goal, etc. I, however, never get hit by a ball.

Somehow, I find myself the second to last person to not be out. Tyler got out early in the game, he's sitting on the sideline. The person next to me, Jessica Rolle, dodges to the side as a ball goes her way. I suddenly see that all the people on the other team are looking and grinning at me. 'Oh geez...' I think, and I'm ducking and twisting to avoid the balls. One hits me in the shoulder, though, and I sigh, walking over to the side. I get pelted twice in the back, then a third and fourth time. I whirl around to see Andrew Morgan smirking and getting ready to throw another ball. I glare at him. He's been teasing me and bullying me all year, and I'm sick of it. He throws the ball and it hits me right in the chest.

I lose it.

My vision gets tinged red and all I can see is myself running at him, to do what, I don't know.

Once I've calmed down, I realise that the gym is now on fire, and Andrew is screaming on the ground. Mrs. Peterson is staring at me in shock, as is everyone else in the class. Mrs. Peterson shakes her head as if dismissing the thought, then shouts to everyone to evacuate. We rush to the door that leads outside, crowding around it and getting out as fast as we can. Fire alarms are going off, and we all head to the back of the school where we assemble for fire drills. Except this time, it's not a drill.

Apparently, it's not just the gym that's on fire.

Once everyone is in line, Mrs. Peterson pulls me out of line and talks to me in a low voice.

"Did you do that?"

"I-I don't know," I stammer.

"Turn out your pockets," she says, frowning.

I figure she's looking for matches, but I don't have any, and to prove it, I turn out all my pockets.

She frowns more. "I don't know how you did it, Ms. Frost, but you're in big trouble."