Magicae

Chapter 5: Unicorn

Juliette was staring out the window at the house a few doors down. A blue minivan had pulled into her neighbor's driveway half an hour ago, and now seemed to be heading toward her house.

If for some reason it did pull into her driveway, Juliette almost wouldn't be surprised. What with the strange Unicorn vision and all the other weird things going on today, it would almost seem... normal.

Juliette didn't know the people who lived in that house very well. The boy, who Juliettte thought was called Alex, was in her grade at school, but he wasn't in any of her classes. That wasn't surprising, however, as Juliette took advanced math classes, and spent her afternoon taking college level science classes.

She was what adults called a "genius" and a "prodigy," and what other kids- immature kids- called a "nerd," "stuck-up," or "teacher's pet." Juliette thought that they were stupid to waste brainpower on calling her names-- what little brainpower they had.

Juliette had a very scientific, practical mind. That was why everything that had happened that morning was so worrying to her. According to the laws of science and logic, nothing like that should have happened. It was impossible. It had to be an illusion.

But Juliette knew it wasn't. She was very much in control of her mind, and her mind didn't play tricks on her. Therefore, the only logical conclusion was that, somehow, everything had actually happened. The only question was, how?

Juliette was sure that the blue vehicle now pulling into her driveway had something to do with it, and would give her answers. She would make them give her answers.

There was a knock on the door. Juliette opened it immediately, and was completely flustered for a moment, before composing herself.

"Ms. Proditor? Why are you here?" Of all the people Juliette expected to see driving that car, her Calculus teacher was definitely not one of them.

Ms. Proditor smiled the same smile she bestowed upon students who did exceptional work, a smile Juliette got a lot. "You'll see. Now, are your parents home?"

Juliette blinked. "Yes, my dad's still in bed. Should I go get him?"

Ms. Proditor nodded. "Yes, that would be wonderful, thank you. Meanwhile, why don't you go pack. You won't need clothes-- actually, why don't you pack a couple outfits. And plenty of underwear, as well as socks. Pack what you would want to have with you for being away from home for quite a while. Books, diaries-- no electronics, however. Calculators are all right, as well as small, battery opperated items. Just no phones, tablets, TVs, or radios. Sentimental items are allowed, if you have a favorite stuffed animal or doll you would like to bring along."

Juliette's face burned as she walked up the stairs. How old did Ms. Proditor think she was? She had just turned 13! Much too old for dolls or teddy bears.

And where would she be going, needing to pack? Juliette turned the corner and stuck her head into her father's room. "Dad?" Her father rolled over and groaned. "Ms. Proditor is here. She wants to talk to you."
Her dad sat up and rubbed sleep from his eyes. "At this hour?"

Juliette rolled her eyes as she continued down the hall to her room. Her father had always been a late sleeper.

Taking care not to disturb her sleeping 5-year-old sister, Juliette pulled a worn yellow suitcase out from under the bed they shared. In it she neatly folded two polo shirts and two pairs of khaki pants. On top of that was socks and underwear.

Next came her books. After much deliberating, she decided on only taking three. Hopefully wherever they were going would have more. She packed a calculator, then put a second one in. A few notebooks with mechanical pencils-- Juliette's preferred writing untensil-- went on top. She began to zip the suitcase up, only to have the zipper snap halfway around. Darn.

Juliette managed to zip it the rest of the way around using the stub of the zipper, making a mental note to try and fix it once she got wherever she was going.

She paused at the door to watch her sleeping sister. Margaret was one of the best things to ever happen to Juliette, and now Juliette was leaving her.

"I'll be back soon, little chipmunk," Juliette whispered, using her pet name for her brown haired and chubby cheeked sister. Then she softly closed the door on her sleeping sister, and on her old life.