Witch

Chapter Five

Five-year students and up get apartment-style rooms.  How Limerick managed to get in, I'm not sure.  Our room consists of a small study area with two desks and plenty of bookshelves and workspace.  Branching off from that is an extremely cramped kitchen area.  On the other side of the study is a small hallway with the opening to the bedroom and kitchen.

I walk to my desk and plop onto the seat. 

"I've never had a free block before,"  I say to myself.  I'd acquired this habit of talking to myself since I came to the College.  "What should I do…"  I stroll to the hallway and curve into the bedroom.  "Yuck,"  I mutter and kick Limerick's dirty clothes toward her painfully overfilled laundry basket.  I also glance at her bunk, which is above mine, as it disheveled and unmade.  I figure that I may as well clean up the place.  I begin at the small bench near the large window.  Limerick's clothes are strewn here, too.  But, I must admit that mine are too.  I guess you could say that neither of us are the tidiest people in the world.  I throw our clothes in their respective piles and clean up bits of trash here and there.

Finally, the room is more society-acceptable.  I make her bed and straighten her pillow. 

"Gee, thanks, Willow,"  I turn around and there's Limerick.  Immediately after her comes the smell of sweat and hard work.

Believe me, it doesn't smell good.  "Limerick!  What happened; why are you here?"  I exclaim pinching my nose. 

"They let the newbies out early,"  Noticing my nose pinch, she asks "Do I really smell that bad?"  She lifts her arm and sniffs her underarm, retracting in disgust.  "Ew."

"Go get in the shower!"  I say really nasally, playfully throwing her own pillow at her.

"Fine, fine!" She turns on her heel.  "I was only out there for like ten minutes, though."

"Ten minutes too long!" I laugh and turn on the fan in order to waft the smell out of the room.

"You better cook me something,"  I hear the shower turning on in the bathroom.  "I'm hungry!"

I roll my eyes.  It's our third day as room mates and she's already bossing me around.  I throw the rest of the stuff in my arms on the floor and walk out into the kitchen.  

I hear Limerick humming in the shower as I pass the bathroom and cross the study into the kitchen.

I sigh.  I hadn't gone grocery shopping in quite a while, so we were running low on food.  I scrounge up some bread and cheese, and arrange it on a plate with sliced apple.  I place it on the counter. 

I walk to the study and check my weekly calendar.  Today is a Tuesday, so I have Physical Training today.  I can almost hear my trainer in my head.

"You must be fit for healthy lives; you must be fit to be at your best, magical and nonmagical!"  I hear him calling to the class.

I laugh as I stroll back to my bedroom, in search of some PT clothes.  I finally settle on a blue cotton shirt, and shorts. One pair of socks and athletic shoes later, I'm fully ready. Well, except for my hair.  I stand in front of the mirror, and take out the long, loose braids until they fall over my face.  I brush them to the side. 

My hair is nothing special, to me at least.  It's very long, as it brushes the back of my kneecaps.  It's a darker blue than the sea, and not as twinkly. 

I remember the first time I'd seen the sea.

"What is that?!"  I exclaimed clutching my briefcase.  I hadn't brought much, for I was told that everything I would need would be at the College.  We had just left the Abbey, its tall gates stood at my back.