THE CHILDREN OF MAGIC- a sequel to Valkyrie

Chapter 2

  Iris was lonely.

  Mostly at school. She tried to make friends, she really did. But no one talked to her. She couldn't hang out with anyone before they heard the rumors spread around by London, Charlotte, and Esperanza.

Being 10 and 11 years old, fifth graders probably shouldn't have cliques of stereotypical mean girls. But the three girls terrorizing Iris and the rest of the school were very cliche. Iris was just different than the other girls, and she had something to show for it, though the truth would leave everyone in her path screaming and running away from her.

Of course, Iris couldn't tell anyone at her school the truth. Her mother was a Valkyrie; surely that would raise a few eyebrows. Other than her family's secret and her talkative behavior, Iris looked normal. She had straight blonde hair and tan skin with brown eyes the color of her sister's famous chocolate cake. She had exactly twelve freckles on the bridge of her nose, not that she was counting. Iris wasn't tall by any means, but in one instance she nearly doubled the height of the shortest boy in her grade.

The tallest girl in Iris's grade was definitely Charlotte Peters. She had scarlet, curly hair and bright green eyes. She was pretty shy, and didn't talk much, but she was gorgeous and had great fashion sense, earning her a spot with the "popular girls." She never actually insulted or even laughed at Iris personally, but she still hung out with the others.

Esperanza wasn't too bad as well, but she laughed at everything London said and did throw in a few insults as well. She had wavy black hair that was always braided, with dyed blonde tips. Her eyes were like coffee, darker than dark, and her nose was turned up with the rest of her head, so she always seemed to be looking down at you, even if you were taller.

And finally, London. She was the worst of them all. She constantly bullied and insulted everyone she found displeasing. Everyone was afraid of her, because she was the principal's daughter. In front of all of her teachers or adults in charge, she acted sweet as sugar, her voice oozing with overdone sweetness like syrup dripping off of a hot, buttery pancake. She was pretty as well, and dressed in the most expensive clothing. Her hair was curled into perfect wavy ringlets. Legends of her originally being a brunette instead of a beach blonde floated around the school, though she was quick to squash them before they got out of hand. London had an almost magical way of making inferior people become social outcasts.

Was that fair? Definitely not. But it was life at Iris' school, and that was that.

Iris hated every one of them. She didn't really know what else to do, seeing as she couldn't love people who constantly tormented her and made her school life miserable. Occasionally Iris wondered if Charlotte liked her, or wanted to be friends. Iris definitely wouldn't mind hanging out with Charlotte, but seeing as Charlotte was with the "popular" group, that wouldn't fly.

  Early Monday morning on a fresh Autumn day, Iris woke up to the blaring sound of her alarm clock. Rubbing her eyes and yawning repeatedly, she slapped the clock until it fell off of her table and hit the ground with a loud metallic thud that echoed throughout the room and house. Iris rubbed a stray tear from her face, that had escaped her eye from yawning. She reached down to grab her clock from under her table, and promptly fell off of her bed. Her head hit the table with a loud crash and she rubbed it, taking the clock and shoving it on the tabletop. She frowned and rubbed her eyes yet again, dragging her body to the bathroom.

Soon Iris had finished brushing her teeth and hair, then changed into jeans and a T-shirt. She absentmindedly clamped a hand down onto her favorite necklace, a silvery crystal that had the word "family" etched into it. It seemed to glow, even in the dark. The beautiful accessory was given to her years before by Juno and Eric, with mysterious smiles. They told her to hold on to it when she needed her family. Since then, Iris had used every opportunity given to her to rub the crystal up and down in her fingers, feeling the once jagged lines smoothed by years of caressing lovingly and being held onto by Iris herself.