A Charmed Life | Coven Corner #3

Chapter Five

It was the first week of September and the promise of impending autumn was beginning to taint the leaves with touches of color—lush reds, vibrant oranges, bright yellows.

And the first day of school had finally arrived.

Students poured into the schoolhouse, a majority of them arriving on broomsticks. A handful of them had human parents who chose to drive them to school.

Like Nick.

His battered pick-up truck pulled in alongside the schoolhouse and the door popped open. Phoebe jumped to the ground in purple converse sneakers and a sparkly black skirt.

"Be good today," Nick called to her.

"I don't want to go," Phoebe countered.

"You have to, sweetheart. I'll pick you up afterwards and we'll get something from The Eye of Newt, all right?"

Phoebe cocked her head. "Cookies? With extra butterscotch drizzled on the top?"

"Only if you behave yourself."

Phoebe wrinkled her nose, weighing whether or not good behavior was worth the promise of sweets. In the end, she nodded and waved as she closed the door of the truck.

Nick waited as Phoebe climbed the steps of the schoolhouse. Hazel studiously kept her gaze focused on Phoebe and didn't look at him. She had no desire to encourage him in any way. Even eye contact could send the wrong message, an open invitation for further communication. She couldn't afford that.

"Good morning, Phoebe," Hazel said as Phoebe passed her.

Phoebe pretended not to notice Hazel and stomped into the schoolhouse.

Hazel smiled to herself. She always had at least one student who proved to be a challenge, stretching her problem-solving skills and her patience to the limit. She liked those children the most. They tested her and made her a better teacher.

This year, it seemed Phoebe was definitely that student.

***

Phoebe's wand remained on her desk, untouched, as she sat in her chair and refused to perform a lick of magic.

The rest of the class brandished their wands like swords or fluttered them like feathers as they attempted to conjure a penny from thin air. Some of the students were successful, with neat rows of pennies on their desks. While others struggled, conjuring instead an array of other items—cotton balls, bumblebees, tomatoes, and even a small garden snake, much to Hazel's dismay. She had to call Bryony to fetch it and take it outside.

But Phoebe remained resolutely in her seat, arms crossed, a frown permanently etched onto her face.

"Phoebe," Hazel said. "Is there a problem?"

No answer.

A shower of pennies rained down on Seline Torres' head and she shrieked with joy. She spread her hands in delight, attempting to catch as many pennies as she could and stuff them in her pockets.

But then the realized the pennies weren't stopping.

"Miss Aven!" she called, a small wisp of panic slipping into her voice. "I think I messed up."

Hazel gave a twirl of her wand and the pennies vanished. She flicked her wand again and the other non-penny items littered across desks were cleared away.

Hazel rose from her chair and came to stand in front of Phoebe.

"Is everything all right?" she said.