Madame Corinne's Club of Winged, Wand-Wielding, and Waterproof Teenagers

Chapter 4- Natalie

1278 Windchester Lane was a house like any other. It had a tiny yard, full of little tomato plants and squash vines. There was a white door, and the walls were painted a very nice shade of red. It was of an average size, with two stories as far as I could tell.

I was standing on the porch. I had counted down to three in preparation to ring the doorbell about twenty times now.

"What the heck," I said, and pressed the little round button.

The door swung open immediately and I was pulled in by a swarm of hands.

I found myself in a crowd of twenty kids, in a room that seemed a bit too large and a bit too tall to fit in the quaint little house.

"Hi there, are you a new student?" one of them asked. She seemed to be maybe twelve of thirteen, probably in middle school.

"Madame Corinne put us in charge of greeting new students today!" another one said.

"So far you're the first!" yet another kid said.

"Um..." I said, unsure how to respond.

"Natalie!" I heard, and found Jenna jogging down a staircase that I was sure hadn't been there before.

"H-hi," I said.

"Come," she said as she grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the herd and up the stairs. "The headmaster want's to see you."

"Headmaster?" I asked, "It there's a Headmaster, than who's Madame Corinne?"

"She's the founder," Jenna answered, still leading me along, "She used to be the Headmistress, but now she just teaches spellcasting."

The staircase seemed to go on forever. Which seemed to be impossible. We were passing the fifth story now.

"How is the house so big on the inside?" I asked.

Jenna laughed.

"Magic."

Oh wonderful. How specific.

We kept climbing.

I had this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could feel it growing. It wasn't just nerves about meeting this Headmaster person, or shock at all the scientifically impossible things around me.

You see, I have been in love with Jenna since the seventh grade. Almost three years now. She's been my best friend since forever. I guess it makes sense that I would start, well, having certain feelings towards her.

But this whole thing? All these friends, this place, all the magic stuff? It is one big, huge secret.

Best friends don't keep big, huge secrets from one another. Best friends don't hide entire parts of their life from one another.

So... what did that make us?

I mean, yes, being totally friendzoned sucks. But I think this might be worse. Best friends is the best I can hope for. And now I'm starting to feel like maybe I lost that too... And I didn't even know it.

We find ourselves at the top of the staircase. We're standing in what looks like a ballroom. There are elevators at the far wall, but it seems we will not be using those.

Jenna's wings unfurled from her back, and all my thoughts came to an abrupt stop.

I didn't have a chance to probably admire them before, but now I get a good look at them.

They're about three times her size, and I have no idea how they dissapeared so complety when she folded them up before. They're feathery and bird-like, and sky blue.

"Can I pick you up?" she asked.

I give her a blank stare.

"What?"

"Can I pick you up?" she asked again, "It's much more convenient to get to the Headmaster's office flying, but we can only do that if you let me pick you up."

"Oh. Sure."

I hoped I wasn't blushing as much as I felt like I was as she scooped me up.

She got into a runner's lung, and launched herself into the sky.