The Boy Witch

Chapter 1

Samuel always hated the first day at a new school. And he had to experience these first days so often. His dad’s job took him all over Canada and the family had no choice but to follow along, regardless of how inconvenient it was. Sam was almost used to it by now, packing everything up in a huge truck and uprooting their whole lives to go to the other side of the country.

But the first day of school, he would never get used to. He had to handle the looks from perfect strangers when he was forced to stand in front of the class to introduce himself, the new teachers, and the politics of a new school. Thankfully, he had a strategy. Samuel usually managed to get along by flying under the radar, by blending in and by being as uncontroversial as possible. Also, he always joined a sports team to quickly make friends and fit in somewhere. He often played basketball because he was so tall and the second the coach laid eyes on him, he had no choice but to join the team.

That morning, Samuel woke up in his old bed, but in a new room. Barely a minute later, his mother, Dorothy, called from behind the door, “Time to wake up, Sam!” Even though so many things changed with every move, he could always count on other things remaining the same, like his mother yelling through the door to wake him up, though he was already up.

Sam took a quick shower and got dressed, before joining his family, his father James, and younger sister Tabitha, at the breakfast table. James was reading the local newspaper as he had a habit of doing when they moved to a new town. The family was so used to moving around so much that today was just like any other day, starting the same as mornings in their old homes.

“Good morning,” Sam offered his family, as he sat at the table, the same old table, but in a new dining room.

“Good morning, Sam,” his father replied, not looking up from his newspaper.

“Morning,” Tabitha added, her nose in her meal, as she shoved another forkful into her mouth.

Dorothy dropped a plate with toast, eggs and fruit in front of Sam, and he began eating without much fervor. The toast crunched under his teeth, breaking the comfortable silence at the table.

“You guys ready for a new school?” Dorothy asked, all smiles. She always tried to be enthusiastic when her kids started going to new schools because they often were not, and somebody had to be.

Tabitha forced a smile as best she could. “Sure,” she replied, lacking any conviction.

“It is what it is,” Sam continued, matter-of-factly, crunching through another bite of toast.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” Dorothy said, as she threw a dish towel over her shoulder. She headed to the sink in the middle of her new kitchen to wash the same old dishes.

“Dad, are you ready for your new job?” Tabitha turned to her father, trying to keep the conversation going, though she did not have much hope.

“Uh huh,” he replied, still enthralled by the paper, as he turned the page. So much for their family conversation.

Sam finished his breakfast lightning fast, a little bit bored with his family’s company, and retreated to his new room. There, he grabbed his backpack, full of textbooks and notebooks for the day’s classes, and headed back downstairs, in the entryway.

“I’m off,” he shouted to his family, still in the kitchen.

“Have a good day, sweetie,” Dorothy yelled back from the kitchen, with her overly excited voice.

“Have a good day,” James repeated, his voice suggesting he had not dropped his newspaper.

Sam stepped outside. It was a bright, early fall, late summer day. The school year had started a couple of weeks ago, though he had started it at a different school, in a different province. He never looked forward to joining a new school when the school year had already started. It only made him even more of an outsider. Cliques were already formed, new friendships already developed, everybody already fallen into place. There was no room for anybody else.