After class that day, I walked back to my dorm with a desperate craving for a bath; one of those hot baths that always melt the bad away and lift it away in the steam. August was sitting in the hallway, where he was usually parked, with his guitar and a spell book by his side. “Studying?” I asked him, lazily. He strummed a few strings, “Can’t you tell?” he replied with a grin. I rolled my eyes and invited him for a cup of tea or coffee, figuring a bath could always wait. To my displeasure, he couldn’t because he was too busy ‘studying.’ I smiled and reminded him to differentiate his guitar with his books and walked inside my dorm, switching my focus back to my bath. I set aside my books on my kitchen table, my notebook filled with the notes the stranger and I traversed laid on top, as if telling me to open it. Answering its beckon call, I flipped open the notebook back to the pages the silver eyed boy’s notes were scribbled on— Sorry that Edwin had to shut our notes, but I couldn’t help but notice your boredom.
If you’re ever interested in something other than drawing in your notebooks in class,
feel free to call me. “Who does this guy think he is? “ I muttered to myself. I tore the paper out of the notebook, crumpled it up, and tossed it in the direction of my trashcan, then missed. After that look Edwin gave me in class I knew there was not a chance in hell I was going to ‘call’ this guy. I threw the paper in my garbage can and went to my refrigerator for a snack, but froze solid when I reached the refrigerator door- I wasn’t kidding. That’s what was written down the door, in the same handwriting in the notes. I jumped back about a foot, as if my refrigerator was set on fire. Slowly after I saw the message it dissolved before my eyes. I blinked stupidly and stepped away, then on impulse I ran to the hallway, hoping August would be in his regular spot. But he wasn’t. Thankfully, I saw Edwin marching his usual bouncy glide down the hallway, “Edwin!” I screamed as I caught up to him. “Jude! You look like you just saw a ghost what’s wrong?” Edwin stopped dead in his tracks and started to inspect my face, which had lost all color and left the permanent look of distilled shock behind. “What do you know about that guy? The one that was sending me notes earlier in class?” I panted. Running was definitely not my forte, and I felt like I just jogged a mile to reach him. Edwin grimaced, “Sage? He’s just—he’s just a troublemaker, but a brilliant wizard. I’d just stay away from him if I were you,” “Yeah well I think he just left me a message on my refrigerator door,” I told him. Edwin looked at me with a puzzled look on his face, “That’s impossible, that kind of magic has been banned by school regulation. You can’t do any kind of magic to someone else’s dorm room, then again I wouldn’t underestimate Sage—“ “What do you gotta say about Sage?” A voice suddenly broke into our conversation; a high pitched, nasal voice that always danced on my nerves. Tabitha Wingleby, who happened to be in my History of the Wizarding World class, was the equivalent to any popular bitch in any normal, non magic high school-with the exception of having actual power in her perfectly manicured hands. She looked like a cheerleader that went to the darkest of the dark side but still managed to look beautiful, in that freaky I-could-turn-you-into-a-handbag kind of way. Guys like poor Edwin didn’t stand a chance, “N-nothing. Nothing at all,” he gulped in her direction. Tabitha walked closer to us and whipped her jet black hair in my direction, “Do you gotta say something about Sage?” she asked me, her green eyes furrowed. I rolled my eyes, “Are you his bodyguard now or something, Tabitha?” If Edwin couldn’t stick up to her, someone had to. “No I’m his girlfriend and I suggest you shut your stupid new girl mouth, especially when it comes to my boyfriend,” she snapped while doing that attitude filled head bob as she spoke. “Well in that case can you tell him that I don’t want to ‘call him anytime’ then, considering he’s so lucky to have a girlfriend like you, Tabitha? Because I wouldn’t want to make anything awkward, would I? And while you’re at it tell him to stop leaving me psycho messages on my kitchen appliances because that’s no way to flirt with a girl, especially considering he already has a girlfriend,” I snapped back, my volume rose as I spoke and I was practically yelling by the time I was done talking. Tabitha rolled her eyes, as if my words meant nothing to her. It was all a cover up though; I could sense the pain she felt at the thought of Sage cheating on her. I’m not going to lie, it felt pretty good. She glared at me once more, then turned around and walked to her dorm. For all of the nice people that went to Chateau Magique, I was naïve at the thought of the complete opposite to be there as well. | 