Lovesick Witches

Exam Day

My trembling hands eagerly intertwined as I peered round the incredibly crowded corridor in search of Mildred, Maud and Enid. A jittery sea of pointed hats sat disagreeably on the heads of year 5 as we impatiently waited in line. With, still, no sight of my friends due to the horde of boisterous students, I told myself to relax, releasing my shaky fingers from one another. 

"Ana!" an unpleasantly familiar voice called out from the crowd. Recklessly whipping my head around to locate the owner of the voice, my hat flew right off my head and into the ocean surrounding me, drowned by restless witches carelessly trampling over it. 

Swiftly forgetting about the voice I was meaning to locate, I reached down to grab my battered hat and stuck it back on my head with a sulk. 

"Ana," the voice said again, causing me to jump due to the increasingly close proximity of it. My gaze tilted upwards falling right onto the one witch I actively hoped I would not need to speak to today. Ethel Hallow. 

"Oh," I exclaimed, desperate to hide my dread as the last thing I wanted right now was an argument. "Hello, Ethel." I forced a smile. 

"How are you feeling about the exams?" she asked, seemingly genuine. 

"Good," I lied. I was nervous. Terrified, actually. 

"Well, I just wanted to say good luck," she replied, giving me an incredibly convincing smile. 

With obvious disbelief, I looked left and right for a clue that this was some sort of set up. But Ethel stood alone. Not even Felicity was by her side. 

"Seriously?" I asked, instant regret weaving through me after letting slip out an opportunity for Ethel to start a quarrel. 

But, no quarrel was started. Ethel's grin turned tremendously timid, as did her hushed tone when she spoke. "I just... I was thinking that maybe I've been a bit harsh on you this year... and as we're reaching the end of school, I don't want you to remember me as a bully for the rest of your life." 

"Well, it's a bit late for that,"I snapped back, surprised by my defensiveness. 

"I know. I'm sorry. But... good luck for your exams. When I said that you and Mildred would fail, I didn't really mean it. I suppose I was a little threatened by how well you were doing. I mean, of course I do know more than anyone else and am guaranteed to get the best results-"

Her speech faded out after she noticed my eyebrows raise at her last statement. Lowering my brows, there was a pause in our conversation. During these several silent seconds, not only did our own voices disintegrate, but the surrounding sea storm of stimulated students settled to stillness. I was seeing Ethel in a new light for the very first time. I felt thankful for catching a glimpse into her sweet soul, so different to my previous one-dimensional perspective of her that I had gotten used to hating. 

"Thank you," I said, my voice barely even a whisper. I watched peacefully as she nodded before turning away from me and heading, solemnly, back into the ocean of witches, her figure swallowed by the waves. 

The noise flooding back in, I blinked a few times, unsure if what I'd just witnessed was all in my head. Exam stress must have really been getting to me. 

"Ana, Ana," Mildred cheered as her, Enid and Maud pushed and shoved around to reach me. 

"Omg, guys, where were you?" I asked, remembering my intentions to search for them. 

"Enid was trying to find the answers for our final exams and Maud and I had to go and stop her before she got into trouble," whispered Mildred, leaning into me. 

"Enid!" I exclaimed, looking up to face her. "Why?" 

Enid shrugged, letting out a nervous giggle. I rolled my eyes at my friend's predictable nature and decided not to say any more. 

"Are you ready for-" started Maud, before a beautifully deafening yell silenced the whole hallway. 

"Quiet!" it screamed. Looking up, I received warmth from the coldness of her tone as Hecate's gorgeous soul finally reunited with mine. "Your first exam shall begin in precisely..." she glanced down at the vintage pendant watch that often lay around her neck, "five minutes." This prompted a round of nervous squeals, which were, of course, silenced by Hecate. 

"Now, I shall open the doors to the exam hall, and you must all enter in exam conditions. You must not talk until you have left the hall, after your exam. Anyone caught cheating or breaking exam conditions at any point during the process," she raised her volume at the word 'any', causing my spine to tingle, "will be immediately disqualified and will score a 0. Do I make myself clear?" This was about as stern as Hecate had ever been, and I found it rather frightening. 

Petrified faces bobbed up and down in reply, and Hecate opened the doors to the dining room, where we would be sitting the tests. One by one, we filed into the chilly hall, and made our way to our allocated, individual desks in utter silence. I didn't even think to look around me, then. I knew my girlfriend was there, standing, proudly, in front of us all, but I refused to look up. I could not be distracted. 

Taking my seat, I kept my eyes fixed on my desk as Miss Drill handed out the test papers, faced down. Several, long seconds passed before the piercing tone of Hecate permitted us to start. "You may begin," she announced. 

This was it. My chance at giving myself a future, whatever that may be. I couldn't mess this up. 

Heart pounding, I flipped the test over and wrote my name, frightfully messily, on the front. Taking a final deep breath, I turned the page.