As We Go Along

ALICE

 I could really go for a coffee right now. Nothing enchanted, just a regular, mundane, black coffee. There's just something extremely nice about enjoying the simplest things in life. No magik, no wild Herbgits, just simple mundane goals.

I rubbed my eyes and looked up at the line that had formed in front of my booth. "Why did I sign up for this?" I bounced the ever-looping question within my head. The only thing in it for me was community service hours, which I desperately needed. Once you reach the Senior year of Riverside, community service opportunities dwindle down at an alarming rate.

I puffed out my cheeks and quickly handed out flyers as if they were second nature. The Teachings Against Darkness used to be a club about learning curses and twisted enchantments. Now, it's become a club where students just sit and relax. The fear of any villain was gone, and the only strife to show its ugly face was the looming SWAS exam.

A lanky teen boy whose face reflected one of a lost ferret shuffled in front of my booth and took a long look at the club's flyer.

"Hello there, interested in our club?" I instantly clicked into my peppy cheerful self. The boy looked up at me, with that same oddly cute yet strange confused ferret expression. He gave me a lopsided smile and waved quickly.

"Er uh, hello. Yeah, I guess so." He mumbled out as he rubbed his chin with the same lost ferret face. He picked up the pen and quickly scribbled his name at the bottom of the club's cramped signature page.

Kat Clark.

"Welcome to the club," I said with a bright smile and stood up a bit straighter. The wizard gave me a nervous smile and rubbed his hand through his hair quickly. "You'll get a letter in the upcoming week about our first meeting. Hope to see you there!"

He gave me a tentative nod, "well uh- thanks for your time." He bowed his head, grabbed another flyer, and made his way away from the booth.

I leaned back against my chair and yawned softly, crossing my right leg over my left. I could really use some coffee. Didn't help that my booth's partner was out browsing through the fair. Or snogging behind the school with her boyfriend. Whatever it was, I was stuck here without her help.

With a sigh, I leaned my head against my hand and waited for the next possible club member to show up.

-----

I rubbed my eyes with a verbal groan as I began to reread my Clubs flyer for the fifteenth time. I pushed a stray hair strand away from my eyes and watched as the dwindling crowd of students shuffled throughout the courtyard. The outskirts clubs were probably getting more attention than the centre courtyard clubs, which was great for me.

With a sigh, I whipped out my wand and produced a Closet Job and watched the booth flip down and shrink into a small booth-shaped box. I picked up my leftover flyers and stuffed them under my arm and began to make my way towards the outskirts of the courtyard.

Many of the illegal-magik based clubs could be found in the corners, behind larger booths. I had no interest in joining one, although a Love-Forcing Resources Club seemed pretty enticing. I passed by a handful of intriguing titled groups, from Hair-Cair to Caring For Magikal Creatures.

Tapping my wand against my leg I made my way up to the Knowledgeable Potions table and leaned against the booth's front.

A soft-looking young wizard with wild light blonde hair and sleepy eyes looked up to me and gave me a sleepy yet wide smile.

"Hello Alice," he yawned out as he held a stuffed lamb tightly in his grasp.

"Hey Epimetheus, shouldn't you be at the Sleepers Cove booth?" I questioned with an amused expression as I signed my name to the signup sheet. "Or are you now monitoring two clubs at once?"

The short wizard shook his head slowly and mumbled out a response. He then stared at me for a handful of seconds then said a bit louder, "I'm subbing for Cramer."

He buried his face deep into the lamb and yawned slowly.

"Makes sense. Well, Ep did you join any clubs?" It was definitely a challenge to not curl down on the ground and fall asleep. Epimetheus produced a massive amount of magikal sleep energy, that any wizard or witch who came into contact with him became wrapped with sleep. No one really knows the reason for this, most people assume it's a special ability that Ep holds.

I quickly slapped my cheeks and blinked slowly. "Yea," he dragged on the word for a while and looked back up at me through clouded amber eyes. "I joined the National Magikal club," yawn "the Sleepy Covey," he then trailed off into a series of mumbling.

I stood there staring at him for a handful of minutes until I realised that he had fallen asleep. I poked the sleeping boy with my wand and smiled softly. Epimetues was always a nice sight to see, I gave him a light pat on the head and made my way past the rows of booths.

Cramer was probably out signing up for other knowledge-based booths. I talked to him throughout the Magikal Mid Summer break, not like I had anything better to do. The senior year of Riverside was definitely going to cramp up my schedule. Not only would I have to worry about the amount of Studies I would end up participating in, but the friends I will leave behind. I just wanted a normal year.

I flicked my hair strand out of my eye and made my way out of the courtyard. Familiar faces milled the exterior of Riverside's campus. Greetings were shared with the students that I remembered and recognised as I made my way up to the leading steps. I paused to stare at the statue and squinted, slowly backpedaling.

A fried egg was stabbed on top of Jackson Porter's wand. I blinked a couple of times and stared down to make sure the great SpellCaster's Pedestal wasn't marked up with any odd words or phrasings.

"Pfft-, so that's what Jordan has been up to." Cramer's deep voice stabbed through the quiet courtyard's atmosphere.

"Did you just ditch Epi at the booth?" I asked while giving him a light nudge on the shoulder. I swear, every year he was getting more and more freckles. He now had brown freckles splattered all over his long arms and sprinkled on the top of his nose and cheeks.

"He's more than happy sleeping at the table," Cramer responded with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, I haven't seen you for quite a while. What have you been up to?"

"We texted all Midsummer," I replied with a frown and picked a cotton puff out of his brown curly hair.

"Ah, you're right. I must have forgotten," he offered with a quick shrug. The wizard pulled out his wand and swiftly disenchanted the fried egg that had lodged itself to the statue's wand. "Now he can rest with dignity and pride."

I shook my head and chuckled softly as I opened the door for him. "Welcome back to school," I muttered out as I shuffled slowly through the double doors.