Love and Magic

Chapter 1

I woke up like always 2 minutes before the alarm clock. I hate this feeling of getting up before the alarm clock. I tossed and turned on the bed for a while, but then I got up after all. It was Tuesday, the day I had school until 9 o’clock. I completed the daily routine. I got my coffee and turned on the TV. They gave boring News there, so I turned it off again. I looked around the apartment. Everywhere was a mess, scattered clothes, handkerchiefs and drunk bottles of wine. After breaking up with my ex, I started to get weird. I was still drinking and spending money on things I’ll never use, like an x-box or PS4. I’ve never even turned them on or unpacked them.
   My relationship with my ex-girlfriend was twisted. It was like I tried, but she didn’t pay much attention. She says she didn’t see the right one, she said during the breakup, but I don’t think so. Rather, she didn’t want to admit her mistake. But that’s how women are. Guys will do anything to make her happy, but it’s still never enough. She kept yelling at me, she wanted money, it just wasn’t a relationship but a lesson learned, at least for me. I’m also glad that she ended the relationship and not me. I don’t even know how to do it, the only one who should have apologized was her.
   I live in a small 2 + 1 apartment. It has one large bedroom with kitchen and bathroom. My apartment has one advantage and that is that it is at the very top of the apartment building, so I can walk up to the roof at any time and enjoy the view of the city. Although I wouldn’t quite call it a city, it’s more of a larger village. Since we have mayor Mr. Idiot’s, he still thinks this „city“ is a village, although I don’t know why, if we meet all the requirements.
   I finished my coffee and packed my textbooks and finally left the apartment. I have a bus stop not far from it, so I didn’t have to rush, but I moved anyway, because bus drivers are often grumpy. When I reached the bus stop, my best friend Kesar was waiting for me there.
We’ve known each other since kindergarten, where we first started doing crazy things together. Kesar was of medium height, thin, with dark colored eyes and hair. He was very interesting, but I liked being with him and I think he did too. We were like two wild deer in heat. We always made fun of everything, poked fun at each other and pulled pranks on each other. Especially at school when we tried to annoy the teacher by repeating everything he said. At that time, we got a class teacher’s stun for it.
   „Hey mate“ I said. „Hey dude“ he replied and shook my hand. I chatted with him and he said: „A new classmate came to our school, do you know that?“. I looked at him „Would Catrin finally break the piggy bank and join us?“, „Well, she doesn’t even have a roll“ Kesar joked.
   Catrin was our friend from middle school, she sometimes went out with us, but very often she have to be at work to pay the rent on the apartment. She didn’t have an easy time even in middle school, her parents divorced, so she stayed with her mom, but she gave her shit. Her mom was a prostitute. How else to earn money at this time. Catrin was smaller in stature, emaciated. She had short hair about shoulder length and wore glasses. She didn’t like being called Kate because that was her mother’s name. But still, she still liked everything her parents did for her. She went here and there to see her mother and look at work.
   „So who is it?“ I asked. Kesar frowned and said, „You will see for yourself.“ This is exactly what I hate when people stress me out and don’t say it right away. „At least tell me a name“, I tried one last time. „Charlotte her name is Charlotte“, he says. So now I was really fully strung up like I was Mr. Fantastic from the movie Fantastic Four. The whole way on the bus, I wondered what Charlotte might look like. I don’t know why, but I always do it that way. I imagined her as a total junkie who would still be dripping cocaine from her nose. I also envisioned her as a blonde who would be totally cocky but pretty so all the boys in our class went right for her. She would fuck the whole class by the end of the month.
   The bus stopped at the school. The door opened and I was finally able to get out. It had filled up a lot on that trip, so i couldn’t even breathe there. I was cursing myself in my head before the bus because I forgot my cap at home. It was the 1st day of our favorite, especially for boys, month, it was the 1st day of November. This meant not only a sharp cooling, but also an early eclipse. In the dressing room I asked Kesar: „Will Charlotte start today?“. „Are you somehow interested in her, kid“, he answered me. I stared at him like I did every time I was serious about something and it worked. „Then she should its first of November.“, „You’re right.“, I answered him and went to class.
   In class it seemed like always, shouting, noise, mess and stench. I felt like at home here. I spread out. I didn’t see anything „new“. So I thought that Charlotte, what was the girl’s name, hadn’t come yet. After the end of the third hour, I gave up and headed to Kesar. He was sitting alone on a bench and doing something on his mobile phone. "You were kidding me, right?", "I would never do that.“, he said, not even looking at me. "I’m serious,“ I emphasized my question. “Not really, Thomas told me. Before that, dad told him that he is not from this country“. Well, this was too much for me. I went to the bathroom to wash my face.
   When I finished school, I went straight to work. I worked as an assistant in a gym. I quite enjoy it. I usually workout too, so at least there is some physical activity in my life. I was surprised when I got there. There were somehow too many people, that doesn’t normally happen. When I looked around I saw Jack. He was tall with a muscular build, he was my „boss“. He is the one who got me into this job and I am grateful to him for that. "What’s going on here?“ I asked. "See for yourself“, he answered me. I groped and saw it. There was a big Roma family there. I smiled. „Who invited them here?“, „That guy there.“, he said pointing to a dark muscular guy. He was just having fun with our fitness trainer. „I haven’t seen him here yet“, I say, „Well, neither have I, but at least I have a business from it“, he smiled.
   I finally arrived home after work. It was already dark and it was snowing. The worst combination there is. I threw the bag on the floor and sat down in the chair. It was my favorite activity, if it was a sport I would definitely win. I was exhausted from what happened today, I don’t know why, but somehow I didn’t feel good. Charlotte was still on my mind. I tried to imagine her somehow, but I didn’t know how. I didn’t know what to do so I went to lie down.
   In the morning when I got up and got dressed, I had coffee, like every day. Then I took my bag and left for the bus, I couldn’t wait to see what Charlotte would look like. I boarded the bus, greeted Kesar. "You look excited, what happened", he told me. „Nothing interesting.“, I answered and blushed even more.
When the bus stopped in front of school, a cold wind hit me. „I forgot my cap again,“ I said to the wind and angrily walked to school.
   I finally saw her in class. She didn’t look at all like I imagined her to be….