season of the witch | hocus pocus

chapter one

I guess you could say I'm kind of an air-headed girl. The kind of person that you needed to yell it three times so she hears what you are telling her. That doesn't mean I'm not a good company though. You just needed to grab my attention in the beggining of every conversation to make sure I hear you until the end.

It's not that you're boring. It's not on purpose, trust me.

However, when it comes to school, I just can't pay any attention to what my teachers tell me. For years, my mother had to deal with teachers telling her that her daughter was a brilliant student, but too air-headed and that she needed to have a serious talk with me every year in parent's day at school.

My mom was a compassionate women. She knew about my struggles, but she would still tell me all the time how smart I really was. She always sounded so convincing that I almost believed her. I've always been an average student, good in english and literature but terrible at math and science.

I was 13 when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I spent every day that my mom was going through chemo in the hospital with her, trying to do my homework so my mother would be proud of me. I would also braid her brown thick hair and bring her cds of every John Hughes movie she had at home and watch it with her.

When she passed away, I slept in her room for two months. Sometimes I would just refuse to leave. My aunt, who became my legal guardian after mother's passing, didn't even tried to get me out of there. Instead, she would bring me food, spend time with me there and just try and talk to me.

I think she was trying to respect my grieving process and decided to let me handle it my way but watching me closer to make sure I was okay and not forcing me to do anything. We didn't change a single thing in her room. We didn't sold her clothes and books. Me and aunt Charlie clean it once in a while, but we never made any major changes.

Now I'm one day away of turning 16, sitting in a class room, pretending to listen to my teacher tell to the whole class the Sanderson sister's tale. Today is Halloween, one of my favorite days of the year.

I was just sketching some drawings in my book. I had just finished drawing a small spider and now I was going to draw a cute little ghost.

"Poor Thackery Binx. Neither his father, his mother, nor anyone else ever knew what became of him those 300 years ago." I wasn't paying attention because I already knew that story by heart. Every single person in Salem knew the story of the three witches who were executed in the Salem witch trials.

My mother would tell me the story every single Halloween. She even used to run a museum with her best friend on the Sanderson sister's old house before she died. Now it was just an abandoned creepy house.

"And so, the Sanderson sisters were hanged by the Salem town folk. Now, there are those who say that on Halloween night, a black cat still guards the old Sanderson house, warning off any who might make the witches... come back to life!" The teacher yelled, tossing a roll of black paper at a girl's head who was sitting on the front desk.

The whole class laughed it off, except for this boy who just rolled his eyes with the story. All I knew about him was that his name was Max and that he was new. He had just moved one week prior, and caught my eye immediately. I don't really know why. Because he's cute? Because he's new? I don't know, there's just something about him.

"Gimme a break." he mumbled quietly, but the teacher seemed to hear him.

"Ah, we seem to have a skeptic in our midst. " the teacher said, walking towards his desk. "Mr Dennison, would you care to share your California, laid-back, tie-dyed point of view?"

I immediatly stopped drawing, curious to see what he was going to do to get out of that situation.

"Okay" he replied, with a smirk on his face. Granted that you guys here in Salem are all into these black cats and witches and stuff." Everyone was paying attention to what the he had to say. "But everyone here knows that Halloween was invented by the candy companies. It's a conspiracy."

"Oh boy." I whispered, rolling my eyes. Was he that stupid?

I was about to tell him off, but my best friend Allison, who was sitting right in front of me, talked first. "It just so happens that Halloween is based on the ancient feast called All Hallows Eve."

I chuckled while the whole class clapped with her answer. Max didn't say anything, writing something in a paper and standing up. "Well, in case Jimi Hendrix shows up tonight..." he said, handing Allison the paper. "Here's my number." he smirked while the whole class oohed them. My smile dropped instantly.

Of course he liked her. Why wouldn't he?

Everyone celebrated when the bell rang. I packed my stuff quickly. "Halloween is actually based on a ancient Celtic festival named Samhain." I corrected Allison.

"Sorry, not everyone is obsessed with Halloween like you, Lizzie." Allison replied, smiling. We both chuckled.

"Are you going to call him?" I asked while we were leaving the school.

"Relax, I'm not. I know you are madly in love with the guy." she smirked.

"Easy Allie, I'm not in love, it's just a crush. Next week I will be crushing on someone new."

"No, you won't. Last time you found a guy attractive we were thirteen. And he was a character old enough to be your dad."

"If you are talking about Uncle Jesse from Full House, you're not the one to talk. We both had a fight of who was going to marry him." I laughed, remebering it.

"Yes, but he's a character." Allison said, handing me a piece of paper. "Here."

"What's this?" I opened it and saw that it was the same paper that Max gave Allison. "No, there's no way I'm keeping this."

"Come on. He might hate Halloween and not be a Uncle Jesse or a John Hughes character, but you should give it a shot. Make the first move."

"No way." I started to walk faster towards the exit. Allison had to run after me.

"Come on, what's the worst it could happen?"

I stopped walking and faced her. "He gave this to you. He's expecting you to call him, not me. I don't want to cause him any disappointment."

"You won't." Allison held both my hands."If he got the chance of talking to you, he would be a very lucky guy. You're pretty, smart, funny and sweet. Any guy would be lucky to go out with you. You just never tried."

I didn't say anything. It was true. I always expect the worst which led to me never trying to talk with guys. For me, it was embarrassing. I'm almost 16 and I've never had my first kiss. Damn it, I've never even hold hands with a boy before. I love my best friend, but she doesn't know what it feels like to feel unwanted. Allison is the opposite of me. She was beautiful and popular, but above all, she has confidence, something that I'm lacking of. None of us was craving for a guy's attention, but I just feel like if we were, it would be easier for Allison. I would never resent her for it, we were both each other's priorities, above any guys. I just wished I was more like her.

I looked behind, noticing Max riding his bike towards us. I just shoved the paper quickly in Allison's pocket. "I have to go now, I have some homework to finish." Lie. "I'll meet you later?"

"Sure." She smiled at me.

"See ya!" I started running, feeling a weird tightness in my chest when I stared back and saw Max approaching Allison as soon as I left.

Hey everyone, welcome to the first chapter of Season of the witch. I only watched Hocus Pocus for the first time this year and I'm ashamed that I never watched it before because it's so good and even inspired me to write this fanfic.

Please vote and comment so I can know that you guys like the story.