Spells and Sorcery

Chapter Four

"Oh, don't look so worried, Lexie. You're going to be fine," Jeanie said as she pulled up behind a queue of cars dropping off students.

"You really can't be okay with me putting all of my classmates in danger?" I asked, for probably the fifth time since we'd left the house. "I set my bedroom on fire, Jeanie."

"Last night, you were taken off guard. Now, you're all right. Look," she reached across the car and took my hand, "no magic here."

I retracted my hand and stared at my fingertips. "Yeah, but what if—"

"Lexie, you're one of the most brilliant kids I know," Jeanie said, and I was too shocked at the rare praise to respond. "Magic is simply another part of you, and it always has been. Just like you can use that brain of yours to remember all those useless facts and quotes, you can use your mind to control your magic. If you want to control it, you will."

"Thanks," I said, although I didn't quite understand what she was saying. If I had no idea what I was supposed to control, or how to control it, I wasn't sure how effective my will was going to be.

Jeanie pulled up in front of the school and turned to me. "Before you go, I have two ground rules with your magic. The first is you are not allowed to use your magic on anyone. Not your sister, not students, anyone."

I nodded.

"Second, which should go without saying, is that you aren't allowed to do magic at school. And until you get a handle on it, you are not allowed to use it unsupervised."

Again, I nodded, although I wanted to argue that I hadn't actually willfully done any magic since I'd received it.

"Are you picking me up later?"

"Unfortunately, you'll have to ride with Marie this afternoon. I've got a few meetings I can't get out of. But later tonight, we'll go out to dinner for your birthday, all right?"

"Okay," I said, cracking open the door. My stomach was a mess of nerves, but I took some solace in Jeanie's lack of concern. If she thought I wasn't a disaster waiting to happen, then maybe I wasn't.

Still, I stood on the curb for a moment, clutching the straps of my bag and gathering strength of mind and will. Behind me, another car pulled up, and two freshmen popped out, ignoring the driver and each other in favor of their phones. They didn't even acknowledge me as they brushed past my shoulder.

I waited for something to happen—what, I didn't know, but something.

The girls finally noticed me staring at them and gave me a look. "What?"

"N-nothing," I squeaked, taking a step back and waiting for their faces to melt off.

The girls looked at each other, giggled, and walked away. Another car pulled up behind me. Standing outside, staring at the school probably wasn't the best idea, so I adjusted my backpack again and marched inside.

The halls were already filled with students, all of whom paid me no attention. But then again, why would they? Outwardly, I was just another kid. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I wouldn't royally screw things up. Maybe Jeanie was right and if I wanted to control my magic, I could.

A sliver of calm made its way into the raging storm in my head, and I relaxed the tension in my shoulders as I repeated my new mantra. If I wanted to control my magic, I could.

I approached my locker and all serenity went out the window as Callista and Joel stood in the way, making ga-ga eyes at each other. I stepped forward, hoping they'd see me and they needed to move.