The Sorceress's Tree

Chapter 1

2 years later...

"Riley, hurry and finish getting ready!" Her dad warned for the millionth time that afternoon, his voice echoing up the stairs.

"One moment!" Riley scrambled to find her shoes.

"You said that ten minutes ago! We are going to be late!"

Riley hopped on one foot as she stumbled to put on her platform sandals, using the wall to hold up her weight. She patted down her white lace dress, taking one last glance in the mirror. This outfit would do, she was only having dinner with her dad's new boss, which would also be her new headmaster. 

After living in California her whole life, Riley's dad had decided that the summer before her senior year, he would ship the family across the country to the humid monstrosity of South Carolina for a new job at some elite private school called Blackwell's Academy for the Gifted. It sucked that she was starting her senior year in a new place, but she was proud her dad had received such a big job promotion. His new boss had suggested that her family eat dinner with his own so he could introduce Riley to his own daughter who would be a fellow classmate at Riley's new school.

Riley's dad shouted warnings once more, pulling Riley from her thoughts. Her rush down the stairs almost caused her to slip. Her dad reached out an arm to help keep Riley from falling on her butt.

"Careful, dear. We wouldn't want you to break an ankle," her mom said.

Riley noticed her mom had dressed similarly to herself. Instead of white, she wore a light pink dress and had twisted her golden curls into a braided bun making her appear even more elegant than usual. Riley felt self-conscious next to her mother, who at forty-six years old could still pass as a twenty-year-old. Strangers often confused the mother-daughter duo as twins.

"Mom, why did you have to copy me?" Riley groaned.

"Great minds think alike, dear." Her mom winked. "By the way, you look beautiful."

"Both of you look beautiful, now come on!" Her dad replied, shuffling them out the door.

He adjusted his bowtie as he herded the two women out to the car. Her dad was the total opposite of her mom in looks. He was tall and lean with brown, cow-licked hair and a bridge of freckles across his nose, often seen in sweater vests and bow-ties. He had a strange fashion sense that somehow worked with his tall frame.

Her dad's American, her mom British. He was always a bookworm while her mom had been the captain of the cheerleading squad in school. They were a total cliche of high school sweethearts, but romantically, hopelessly in love. Riley hoped to one day have a love like her parents had for each other. Even after twenty-five years of marriage, her parents still acted like they had just started dating; never fighting or arguing.

Her father was a gentleman as he opened the car door for her mother, goofily bowing. "After you, m'lady."

"Why thank you, sir." Her mom grinned, offering her hand out for him to kiss while climbing into the car.

Her father waited for Riley to climb into the backseat before shutting both of the passenger side doors. Riley leaned forward to speak with her father in protest for his kindness.

"Dad, you don't have to hold the door open for me," Riley stated, "but, thank you."

"It's an honor to treat my two beautiful ladies," he replied, putting the car into gear.

It was a thirty minute drive out into the countryside where Mr. Cleveland's home was. Riley had only lived in the suburbs her whole life and found it interesting to see how the homes grew farther and farther apart replaced with stretches of woods and fields between them.