Forest of Fireflies

Chapter 70

(Daniella's POV)

As soon as the bell rung, I approached my brother and demanded to speak to him privately. His friends, obviously a little afraid of me, left us alone. From the front of the classroom, Ms Rogers called out to us before leaving, "Don't take too long, you three. Oh and please close the door behind you, thanks."

I turned around to see that Maria had stayed behind. So, I asked her, "Do you wanna go outside and wait?"

She shrugged and left as well. Then, Henry said to me, "You lied about why you went into the Blind Witch's house."

I shook my head defiantly. "Not really. Mama literally told me to treat her death as an execution. She said that the kingdom needed to be rid of her. I was doing everyone a favour!"

"No you weren't! Well, that wasn't your main purpose. Mom sent you into the house to get the poisoned apple."

I growled, "That part doesn't matter. What matters is that you're...you're turning them against me or something!"

Henry shook his head, "What do you mean?"

I angrily responded, "I wanted to show them that I wasn't evil! That I wasn't what they thought! But you had to mention Hansel and Gretel didn't you? Now they're probably asking them what happened."

"So? You didn't have to lie-"

"That isn't the point!" I shouted. 

Henry took a step back as I continued, "The point is that....is that I...I did something good for the kingdom. I crushed the witch's heart so that she wouldn't be a threat to the villager's children."

"Then why are you so worried?"

I stopped in my tracks.

Henry continued, "You're only worried because you know that you've done something wrong there as well and you're ashamed of that. You don't want the others to find out that you've crushed a heart so that you could deliver the poisoned apple to mom. You don't want others to find out either that she hadn't helped Hansel and Gretel find their way back to their father after they have helped you-"

"Henry!"

"What? That's the truth. If you didn't like the question, you shouldn't have answered it! You could have avoided it. Everything you're worried about, is your fault."

I curled my fists. Henry knew what I was thinking. "Dani, I..."

I breathed heavily as I felt my magic course through my body. Then, without another word, I pushed past him. I didn't want to be around Henry. Again, he infuriated me. Why? Why did he have to be so annoying?!

When I stormed out of the classroom, Maria approached me from the lockers. "Daniella! Are you alright? I heard you shouting inside."

I huffed, "I'm fine."

"You're not."

I closed my eyes. "Please, I don't really wanna talk about it..."

Maria put her arms around me, "Ok. But if you want to talk, I'm here."

I gave her a little smile of appreciation. She continued, "Anyway, let's talk about that annoying science fair on Wednesday. I hope that you've finished the poster over the weekend."

................

(Two days later, at the science fair)

Maria nudged me and as I spun around to listen, she pointed towards somewhere in the distance. "Look. Your brother seems to have invited his whole family."