Megan and her lollipops to the Rescue
1621 Words
The school corridors bustled. Students rushed around, lockers slammed, noisy conversations filled the air. Your typical school morning. My hand trembled as I turned the combination lock. I glanced at the main doors where I’d seen the two figures in my vision. Would they arrive today? Grandma said she had the same vision and it never materialized. Maybe it won’t for me, either.
I focused on gathering my books for class.
“Hey, Clara. Didn’t see you at the bus stop this morning.”
Megan, my best friend since we were five, stood beside me, sucking on a lollipop. Her chestnut hair was pulled back into a ponytail, her backpack slung over her shoulder.
“Mom dropped me off. I was running late.”
“Cool,” she said, popping the lollipop out of her mouth and placing it back in.
“How can you eat those things so early in the morning?”
“Easy. You put it in your mouth and suck. Besides, the sugar helps me stay focused in Rogers’ class. History is boring as it is, but when you have Rogers, who never changes the inflection of his voice, you need something to keep you awake.”
I laughed. She was so right. Mr. Rogers was the most boring teacher ever. His monotone voice never, ever changed.
I glanced over at the doors one last time before closing my locker.
She looked at the doors, then back at me. “Who are you looking for?”
“It’s nothing.” I shrugged. “I’ll tell you later.”
“Did something happen?”
“You could say that.” I leaned in closer, lowering my voice. “I think I had a vision.”
“Oh, my god, Clara. And you weren’t going to tell me?” Megan twiddled the stick of her lollipop and made the lost puppy face she liked to do when she was pretending to be upset.
“Shh, not so loud. I was going to tell you, Meg. I just… I haven’t gotten my own head around it yet.” The bell rang throughout the hall. “And there isn’t time now anyway.”
Along with the rest of Mercy High, we pushed our way toward class.
***
Megan waited for me outside chemistry. “Let’s eat lunch outside so you can tell me everything. I’m dying to know what happened. Did it hurt? Did your eyes turn white, like your grandma’s?”
I looked around, hissing, “Relax, Meg. Anyone could hear.”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
It was quiet outside, not that I was surprised. Early spring in Newbrooke was usually freezing cold and, more often than not, snow still covered the ground. We were lucky today. The sky was blue and the watery sunshine held a bit of heat.
“Let’s grab this bench. I’m not walking any farther,” Megan said as she plonked her lunch down and threw her leg over the bench seat.
I did the same and rubbed my hands together to get some heat back into them. “We must be mad. No one else is eating outside.”
“Exactly.” Megan grinned. “No one to overhear us.”
I laughed.
“Come on, Clara. Spill it. I’ve waited long enough.”
“Let’s eat first,” I said, teasing her. I knew I wouldn’t even get a bite out of my sandwich.
“Don’t you dare.” Megan’s eyes narrowed.
I smirked. “Fine. I was in bed, finding it difficult to sleep. I’m not even sure if I dozed off, but then I had this massive pain in my head. It was so weird. All these colors swirled around my room. I thought I was having a brain hemorrhage or something.”
Megan nodded and took a bite of her sandwich. “Sounds freaky.”
“It was,” I said, reaching for my own sandwich. “When the colors stopped, I found myself standing beside my locker.”
Megan nearly choked as she spluttered bits of food everywhere. She coughed a few times, then looked at me, eyes wide. “You astral projected? Did you have clothes on?”
“Megan,” I said, lightly punching her on the shoulder. “I didn’t astral project, and I’ve no idea what I was wearing. I wasn’t looking at my clothes.”
“My bad,” she giggled. “Go on.”
“Anyway, as I stood by my locker, I saw two figures in the front doorway. One dark, one light. I couldn’t make them out. And there were voices around me. When one of the figures said, “That’s her,” I woke up.”
Megan put the remaining bit of sandwich into her mouth, chewed, then swallowed. “Wow, Clara. It actually happened. After all these years, you actually did something.”
I nodded. Megan was the only person who knew how I felt about my lack of magic and that I was such a disappointment to Mom and Grandma. I knew they secretly wished Sarah had lived.
“What did she say?”
“Who?”
She rolled her eyes. “Your grandma, of course. Was she excited? Is she going to train you? Oh, my god, Clara. I can’t believe it. This is so cool.”
“Calm down, Meg. When I told Grandma, she started talking about angels and some prophecy, saying she had the same vision as a child. Then she went all funny and told me to get ready for school.”
“That’s weird.”
“I know. I have no idea what she was going on about. First of all, she asked me if I believed in angels. I mean, come on. I know she’s a witch and I believe in magic, but angels? That’s going a little far.”
Megan wasn’t listening. She had turned toward the football field.
“What are you looking at?”
She turned back to me, her face flush. “Nothing.”
I frowned. “Meg?”
“Okay, okay, but don’t hate me, all right?”
I shrugged. The only reason Megan would ever say something like that was… “Oh, my god. You fancy him, don’t you?” I smiled.
“Who?” she asked, but her red face gave her away.
“Peter Jenkins.”
She didn’t say anything. I followed her gaze and, sure enough, there he was. The guy who had teased and tormented me for years stood with the rest of the team. They thought they were all that, thought every girl in the school should fancy them. Well, I didn’t.
“Sorry, Clara. I can’t help it. He’s so cute. He’s really not that bad when you start talking to him.”
“How would you know?” I snapped.
“I sit beside him in maths this year and—”
“Fine, but don’t expect me to be nice to him. Just promise me you’ll be careful. You know what he’s like, Megan. He’s been with nearly every girl in school.”
“I never said I wanted to go out with him. I just said he was cute. Jeez.” Megan huffed and went back to her lunch. I left her to it as I watched Mr. I Love Myself prance around the field.
I took a bite of my sandwich, not in the mood to eat it anymore. Megan and I didn’t argue that often, but it always hit me right in the chest whenever we did.
“Um… Meg?”
“Yeah?”
“You wanna come over to my place after school, see if Grandma will say any more.”
She shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“Come on, Meg. I’m sorry. Okay? I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
She turned to me and laughed. “Gotcha.”
“You—”
She pointed at me. “Don’t finish it. Remember, we’re on a no swearing mission.”
“Beetle,” I said instead, and we both burst out laughing.
“Had you going there, didn’t I? You should have seen your face, Clara. Classic. As if I’d be interested in Peter Jenkins. He’s a…” Megan paused as if thinking. “Dope. He’s a dope.”
“If you weren’t blushing because you fancied Peter, who was it then?” I scanned the field to see who else was there. Peter, Philip, Gary… Then I spotted him. Eli Matthews sat on the far side of the pitch, his black leather jacket over his uniform. He didn’t ever talk to anyone.
“Eli,” I blurted out, and Megan’s face lit up.
“You got me.” She looked over at him. “There’s something about him this year. I can’t put my finger on it, but god, he’s hot.”
“Good luck with that one. If you can get him to even talk to you, it will be a miracle.”
Megan smirked. “We’ll see.”
I furrowed my brows. “Megan Donnelly, what are you up to?”
She grinned. “Nothing.”
When the bell rang, we gathered our stuff and walked back inside.
“What’ve you got the rest of the day?” Megan asked as I grabbed my books out of my locker.
“History, French, and geography. You?”
“Home ec, biology, and English.”
“Lucky you. Meet you here after?”
“Will do,” she said as she raced off down the corridor.
I made my way to history. We were talking about the American Revolution today, not something that interested me in the slightest.
- Writer
