Young Writers Society

I step out of the cafeteria and gasp. No way! Really? Is this true?

Can I dare to hope that it's true? Can I? No. But... it's there. Maybe....

My eyes bore into the flyer so hard I swear to Hecate it's about to go up in flames. Probably not the best thing to happen while at human school. Yeah, no, definitely not.

Also, since the Norms would be seeing part of the wall on fire, that would probably make it worse. Walls don't usually tend to have small rectangles catching fire. At least, not as far as I know. Do they? Sounds like something I should ask my mom.

"Kendyll?" my best friend Teagan asks me, elbowing me. "What's going on?" I can tell she notices the flyer because her jaw drops. "Is... is that what I think it is? Kendyll, I'd better not be seeing things. Tell me you see a witch school flyer."

I grin, elbowing her right back. "That's right, T. It's for a witch school. The Thirteen actually convinced the High Priestess to open one up! And it's right in the J. R. Alford Greenway, too! The Greenway, T! Right here. We. Can. Go. To. Witch. School. In. Tally." My grin widens, earning me weird looks from other kids in the hallway of Swift Creek Middle School, but I don't care. So what if the Norms think I have some weird happiness disease? For what the flyer's announcing, I might as well. After all, it's not like something like this happens on a daily basis.

Teagan bounces from foot to foot, almost stepping on me with her black combat boots. Her pale brown eyes are sparkling with excitement, though, so I'm not gonna complain. It is insanely fantastic, after all. "You realize what this means, right? If we go there, we won't have to pretend anymore. We won't have to hide it. And we can learn more of the useful stuff, too."

"I know, it's incredible!" I exclaim enthusiastically, trying really hard to keep my voice quiet. Can't have the Norms figuring out our secret. If they find out we're witches.... Well, it's not like witch hunts aren't things Norms do. I mean, think about Salem. My ancestor, Rebecca Nurse, had been a victim of the trials. So had Teagan's ancestor, Sarah Wildes. I have absolutely no intention of being the reason another round of trials happens down here in Tallahassee.

The bells rings, making both of us flinch and jump almost half a foot high. Right, classes. Human school. That exists, I think.

Teagan taps me on the shoulder. "Skip or stay?" she asks, arching a perfectly manicured eyebrow. Dang, how does she do that? I wish I could arch a single eyebrow.

Wait, why am I talking about eyebrows? Weird.

Anyway....

"Yeah, let's skip. There's no way we can actually pay attention to math when we have Card Academy on our minds," I point out.

Teagan snorts. "Right, because you, Kendyll Nurse, ever actually pay attention to math. Please. But yeah, let's skip. Math is boring."

"Also, we need to work on our applications and actually read the pamphlet. Do you really want to show up and not know what you're doing?" I add. Yeah, sure, we both know we'll be winging most of it, but we should at least read the map part of the pamphlets so we know where we're going.

"Fine, good point," she agrees, nodding. "Let's go hang out in a parking lot or something." She grabs my arm and drags me through the hallway, almost making me crash into random students and earning dirty looks from the ones we do crash into. Oops. If anyone asks, it's her fault, not mine.

Once Teagan finally drags us through the front door, we stumble through the trees and almost crash into those before we exit onto Pedrick Road. Great, now we just have to make sure we don't get hit by a car. Lovely.

"Ken, how's Walmart sounding to you?" she asks.

I shrug and say, "Yeah, sure. I need to get Kimberly something for her birthday. Now's as good a time as any. You?" I grit my teeth as my white Converse high tops almost get stuck on a fallen branch. The stupid people who take care of the road really need to up their game. I'm pretty sure nobody wants to trip over something and get hit by a car.

"Same, but for my mom. What do you wanna get for your sister?" Teagan lets go of my arm, noticing my near fall, and helps me fix my balance.

"I dunno, maybe a Dumbledore shirt as a joke since she and the rest of the Thirteen are opening the school and she's gonna be Headmaster." Kimberly as a Headmaster? Didn't see that coming. But it's happening, I guess.

Teagan throws her head back and laughs. "That's brilliant! Okay, now let's go so you can get Kimberly a gag gift and I can get my mom... something. And we're definitely gonna get new school supplies and work on our applications, too." She grabs my arm again and continues to drag me down Pedrick Road to the nearby Walmart, not stopping except when crossing the streets, and leaving me to stumble along grinning like a maniac about Card Academy.