Dragging her feet, Hailey shuffles her way into the office. Spotting a familiar face she says, “Hey Mrs. Anderson, do you know what’s going on?”

With a genuine smile, the office lady replies, “Sorry dear, I’m not entirely certain. You’re supposed to speak to the counselor, however. He’ll be out in a moment.” Reaching down to her phone, she hits a button and says, “John dear, Hailey Penze is here.”

A few moments later an older man walks out from the depths of the office. With a polite smile he says, “Hailey? I’m Mr. Rutter, would you mind following me back to my office for a chat?”

Nodding, Hailey starts to walk knowing she has no other choice. Nervous, she asks, “So, um, Mr. Rutter, what’s going on?”

“Oh,” murmurs Mr. Rutter, “Well Hailey you’re aware of the PSMHSA?”

“Peshhmahssah?” asks Hailey.

“Promoting Super Mental Health in Schools Act, I know the acronym doesn’t roll off the tongue but they wanted to build on the letters from previous legislation.”

Anxious, Hailey asks, “Supers? Did you say promoting super’s mental health?”

Laughing slightly, Mr. Rutter says, “Not super’s health, promoting super mental health. The bigwigs in Washington love their witticisms. Anyway, the agreement is to make sure minors get the help they need in the wake of attacks by supervillains.”

Relieved somewhat, Hailey cautiously continues, “But why me, Becca attacked the whole city.”

Opening her door and ushering Hailey inside, Mr. Rutter totters to his desk. Taking a seat, he gestures for Hailey to do so as well. “Yes, and it was horrible wasn’t it?” not pausing to give Hailey the chance to answer, he adds, “but I asked you to stop by because the bill stipulates that any minor involved in multiple supervillain attacks within the past year has to sit an assessment by a qualified professional. After the mall and now Becca… well it’s time you and I had a talk is all.”

Confused, Hailey asks, “But I wasn’t involved in the attack by Becca?”

Nodding in confirmation, Mr. Rutter clarifies, “That’s correct. But the bill stipulates that any A1 attack is equivalent to a second attack regardless of the minor’s involvement. Frankly, most of the A1 attacks involve such widespread devastation that the distinction is usually moot. Of course, these situations are rare to begin with. To be quite honest you’re the first I’ve ever had. If it wasn’t for Beacon mentioning the provision to the mayor after the attack and the memo that went out we might have missed your case. So can we talk?”

Relaxing slightly with the certainty that this routine visit is indeed routine, if not entirely ordinary, Hailey slumps into the chair. “So what do you wanna know?” She asks with some of her gusto back.

“Well, I think we should start with a general discussion about how you’re feeling lately. I see from the notes that you went over the standard questions after the mall with a therapist, but I just want to check in and see if any of your answers have changed since then.”

Hailey hums to herself for a moment before shaking her head. Nodding at the gesture, Mr. Rutter gives a quick smile. “So then, we can skip some of the questions. How have you been dealing with your grief?”

Shifting uncomfortably, Hailey vacillates before answering. “It’s hard. I miss her. Some days when something good happens I forget that she died and I want to tell her about it.”

“And how does that make you feel?” he asks in a gentle tone.

“It used to be painful. Now it’s just…” Hailey trails off, searching for the right word. Looking up and meeting Mr. Rutter’s eyes she adds, “It’s uncomfortable, but it doesn’t hurt.”

“You should be proud of the progress you’ve made, Hailey,” says Mr. Rutter. “I know you and I haven’t spoken before but I can tell you that most of the people I interview after events like these have a great deal of difficulty adjusting.”

“Soooooo does that mean I can go now?”

Cracking a smile, Mr. Rutter titters, “No, no I’m sorry but I do have to do my job first.” Turning serious, he continues, “What concerns me is primarily that you’ve been exposed to a shock. I understand that your previous therapist also felt you made great progress, I just don’t want to see this make you lose any of that progress.”

“Don’t be worried, I’m pretty resilient,” responds Hailey, insistently.

“These things aren’t always about resilience. Sometimes when we experience trauma we can feel fine for quite some time before experiencing a trigger.”

“No triggers here, I’m just a happy teenager these days,” responds Hailey, doing her best to project an aura of confidence.

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Mr. Rutter pauses before replying. “That’s good to hear. Now I know this might be asking too much, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to speak with me about the mall. Any future visits you have will be with me and if I have a better understanding of your situation, I can do a better job on your behalf.”

Waving her hand nervously, Hailey answers, “I get it.” Thinking about Mr. Rutter’s request for a minute, she feels the silence to grow before saying cautiously, “Alright. If you want to talk about it, I’m alright talking about it.”

“Thank you,” says Mr. Rutter, “where do you feel comfortable beginning the story?”

“Well we went to get Missy a pair of shoes for her birthday. We were in the store when she attacked, Malefic, I mean.” Hailey gestures in front of herself, spinning her hands as she talks. “Amanda,” Hailey swallows before continuing, “she never had much of a chance.”

“Why do you say that?” asks Mr. Rutter.

“Amanda was never a brave girl. When the windows blew out, she panicked.”

Interrupting, Mr. Rutter asks, “The windows blew out?”

“Malefic’s flames,” Hailey makes a sweeping motion with her hand, pushing at the air in front of her as she says, “they create a wave of pressure as a side effect of the rapid increase in heat. That wave of pressure destroyed the windows and sent glass shards flying through the shop before the actual fire started.”

“Oh my,” Mr. Rutter intones with a surprised look on his face.

Nodding, Hailey continues, “Yeah, kinda ironically, that saved my life. When the pressure wave from the window hit I was trying on Missy’s birthday gift, the heels. I’m not great in heels, so the wave knocked me over and saved me. Then Malefic lit up the mall, store by store.”

Mr. Rutter pauses, seeing Hailey struggle slightly with the memory. Gently, he asks, “I’d like to circle back to what you said before, about Amanda panicking. It sounds like you blame her for what happened with Malefic’s attack. Is that a fair statement?”

Taken aback, Hailey responds, “What makes you think that?”

“You said she panicked, but the way you’re telling the story it seems like Malefic was primarily responsible for her death.”

“I don’t mean to make it seem like Amanda messed up, it’s just hard that she started screaming.”

Mr. Rutter shifts uncomfortably before asking, “Screaming?”

“Yeah, she reacted badly to the glass shards. Instead of ducking down and hiding she screamed and that drew Malefic straight to us.” Hailey tries to maintain her stoic attitude, but a hint of frustration seeps into her voice as she speaks.

“Do you think she could have survived if she had acted differently?” Mr. Rutter asks. His tone is gentle and his posture is relaxed, but his eyes seem to peer straight into Hailey’s soul as she contemplates her answer.

Hailey struggles trying to find an answer, or anything to say. Finally, Hailey shrugs and answers, “I don’t know. Malefic wasn’t planning on leaving anyone alive. I’ve researched her since and she never lets anyone live if she can help it.”

Shuddering, Mr. Rutter breaks eye contact before asking, “I understand a certain macabre interest but I feel obligated to warn you that dwelling on the situation like that can be unhealthy.”

“I’m not dwelling. I just wanted to know,” promises Hailey.

Mr. Rutter lifts his hands, palms showing, and waves away any concern. “I won’t pry. I just want you to refrain from obsessing over this woman.”

Hesitant, Hailey speaks slowly, “I found out some other things too. Some of it I had to dig hard for. Did you know that she might have been one of the Lieutenants?”

“Of Ascherus? No, I didn’t,” replies Mr. Rutter.

Nodding in confirmation, Hailey responds, “Yeah, she’s one of them. I mean, you can never be certain, obviously, but she’s on the shortlist according to most of the websites that track that sort of thing.”

“Does it makes you feel better, knowing that?”

Considering the question, Hailey pauses to think. Slowly she shakes her head, uncertain of the answer. “It doesn’t. It used to. Then I had a conversation with someone I respect about Ash and I realized the world is a bigger place than I thought. Malefic is scary, but she’s just one of a whole pile of problems.”

Mr. Rutter cocks his head to the side before asking, “What kind of problems?”

“Like,” Hailey waves her hand about aimlessly before adding lamely, “stuff like Becca I guess. But what I mean, mostly, is that in the end it doesn’t really matter, what matters is that she’s evil. Looking for the root of a problem like her won’t change the reality of who she is now. If she was a Lieutenant or not, if she went for the shoe store or the food court first, those kinds of questions, they don’t matter. What matters is what I can do about her now.”

Mr. Rutter allows the silence to grow between the two as he studies Hailey’s face. The diminutive girl’s eyes seem to shine slightly in faded darkness of the simply lit office. Finally, he asks, “What you can do? I hope you aren’t planning on trying anything foolhardy Hailey.”

The blue eyes lose their luster as Hailey snaps back to attention, blinking. Refocusing her attention on Mr. Rutter, she replies with a laugh, “Oh you know, I mean how I can be a better person, a good person. When I grow up, I want to help people, to make the world a better place.”

“That’s a good goal.” Mr. Rutter then shifts and clears his throat before continuing, “I’d like to refocus, as I think we got a bit sidetracked. Would you mind walking me through the rest of what happened at the mall?”

“Oh right! Well it’s not much of a story really. Amanda’s screams brought Malefic straight to us. She blasted the storefront and caught Amanda in the initial torrent of fire, but before she could hunt me down Wiccan arrived.”

“She’s the vigilante, the one known for targeting men, correct?”

“She was the vigilante. Malefic killed her.”

Mr. Rutter’s compassionate expression wavers. “Oh my, were you… did you see?”

Tight lipped, Hailey nods in reply before continuing her story. “I didn’t. I was hiding with what was left of Amanda while they fought.”

“What was left?”

“Of her body.”

Inhaling sharply, Mr. Rutter’s expression becomes pitying as he says, “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Waving him off Hailey says with a flippant voice that doesn’t quite match her expression, “It’s okay. I had nightmares for a while but not anymore. Things are alright now though.”

“So how did you escape?” asks Mr. Rutter, looking to change the subject.

“Malefic and Wiccan went down the escalator and I ran when they were far enough away for me to escape. It isn’t an exciting story, I was blinded by the smoke and wobbling around on a broken heel. So instead of getting out the door I fell over the railing and knocked myself out. When I came to, Malefic was gone, Wiccan was dead, and paramedics had arrived.”

Mr. Rutter asks, “Is that everything?”

Shrugging, Hailey smiles back and lies convincingly, “Close enough to everything, yeah. I mean there were police who wanted to debrief me, my parents were hysterical, and the funeral but that’s the gist of things.”

“How is your relationship with your parents now?” asks Mr. Rutter carefully. “Are they supporting you, especially in the wake of this attack?”

Grimacing, Hailey answers with, “Well actually mom and dad are out of town right now. They called to check up on me last night though.” Smiling in a reassuring fashion, she meets Mr. Rutter’s gaze and continues, “They’re busy people. But that’s not a bad thing, I needed space after Amanda and the mall and they gave it to me.”

Frowning, Mr. Rutter hums to himself, clearly vacillating on whether or not to ask the question on his mind. Seeing his expression, Hailey waves her hand to preempt the question and says, “I know, I know, it sounds like they’re absentee parents right? But really that’s not the case at all! I like to be alone sometimes, that’s all.”

“Being alone can be difficult, especially in circumstances like yours. It’s important to have a network of support you can rely on and it sounds like your parents might not be a strong part of your network.”

“They are part of my network,” affirms Hailey. “And I do have support. I have a small but really great circle of friends who love me and would do anything for…” trailing off, Hailey glances away to obscure the troubled look in her eyes.

Sensing her confusion, Mr. Rutter asks, “Hailey? Is everything alright with your friends?”

Looking back up with a determined expression, Hailey says in a voice that projects confidence, “Absolutely. Or, it will be. But, if you don’t mind, I do need to talk to them, sooner rather than later.”

Taken aback with surprise at the sudden change in Hailey’s demeanor, Mr. Rutter simply nods in approval. As Hailey marches out the door of his office he says, “I’ll be here if you need me, please don’t hesitate to knock on my door anytime.”

Her words, however, fall upon the uncaring ears of a teenage girl on a mission! A mission that will come to bear next week in… “A Lesson in Magic!”