The college they, now we, attended was two bus rides away and was one of those charmless modern buildings that looked like a bunch of blocks of glass and stone stacked together. Someone had come up with the bright idea to paint the walls in garish colours in an effort to appear ‘fun.’

It didn’t work.

On the plus side, there was no mandatory school uniform; so I could go just in jeans and sneakers, with yet another spaghetti strap top that was leaving me determined to buy some proper t-shirts if I was going to be in this body much longer.

English and Mathematics were mandatory classes, and fortunately, they were the entirety of my morning schedule which was a good thing as I actually knew what I was doing with those. The afternoon block, that was all Art/Graphic Design was not my forte.

Unfortunately, it had been Jen’s, so I was going to have to muddle along as best I could and hope no one expected anything special.

Burdened down with a backpack full of textbooks and file folders, I followed Becca into the first class of the day. A bored man in a rumpled shirt and stained tie droned on for an hour about a subject that I had passed years ago.

I got the general impression from Becca that Jen wasn’t the type to be asking or answering questions, so I was content to doodle in my notebook while I half-listened and tried to remember spells and rituals I had read almost forty years before.

By the time we went to the next class, I was glad of a break from tormenting myself with trying to dig up memories long since buried.

I’d not gotten very far.

The mathematics was interesting at least, with a focus on algebra and some math puzzles that were a distraction. But that was soon over and I was back to brooding until the bell rang for the lunch break.

“Finally,” I muttered as I gathered up my books. “I’m actually feeling hungry.”

“Really?” Becca smiled as she packed her bags away. “You’ve barely mentioned food since we met.”

I hesitated, just for a split second, but she noticed it and her look turned to one of concern. I waved it away and plastered on a roguish smile as I lied. “My magic was sustaining me, but now I need to replenish my energies.”

She didn’t seem quite sure whether to believe me or not, but I kept the smile firmly in place and gestured for her to lead the way. As soon as her back was turned I let the smile drop and felt the twinge of worry.

The body had felt hunger and thirst before. That wasn’t the problem. I’d been aware of that hunger in an abstract sort of way, but now, I felt the hunger and it was just another sign of how connected I was becoming to Jen’s body, and how little time I had left.

I needed out of Jen’s body and into my own and the only way that would happen was if I could find whoever had killed her. I just wasn’t sure I would have time for that.

My mood, already heading south due to a boring ass morning playing college student when I could have been working on a plan of attack for getting my body back, sank even further. I was subdued as I walked through the throng of students in the halls, heading towards the cafeteria.

Any hunger I had been feeling had vanished along with my good humour, but I played the part as Becca expected and grabbed an apple, a can of coke and a cheese and ham sandwich. As basic a meal as I could get away with and fuel for Jen’s body.

After paying, we grabbed an empty table and sat on opposite sides. I ate mechanically as Becca looked anywhere and everywhere, gauging the reaction of everyone who came into the brightly lit space and saw me sitting at the table opposite the doors.

“No one’s reacted,” Becca muttered as she sipped on her coke. “Literally, no one!”

“Maybe they haven’t all come through here,” I said, shrugging. “We can’t even be sure it was someone from this college. Surely there were other people at the party?”

“Nah, was just kids from the estate and college,” Becca replied absently, craning her neck to peer at a group of girls sitting three tables over. “Shit, even Mandy isn’t reacting and I figured she would be high on the list of suspects.”

I glanced over at where she looked. Three girls sat huddled together, staring down at their phones and chattering. They looked much the same as any other girl I had seen that day, though it was clear that the redhead in the centre was the leader.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Pretty, with freckles and an upturned nose, she was slim with the type of curves and big tits that most guys went for. Heck, I admitted to myself, I would have gone for her in my past life. But, aside from the superficial, there was something about the way she held herself that drew the eye and made her the centre of attention.

She looked up and saw me studying her and he pretty face twisted as she turned and said something to her friends. Then all three of them were looking my way and soon enough, they were headed over.

Just what I needed.

“Mandy,” Becca said before the trio could speak. “Saw you at the party the other night.”

“So?” The acid dripped from the word and Mandy cocked her hip in that way that only a teenage girl could do that screamed bad attitude. I almost smiled, I was starting to like her. “Why were you staring, creeper?”

“Think she’s got a crush on you,” the girl on her right said.

“Yeah, heard her boyfriend dumped her 'cause she’s a slag,” the girl on the left added in. “Everyone’s talking about it.”

“Mark’s nice,” Mandy said. “Must be a slag to cheat on him with his best mate.”

Becca gave me a warning look but I just smiled and spread my hands. The teenage fights of these girls were beneath me. I had bigger things to worry about.

“Well?” Mandy demanded. “Why were you staring at us?”

Becca leapt to my defence, and I turned away from them, tuning out the noise. There were some choice words and some rare insults thrown my way, along with a threat or two, but since I didn’t react they couldn’t justify doing much more than that.

I pulled out my notepad and tore off a page and began to draw. A line here, a cure and a circle there, a few squiggles that looked like snakes dancing and so on. By the time the girls had grown bored and wandered back to their table, I was done and I whispered a chant.

“What’re you doing?” Becca asked, suspicious as I folded the paper neatly.

“Nothing permanent or painful,” I chided softly. “I remember what you said.”

“You shouldn’t…”

I ignored her as I stood up and walked away from the table to the vending machines at the side of the room. I purchased a chocolate bar and tore the wrapper before taking a bite and surveying the room.

Once again, I was largely ignored. Sure, there were a few glances my way by some of the boys but they would have looked at any girl in tight jeans and a low-cut top so I didn’t pay particular attention to them.

Over in the corner, there was one boy reading something on his phone. He was eating absentmindedly as he read, engrossed fully in the task. A hair under six feet, he was a good ten pounds overweight and had the pimply skin that was common to teenagers the world over.

I was fairly certain that he was in the background of the photos that Becca had spent much of her free time staring at, and he didn’t seem to belong to any particular clique, which gave me an idea. Not a nice idea, but definitely one that could work out in my favour.

After all, I didn’t need to find the killer if I could just make Becca think I had found him.

As I walked a circuitous route back to the table where Becca waited, I considered a plan that was forming and almost chuckled as I silently dropped the folder paper into the pocket of Mandy’s coat as I passed unnoticed behind her.

Back at the table, Becca looked expectantly at me and I just grinned, my fingers dancing as I sang the words of the spell, fuelling it with my magic.

Nothing immediately happened and I took a sip of the coke. Becca let out an exasperated gasp and threw her hands in the air. “You’re not going to say anything?”

“Who’s the guy in the corner?” I inclined my head towards the loner I’d noticed. “Short brown hair, glasses, chubby and sat alone?”

“Mikey? He’s in Jen’s art class I think. Why?”

“Got a strange look from him earlier,” I lied. “Might be worth checking into. See if he was at the party.”

Becca’s brow furrowed as she reached for her phone. “I think he was but-“

A scream cut her off and she looked up in alarm as chaos erupted at Mandy’s table. The three girls were all screaming and brushing at their clothes. One of the lackeys threw her half-eaten burrito on the floor while the other lackey turned away and lost the contents of her stomach.

Mandy, white-faced and mouth working soundlessly, just stared in horror at the remnants of her meal. Others were reacting now, hurrying over to see what was wrong or, for the majority, just watching in bemusement.

“What’s happening?” Becca asked.

“Shh.” I held a finger to my lips and grinned.

Mandy slapped a hand over her mouth and bolted for the doors while the first lackey, tears in her eyes, grabbed her bags and followed. The girl who had vomited had tears streaming down her face as she gathered up her belongings and fled, her cheeks burning.

One of the teachers had reached the table and was looking around in confusion as he wondered what had just happened. I smiled mirthlessly and turned back to Becca who looked questioningly at me.

“They saw maggots,” I said. “In their food. They could feel them in their mouths, slithering about and sliding down their throats. They will be feeling it still, and will be until they get rid of that piece of paper.”

“How?”

“It’s a glamour. I cast the first part on the paper and then when I cast the second part, anyone close to that paper will be affected by the spell. In this case, a simple illusion of maggots squirming around in their food.”

“That’s cruel!”

“Amusing,” I corrected, chuckling. “They won’t be harmed by it and the spell will have faded before we head back to class.”

Becca shook her head but then snorted and clasped a hand to her mouth, eyes widening in embarrassment.

“Oh god! Sorry, I shouldn’t laugh…”

“But they deserve it,” I said holding up two fingers, a centimetre apart. “Just a little.”

“Okay, just a little but cancel the spell now.” She pressed her lips firmly together to stop her smile and to try and look serious. “Please.”

I whispered a few words and snapped my fingers. “Done.”

“Thank you.”

“Now,” I said, smile fading. “Perhaps you can find out everything you can about, Mikey?”