About a week later…

“Zaya! Wake up, you gotta go to school today!” Momma shouted from downstairs, pulling me away from my slumber.

I did not want to get up. Or go to school. The bed was safe and warm, with no mean bullies here either. This blanket was my shield from having to step out into the unfair life I had.

“Zaya—Come on! I know your fever is gone. You can’t miss anymore school.”

I could die if I leave the house, is what I wanted to say back to Momma, but chose not to because she would think I am weird probably.

“Curtis, can you get your sister for me?”

Oh, no. No, no, no. He was the last person I wanted to see.

“I’m up! I’m up!” I screamed as I hurriedly shuffled off the bed. Slithering like a snake to get my legs untangled from the sheets until I finally jumped to the floor.

Curtis scared me. He’s the one who made me see that scarring stuff last week. I did not know what type of magic he used, but I would not forgive him for using it on me. He had already won the fight too and whatever spell he used looked like it caused him a lot of pain. Or maybe he was just acting like he was in pain. No, he definitely was acting. He had probably been laughing about it all week and told Daphne about it too. I was sick and had nightmares for a whole week because of that spell, and I bet he didn’t even feel bad. He had not been in our room at all since then, so I had to be right.

My thoughts paused for a moment when small footsteps climbing the stairs shrilled my eardrums.

No, why was he coming up here? I said I am coming. I was just about to get dressed. I did not want to see him. He was probably just gonna gloat about his victory. Or he’ll use that spell on me again. I got to hide, I thought as I jumped under my bed covers and laid flat on my stomach.

Maybe he will not be able to tell where I am. Hopefully.

I held my breath as the small footsteps entered the room and walked towards me. The sound of Curtis’s movement stopped in the middle of our beds. My face was turned toward him, but purple sheets with a line of sunlight shining through blocked my view of him. I could not tell if he saw me or not.

“Zaya?”

Oh, no! Did he see me? I did not respond. He might have been trying to draw me out.

Curtis stepped closer to the bed.

No! He saw me. How? The bed should be taller than him.

He stopped moving again, near my bed. Probably looked slightly up and had allowed a moment of silence before…

“Did you see my memories?” he asked quietly.

Why is he talking so well? And, what memories?

“Was it your magic?”

My magic? What did he mean?

“Zaya! Get down here, we’re leaving in fifteen!” Momma called.

“Coming!” I loudly responded—then sat up and let the purple sheets slide down my back. There was no point in hiding anymore. Curtis was already looking straight at me.

My body tensed when I looked at him. He looked different. More serious. Less like a child, and more like Momma and Daddy. It was scary. No four-year-old should look like this. And why was he looking at me like that? Was he mad at me? For last week? Why would he be mad? He had won.

I wanted to get ready so Momma would not get angry, but with him standing there, I was unable to move.

After a few moments, Curtis finally said, “We’ll talk later.”

Then, the innocent four-year-old, my little brother, returned and walked toward the exit of the room. I wiggled off my bed without taking my eyes off him. He was acting weirder than usual, and I did not like it. Before exiting, he looked back and smiled with a toddler grin.

“Have a good day at school!”

He sounded normal then and left me standing there, having forgotten what I needed to do.

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“ZAYA!”

I remembered.

“Putting my clothes on!” I responded back to Momma as I rushed to the closet. Deciding to forget about Curtis for the time being.

***

After fifteen minutes and an apology to Momma…

The car ride to school was very familiar to me. We only lived about ten minutes from the campus and always took the same route there. Making it so I always saw the same things and places on my way to school. Today was no different.

I sat in my booster seat, behind Momma, and looked out the window. My forehead rested on the nice, cold glass because I liked the way it felt and helped me keep my mind blank. Some cars passed by, going the opposite way, and sometimes I tried to race them with my eyes. A winner was never clear though. Especially on the busy road, which we were on right now. Momma turned onto this busy road from my neighborhood, but soon she will turn off it to enter another neighborhood.

“Oh yeah, Curtis,” said Daphne, in the front passenger seat. “After school today, I can teach you more about magic. I’ve finished planning the lessons out.”

“Really?!” Curtis beamed from excitement.

“Yup, and don’t think it is going to be easy! You may learn quickly, but what we’re going to do next will be tough—you understand?”

“Ye-”

“It’s going to be safe,” Momma spoke over Curtis’s enthusiastic response. “Right, Daphne?”

It was not so much a question, as it was an order.

She continued, before Daphne could answer, “Curtis is only four years old. I understand he is gifted in magic, and you may want to challenge him, but don’t forget the dangers that mages can face if they don’t use it properly.”

“Of course, Aunty Ilene. I know.”

“I know you know, Daphne. It’s just the mother in me that likes to remind. And even if you are not my kid, you are in my care, and I don’t want you to get hurt either. Not that I doubt your abilities, but accidents can happen.”

“...I understand.”

Daphne said with a bit of apprehension, and crossed her arms as she spoke. She breathed as if about to add something to the conversation, but then decided against it.

“Hmmm?” Momma hummed.

It was quiet again. I could hear the wind of passing cars and the scrapping of the tires on the road. Daphne once said that where she is from, there are cars without wheels. I did not believe her at first, but then Daddy showed me a video on his computer of a car without wheels. For whatever reason, I had not seen one in my town. Daddy then showed me a lot of other things that I had never seen or heard about before. It made me want to visit a town on the other side of the forest. I asked Momma and Daddy if we could ever visit somewhere over there, and they said maybe someday. That was good enough for me, as long as they thought about it.

Momma turned right into a neighborhood, which the school was in the middle of. Meaning it was time for me to unlatch my forehead from the window and hide my head below the window. Tons of students lived in this neighborhood and walked to school. Including some of the kids that made fun of me. I did not want them to possibly see me as we drove through.

The only problem is that Momma noticed, her eyes peering at me from the middle mirror..

“What ya doing there, honey?”

“Nothing.”

Daphne glanced back for a second and smirked. Curtis just stared at me, blankly. Looking completely like the little brother I knew, and not whatever he was acting like not long ago. They both made me want to scream.

“Do you not want people to see your face? You know it is a cute face,” Momma said teasingly.

I shook my head. She turned left. Not saying anything until she completed the turn.

“Are kids still making fun of you?”

Her tone got more serious.

“No,” I lied. Last time I told her yes, it just made things worse.

“Do you feel well?”

She turned right after passing the neighborhood park.

“Yes.”

“Then, why are you doing that?”

“No reason.”

She turned left onto the street where the school is located.

“If something is bothering you, you know that you can always tell me, right?”

“I know.”

There were a lot of things bothering me. Two of the reasons were in the car with me, so I could not mention that, and everything else Momma could not fix. I wished I could tell her, but there was no point. Also, Momma already knew about how I wish I had magic. If I did not get it, I would not even be able to drive cars. They work because of people’s magic, as Daddy said. And not just cars. A lot of things work only if you have magic. There was no telling if I could survive without it.

The breaks of the car squeaked.

“Alright,” Momma said as Daphne and I unbuckled, “Have a great day at school! Love you!”

“Love you!” I responded as I opened the door and hopped out of the car.

A flock of students stood at the front of the school, waiting to be let in. I walked my way towards it, and hoped that today would be a good day.