text: Ellie examined herself in the mirror. Her long, blonde hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail, and her eyes were sunken in from stress. She sighed, tightened her ponytail even more, and exited the small bathroom. She trudged down the long hallway and re-entered the head master’s office, where her mother and father were waiting for her. “Hello, Miss Elaina,” The headmaster greeted, sitting straight up with her hands folded on her desk. “Hello, Mrs..” Ellie glanced at her name plaque. “Rothschild.” “Ms,” She was corrected. She nodded awkwardly and sank into the giant, pleather chair in front of Ms. Rothschild. “So,” The headmaster began. “Elaina will be enrolled into our seventh grade gifted program, and she will be on the third floor of the boarding house. Her extracurricular activities will include soccer, French, and pottery. She will be on fall break in October, and it will be two weeks long. She is expected to complete all of the homework given for that break. Any questions?” Ellie’s parents looked stunned. They shook their heads, and Ms. Rothschild smiled. “Great! Well, we’ll get her to her room then. Say your goodbyes, and I will have my assistant walk her to the boarding house.” Ellie looked at her mom and dad, and gave them reluctant hugs. They had tears in their eyes, and she wondered why. They were the reason this was happening, they could stop it at any time. Once the goodbyes were over, Ellie followed a small woman named Miss Scotts out of the building and into another, taller one. They walked up two flights of stairs, and got to a room with the number 83 carved into a metal plaque. “Here is your room,” The woman squeaked. Ellie nodded at her, and entered the small dorm room. It had two creaky metal beds, and a small window in between. Off to the side, there was an old, particle board desk and dresser set, and a tiny closet. Ellie unpacked her small suitcase, and then sat on the left bed to read a book. She hadn’t even been reading for five minutes when the door to the room flew open. In bounced a petite, redheaded girl. “Hello!” The girl chirped. “I’m Shelby!” “Hello, Shelby,” Ellie responded, and introduced herself. “Well, I guess we’re roommates,” Shelby smiled. Ellie smiled back, in spite of herself. Shelby’s attitude was infectious. For the next few hours, Shelby and Ellie lounged in their room. At about 5 o’clock, they decided to go explore. But, when they left the room, they couldn’t find the stairwell. They brushed it off, and went back to their room. Later that evening, they were called down for dinner. They headed down the stairs, and went across the courtyard into the cafeteria. They sat down at the tables, and ate ravenously, exhausted and hungry from the long travel to St. Mary’s. Ellie was so hungry, she almost didn’t notice the teachers whispering amongst themselves. But she did, and pointed it out to Shelby. Shelby shrugged it off. “They’re probably just gossiping about something.” Ellie nodded, not completely convinced. They went to bed at 9 o’clock, because that was their curfew. Ellie laid in bed, not tired at all. She could hear Shelby snoring, and it made her giggle. Suddenly, she heard loud creaking. She listened hard. It sounded almost like the building was.. Moving. But Ellie knew that wasn’t possible. After about three minutes, the creaking stopped. Ellie was confused, but decided not to question it. She flipped over, and finally fell asleep. In the morning, they woke up at 7 o’clock. They got ready for their lessons, and went into the cafeteria. They all entered at the same time, and noticed none of the teachers were there. They sat down at the tables, and suddenly food appeared on the table. The girls gasped. Where did it come from? Ms. Rothschild appeared at the front of the room. “Hello, girls. I am sure you’re all confused; let me explain. There are 300 of you, all young women. Now, this might come as a surprise, but you are all beginning witches.” The girls looked at each other in disbelief. She was joking, right? “No, I am not joking. You all have a very rare blood type. That blood type is F positive, and it ensures that you are descendants of Merlin. A lot of people don’t believe in him, but you girls.. You ARE him. Now, of course you will still learn the normal school subjects. But you will also be learning how to hone your powers.” The girls were shocked. This was NOT what they were expecting when they arrived at the St. Mary’s. Girls started trying to use their powers, making things float and bounce around the entire cafeteria. Ms. Rothschild watched, laughing slightly at their delight. Ellie looked over at Shelby. Ellie concentrated hard, and Shelby’s ice water floated into the air, before dropping back down onto the table. They grinned widely at each other. They could get used to this whole ‘witch’ thing. After breakfast, the horde of girls rushed to their first classes, excited to learn. Ellie and Shelby had a potion-making class first, and they chose two large, plush seats to sit in. They held hands, and listened intently as the teacher explained the ‘level one’ potion that they were going to practice making. It was meant to turn a teenager into a toddler for five minutes. The girls worked hard; mixing together cinnamon with frog tongues and tree roots. Once they were all done, the teacher looked into all of their cauldrons, nodding. Then she turned to the students. “Drink them,” She demanded. The girls were shocked, but did as they were told. Suddenly, they were all little toddlers! They could think like girls their age, but appeared to be three years old. After the potions wore off, their teacher smiled. “Well done, girls. You are dismissed.” Shelby and Ellie joined hands, hurrying to their next class and chattering excitedly. This was going to be a fun school year.