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im going to delete this, just check out the discuss studio xD

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Chapter 1

“Magic. It’s something that almost everyone uses, ever since it was discovered. There are still a handful of people who try to deny its existence, but—” I shut off the camera I was using to record videos. That was my latest video that I had been working on. Looking back, I probably should have waited to look at it or woken up earlier. My videos weren’t going very well, anyways, but they were the only thing I was even slightly good at. I might give up on even that, though.
“Nora! You’re going to be late for school!” shouted Mom. Again, I probably should have woken up earlier, but it was all I could do not to magically turn off my alarm clock. You weren’t allowed to use magic unless you were doing it in school until you got a license to. I can see why. Magic isn’t easy. I walked downstairs. “Take this toast!” Mom magically levitated a buttered piece of toast, which wasn’t burnt at all towards me. I have NO CLUE how she makes her toast so perfectly. She doesn’t even use any magic to do it. I walked toward the bus stop, munching on my toast. Wait! The bus just left! I SERIOUSLY wish I could do a teleporting spell, but it’s very advanced. Not to mention the fact you can’t do magic outside of school.
“Wait for me!” I started running towards the bus, but it was too late. It looked like I would need to have Mom bring me to school. I walked BACK towards my house, but Mom had already left for work. Great. A perfect start to a new school week. Ms. Richardson, our principal, would be VERY mad at me if I showed up late again, and I would get a detention this time. If I ran, there would still be a sliver of a chance that I would get there in time. I ran as fast as I could, which wasn’t very fast. As if I wasn’t slow enough, I started slowing down. Gosh, I would give an arm and a leg for some enchanted shoes. There went any chance of me getting to school on time. But after around five million years, I finally got there.
M. M. M. S. is what the sign on the school said: Merlin’s Magic Middle School. A lengthy name if you ask me, but everyone just calls it “Merlin’s.” I looked at my watch: 9:00 AM. I was an hour late. Maybe I could still sneak into class. No one would notice I was absent, except maybe the teacher or a friend, but I was good at being unnoticed. It was unlikely, but I knew that Mom wouldn’t be too happy if I got a detention. I saw Ms. Richardson walk by me. I tried to work my way around her, but that was easier said than done. I bumped into someone, a student, I think. He looked at me, confused.
“Um…sorry!” I said, running away. I started to wonder if sneaking into class was really the best idea. Well, too late for that.
“Ms. Garcia, why aren’t you in class?” I spun around, revealing Ms. Richardson.
“Uhhh…I was thirsty?” Her phone came out of nowhere, but that’s not surprising, considering Merlin's is a magic school.
“Hmmm…you weren’t here this morning, were you?”
“YOU HAVE THE ATTENDANCE RECORDS ON YOUR PHONE!?”
“Please calm down, Nora. Now, I believe that you will get a detention this time.”
“Please, I…uh…I…I guess I have detention?”
“Yes. In fact, I'd like you to go to in-school detention right now.”
“Yes, Ms. Richardson,” I said, looking down. I glanced over toward the classroom I should have been in. Maybe I could sneak into there instead.
“Ms. Garcia?”
“Okay, I’ll go!” Strange. Where did Ms. Richardson go? Magic, right! I took a deep breath and turned to the detention door. “Here goes,” I said out loud, and I twisted the handle.

Chapter 2

It was much…brighter than I had expected.
Students were waiting in some kind of line to some kind of an office door, which seemed to be the only decoration in the entire, luminescent room. There were no desks, no places to sit at all. That must’ve been the punishment: standing for an entire sixty minutes to wait a turn with the principal.
I immediately began to dread my turn.
“Name?”
I started, not aware that I was being spoken to. It was a girl about my height with cherry-red hair, but her eyes were a reptilian green. A scroll elegantly curled at both ends was hovering between her fingers. Must be in the Witch Department, I thought.
“Nora Garcia.”
Her eyes scanned the scroll. “Please proceed to await your session with the Resolution Officer.”
“Who?”
But the girl was no longer looking in my direction, nor paying me any attention.
I took my place in the gloomy-looking line.
Great. Who was this “Resolution Officer” anyway? Sounded like someone grumpy—someone who was likely to give me a hard time because I was late to school. My heart sank as I imagined the teacher calling Mom about this, and it almost made me wish I had attended a plain old, no-magic school instead.
My thoughts of dread took up most of my waiting time, and before I had a chance to think up an explanation to Officer Grumpy, I was prompted to enter the office after the student before me came out. Surprisingly, he strode out as if he had all the time and not a care in the world.
Let’s get this over with.
The door handle was one of those golden, Victorian-style ones, and I pushed it down as I heard the door gently click open.
My mouth dropped as I froze to the spot in the doorway.
In a crimson, leather armchair was a raven-haired boy with a set of piercing, sapphire eyes. His ivory cape draped over his “What’s Your Problem?” T-shirt made him a cross between dashing and ridiculous.
“Good afternoon.”
I blinked and finally stepped away from the doorway. “Wait, so you’re the ‘Resolution Officer’?” I couldn’t help but ask. I’d expected someone…older.
“Cyfrin Jayr, the one and only at M. M. M. S.,” he replied, and rather smugly, I thought. “So. What brings you to detention today?”
I settled into one of the velvet armchairs across from his desk uneasily and a bit suspiciously. So, if he worked here, then that meant he didn’t go to school here. “Wait, I’m confused. What exactly is this for?”
“You’ve never been in detention, have you?”
His assuming tone was really getting on my nerves. “For your information,” I responded a little more harshly than I ought to, “no, I have never been in detention.”
He gave me an I-thought-so nod. “I see. I help you to stop coming to detention for the same reason. Now, please, what did you do?”
“So, you’re like some guidance counselor?” I asked, ignoring his question, and much to his annoyance. “I don’t think talking’s going to make me less likely to be late next time.” I muttered the last part as I shivered, imagining again what Mom would have to say to me when school was over.
“And you are…?
“Nora Garcia.”
“Nora. What made you arrive late?” He didn’t even give me a chance to answer before he added, “And for your information, I plant mental signals in your mind that pop up whenever you’re about to make the same mistake again.”
Mental signals? I immediately pictured flashing, red signs floating before my eyes.
“Okay…well, I just overslept, I guess.”
“Alright.” He outstretched his hands toward each other and a faint fizzle of energy zapped into existence. “I’m going to implant a signal that says ‘Get up or get detention’ in your mind, and it’ll fade once you’re better at whatever you failed at—that is, being on time for school. If you see and hear the signal immediately after I implant it, you should be good to go.”
What a pleasantly annoying message to see pop up.
“Fine.”
The tiny strand of energy glided away from his fingers and toward my temple, until its icy edges touched my forehead and it disappeared. I waited for some red sign to pop up in the air, but there were none.
Cyfrin raised an eyebrow expectantly. “See it?”
“Uh, no?”
“Hmm, maybe there was some feedback loop or such.” His fingers danced again in the same way as before and an identical sliver of energy floated toward my forehead. “You can’t miss it. It’s a bunch of letters in all caps, and you should hear a mechanical voice read it out loud.”
I had no idea what he was talking about, because I neither saw nor heard anything, and I said so.
This time, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. “That…shouldn’t be.”
As he thought in silence, I stared awkwardly at the wall behind him. Was I so bad at magic to fail even detention?
“Try magic writing with this pen.”
He nudged a gold-rimmed ballpoint pen toward me, and I took it in my hands, trying to get a firm grasp on it before it wiggled away from me. I sighed, as memories of my magic writing class came to mind.
Yes, I was failing detention.
“You do know that you don’t actually use your hand to magically write?” He cleared his throat and demonstrated what he meant as the pen suddenly shot up and began to draw imaginative curls on the table. “You control it with your mind. You have learned how today, haven’t you? Magic Writing is a required course for middle-level students.”
I clenched my teeth and flushed. There was no way I could tell someone like him that I’d been avoiding getting noticed by the teacher during class just because my levitation magic was still at level zero.
Much to my dismay, Cyfrin seemed to read my mind, even though I knew that that was physically impossible. “Can you do magic at all?”
“I think I can turn off an alarm clock,” I told him, hoping to sound at least a little magically-inclined.
He stood, and so did I, though a little less eagerly. “An alarm clock is manufactured with magic so that you can turn it off by hovering your hand over it. Is that what you’re referring to?”
“Uh…maybe?”
The Resolution Officer gave a deep, perplexed sigh and lowered his voice. “I’ve read about people with symptoms similar to yours, but it’s not a good thing, so I suggest you keep this low. Let me get this straight first: you can’t do magic, and vice versa, magic doesn’t work on you.” His eyes seemed to widen at whatever conclusion he reached.
“That’s a bit extreme.”
“But it’s true. You’re safe in any magical battle yet also defenseless.”
“Well, maybe you did your signal spell-thingy wrong.”
He sighed impatiently. “I’ve been doing this for a year now. And I didn’t have any control over your inability to magically write.”
I was growing exasperated myself. “Well, what’s your point?”
His voice grew to a whisper. “You’re immune to magic, Ms. Garcia.”

Chapter 3

“What? No! No. That’s not possible! You-”
Cyfrin raised his hand, cutting me off. “There’s only one explanation.”
“Well, can’t you fix it or something?” I asked, balling my hands into fists.
He shook his head. “There’s no way that I know of. I’m afraid this is beyond me, Ms. Garcia. I’ll arrange for you to meet with the principal, but unfortunately, there might be a bit of a wait.”
I was silent, trying to process the rush of information. I was acutely aware of the Resolution Officer’s eyes on me. After a minute, I frowned. “Fine. Whatever. Can I go now?”
Cyfrin sighed like he was deep in thought. “Yes. Keep in mind that your parents will be informed of this, and you’ll probably receive a phone call later today. Go back to class, Ms. Garcia.”
I nodded stiffly and started to walk away, hoping he wouldn’t stop me before I got to the door, but he didn’t. I slipped out and ran back to my magic writing class. I didn’t quite know what to feel. I was angry, upset, and relieved all at once.
I yanked the door open a little harder than I probably needed to, and ended up startling several kids. I stormed over to my desk, trying not to meet anyone’s eyes.
“What happened? Was it bad?” a voice whispered. I glanced up to see my best friend, Luka, looking at me with a worried expression on his face.
I shook my head. “I’ll tell you after school,” I muttered.
Luka seemed uneasy, but he nodded and let his gaze drift back to the front of the room.
I didn’t hear what the teacher was saying, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t do magic, so what good was learning about it? I thought about what my parents were going to say. They’d probably hate me, even more than they already do. It’s been like that ever since I came out as bisexual.
Around half an hour later, the teacher came over to me. She bent down and said, “You’re excused from class for the rest of the day. Do you need a ride home or can you walk?”
“I’ll walk,” I said numbly.
“Good,” she pursed her lips and strode away.
As I shouldered my backpack and stood up, I glanced at Luka and whispered, “My house, after school. I’ll tell you everything.”
He gave me a reassuring smile as I trudged out of the classroom. I adore Luka, but his perpetual optimism gets annoying sometimes.
I was in a trance, hardly noticing where I was going, and as I walked, I realized my feet weren’t taking me towards my house. Instead, I found myself standing at the gates of the old Burnes mansion. Supposedly, the folks who lived there mysteriously disappeared one night. People nearby said they heard a woman screaming, but the second the clock chimed midnight, the screams stopped. There are rumors that it’s haunted. I don't believe them, obviously, but I couldn’t help feeling a little uneasy.
It was huge, gray and menacing, with too many windows to count. The mansion was covered in dust and grime. The wind whistled ominously through the treetops, though I could’ve sworn the air had been totally stagnant a few minutes ago. I decided it was my overactive imagination.
I knew I should turn around and walk home, but my body seemed to be acting independently. I began to climb the gate. I’d never been great at PE, but somehow I managed, though I did cut my palms on the elegant, decorative spikes at the top. I dropped to the ground on the other side with a grunt.
I continued along the path, each step bringing me closer to the mansion looming above me. A voice in the back of my head screamed out against what I was doing, but for some reason, I didn’t listen.
My heart pounded as my fingertips brushed the doorknob, then quickly pushed it open before I could stop myself. It’s rusty hinges creaked as it swung inward.
It was too dark to see much. From what I could tell, it looked even more massive standing at the threshold, with a huge staircase leading up to the second floor.
I went inside. I groped for a light switch, but I didn’t find one. My footsteps echoed as I crept deeper into the abandoned mansion, the agonizing silence winding around me like a boa constrictor about to tighten its grip and squeeze me to death.
Suddenly, a sharp jolt of what felt like electricity shot through my body, and a single thought flashed through my mind before I passed out: I guess I’ll die a failure.

Chapter 4

“Ah, I see you are awake, now.” I looked up, my vision blurry, and the first thing I saw were candles illuminating the room. As my eyes adjusted, I started to make out a man standing in front of me. He was wearing a casual blue jacket. I looked up and was able out his face, which didn’t seem to look like someone you’d find in a “haunted house.” He had short, coffee-brown hair with an undercut and a beard.
“The butler!” I shouted. “The butler did it!” I said, frenzied.
“No, I am not the butler. I’m the owner of haunted ol’ Burnes Mansion,” he said jokingly. “You can call me Mr. Chris.”
“Electricity! No lights!” I said, struggling for words.
“You see, an important electrical wire broke, so I need to hire someone to fix it. You, young lady, happened to touch just that one and electrocute yourself for, let’s see, around a couple good seconds,” he said. “Now, I know you probably think I should just use magic to fix it, or at least cover it up, but I don't care much for it. Magic, that is.
“Are you one of the small percentage of people who deny the existence of magic?” I asked, mostly regaining control.
“No, Ms—” He stopped and looked at me as if he were asking me a question telepathically.” I considered saying a fake name like “Shelly Shellfish,” but that was pretty obviously fake. I was bad at making stuff up.
“Garcia. Nora Garcia. Just call me Nora.”
“Nora,” he continued, “that is the way that my father taught me. He didn’t like magic; he thought it was capable of too much destruction. Though, I’m sure your family uses magic all the time.”
“Yeah, well, sort of.”
He started to speak but cut himself off, thinking better of it. I decided that he seemed like someone to confide in, at the very least.
“Well, I was never very good at magic, you see.” He nodded his head. “But when my troubles really started were, well, mostly today. I was proven to be incapable of magic. I know there’s products manufactured with magic within them, but they won’t solve my problem.” Mr. Chris seemed very pleased with the information I had provided him. I suspected someone against magic would have been pleased with the prospect of a nonmagical person.
“Is that all?” he asked
I suddenly remembered the arrangements I had made with Luka.
“What time is it?”
“10:30. AM. You were only out for around ten minutes.”
“Oh, that doesn’t matter. I just need to tell one of my friends, Luka, about what happened today. Boy, I’ll have a REAL story to tell him now. I hope…being nonmagical won’t make him stop being my friend,” I said, looking down.
“And this Luka,” he asked, “do you like him?” I thought better of saying “None of your business!” as I DID trespass into his house and he DID seem to overlook that matter. Anyways, he was just good at reading emotions. Even if he was also a bit invasive.
“That doesn’t matter,” I said quickly, probably a little too quickly.
“Anyways, I have some good news for you!” he said. “I have a brother who is a studier of very advanced magic. He’s trying to get an important article of his published in some well-known magic journal, actually. It’s about how since everyone has started using magic things that have a very low chance of happening have been starting to happen more frequently. Even things that have previously been thought impossible. He has a lot of information on his website. You should check it out sometimes.”
“This is good news how…?”
“Just wait, I’ll get to it. You see, he’s been working on an invention of sorts in the meantime. A wand that will let a nonmagical user use magic, but he needs someone to test it. Someone nonmagical.” Maybe all my hope wasn’t gone at all.
“Let me guess, he’s halfway across the world.”
“No, just across the hall, in fact. In the Magic Room, as I like to call it. Cole Collons, that’s him. But, be warned, he isn’t on a first-name basis, so it's best you call him Professor. Collons. With an O. And two L’s. He’s pickier about misspellers than me.” He’s a very serious professor.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chris,” I said, “but one more thing, why does your brother support magic?”
“Oh, he takes upon our mother. It’s a long story, really.” I could tell “It’s a long story.” really meant “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Well, I’ll go over to him, and then I’ll need to meet with Luka. Bye!” I walked out of Mr. Chris’s room and arrived at my destination. There was a small golden plaque that read “Prof. Collons, Studier of Magic.” His office, I presumed. I could see light illuminating the cracks of the doorway. Probably a result of magic because candles wouldn’t produce so much light. Hopefully, he would be as happy to see me as his brother. Not like I had much to lose, anyways. For the second time that day, I took a deep breath and prepared to open the door.

MBZ_901 wrote:

“And this Luka,” he asked, “do you like him?” I thought better of saying “None of your business!”, as I DID trespass into his house and he DID seem to overlook that matter.
“That doesn’t matter,” I said quickly, probably a little too quickly.

Eyy, that was probably my favorite part in this chapter. (Yes, I'm a stickler for some sprinkles of romance in stories.) And I'm sorry again for having to leave this project!

Chapter 5
Good news: all of my worry disappeared when I slid the door open. Bad news: it was replaced by a strong need to throw my hand over my eyes.
The light through the crack of the door hadn't been anywhere near this strong. What was in there? A miniature sun?
“Take these.” Silk-gloved fingers shoved something into my non-clenched-over-my-face hand.
I squeezed at it. “Are these… metal sunglasses?”
They're enchanted the way the whole room is. Just put them on!“
I fumbled the glasses on and opened my eyes.
For a magic professor's office, the place looked weirdly normal. I mean, I know the whole ”cauldrons and cobwebs and things floating in jars“ idea is just an old stereotype, but blank wallpaper and big desks and filing cabinets? It felt more like an office building than a haunted house.
My new glasses tinted the whole thing a dark copper color, but the object in the center of the room still made the windowless room shine like daylight. I couldn't even tell what it was– my eyes shivered away when I tried to look at it, so all I could make out was a glowing blur on a thick pedestal.
A man stood next to it, his arms crossed. His glasses were larger and thicker than mine, more like pilot goggles, and his thin navy-blue sweater looked like it had just been teleported off a store rack.
”Professor Collons?“ I asked. ”With… an O? And two Ls?“
”Yes?“ he said, his face twitching just slightly. That was probably a bad sign.
”Um–" I tried to throw together a polite-sounding introduction in my head, followed by a polite-sounding may I use your wand, please?
Instead, what came out was: “Am I seeing through metal?”
"It's just a thin layer. Be glad it's there. The energy thrown off by that“– he gestured to the thing on the pedestal– ”would not be gentle to your uncovered eyes. It would be enough to make this whole house glow if these walls weren't so heavily enchanted, and trust me, the world doesn't need that. Now. Why are you here?“
”I'm Nora Garcia. Mr. Chris sent me–"
The professor's expression did something that was definitely a bad sign. "My brother's never been in here. He's never seen that. He has no idea why we can't randomly send people in.“
”I'm not random! I'm immune to magic and he thinks I can test out your wand!“
”Does he? Well… I suppose given a few more hours of work it could be ready for testing…“
”Great! Where is it? What does it do?“
”It's right in front of you, Miss Garcia.“
I stared at the glowing thing. ”You mean it's… that? That's a wand?“
”Immunity to magic is a powerful force. To create something more powerful… it's taken some effort.“
”So once you're finished working on it, it'll stop glowing? And then I can go test it?“
”No.“
”But that means…“
”You might be able to do magic– and that's a might– but only within this room. If you want to be safe, that is, which I hope you do.“ He gave me a sideways glance.
”But how often am I going to get the chance to come back to a haunted mansion?“
”It's not haunted. At least not to my knowledge. And I'll talk to your parents–“
”Oh, great.“
”–and if we can come to an agreement, you could spend time after school here every day.“
”My parents won't agree to that.“
”I'll see what I can do. I still have some of my mother's old… projects in storage. And, Miss Garcia?“
”Yeah?“
”Don't let anyone know you're immune to magic.“
”Why not? Cyfrin– someone at my school knows already. And he said he'd tell my parents–“
”Then don't tell anyone else. People get unpredictable about things that make no sense. I'll see you back here soon."
I nodded, but as I made my way out of the mansion I decided that Luka would be the exception.

Chapter 6

It’s funny, really, if you think about it. Luka’s always so optimistic and I’m always so…pessimistic.
“Funny,” I told myself. I walked into my house. Between everything that had just happened SOMEHOW it was very close to the time school would be over. It was no surprise that neither one of my parents was home, though. Mom always came back from work sometimes around 4:00 PM and Dad was barely ever home. I don’t understand how MAGIC can exist and both your parents still have to work double shifts. Probably quadruple shifts for Dad. I let everything that happened sink in. One: I got a detention. Two: the “Resolution Officer” was just a boy with a dumb name. Three: I wasn’t just bad at magic; I couldn’t do it at ALL. Four: somehow, I end up at some mansion owned by these brothers called the Collons. Five: Mr. Chris…well…he was nice. Six: Bright…bright magic wand. Seven: Someone was knocking on the door?
“Hi, Nora!” Oh. It was Luka. I had almost forgotten I had told him to come over.
“Hi! About three OTHER crazy things have happened since I told you to meet me.”
“You’re kidding, Nora, that much couldn’t happen in such a short amount of time!” The look on my face proved otherwise. “Well…then…explain.”
I told him everything I could remember, well, all but ONE little detail.
“He told me not to tell anybody else, just like Cyfrin, but…”
“Oh, well, I–” for once Luka was at a loss for words. Not that I could blame him. I waited for him to say something. “So, you’re…you…you can’t use magic and magic can’t harm you?”
“Correct.”
“Well…lots of people don’t use magic that much. And aren’t you trying to make these videos or something?”
“A failure, a complete failure.”
“Nora! Don’t be so–“
“Negative? Pessimistic? Glass half-empty person? Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Well…if you can’t do magic…you’ll have to go to a different school, won’t you?”
“We can still be friends…you have my email address, don’t you? And we can figure out when to… hang out.”
“I…guess,” said Luka. I don’t think I ever saw him look so down.
“Luka, I know this is hardly the time, but–”
“Heeey!” said a deep voice, “Guess who’s back early!” Of all the times my dad could have come home, he chose now? I quickly let go of Luka’s wrist, just noticing I was holding it then. Hopefully he didn’t notice.
“What a surprise!” I said, forcing a smile. Technically, I wasn’t lying. Dad had a thick gray beard, which he liked to call light black, a dark green cap that read “Joe’s Auto Repair” with a wrench centered above the text, a black t-shirt sporting the same logo, and blue jeans. He never had any oil stains on him, which I guess had something to do with magic. He was standing there with a can of soda in his hand, studying Luka.
“That yer boyfriend?” he asked.
“This is…Luka? Uh…why are you back so early?”
“Oh, da boss told me I could take a break for today.” I assumed he meant Joe. Apparently the reason his shifts were so long was because cars are one of those things that can’t just be fixed with magic.
“I got dat email they sent out, seems like…” he stopped, supposedly thinking better of it.
“Well, he’s got to go fer now,” he said pointing to Luka, “we’ll need to talk about that stuff the school was talking about.”
“Sorry,” I mouthed to Luka, “I’ll email you.”

Why does that name feel like it's taken from a generator-


lol sorry, I used a generator once and it came out as Norine Garcia xp

Hello there everyone @mbz_901 invite me here to help write the book! i hope you will accept me into this book collab

Great progress so far

Hello. can you guys skip me and come to me next time i am really sorry i have got to go to lockdown school and i have just been busy last couple of weeks i promise i will do it next time

Chapter 7

Hours later, I stood in the doorway of my room with my arms crossed. The sun was setting, spilling its last yellowy light over stacks of magic books that probably never would have helped me in the first place. My video camera and the sheet I'd hung on the wall earlier to act as a backdrop were still in place in one corner. Down the hall, my dad was doing something that involved a lot of noise and probably not anything to do with me. Mom had gotten home, too, a little while ago, but I'd been avoiding talking with her.
I sighed, making my way over to my small desk and flipping open the bulky laptop that rested on it. Ancient as it was, the computer whirred to life instantly, as it always did.
That was magic, too, I realized– a small spell that enhanced the technology. It probably still worked for me because I really had nothing to do with it. Most likely it was set off by the motion of the computer opening.
How much in this world wasn't magical at this point?
I pulled up my email in a window and clicked new. No magic there, probably, so that was something.
My fingers clattered a little too loudly on the keyboard:

Hi, Luka.
Dad says there's a non-magic school that's close enough to send a bus to our house, so now it looks like I'll be going to school with a bunch of magic deniers. I didn't know there were enough of them to fill a school.
Transfers aren't quick, though, so I think I'll have at least a few more days at Merlin's. I'd stay there permanently if I could– it'd be better than being the new girl, not to mention the long bus rides and not getting to talk to you and everything else– but since I can't learn magic there'd be nothing for me to do all day.
Maybe I'll be able to figure something out before I go?
Not likely.
-Nora

I stared at the small, probably-not-enhanced-by-magic screen. The email wasn't aimed to make a dent in Luka's optimism, but how many ways were there of putting it? The situation was a mess.
Maybe I could try to throw in something happy-sounding. Luka would appreciate that, right? He'd sounded upset enough earlier.
On the other hand, any optimism I aimed for was likely to sound fake. I hit send and pushed the laptop closed.
“Nora?”
“Oh– Mom.” My hands hovered around the computer, tugging it open again, but it was too late to look like I was still busy. Maybe I should have taken the extra time to write something cheerful. “Um. Dad talked to you?”
“He did.” Mom rested a hand on my doorframe, her pretending-this-is-fine expression halfway hidden by shadows. “Sounds like you'll be switching schools.”
"Is there any way I could stay at Merlin's? It's– well– I know people there.“
”I know you think it will be easier not to switch–“
”Think?“
”–But this will be good for you. You'll be able to improve your grades, for one thing.“
”But aren't I supposed to hide the whole can't-do-magic thing? What will it look like if I suddenly transfer?“
”It's more important that you go to a school where you can actually learn.“
”Tell that to Professor Collons.“
”Who?“
Oh. He hadn't contacted her yet. ”Never mind. What if I raised my grades somehow? Then could I stay?“
”Nora–"
My laptop gave a faint ding, and a new message popped up in my inbox.
“Mom?” I said quickly, cutting off what was probably a no way. “Could we talk later? I'm emailing with Luka right now…”
She sighed. "Fine. But I'll expect you to come talk to me, all right?"
I turned back to the laptop as she walked away and clicked on the new email. Luka really had written back quickly, and I was grateful.
When the message opened, though, it wasn't from Luka.

Chapter 8

It was from the professor. At first, I couldn’t figure out how he had gotten my email address, but then I realized I had put it into his website to get updates whenever he made a new article. But this didn’t look like an automated spam message.

This is Professor Collons, I just wanted to contact you about me contacting your parents. That sentence didn’t turn out quite right, but I’m a busy man. I don’t have to time to rewrite it. I’m certain that I’ll need to contact your parents, but I suppose I could stretch the truth a little bit. I was a kid once, you know.

That was a good sign.

Just keep the details vague. All they need to know is that you can help me do magic.

It was only a couple of minutes–maybe less–when a reply popped up:

Okay.

I couldn't help but find it odd to receive a one-word answer from a professional, but, as he said, he's a busy man. Or whatever. Right then, Dad knocked at my door. I pondered the possibility of pretending to sleep, but the light was on. I could never sleep with the light on. I closed the computer screen.
“Come in!”
“Hey Nora, you alright?” said Dad.
“Yes. Perfectly, honestly fine.”
Maybe my dad wasn’t as oblivious as I’d thought because he wasn’t buying it.
“I just had you applied for da new school. Abraham Lincoln’s.”
All that I could think was that whoever named that school should get fired.
“You won’t be going to Merlin’s fer da rest of this week. If you get accepted, you'll start at Lincoln’s next week.”
“But I don't know anyone there.”
“I'm sure you'll find some friends there, Nora. Have I ever told you how much of a likable person you are?”
As if. The only real friend I had was Luka. It wasn't exactly lying to say I had other friends, but I wasn't too close with any of them.
“Yeah,” I said sarcastically. “I'm very excited to meet a plethora of people who want to spend time with me.”
“Well…at least you have Luka. And Mom and I are yer friends too!”
Dad was actually starting to sound idiotic now. There was no way either of them, especially Mom, were my “friends.”
I put on a fake smile. “Thank you. I'm going to get some rest now, so good night.”
“G’night. I hope things work out with this new school of yours.” He walked out of the room and closed the door.
I tried to think of something I could do to get my mind off all of this. I didn’t have time for social media accounts, I’d finished watching all the TV shows I was interested in, and I’d finished all the books I had wanted to read. Maybe it was better to just go to bed, even if it was a little early. So much had happened today that it might as well have been midnight. Well…I DID need to tell Luka I wouldn’t be at school tomorrow. And maybe if I pleaded hard enough, I could convince Professor Collons to let me bring Luka along to his mansion. I typed an email to Luka and an email to Professor Collons. I waited there for around five minutes without any replies. I decided I should just go to bed.
Yes, that was a good idea. But first I had to do a few things. I scribbled a note that said “Check email“ and stuck it to my alarm clock. Not that I would forget, but just in case. I decided that there must be some books that I hadn’t read for so long that they would be enjoyable again. I opened my closet, which was a mess of trinkets and books and school worksheets. I decided to start at the back. I found the perfect book to read before bed: ”Famous Wizard Heroes of the Past: A Documentary.” If a documentary couldn’t put me to sleep, nothing could. I didn’t bother washing my face or putting on my pajamas or whatever because who cared? I turned off the overhead light and turned on my reading lamp. I wasn’t too enthusiastic about my situation, but maybe, just MAYBE, I could get everything worked out.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

I woke up late. Really late. The only reason I woke up was because of the sun shining through my curtains. All the events of the previous day came rushing back to me, and I wished I could go back to sleep. I stood up, rubbed my eyes, and changed out of yesterday's clothes. I walked down the stairs and half-heartedly poured myself a bowl of cereal. My first day without magic was turning out brilliant. Well, technically I never had magic in the first place. I groaned and almost fell face-first into my cereal. It seemed like I was going to have a mostly uneventful day until the doorbell rang. The figure at the door seemed about my height. I wondered if Luka had decided to ditch school for me. Probably not, but I could use a bit of his optimism. I opened the door to be met with a girl with messy amber hair, a jacket with way too many pockets, and baggy jeans. I also noticed her shirt was undeniably decorated with the wonderful face of our sixteenth president.
“Nora Garcia! I've heard SO much about you! I'm Lucia Collons-Wall. But you can call me Lucy. Everyone calls me that.” Lucy wandered into my house.
I looked over at my half-eaten bowl of cereal and then to my unflattering attire consisting of sweatpants and a T-shirt from a heavy-metal band. If this was supposed to be my new school's first impression of me, I wasn't doing too hot.
“You can call me…Nora. Um. Why aren't you in school?”
“I'm the one who introduces new students to my school! I just learned about you last night, but I begged them to let me come and give you an early first impression. My dad was totally cool with it, so I'm here now.”
“Huh. Wait…‘Collons’? As in ‘Professor Collons’?”
“The one and only. He’s my dad.”
“Oh. Wow, that’s something. And the ‘Wall’?”
“That’s my mom’s last name. They kind of got divorced. I live with my mom, but I spend a lot of time with my dad.”
“Oh. Sorry if I’m imposing.” I realized that sounded kind of stupid after Lucy grabbed a box of cereal from my pantry. If anyone was imposing, it was her.
“It’s no big deal. Just a fact of life. Do you have any almond milk?”
“No. So your school is named Abraham Lincoln’s?”
“Yeah, but we have all kinds of nicknames for it. Do you think substituting orange juice for milk would be good?”
I didn’t dignify that question with a response. “Do…a lot of people not believe in magic at your school?”
“Oh, not at all. That’s just a misconception. Most of us just have reasons not to do magic. Like my uncle Chris. And my mom. Heck, I even do some magic with my dad every once in a while.”
“Ugh,” I said.
“What is it?” Lucy was sitting down at my table with a bowl of Cheerios, a glass of orange juice, and a fork. What in the world was she doing?
“I’m just annoyed that my research was so wrong. I must’ve been using unreliable sources.”
“Hey, everyone makes mistakes.”
“You don’t understand! That’s the only thing I was even slightly good at, and I somehow managed to mess it all up too!”
“You won’t have to worry about magic soon. You shouldn’t get so upset over not being able to do something you’re literally incapable of doing.” Lucy seemed to be trying to put a Cheerio on each prong of her fork.
It probably wasn’t the right moment, but tears started to well up in my eyes.
Lucy put down her cereal-adorned fork. “Is something the matter, Nora?”
“No. Well, yes.”
“What is it?”
“I just…I’m a complete and utter failure! I’m bad at everything I do, and now I’ve learned I can’t even do something everyone else is able to! My parents have always been ‘disappointed’ in me because of how bad I am at magic, and I’m sure they’re even more disappointed in me now. Not to mention all the other mistakes I’ve made, like…like coming out to my parents as bisexual! And taking away magic from me is like taking away my life! I mean, I know I've never been able to do magic, but it’s all I’ve ever known.”
“I know what you mean. Well, sort of. I guess I still do magic, but it’s not really a big part of my life anymore. Um, and I’m bi too?”
“They’re probably going to hate me at my new school. And there’ll be rumors about why I transferred from Merlin’s to plain, old Abraham Lincoln’s.”
“I’ll help you out. I’ll show you around the place. Introduce you to new people. Tell you which days to bring your own lunch. You could even meet my siblings. They're a grade below us. They’re twins!”
“Wait a minute… Didn’t Professor Collons say no one else should know I’m incapable of doing magic?”
“Well, yeah. But he knew I’d understand. He actually told me something else too.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I shouldn’t tell you because it’s just a theory, but who are we kidding? I’m DEFINITELY going to tell you.”
“Go on…”
“He thinks you may be attracted to magic because of your lack of magic. After all, his house probably has the most magic in the area. If not the world.”
“Huh. That’s something to think about, I guess.”
Lucy finished her orange juice, got up, and walked toward the door.
“By the way, nice shirt. I love the Magical Mad Hatters. Oh, and you look like you could use one of these.” Lucy pulled out a hair tie from one of her pockets and handed it to me. With that, Lucia “Lucy” Collons-Wall was gone. She struck me as quite strange. In fact, it seemed like every member of the Collons family was a bit odd in their own way.
I realized I hadn’t checked my email despite the note I had written for myself. I walked up to my room to see if Professor Collons had responded to my inquiry and what Luka thought about my more-pessimistic-than-usual attitude. And my new school. I sighed and opened up my laptop.