2: The Witch

The math teacher rounded up his lesson just as the bell rang for recess. "No homework for today. I want you all to rest a little," he said with his usual bright smile.

Ariana heaved a sigh of relief. Her brain had become so used to expecting homework that she took a second to understand him properly. "At least he acknowledges that we try in this class," she whispered to herself.

She gathered her things and headed to the cafeteria, being extra careful not to step on anyone on her way there.

Emily waved her over when she caught sight of her. "You got here late," she whined when Ariana sat down.

The redhead smiled tiredly. "I thought you would be too engrossed in your Prince Charming to worry about me," she replied. "I just wanted to walk slowly for once, like a regular human being."

If only I could actually be a regular human being, she said in thought.

She brought out her lunch and placed it on the table but she was too tired to eat just yet. "No appetite yet?" Emily asked.

"I have an appetite today. I just don't have the energy to eat," she replied.

Emily narrowed her eyes to slits. "How dare you? Eat up!" she ordered. The girl's redheaded friend laid her head on her shoulder.

"Just let me rest," Ariana said. They stayed in that position for a while: Emily holding her and Ariana snuggling as much as she could.

"You know, you are just a big baby," Emily joked after some minutes of silence.

"To be honest, I don't care what I am right now," was the reply she got.

Emily peered at her lunch. "You have a scrambled egg sandwich today?" she said with a questioning tone at the end. "Will that be enough to take you through the rest of the day?"

Ariana sensed her worry but still kept her eyes shut. "It should. If I can go through mornings on an empty stomach, this should be enough," she replied.

"You know, I worry for you, Sweets," Emily said. "Did you notice that this oxblood hair of yours is turning purple?"

"It is?" Ariana asked in an unbothered tone.

"Yes, it is."

"Don't worry about it. It just looks that way," Ariana said nonchalantly.

Emily sighed, then nudged her. "You need to sit up and eat. Lunch break will soon be over," she said, forcing the other girl to sit upright.

Ariana groaned in annoyance. "Eating is not by force. I just want to sleep a little bit," she whined but her friend was hearing none of it.

"Eat first," she said sternly. Ariana hissed and angrily shoved the sandwich in her mouth. She took out her fruit drink and washed it down.

"Can I have some peace of mind now?" she asked irritably.

"No. You still haven't told me how your morning went," Emily said she adjusted herself on the bench to face the redhead properly. Her black eyes were smiling. She laughed at the deadly glare her friend was giving her. Left with no choice, Ariana began to tell her how her morning classes went and what happened in them. "I don't know what you do with this information, especially since you spent half the morning with me," she said as she finished her tale. "Anyway, can I go to sleep now?"

"No," Emily said again. She almost tumbled on the floor as she laughed at the stink eye that Ariana gave her.

"You're a bitch," Ariana said to her.

"I'd like to be a puppy bitch though," Emily said with bright eyes. "Those ones are very cute."

"I need to talk to more sane people," Ariana whispered.

Emily regained her composure. "Sweets, you and I know why I ask these questions. By the way though, did Richie and his friends see you today? I noticed that you purposely left them out of the story," she said as she carefully studied the change in expression on her face.

Ariana nervously scratched the back of her neck. There was no escape so she just spilled the beans so as to get the matter over with. "Why did you keep this from me?" Emily asked when she finished.

"You're crushing on the guy. I did not want you to get a bad impression of him," she replied.

Emily smiled sadly. "Thank you for wanting to protect me but did you really think that I wasn't going to hear about what he did? Sweets, you should know the spectators in this school by now," she said. "They were passing the story from ear to ear and from mouth to mouth even in class. That's why I was so excited to see you get here in one piece."

Ariana thanked her. "Well, that's in the past. We need to focus on how I won't sleep in my next two classes," she said.

Emily looked at her like she suddenly grew two heads. With the look she gave Ariana, the girl actually had to check and make sure that there was still one head standing on her neck.

She shouldn't scare me like that, she said in thought.

"Do you realize that the disrespect that douche showed you this morning will not stop?" Emily asked. "In fact, once he fully realizes that you are the punching bag of the whole school, he will only join them so as to feel among."

Ariana shrugged. "No problem then, as long as it will keep those three best friends away from me," she said. "At this point, I honestly do not give one or two fucks. Let them hit me as much as they like. It's even to my advantage."

Emily almost fainted at her friend's statement. Surely, it had not gotten to that extent. She rubbed her face vigorously.

The bell rang.

Ariana jubilated inside her.

What perfect timing. She was quick to fean her back.

Emily held her back. "Sweets, I know that this is a difficult decision to make, but please make it soon," she said quietly and her eyes were pleading. Ariana took some time to gaze at her then stood up and went for her next class.

Two hours thirty minutes later, Ariana was gladly done with school for the day. She walked briskly to her locker, where she knew that her best friend would be waiting for her. She just needed to drop some of the things in her bag and run out of that cursed building. To her surprise and the ultimate sinking of her heart, Emily was not there. Her racing mind tried to calm down. Maybe the girl was just running a little late.

A familiar arm wrapped around her neck a little too tightly. She sighed in instant defeat. "Did you really think you would get away from us?" Richie asked.

I just hoped I would be able to get away from your bad breath, she said in thought.

She waited patiently for him to choke her but it did not come. Instead, she saw Stanley stand in front of her. His cheek was a swollen shade of purple. The school nurse must have done her best to patch him up. If she wasn't terrified, Ariana would have laughed. The swelling made his lanky face look funny. "Do you have something to say to Stanley over here?" Richie asked.

Trying to be brave, she raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Am I expected to talk?" she asked. Larry punched her side as soon as those words were out of her mouth. Richie slammed her back against the mouth and held onto her neck with a lot of force.

"What are you to say to him?!" he yelled.

"I- I'm sorry," she choked out.

"Will such nonsense happen again?" Richie asked, with his face merely inches away from hers.

"No, it won't," she croaked out.

"Um, Richie," a nervously shaking Larry called from behind him. Richie briefly removed his attention from the girl he was choking.

Brandon was standing behind them with his bag firmly gripped by his annoyed hands. "I see that you can never learn your lesson, all of you," he said, glancing at Ariana as he said the last part. She coughed uncontrollably when the leader of the bullies released his grip from her.

"What is your deal with her?" Richie asked, mustering up some morale. "You just started going here bro. If I were you, I would observe how things work here first."

Brandon eyed him. "I don't need to observe anything before knowing that you lot are a bunch of useless people," he said. "Now, I'm going to give you a few seconds to leave this girl alone so I won't have to beat you up the way I did in the morning."

Being reminded of the incident from the morning made Richie's jaw tick but his hands were tied. It was either he obeyed this new boy or risked having Stanley go into a coma. "Fine," he said after some time. "But we will soon teach you a lesson."

"About that," Brandon said when he saw them backing away. "Leave the damn girl alone or you will have me to deal with." To drive his point home, he roughly took the leader of the boys' squad.

Emily got to the scene just as Brandon was leaving. He looked at her out of the corner of his eye as she knelt down to attend to her coughing to her coughing friend. "You know, you should teach her how to stay out of trouble," he said and left them. Emily hissed loudly after him.

Ariana laid in bed because Emily insisted. The latter soon brought her some tea. "You don't have to do all this, Emily. You of all people should know that I will be fine in no time," she said, begging her friend not to worry about her.

"I don't mind looking after you. After all, it helps us bond," the ever sweet Emily replied.

"Well I mind," the bedridden girl retorted. "You have a house and parents who are definitely going to worry that their daughter is not home yet."

Emily laughed. "My parents know to call your house if they don't see me for an hour after school," she reminded her. "You worry too much, and for the wrong reasons too." Ariana just narrowed her eyes into slits.

"How are you feeling now?" Emily asked as she took a seat at the edge of the bed.

"I feel like the better days of my throat are still ahead," she replied with honesty.

Emily took the teacup from beside the table. "Drink some," she urged.

Ariana glared at both her and the full teacup. "You know that I hate anything that answers tea," she said as she turned away from the cup.

"Yes, but it will help. You need something hot right now. I can't make you some onion soup right now because it would take too much time," she pleaded.

The redhead sighed. She sat up and took the teacup hesitantly. If not for this girl sitting opposite her, that tea's lifespan would have ended in the sink. All the contents of the cup were down her throat in one gulp. She grimaced.

"I know that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the taste, young lady. You just want to be overly dramatic," Emily said and she saw her face.

"What kind of wack is this?!" Ariana screamed.

"That is cinnamon tea. My mom prepares it for me whenever I am down with a cold," she replied. "It's either your taste buds aren't original or you just want to talk nonsense."

Ariana put the cup back in its saucer with a bang. "To hell with it," she said and folded her arms stubbornly.

They heard the phone downstairs ring. "That might be my parents calling. Let me go and answer it," Emily said.

While Ariana waited, she could not help but bless the brunette girl. Without her, life would be hell. "They gave me permission to stay the night with you," Emily announced as she walked back in. "Mom wishes you a speedy recovery."

"Thank you," Ariana whispered and watched the other girl gather up the cup and saucer to take them back to the kitchen.

They shared some common gossip before their eyes became heavy. The two friends fell asleep with their arms wrapped around each other.

Mrs Mann stumbled into the house. She immediately collapsed into the nearest armchair. The silence in the house meant two things: either it was completely empty or her daughter was sleeping. When she remembered her daughter, the woman breathed out heavily. "How am I going to give her this kind of bad news?" she asked herself. "Breathe Charlotte, breathe."

She relaxed into the chair for a few minutes and then she heard some footsteps coming down the stairs. "Oh, hey Mrs Mann. Welcome back home," Emily said when she saw her. "I just need to get Ariana some food to eat."

"What is she doing, dear?" Ariana's mother asked.

"She's sleeping for now. I think she might wake up any time soon," the girl replied. "I don't want her to stay hungry while I cook so I thought I might as well start now. Is that alright with you?" She was worried that the woman would say no.

Mrs Mann smiled warmly at her. "That will be wonderful actually. You know, since Nneoma isn't here for now, it would really help," she said, unconsciously biting her lower lip when she remembered that she still bore sad news and it was heavy on her heart. Emily thanked her for letting her use the kitchen and was off to cook.

"I need to tell her before I start my work, otherwise, I might forget," Ariana's mom said to herself then decided to check on her daughter after she freshened up. No need to also scare the poor girl off with bad smell.

When Charlotte went to visit Ariana in her room, the latter had just finished her meal. Ariana frowned when she saw her mother in her room. That was an obvious bad side. Seeing the friction between mother and daughter, Emily excused herself with the pretense that she wanted to take the dishes away.

Charlotte sat at the edge of her daughter's bed. "How are you, dear?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Is that why you came here? To ask me how I am?" Ariana asked immediately.

Her mother was like a bearer of bad omens. On a regular day, the two barely talked except when they exchanged greetings in the mornings and at dinner. Otherwise, her parents - especially her mom - were always too busy to spare her a glance. The last time the woman came into her room was when she wanted to inform her that her pet rabbit was dead. The time before that, she came into her room to tell her that they had to leave Bayview. Each time the woman graced that room with her presence, one bad news or the other followed her.

"Emily, your friend really tries for you, doesn't she?" the woman started as she tried to make conversation.

Her daughter groaned internally. She snapped, "Yes, Emily indeed does try for me, unlike you. Now Mother, why are you here?"

A pang tugged at Charlotte's heart. She looked down and put her hands between her thighs. "Nneoma is dead," she said, finally breaking the news.

Emily rushed to the room when she heard a deafening scream. "What happened?" she asked Mrs Mann when she saw tears streaming down her friend's face.

Ariana regarded her mother. "Please get out," she said. "Just leave."

Her mother tried to talk but it only angered her the more. "IF YOU HAD PAID MORE ATTENTION WHEN I TOLD YOU SHE WAS ILL, MAYBE SHE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE BY NOW!"

"I'm sorry," Charlotte said quietly as a single tear left her eye.

"She was sick for a whole month and I told you!" Ariana screamed as she kicked around with her blanket. "You refused to listen to me until you saw her collapse in front of you. Are you that wicked?!"

Charlotte opened her mouth but a pillow came flying sraight for her face. "Don't you dare open that filthy mouth of yours!" her daughter yelled at her. "You are nothing but an evil witch!"

Emily gasped when her head was able to wrap around who they were talking about. She rushed to Ariana's side. "Please, Sweets, try to calm down. You will soon break down," she pleaded but Ariana was not listening. She started throwing things at her mother. The woman did not try to leave the room because she knew the girl was only going to follow her downstairs. She just tried to dodge as many objects as she could. "I hope you are happy now, you evil queen of the sea! You just like to shed blood, don't you?" Ariana screamed. The other girl's heart ached. "Why?" Ariana whispered. "Why me? Must I be miserable for the rest of my already useless life?"

Emily held her tight. "Your life is not useless, you need to quit saying that," Emily said as tears fell out of her eyes. Ariana held her tight in return. Her heartbeat increased and she was having hiccups.

Her hair turned bright red, an unnatural color from the usual color. Her eyes turned grey. Her skin became zombie white. Emily screamed.