Alex gripped the side of her desk, sweat beads forming on her forehead. What felt like a wave of thorns was rippling across her body. She reached up to touch the source of the pain, but doing so only triggered another wave. She grabbed a pen off her bedroom floor and bit down as hard as she could to prevent herself from screaming. The pain subsided, and she sat for a moment, resting her head on the chair in front of her. She wasn't able to rest for long, though, as she was forced to run to the bathroom and... vacate her stomach. She came back into the bedroom and sat on her bed, feeling much better. She lay back and stared at the sparkly ceiling for a few moments.
Finally, she looked up at Harper, who had been quietly observing this whole episode. Harper had a troubled look on her face. They maintained eye contact for several seconds before Harper spoke.
"Alex, what's going on? You used to be able to do magic all the time. Then you start getting this pain in your shoulder after doing spells, and now you can't even make a simple tray of brownies without halfway killing yourself"
Alex rolled her eyes. "If that was halfway killing myself, Harper, I'd have died at least three times by now."
"You know what I mean, Alex. As your best friend, I feel I have the right to know what's up."
Alex thought that one over. Yeah, her best friend did have a right to know. She sat up.
"Okay, Harper, you win. I'll tell you a story. The story of why my magic has been going down the tubes. Why I have a 'pressure point' in my right shoulder. Why Justin always has to help me get out of trouble."
She glanced up at a expectant Harper. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather just watch a movie?"