It was a beautiful day at Cackle's, especially for English weather. The sun was shining brightly, the birds were chirping in the trees, and the skies were as blue as can be, without a cloud in sight. The last year girls had just finished sitting the most difficult exams, so the day seemed like a gift from the above. The only creatures inside the castle on that bright Saturday afternoon were the bats, Miss Hardbroom, and Maud Spellbody.
Maud was in her room, fuming.
No, she wasn't fuming. After all, the exams weren't all over yet. She had to study, she told herself. Well, it was just a chanting exam, but still. She had to be prepared. It had nothing to do with Mildred and Enid.
She felt a wave of jealousy come over her, the same wave of jealousy she had felt that second year, when Enid had first arrived. Only this time it was much stronger, and had another feeling attached to it, although she couldn't quite discern what it was.
She hadn't felt this way in ages. Occasionally there would be small ripples of that jealousy slightly creeping up somewhere in her mind, but nothing too intense. She had learned to control it, pushing it firmly to the back of her mind again.
This is silly, she would scold herself, and then Enid would say something to make her laugh, and the ripple of jealousy would be gone. After all, she liked Enid. It was silly to be jealous just because Mildred had her as another best friend, when really they were best friends too. All three of them were.
So why was she feeling it so intensely this time? It was more than just a wave. It was like a Tsunami, for god's sake.
It had all started a few weeks ago, before the Potions and Arithmancy exams, when Enid had begged and pleaded Maud to help her with her homework and studying. She hadn't been doing too well lately. Maud had been reluctant. She was always happy to help if she could, but Enid had a tendency to wheedle her into doing the whole work for her. She would groan, whining how difficult it all was, and she really wanted to get this over with, and couldn't she just tell her the answers?
Maud would argue back, but she would pretty much always give in in the end, due to Enid's ability to make her laugh and convincing her to get it over with quick so they could go and have fun.
This time, she had been firm.
"You're not going to pass the exams if I just give you all the homework answers. If you want help, I'll tutor you. But really tutor you."
Enid had groaned but had ultimately agreed.
"Ok, ok. I'll try to behave."
Maud had spent every day after that as Enid's tutor. Enid had behaved as well as she could, groaning and moaning as little as possible. She still cracked jokes every three seconds, but that was impossible for her not to do, and together they managed to turn those jokes and giggling fits into remembering techniques. It was fun, she realized, tutoring Enid. She felt closer to her than before, chatting about life during breaks and giggling over stupid things. They had always hung out as Mildred's best friends, as a threesome, never really spending time just the two of them alone. It was nice, Maud thought.
But then the exams came and went, and after that, Enid and Mildred began spending more and more time together, just the two of them. They had started whispering to each other in class more often than usual, going off to corners to talk, and generally not including Maud in any of it. Maud noticed, and the ripples had begun to surface again. They were only slight, but that nagging other feeling that came with those ripples made her take more notice than usual.
But today had been the drop that tipped the glass, the day the ripples became waves and the waves became a tsunami.
She had just finished taking her last exam and had gone looking for Mildred and Enid, wondering if they fancied a picnic by the lake. It would mean cheating her diet, but it was Saturday afternoon, and all the important exams were over, so why not?
She found them, finally, sitting on a tree log, talking intensely in low voices. She wondered what they were being so serious about lately. Usually Maud was the one they went to for serious conversation, not each other. When they were together they were usually doing something like jumping on trampolines or giggling over Ethel's new wart. Something about their closeness, the way their faces were only inches away from each other, made the waves start. They fell silent as soon as she walked over.
"Hi…what were you talking about?" she said, trying her best to sound casual.
"Nothing, nothing. What's up?" Mildred replied, sounding suspiciously cheery. Enid had gone quiet and the tip of her ears were red.
"I was wondering if you fancied a picnic, down by the lake."
Mildred gave Enid a sideways glance.
"Um, sure. Could you just give us ten minutes? Enid was just telling me something".
That implicit "go away" had been the ultimate straw for Maud. She had said a curt "fine", turned on her heel, and stomped back up the castle.
Since then, she hadn't left her room.
It doesn't matter, she told herself. I needed to study, anyway. For chanting.
Not that she was actually reading the book she had in her hands, or doing any chanting. She tried, but the tsunami seemed to rise in her throat whenever she attempted to hit a note.
Suddenly, Enid barged in.
"Hey nerd", she grinned, jumping on Maud's bed beside her. Maud was silent, pretending to be immersed in her chanting book.
"What are you doing?", Enid persisted, peering over her shoulder.
"What does it look like?" Maud retorted, taken aback by the harshness in her own voice. It was like the waves were controlling what came out of her mouth.
Enid groaned.
"You're seriously studying for chanting? Come on, even Millie doesn't need to study for that one, let alone you. Let's go for that picnic you said, come on" she tugged on Maud's sleeve, and she felt a surge of that other feeling she couldn't place coming up again.
Stay firm, the tsunami told her.
"No, thanks. I don't feel like it now." She snapped.
Enid stared.
"What's up with you?"
"Me? Nothing. What's up with you? Finished talking?"
The harshness was getting more and more evident in her voice.
Enid scrunched up her nose in confusion.
"Huh?"
Maud rolled her eyes.
"With Millie. You looked pretty intense."
Enid laughed, and Maud thought she could detect a nervousness.
"Oh, that. We were just talking about our results. You know. I have to do well this time, or my parents'll lose it." Enid replied, averting her eyes, fiddling with the duvet.
"Yeah, I know. Glad I could be of assistance with that. I guess you don't need me anymore now, so you can go have fun with Mildred".
There was a moment's silence.
"What?"
Maud gave an exasperated sigh and shook her head.
"Nothing, forget it".
Enid stared at her friend for a few seconds before smirking slightly. Then she let out a small giggle.
"You've got your jealous face on."
Maud swiveled round to face her, an indignant look on her face.
"I do not!"
"Yeah, you do."
"Shut up. I don't."
"Maud, there's literally smoke coming out of your ears, and it's green".
Damn Enid and her contagious laugh, thought Maud, allowing herself to smile despite herself. The wave subsided only slightly.
"You're such an idiot" she replied, swatting at her with the book and shaking her head.
Enid suddenly reached out and took the book from her hands and stood up, holding it above her head.
"What – hey!" protested Maud weakly.
"I'll give it back when you tell me why you're jealous" grinned Enid.
Maud stared and laughed exasperatedly.
"I'm not! Honest!"
"Oh, please. You've got that same face you had when Millie was helping me find my monkey. Well, my monkey-cat. You know what I mean"
Maud snorted.
"I wasn't jealous then either. I was just mad you were being a bad influence on my best friend"
Enid threw back her head and laughed.
"Bitch, you were jealous as hell."
"Ok, ok, fine, I was then. But not now. I like you now, you know that. I'm glad you and Millie are friends, otherwise we probably wouldn't be friends"
She paused, and then added:
"That is if you are friends".
Where did that come from?
Enid's laughing face turned into confusion.
"Huh? Where did that come from? What do you mean? 'course we're friends"
Maud paused again, trying to figure out what the tsunami meant to say before she said it. She was always so careful about what she said, even about what she thought, but it was as if the tsunami was doing the thinking and talking for her.
"I mean…I don't know. Like it's fine if you're more than that. I mean, it's even more common in witches, so…"
Enid dropped the book and put up her hands.
"Woah, hold on. You think Millie and I…?"
Maud shrugged.
"I mean, I didn't know I thought that. The tsunami did though"
"The WHAT?"
Maud turned red.
"The tsunami…I call…well, I call what you call my jealous face that. Kind of. Like a metaphor. Because they were only waves before, but now it's like a tsunami…"
Enid stared and suddenly began laughing uncontrollably.
"What?" mumbled Maud, staring at her feet.
"Tsunami?" Enid managed to splutter out between snorts.
"Fine, laugh" Maud huffed.
"God, you're one weird witch, you know that" Enid gasped, wiping her eyes. "Thinking me and Millie are more than friends, and then calling your jealousy tsunami…"
"So you're not? More than friends, I mean"
"God, no. Millie's like my sister, you dweeb"
Maud felt the waves subsiding more and more.
"Actually, I thought you might have had a crush on her when we were younger. You know, when your jealous face – your tsunami, I mean – was in all its glory".
Maud smiled and shook her head.
"Nah. I was just jealous of my best friend, nothing more to it. She's like my sister, too"
Enid paused, seeming to think of how to handle her words next.
"So what about now?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just now, were you jealous of her? Like as your best friend?"
There was silence as Maud fingered the book, and Enid played with the duvet. She thought about that other feeling that she couldn't place. When she spoke again, it was barely above a whisper.
"It's not Millie I'm jealous about now".
"You mean…"
Her words trailed off. Maud had never seen Enid like this, so unsure, so thoughtful, so carefully treading around what she wanted to say. Maud fell silent, staring down at the bed. Enid's hand covered her own gently, stroking her fingers comfortingly. She looked up.
"You mean…you thought Millie and I might be more than friends…and you got jealous…"
Maud nodded.
"…but it's not Millie you're jealous about…so…"
The other feeling took over her and suddenly she understood what it meant. She leaned over and kissed Enid gently. Her lips felt soft and sweet, and right. Enid smiled gently into her mouth and kissed her back, cupping her face and pulling her closer. When they broke apart, Enid kissed her cheek and smiled.
"You know; I've wanted to do that for a while now. I realized when you were tutoring me. That's what I was talking to Millie about, just now."
Maud laughed, feeling giddy.
"So Millie knows?"
"She said she knew before I did, and she said she was sure you felt the same, only you maybe didn't know it"
"Well, I didn't. The tsunami did, though"
Enid grinned, and kissed her again.
"Thank god for that stupid tsunami".