My name is Melinda Halliwell and I have been living and attending college in New York for the past three and a half years. During this time, I have met various people and made lots of friends. It was important to me that I get away from my family, even if I did have to visit every weekend because, honestly, I don't want to have to call or go to my mother and father for every little thing.
As such, I spoke with my Aunt Paige before moving out here. It turns out that the dean of admissions, at New York University, knew Aunt Paige from magic school. Due to this, I had asked Aunt Paige if I could use the surname Matthews for the admissions process and general roll call. Obviously though, I'll need to use Halliwell on my degree but the dean of admissions had, reluctantly, agreed (thank goodness, she owed Aunt Paige plenty of favors!).
This helped me in two ways; one, I got to pretend to be just another woman and, two, I don't have to worry about stray demon attacks. Oh, don't get me wrong; they do happen! Thankfully, though, it's not very often and, when an attack does happen, they don't expect me to be this serious demon ass-kicking machine. They just think I'm your normal every-day run-of-the-mill witch. Oh boy, are they ever surprised!
Really though, this story doesn't focus so much on the magic side of my life but, rather, on the ordinary part of it. Oh, there will probably be some demon-kicking action but, honestly, this is more of a diary in order to help me place my thoughts and figure out what is going on with my life!
You see, for the past year I have been dating Gary Smart. He's gorgeous and, as my Aunt Phoebe would say, quite a hunk! It isn't that I'm afraid to tell him about magic; it's just that I don't know how he will take it.
Anyway, today was an ordinary day (or as ordinary as it gets in college) and I was sitting down in the living room of two bedroom apartment that I share with my roommate, Chrystal, who is also a witch.
I know that I need to eventually tell Gary the truth about me, but what if he doesn't love me once he finds out? How will I be able to live with myself then? I know that I shouldn't get so hung up on boys but I really do like him. Man, life would be so much easier without the magic factor; but, in all honesty, I do love being a witch. I know, I know, it interferes with my life and I'm even pretending not to be a Halliwell, but that's more because of the whole celebrity status thing.
I'd rather not have everyone equate me to my aunts or my mother. In the magic world, everyone knows them as the Charmed Ones and, therefore, I'm just the eldest-living sister's youngest daughter. Yeah, not exactly how I want to gain friends. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention I've made friends with witches here (besides just Chrystal) on the east coast? Yeah, totally did. The best part? I made them on my own, without having to rely on my surname.
The magical world isn't the only world I have to worry about being related to famous people, though. No, my mom had to go and get famous in the mortal world too. Don't get me wrong, I love my mom and am very proud to call her mother; and, I am very glad and happy for her success! It's just that having a mom who owns P3, the largest nightclub chain in the United States, along with Halliwell's, a restaurant chain in the United States, which is the third largest restaurant chain in the United States, I certainly am not trying to be outshined by her success.
Furthermore, my Aunt Phoebe, who I love dearly, is a celebrated advice columnist, whose column has gone national, and accredited author of multiple books (many of which I haven't read, but don't tell her that) and I am certainly overshadowed by her publicity.
Then there is my Aunt Paige, who in the last few years had returned to social work, and became a full social worker. She even manages to balance her career with her whitelighter and witch duties. Not to mention, she's the strongest witch I know. I mean, I know mom and Aunt Phoebe are strong, not to mention my brothers, but my Aunt just manages to keep herself altogether; you know? That's why I look up to her so much. It's also why I even asked to use her last name for schooling. I mean, I could have used Dad's last name (Wyatt), but with my brother's first name being Wyatt it just felt too weird.
So here I am at school in New York, known as Melinda Matthews. I know it's an odd name but it's my own, so to speak, you know? I get to live my life without being in the shadows, whether in the magical world or the mortal world, I just want to be treated as myself. I don't want any special treatment, because of my last name; although, I guess I kind of got that since Aunt Paige knew the dean of admissions, but still! You know what I mean, right?
Anyway, I need to get to class so I should stop writing now. I'll see you later tonight (or sooner, I guess, since I take my laptop around campus with me).