Surprisingly, I'm still alive, and with a new chapter, no less.
In all honesty, I've just seen the rest of the TW season 6 and I've never been so disappointed in my whole life.. Well, maybe by The Originals xD So, I might have to take my own road after season 3 or 4… I'm really not feeling the recent stuff….
On the other hand, I've started a poll regarding which story I should prioritize. So, if you want Of Spells and Potions to be updated MORE FREQUENTLY, please, take your time and vote on my profile. The poll will be open for a while :D
My headcasts:
Daniel King – Beau Mirchoff
Evangeline Forester - Beth Riesgraf
Simone Jones – Portia Doubleday
Aurora Griffith - Jessica Parker Kennedy
Zack Griffith - Thomas Brodie-Sangster
Without further ado, enjoy!
Chapter 15: What's in a name?
Dan's motorcycle was waiting for her in front of the school, as always. Simone ignored Rory's and Harley's teasing giggling and switched the grip on her messenger bag, so that it rested on her back. She caught the spare helmet which Dan tossed her and undid her hairclip, so that she could put on. The warlock offered her a hand and Simone accepted, swinging her leg over the bike, glad that she'd worn tights instead of a dress.
Rory catcalled after the duo as Dan started the bike, driving away. Simone rolled her eyes, making sure to hold onto her driver tight. But, she couldn't help the small smile that spread on her face as the Kawasaki sped away towards the highway.
Now, you must understand that Simone had never had many friends. It wasn't that she didn't want to befriend people. No, it was quite the opposite. She wanted to have her own squad of girls to hang out with and go to the mall with, even though she wasn't much of a shopper. She wanted a couple of guy friends as well, so that she could shamelessly watch action movies with them and get away from the girl drama for a while. But, those were just fantasies.
Simone had been very young when she had understood that the chances of her having friends were so low that they were practically buried in the ground. She'd had a friend back in kindergarten, when her family had still been living in Illinois. Well, the teenage witch had considered them friends. The first argument had been about a sleepover. The second had been about her mother's job. The third had been about all the books in the library which were off-limits. And then, the short friendship had ended.
Simone hadn't been able to talk to her friend about the new things which were happening to her. She hadn't been able to talk about her first dreamwalk, which signaled that her magic had matured. She hadn't been able to speak to anyone about her first flight, short, yet successful. She hadn't been able to retell her first experience at losing control over her emotions, sending everything in the house flying, bursting all the lights. Simone had realized, at a tender age of six, that she would never have friends.
The bike stopped, Dan positioning its leg. He took off his helmet and mussed up his hair, smirking at Simone behind him. She placed a careful smile on her face as she took off her own helmet as well.
"Good day at school?" Dan asked, opening the door and strutting in like he owned the place. He left the helmet on the antique armoire on his left, before going into the kitchen. The witch was pretty sure that he had left the gear there on purpose, as Eve hated it when he did that.
"It was alright." The teen replied, walking into the kitchen as well. She spotted Dan already on the couch, his shirt off, as usual. She couldn't help her frown. By now, she was used to his exhibitionist behavior, though she still couldn't help the way her eyes glued themselves to his stomach. Seriously, Dan had abs. Proper, workout until you drop, abs. Like she'd only seen on White Collar, whenever Matt Bomer had a shirtless scene. Seriously, when did he find the time to work out? "Mr. Beauchamp decided to make us read a book, since Stilinski was flailing in the back." Dan's laughter rang out at this and he looked at her upside down, over the edge of the sofa.
"Seriously?" The warlock asked. "That's pretty advanced for French II."
"Tell me about it." Groaned Simone. French had never been her strongest subject. She preferred something like Chemistry or Math. That didn't mean that she didn't pick up the language quickly. No, she just didn't like it. "I need to read a whole chapter by Monday." Simone threw her bag onto one of the sofa chairs and headed for the sink. As usual, it was full of dishes. Eve hated doing dishes, and Dan was as lazy as they came. With a shake of her head, the witch took the sponge into her hands and began scrubbing the first plate.
"Just use a spell or something." Dan shrugged. Simone hummed, but otherwise didn't respond. The two fell into a comfortable silence, as the warlock fiddled with his phone, playing a game, and the girl did the dishes, before making some cookies. Dan turned on the radio after a while, tuning it in to the rock and roll station, singing along when a familiar song came on.
It was some time later that Eve entered with a cheery giggle into her phone, slamming the front door behind herself. She ended her conversation fairly quickly, tossing a couple of flashy, shopping bags onto the kitchen counter before she walked over to Dan and plopped down into his lap. She let out a laugh when he grunted in pain and fiddled with her cellphone absentmindedly, the conversation over.
"Well, don't you two look like you're free." The blonde commented with a smile, noting the easygoing atmosphere in the room. Dan attempted to push her off of his lap and on the empty space on the couch, but she swiftly jabbed him in the ribs, where he was ticklish, and he gave up.
"I was free as a bird before you came, amazon woman." He complained, wriggling around to find a comfortable position with her added weight. "She's got homework, though."
Simone tossed a nasty look over her shoulder. "Not for tomorrow I don't." The oven beeped and she put on the protective gloves and pulled the cookies out. "Besides, I have a plan for the quiz tomorrow."
"Oh?" Eve jumped off of Dan, who emitted another grunt and murmured something which suspiciously sounded like good riddance.
"I'm going to try this memory spell that I found in the library. I mixed the magic in the chocolate before putting it in the dough." The young witch explained, proud of her ingenuity. The spell was originally for charming a talisman, but she preferred to bind it to food. That way, it would use less complicated magic and it could be removed, instead of waiting for it to wear off.
"I see." Eve hummed. She reached over and took a cookie, biting a piece off. After chewing she spoke. "Still needs a little spike on the end, though. Try using a little bit of rum, it's always good for cleansing." Simone nodded and headed for the cupboard, finding the old bottle of rum easily.
"Don't you think it's time we taught her some proper magic instead of these parlor tricks?" Asked Dan from his spot in a serious voice. He'd flipped onto his stomach, so that he could look at the two witches better.
"True." Eve agreed, finishing the cookie. "Get that bowl over there, would you? We can't teach you anything without knowing your affinity." She told Simone and the teen fetched the dish. Eve filled it with water all the way to the top and settled it on the counter. Dan hopped up and walked over to them as well, motioning with his hand at the door. With a soft murmur from him, they closed and locked themselves. "Hand." Eve demanded and Simone extended her arm out.
The older witch took one of the sharp knives from the drawer and made a small cut in the teen's palm. Simone hissed and her hand twitched back on instinct, but Eve held her in place. Slowly, blood blossomed from the cut, drops going down her skin and then falling into the water. Simone counted them. One. Two. Three. Eve released her hand and Dan tossed her a kitchen rag with a smirk.
"Pour some magic into the bowl." The blonde commanded, looking at the slowly vanishing red drops.
"Just pour it in?" Simone asked. "How?" She only knew how to weave a spell. It was a strange thing, casting. She would have to call on the dull thrum of her magic and then allow it to rage in her blood, warm her in a strange way, before she spoke the words of the spell, out loud or inside her head. The words held a lot of power in traditional craft and in modern religion. The rules were a tad different, but still similar. It was the words that directed her magic, commanded it, and not her.
"Oh, right." Eve broke away from her trance, touching her forehead with her fingers lightly and laughing a bit. Her numerous bracelets jingled as she moved. "I forgot." She took Simone's hands in her own and immediately, the young witch felt the magic emanating from her Godmother. Her own rose in response, drumming in the back of her head. "Now, when you're not weaving, but using pure magic, you need to imagine it in a different way. It won't be formed by your words, but by your movements, alright?"
"Alright." The teen replied, having no idea what the witch meant.
"It shouldn't feel like you're using a cup to gather water, but like you're using your hands." Told her Dan, obviously noticing her lost expression. Goddess, he'd become able to read her quite well.
"That doesn't make any sense." Eve frowned.
"Does to her." The warlock countered.
"Really?" Simone shyly nodded. Eve let out a sigh, shrugging. "Clearly, I'm out of my league here. Anyways, you need to pour that 'water' into the bowl, if that makes sense." Simone nodded and now touched the bowl with her hands. The cut in her palm stung a bit, but she ignored it. The ceramic surface was cool underneath her skin which had heated due to the raging magic inside of her. She took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm the drum in the back of her head which kept getting louder and louder, like it was going to burst out of her forehead.
Something crackled and a light burst above them.
"Woah!" Dan exclaimed, ducking his head. A couple of shards landed into the bowl, sinking slowly. Simone watched them as they sank, twirling around like they were dancing.
"It's pretty strong." Eve offhandedly commented, looking up at the light which had exploded. Though, for Simone, their words were mere background noise. It was like she was underwater and everything was playing on a pair of bad headphones. There was a dull thrumming in her ears, she could hear her blood pumping through her veins. But, more importantly, she could hear the crackle and the rush of magic in her body, springing to life. It wanted to be loose. It wanted to wreak havoc. Little spells weren't enough. It needed a storm.
"Simone!" Eva's voice finally entered her mind, like she had been sucked out of a vacuum and the teen witch realized that Dan was attempting to wrench the bowl out of her hands from the other side of the counter, sending water everywhere. "Simone, you need to stop now! Simone!" Her hands let go of the bowl and she realized that she was shaking. She was trembling like she'd just run a whole marathon, the adrenaline slowly wearing off. "It's alright, honey. You're fine." Eve was holding her tightly.
"Damn." Dan commented, lowering the bowl and waving his arm over the spilled water, murmuring a spell. Instantly the liquid heated up, becoming steam. Simone followed everything with wide eyes, like she'd just woken from a nightmare. She listened to Eve, who kept instructing her to take deep breaths. She felt exhausted. Her legs were like jelly.
"It's alright." Eve told her as Dan came around the counter and the two drag-carried the limp girl to the couch. "This is why we did this together. Loads of things can go wrong with magic. It's unpredictable." Simone gave a shaky nod, glad that she had been lowered on the couch. Dan vanished from the room, only to return with a blanket a moment later. The witch realized that she was ice-cold.
"Di-did y-you f-find out m-my a-affinity?" Simone asked, her teeth chattering. Eve and Dan exchanged an uncomfortable look, before they both smiled at the teen. Simone found the magic in the back of her head twisting and she felt the pit in her stomach return. She didn't trust Eve. And she was beginning to doubt Dan as well.
"Not this time." Said the woman. "We'll try again some other time, when you practice your magic some more, alright?" Eve told her with a comforting smile. Simone nodded, but, she couldn't help thinking that her Godmother looked less and less like a Disney Princess and more like the witch who disguised herself to look like one. Luckily, the blonde woman stood, and with one more smile, left the room. Dan had settled himself next to the couch and he was playing with the edge of the blanket, looking quite thoughtful.
"Wh-which affinity do you think I have?" Simone asked, her teeth slowly stopping their chattering as she got warmer and warmer. Dan's head jumped up, and he shrugged.
"There's a method to guess it by personality, but it's not too reliable." The warlock said. "For example, mine's fire. So, I'm daring, enthusiastic, decisive, but also, jealous, violent, and irritable." Dan smiled lopsidedly at her. "See, it's not exact. I'm not that violent or irritable."
Simone scoffed out a laugh. "In certain occasions you are." He stuck his tongue out at her rather childishly. "What a-about Eve?"
"Air." Dan explained. "Carefree, joyous, independent, but also has a lack of perseverance, is dishonest and cunning. Spot-on, I'd say." Dishonest. Simone filed that thought away, looking away from Dan. She didn't want him to pick up on her doubts. She needed to ask him another thing, stop thinking about her bad gut feeling.
"Which affinity would you guess I have?" Dan shrugged, before taking out his phone, checking his messages.
"My best guess, you're either earth or water." He said absentmindedly, checking his Twitter and Facebook. "Earth's the most stable of the elements, and your mother's affinity. Parents can sometimes influence their child's affinity with their own."
"Why water, then?" Simone asked.
"Easy." Dan hopped onto his feet, grinning down at her. "Your personality." With another glance to his phone, the warlock offered a small wave. "I've gotta run, sorry. It's an emergency. Don't get up until you feel warm again." And soon, Simone was left alone once more.
She grit her teeth and pushed herself up. She needed to call her grandmother.
Simone's head dropped to her desk with a dull thud. She was pretty sure that it was going to bruise, as well, but she didn't care. She could hear the classroom slowly being emptied, but she didn't make a move to head towards the cafeteria for lunch. She didn't feel like eating. She only felt like sleeping.
She hadn't had the chance to call her grandmother yet and ask her about the blunder from the day before. She was honestly stumped. After she'd failed Eve's test she'd asked Dan about it, as he had stayed glued to her side. Apparently, it was a very common test and any witch or warlock would take it before learning serious magic.
Dan had told her that there are magic spells of different levels of complexity, and that they are mostly categorized into easy, medium and advanced, based on how difficult they are to do. He'd even admitted that he had a lot of problems with medium level spells, such as mind reading, as she'd witnessed before.
While she'd been listening to the young man talk, Simone couldn't help but wish that she could've had such knowledge passed down to her from her mother. Unfortunately, the woman seemed to hate the very idea of her daughter being what she was: a traditional witch.
"You look glum." Came Rory's voice from her left as the girl obviously made herself comfortable, as usual. Simone pulled her head up, offering her friend a smile.
"I'm alright." She replied with a shake of her head.
"Right." Rory's voice was dripping with sarcasm, but she didn't otherwise make a comment. She proceeded to completely ignore Simone and unwrap her lunch. Just as the young witch was about to say something, Harley cheerily plopped next to them, smiling wide.
"Did you see what Lydia Martin was wearing today?" She asked popping a french-fry into her mouth.
"Who cares."
"Mhm." Answered Rory and Simone.
"Well, FYI, everybody cares." Snapped Harley at the sarcastic response, glaring at the girl. Rory didn't even react.
"Aaah which brand was her purse, do you know?" Simone quickly asked, attempting to diffuse the tense situation. "I really liked it." She couldn't even remember seeing Lydia Martin. In all honesty, she avoided the popular girl like she was the plague.
"Chanel, of course. So it's ridiculously expensive." Harley said, opening her water and drinking some. "I wish my parents were as loving as hers."
"If you call that loving." Snorted Rory, making Simone flinch. In a second, another argument broke out between the two girls, but the young witch wasn't listening anymore. She was thinking back to Dan's explanation of different elements and their uses. How witches with a fire affinity were much better at using destructive spells. Also, how those with an earth element could almost communicate with plants. She'd found out that her mother had that affinity.
What a strange thing, Simone thought, remembering all the hours which her mother spent in the garden. You'd think that a witch with an earthly affinity wouldn't have to work so hard to keep her plants alive.
"Simone!"
"Y-yes?" Stammered the girl, brought out of her thoughts abruptly.
"We were deciding on your nickname." Continued Harley, now that she had her attention. "So, we thought that you should be part of the discussion."
"My nickname?" Asked the witch, tilting her head a bit. She'd never had one before. Pet names, tons, mostly from her mother and grandmother, but, no nicknames. Sure, she'd heard that her name was old-fashioned and hard to pronounce, but she'd never gotten a nickname. There was simply nothing that one could shorten it properly into.
"We were thinking SJ?" Said Harley with a smile. How did they get from arguing to the topic of my nickname, wondered Simone, but shrugged at the suggestion. SJ sounded alright to her.
"A little bit too Spiderman for me." Commented Rory with a frown. Harley tossed her a glare over the table.
"Mone? Mona?" She shot out, eyebrows furrowing.
"Bleh." Rory said once more, expressing her dislike for the names. Simone was, in all honesty, thankful. She didn't like either of them.
"Why? Mona is a nice name!" Protested Harley.
"Really?" Countered Rory. "Look at her. Does she look like a Mona to you?" She pointed her finger at Simone, who was silently drinking the mint tea from her water bottle.
"True. A Mona would have more makeup." Nodded Harley with a sigh. "And style."
"What's wrong with my style?"
"You see." Simone and Rory spoke at the same time, the former being completely ignored.
"Well then, why don't you suggest a better one?" Harley crossed her arms. "Come on. We're waiting for you to do so, smart chick." She challenged. Rory raised an eyebrow.
"How about-"
"Jo." Someone said from behind the skater girl. The small group turned around only to see Rory's brother, Zack, sitting at the table next to theirs. "You were being so loud, I figured I'd just solve the problem for you." He told the silent girls. After a few quiet moments, he pointed his pen at Simone. "Your last name is Jones, right?" When she nodded mutely, he shrugged. "There you go." And went back to his work.
The girls all turned around, sharing looks, before bursting into laughter.
Simone was in chaos.
She wasn't attempting to hide her magic, or anything, which was the cause of her panic 99.9% of the time. No. This time, it was much worse. She was late.
She cursed once more under her breath, jumping about as she attempted to pull on her maroon leggings while standing. She was well-aware of the fact that her hair, long, might I add, was bouncing about, getting completely tangled, and just after she'd brushed it. Just as she was pulling the leggings over her hips, her phone began buzzing on her dresser. Pretty soon, the familiar notes of Nightwish's Wishmaster rang throughout the room, making the girl sigh.
It's funny how once you put a song as your ringtone, you start hating it. And she'd really loved this one for a long time. She was still, after all, going through that 'moody teenager' phase where she believed that the whole world was against her.
"Rory?" The young witch answered her phone, holding it between her shoulder and ear so that she could choose a long blouse from her wardrobe.
"We're gonna be late if you don't get your ass down here." Her friend's voice replied as the familiar horn sounded from outside of the Inn. Pulling one of the floral themed blouses off the hanger, Simone took her phone into her hand.
"I'll be down in a sec." She wasn't. It had actually taken her fifteen more minutes and five more calls from Rory to come downstairs, and then, she'd listened to her skateboarding friend grumble about her lazy, late 'ass' the whole way to Beacon High. Thankfully, Harley was waiting for them in the parking lot.
"Hey!" The black girl greeted them. "Where have the two of you been? The bleachers are almost full, you know." She told them as the two left the yellow Beatle, Rory taking only her phone and keys with her and Simone carrying her bag. "You won't need that, sweetie." Harley told her and the witch threw the messenger bag back into the back seat.
"Well, I arrived on time." Rory said in a tight voice. "And then we had a little accident time-wise."
"We should hurry then." Harley commented and grabbed both of their hands, pulling them towards the field, where Simone could already see the lights and hear the noise of the pre-game cheers and the spectators. "I want to be able to see some of the hotties play. Like Jackson."
"He's an ass, Harley." Groaned Rory.
"True." The girl agreed with a tilt of her head, which made her ponytail and earrings jump to the side. "But he is a mighty fine piece of ass." Now, Rory laughed, while Simone couldn't suppress the blush on her pale cheeks.
"So, have you ever been to a lacrosse game before, Jo?" Asked Harley as they pushed through the crowd and settled into the middle of the last row of the bleachers. Simone felt her cheeks color at her new nickname. She liked it. Jo. It was trendy and sounded cool.
"Not really." The witch replied, watching as everyone bustled about. There were cheerleaders jumping into the air and doing their cheer routines, making unbelievable pyramids with their bodies. Players were stretching, putting on their gear. She managed to spot a couple of people she knew from class. Coach Finstock was already yelling like a madman, though Simone doubted that he had any other setting in his person. "I've never really had an interest in watching one."
"That's bull." Rory interjected, but Harley wasn't having it.
"No worries, sweetie, it's just a regular match." Said the girl. "There are, of course, a few things you should know about before it starts, though. Firstly, we are the red team." She pointed at one of the players on their bench. "Next, that is Jackson-"
"The King of Assland." Piped in Rory.
"-who is the team captain. He's ridiculously good." Harley ignored the girl. "You probably know Danny, as well, from class. He's the goalie. And perhaps you're familiar with Steve? Number six?"
"Lord of Dumbness." Rory interjected once more. Simone suppressed her laugh, in the end making it a cough, so that Harley's nasty look towards Rory wouldn't escalate into another argument.
"How about-"
"I know number twenty four." Simone said in a small voice, spotting a familiar face, looking about nervously.
"I heard that Jackass was injured in practice." A male voice, rather high-pitched, came from Simone's other side. She turned, only to find Rory's younger brother, Zack, sitting there, munching on a bag of Lay's Chips. "Chips anyone?" He offered without stopping his intake of the junk food.
"No thanks. And, Jo, how in the world do you know Stiles?" Harley replied without missing a beat, causing the young witch next to her to shrug. Rory was ignoring her brother, as usual. Simone, with a small smile, accepted some chips from Zack. Luckily for her, before Harley could ask her a follow-up question about her relationship with Stiles, a whistle rang out as Coach Finstock called his team to him.
The match was starting.
That's all for today folks!
I'm looking forward to reading what you thought of the chapter :D
Some stray info:
- Zack loves chips, his favorite is the kind with onions and sour cream or with vinegar and salt
- Zack started his chips obsession when he started playing video games
- Harley usually wears hoop earrings of bold colors – mostly neon
- Rory has called Simone by her new nickname, Jo, before Zack suggested it
- Simone is terrified of being late because she was once late to class and ended up in detention
Onto the reviews:
FriendlyNeighborhoodHufflepuff: Thank you very much for the review! I used to listen to a lot of Avril, btw xD Somehow, her new stuff isn't up my alley…
Thank you for the review!
Fictionalworlds: Thank you very much for taking the time to review my story! I'm so glad that you're enjoying it :D I look forward to hearing from you again :)
Also, I would like to remind you guys once more to vote on the poll if you would like me to prioritize this story over my other FFN work.
