Chapter One – A Bad Day
"Damn," cursed Jenna, inaudibly due to the sound of the pouring rain. She fished for the keys (plus giraffe key ring) and let herself in to the house that she shared with her best friend, Estriel.
"Honey- I'm home!" She yelled, slamming the door behind her with her foot, as she put her bag down on the floor. Notes, music and headphones spilled out of it. "In my room," Es' voice came from upstairs.
Jenna took off her dripping pink coat and new black and pink shoes, and went up the stairs two at a time feeling like a drowned rat.
"Get caught in the rain?" called Es.
Jenna appeared at the open door of her bedroom, seeing Es sat on her red bedspread, propped up by pillows. Estriel laughed out loud at the sight of her, and put her book and notebook down. Jenna glared back, not amused.
"Why are you so late back?" ventured Estriel.
"Band practice ran late," pouted Jenna.
Es cleared a space at the end of her bed for her to sit on, shoving drama notes and text books on the floor.
"Getting any better then?"
"What?" asked Jenna distractedly.
"The band."
"Oh. Well, let's put it this way – I didn't have to try and put my hands over my ears while playing my bass this time."
"Definitely good."
"Because I had ear plugs."
There was a pause.
"I've had such a bad day," moaned Jenna. "Why do I always have a bad day when it rains?"
"Maybe it rains because you have a bad day," said Es, punctuated by a flash of lightening. The girls giggled, and Jenna sat on the bed, both cuddled closer into the masses of red velvety pillows that covered every spare inch of Es's bed as lightning flashed once again.
"How d'you do that?" giggled Jen.
"Magic," said Estriel, and winked.
"So, what's your day been like, then, Mr Potter, sir?"
"Not so good either, actually. I got yelled at at work, and they'd sold out of my favourite toasted sandwich at lunch."
"Bacon and lettuce?"
"You know it."
"I think someone has it in for us today," sighed Jen. "But you seem okay now, how did you get over the trauma?"
"Had marmite toast. Read LotR," she explained.
"Oh. How were your lectures?"
"Crappy. He promised we were going to do theory today, but we didn't. So I had to do practical drama in a skirt with a pervy drama professor. Not good."
Suddenly, there was a loud noise.
The girls looked at each other. "Es," whispered Jenna. "You don't by any chance have a good looking man in the house who you failed to tell me about, do you?"
"That would be a no," she said The noise sounded again. "Not good," mouthed Jenna to Estriel.
She nodded, looking as scared as Jenna was feeling. They slowly got up and tip-toed to the door. Jenna peeked her head out to the left, and then the right. A crashing sound came from her left, and she turned behind to Es, and whispered, "Yep, definitely the bathroom."
They edged their way forward until they were a couple of feet away from the closed bathroom door. There was a gushing sound, like a strong wind, coming from within, and the odd crashing sound, which were loud now that they were close. Jenna turned to Estriel for reassurance and then put her hand on the door handle. She twisted it very slowly and then pushed the door gently. It opened wide.
"Oh," commented Jenna.
"Oh," said Estriel.
An enormous sphere of energy was hanging in mid-air, flashes of red, purple, orange and blue illuminating it. Large gusts of wind were being emitted from it, knocking things from shelves and surfaces. There was a portal in their bathroom.
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