At lunch, Chris found himself behind Ella in the lunch line. He was studying her slim form when she turned around, as if sensing that she was being studied from behind.
"Hi Chris, sit with me won't you?" she requested.
The blond somehow found himself unable to reject the girl's request, so after they'd got their school-lunches, Chris found himself sitting opposite her at a dinner table.
"Mr. Fowler didn't seem too bad after all," Ella told Chris. "I'm going out of school after this - I'm meeting my brother, would you like to come?"
"I guess," answered Chris, still unable to say no to her. Turning her down would hurt her feelings.
"Great."
The two continued their lunch in shy silence, unsure of what to talk about. When they'd cleared their things away, they walked out of the school together, although Chris didn't walk too close in case people got the wrong idea about them.
Ella told him about how great her brother was as they walked to where he worked. It seemed that the guy was very skilled at sports and had several trophies.
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After the home-time bell had rung that day, Chris exited the school and happened to see Ella hanging around in a quiet corner of the school-yard. She didn't notice him and raised her arm. With her hand palm outward toward the wall, a ball of blue electric pulses appeared in her hand.
Chris gasped in shock - only evil beings could create energy-balls!
Ella threw the energy-ball at the wall, creating a scorch-mark when it hit. Suddenly Ella disappeared, the after-image of her shimmering after she'd gone. Shimmering was a warlock way of transporting between places and planes, and warlocks were witches turned evil.
"Damn it, I finally meet a girl who likes me and she's a warlock!"
"I won't tell anyone, I promise," said Ezra, as he blinked in, in front of Chris. "Perhaps you'll be more fortunate next time." Blinking was a demonic way of transporting and was quicker than shimmering.
"Maybe she's not very evil, like you," said Chris in hope.
"I'm not at all evil," whined Ezra, noticing that Chris had said 'not very evil' instead of 'not evil'. "All warlocks are evil, Chris - if they were good they'd be witches like us, and wouldn't have warlock powers."
"Maybe she's different though, she was really nice to me."
"Perhaps, Chris. My father was a good demon after all. Are you ready to go home?"
"Dad working late again?" asked Chris; Ezra usually only came to transport him home if Terrence couldn't drive them home from school.
"Your assumption is entirely accurate," answered Ezra, who'd just come from his elementary school as he was only eleven years old.
"You're talking like you swallowed a thesaurus again," commented Chris, as he put his hand on Ezra's shoulder.
Before Ezra blinked them home, he answered rudely, "It is so much more pleasant-sounding than the common way you speak."
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Josiah stood at the stove, cooking dinner for the family. Gloria was at a meeting with some other witches, so she had asked Josiah to cook for Terrence, himself and the other boys. She wouldn't be home until late, so would have a snack when she got back. Josiah had learnt to cook not long after he'd joined the Potter family unofficially - he loved cooking.
"There's nothing wrong with how I talk, Ezra," said Chris angrily, as he and Ezra appeared in the kitchen all of a sudden.
"There is nothing wrong with the way I talk either, Mr. Larabee," defended the boy.
"Boys, are you fighting again?" asked their older brother, looking concerned.
"He was making fun of the way I talk," complained Ezra, looking like he was ready to start throwing fireballs at Chris.
"Chris, apologize to Ezra; there's nothing wrong with the way he speaks - it's just different, that's all," said Josiah, sticking up for Ezra as always. "Dinner's almost ready so you better go and get ready now."
"I don't feel hungry," muttered Chris, before he walked out the back door in a huff.
"Fine, more for the rest of us," answered Josiah, shouting.
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Chris walked to the bottom of the backyard and into the alley that ran behind it. He hated being the middle brother. The older one always sided with the youngest - it was a known fact.
He began to walk through the alley toward the road.
"Chris? Fancy meeting you here," said Ella Gaines, as she shimmered in, in front of him.
"Hi Ella," said Chris - he didn't want to believe that the only girl who liked him was evil, so would trust her for now.
"Do you live near here by any chance? I was just going to visit my father."
"Really? Why did you risk exposure by shimmering?"
"I know that you saw me earlier, so it wasn't worth denying it," admitted Ella. "You didn't answer my question."
"Yes, I live up the road from here," answered Chris. Then he told her why he was in the alley, feeling he could trust the girl. "I've just had a family argument and I'm running away."
"You're just going to live in those clothes all the time?" asked Ella in amazement.
"I guess I'm not really running away - just away for a while so I can calm down."
"Why don't you come and meet my father with me?"
Chris smiled then answered jokily, "I think I'm meant to have at least one date with a girl before I meet her parents."
Ella laughed, then smiled. "I like your humor, Chris. Come with me now and I'll shimmer you home afterwards."
"I've never shimmered before."
"You'll enjoy it."
To be continued…