YUBIWA
"Yessss!" Exclaimed Ethel. "Say thank you, Mildred! I just saved your life."
Mildred Hubble's face reddened in a deep blush as her arms tightened around Ethel's waist and her toes curled inward. For a moment she forgot about Tabby, forgot about her broom and simply squeezed her eyes shut; her heart hammering in her chest as she savoured the closeness.
It wasn't something she could easily explain nor was it something she could talk freely to Maud and Enid about but somehow, being this high up amongst the clouds and being so close to Ethel Hallow, her rival in most things, felt inexplicably right.
Normally when one dislikes a person so as to feel frustrated every time they enter the room you might think that was a sure sign that these two people were not at all suited to one another. Perhaps that was how it had begun but, in the case of Mildred Hubble and her nemesis Ethel Hallow, this situation had become infinitely more complicated.
Mildred couldn't quite remember when she had started to feel differently about Ethel. Perhaps it was that time when Ethel had tried to sneak a doxy down Mildred's back and the thrill of her touch had made her cry out in surprise, or perhaps it had been the time she had caught sight through the crack in the door of Ethel's pale back as she undressed for bed. Whatever the first instance, Mildred Hubble couldn't help but think of the other girl in a way that wasn't entirely consistent with the manner in which she had first considered her.
Perhaps even it was simply because she was lonely. Maud and Enid had been so friendly with one another as of late, sneaking away into the woods when it got dark and spending countless hours together in Enid's room that Mildred was beginning to feel quite left out. When she had first arrived at Cackle's, Maud had been just about the only person Mildred was friends with. She had thought then that they would always be as close but sadly, time, and Drusilla's decisive interference had soon put an end to that.
It wasn't that they were anything less than best friends of course…it was simply that they weren't close in the way they had been when they were both younger.
Holding onto Ethel now, even with the presence of the other girl's indignant black cat, Nightstar behind her, Mildred Hubble felt the sudden thrill of those first moments she had shared under the bedcovers with Maud.
"Ethel…" She whispered in a small voice.
"What is it now, Hubble?" Ethel snapped back in an angry tone. "If you're going to ask me to turn around and fly back up there for that blasted cat of yours then you've got another thing coming."
"Ethel…" Mildred continued, unabashed. "Ethel, do you have a boyfriend?"
Ethel Hallow laughed out loud, a cruel, sharp loud that echoed amongst the high towers of the ancient and venerable school.
"As if I'd have time for something like that!" She sneered. "Really, Mildred, have some common sense."
Mildred turned away, her face bright red and eyes furiously studying the passing towers despite the fact that the speed they were travelling at made them all but a blur.
"Well then, I was wondering, Ethel...if...if I might be your boyfriend?"
Ethel laughed out loud again and Mildred felt tears sting the corners of her eyes.
"Oh please, Ethel, don't be so beastly!" She implored, consumed by embarrassment. "I-I'll even join your gang if your want."
"Join my gang? I'd hardly consider Drusilla a gang, Mildred." Ethel smirked, her eyes glistening with mischief. "But if you were to 'join my gang' as you say, you'd have to take orders from Drusilla, you know."
"Yes, yes." Mildred answered impatiently. "That's not the point."
"Oh, I very much think it is the point!" Ethel exclaimed with glee. "I am, after all the leader of this gang, and if I'm the leader then ever faithful Drusilla who's been by my side since before you even knew what a witch was must be my second in command. So that would make you my slave."
"That's not what I wanted!" Mildred proclaimed tearfully. "I was asking you, rather nicely I think, if I could be your boyfriend."
"And I'm telling you, rather nicely I think, that if you want to be my 'boyfriend' then first you're going to have to be my slave." Ethel said firmly.
With a smile Ethel pushed her broom forwards and landed gracefully amid the excited pupils. Mildred jumped off as quickly as possible, her eyes damp and her cheeks red.
Patiently the other girl slowly stepped off her broom and turned towards the blushing girl she had rescued.
"Mildred," She said firmly before the entire class. "Kiss Drusilla."
The crowd of girls gasped in surprise, Drusilla herself stepped forwards with a sudden blush on her face and a questioning expression.
"Ethel?" She asked.
"Be patient, Drusilla." Ethel said sharply, her eyes fixed intently on Mildred. "Mildred's going to show us just how serious she can be."
Maud and Enid stepped forwards as well, Maud's hand nervously seeking out Enid's.
"W-What's all this about, Ethel?" She asked nervously.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Maud Moonshine." Ethel smiled and then tapped her wrist in a gesture of passing time. "Come along now, Mildred, we're all waiting for you."
At last Mildred turned to face her.
"You're too cruel, Ethel Hallow." She said firmly.
Ethel's opened her mouth to bite off a sharp denouncement of the other girl's behaviour however before she was quite able to speak, Mildred stomped swiftly forwards and took hold of her, placing a single, forceful kiss upon her lips with furious indignation. The whole of Form Three gasped as slowly Mildred Hubble pulled away and smiled kindly, the tears still stinging her eyes.
Ethel opened her mouth to speak once more and then thought better of it, a deep frown wrote large upon her brow.
"W-What exactly was that?" She asked at last, closing her eyes and adopting an expression of concentration.
"A kiss." Mildred answered angrily.
"Poor you." Ethel sighed. "Kissing really isn't your strong point, is it?"
She opened her eyes and gently reached out, placing her arms about Mildred's shoulders and slowly leaning forwards. Their lips met once again and all the rage and shame Mildred felt dissolved in the sudden flowering of warmth that filled her stomach.
Slowly Ethel pulled her lips away and Mildred moaned softly, hungrily biting her top lip.
"That was a kiss, Mildred Hubble." She whispered in a conspiratorial manner. "And if you come to my room tonight I'll teach more of that along with all the other things I've taught Drusilla."
With a smile she turned away, leaving Mildred standing alone in the centre of Form Three with a sudden feeling of butterflies in her stomach, desperately trying not to cry tears of joy.
Across the early morning dew Ethel Hallow strode into the distance, Drusilla all but running to keep up with, her cloak billowing in the brisk wind. Slowly Mildred opened her eyes and smiled. Despite herself she was beginning to feel less lonely after all.