Irma's Love Story
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OK, first of all; this is set VERY much in the future of the WITCH girls adventures. It's difficult to know who the characters are unless you have read a foreign copy of the WITCH comic (I'm not sure if the TV series stretches that far). Some characters may very well be new to you, so I'll write an index at the bottom.
It is written from Irma's point of view because Irma is the only girl of the gang who hasn't been in a relationship. I thought it was quite sad…
As you might have guessed, there could be spoilers, but they aren't mega story ruiners (for the most part), so it's unlikely that it'll matter too much… I hope you enjoy it anyway!
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"Ready everyone?" Will asked, smoothing out her black dress. It was a lovely summer evening and the W.I.T.C.H. girls were standing outside a huge building with a glowing sign stating the phrase 'The Rush'. This was where the rock concert that they were going to was about to be held. They were all wearing stunning outfits—dresses, skirts, trendy tops, flashy shoes and jewellery—and had styled their hair to match.
Cobalt Blue was one of the bands performing, so Matt had made sure that Will, Irma, Taranee, Cornelia and Hay Lin had received invites. Other bands would play music too so that gave the members of Cobalt Blue a chance to dance.
Irma, who wore a blue dress similar to the one she wore at the Halloween party a while ago, smiled slyly at Will. "Yeah, we're ready! Just don't get too carried away—this isn't your love story, you know!"
Will laughed as they stepped through the doorway, attracting Matt's attention. He came to meet them. "I didn't want to start until you were here," he told Will, and she both grinned and blushed at the same time. He looked especially dashing that evening in his layered T-shirt and jeans, his hair the same as ever. He led the group near the front of the crowd before leaving them and taking to the stage.
The inside of the building looked almost like a dance club—it was dark with bright lights directing your eyes towards the stage. There was a mock bar at the side if you wanted a drink or something to eat, and a door near to it was probably where the toilets were. The crowd was full of young people as dressed up as the W.I.T.C.H. girls were, and the noise was very loud.
"This'll be great," said Hay Lin, nervously excited and pulling at the ends of her stringy belt. "Oh, I do wish Eric was here with me!"
"You have your phone with you, right?" replied Cornelia. "You'll be able to call him anytime you want." Hay Lin smiled back gratefully.
As Matt started to speak the whole hall went quiet, building up a lot of tension. Matt's voice, however was clear and confident as he spoke. "Good evening everybody! Are you ready to have some fun?" There was a huge cheer. "Then let's get started!" He strummed a chord on his guitar, the multicoloured lights flicked on and the band began to play.
The five friends danced together at the front, getting into the spirit of the music very fast. Cobalt Blue was a great rock band, and, next to Kamilla, it was their favourite. Will spent a lot of time gazing at Matt, but still managed to dance, and Taranee could finally show off her newly learnt dance moves.
But then Taranee and Irma went to the bar to have a drink. Taranee ordered then both some water. "This is a fantastic concert!" said Irma.
"Sure is," Taranee agreed.
"Taranee!" called a voice. The speaker appeared, and it was a glammed up Sheila in a dazzling dress that came up to a couple of inches above the knee. Towering behind her was Luke, equally as well dressed in a half zipped up, sleeveless jumper covering a T-shirt and sweatbands on his wrists. "I'm so glad to see you here."
Taranee smiled at the girl with layered brown hair and nudged Irma with her elbow behind her back. Reluctantly, Irma smiled too. "Hi, Sheila. Hi, Luke," said Taranee, greeting them.
In reply, Luke grinned. "Will you be dancing now?" he asked.
"Right, right! We'll all dance and perform our moves together!" Sheila added.
"OK then," said Taranee. She fidgeted with her hair; she had tied a little fabric flower around the lock of hair by her ear and let it hang loose on her shoulder, exposed by her off-the-shoulder shirt.
Meanwhile, Irma looked from Taranee to Luke and back again. She raised an eyebrow and said, "I'll be getting back to the others, OK, Tara? Luke, Sheila; one of you two can have my drink."
"OK then," was Taranee's distracted reply. Sheila winked at her, showing that she knew something was happening too and that she refused to be dragged down by Irma's coldness. Irma kept her smile as she waved goodbye.
As she made her way back, Irma thought about Taranee's past loves. She knew Taranee and Nigel had broken up… it would have been awful for them to see each other again; no wonder Nigel wasn't at the concert. But now Luke had entered the picture…?
"Irma, my little cupcake! Hello!" There was no mistaking the voice that snapped Irma from her reverie—it was Martin.
Unwillingly, Irma turned around. Martin looked as dorky as always in his blue chequered shirt but he had tried to style his yellow hair with gel. "Hey Martin…" She stopped. Holding Martin's hand was…
"I brought along Michelle," Martin beamed. The blonde French girl waved shyly, almost whispering, "Salut, Irma…"
"Did you bring anyone, sugar plum?" continued Martin. "Do I have competition? Or… do you have your eye on someone, Irma? Ha, ha, you do! I know you do!"
Irma ignored him. Martin had brought along Michelle, so she must have still been staying with him. She was so cute in her collared dress and ballet shoes, with a ribbon in her hair; Martin should go out with Michelle, instead of hopelessly chasing after her all the time. It would be sweet. Disgustingly sweet, in fact, like maple syrup. "Sorry Martin, Michelle, I have to go. Have fun," she said abruptly, and disappeared into the crowd.
She couldn't help wondering, though; why was she so worked up? Martin was, let's face it, a loser, so she should be happy that he had found another girl (even if he still called her 'cupcake' and 'sugar plum'). She bit her lip; she wasn't jealous. Of course she wasn't!
When Irma arrived at the front again, a new band had started playing. Will had caught hold of Matt and they were dancing together, which would explain why Cornelia and Hay Lin were dancing away from her. Irma waved to the redhead in her black dress, and she waved back. "Where's Taranee?" asked Hay Lin over the music.
"With her dancing friends Sheila and Luke," Irma answered. Cornelia and Hay Lin exchanged glances. "I know," agreed Irma. "There's something going on." They didn't know Luke all that well, but for now they trusted him; they didn't want kind-hearted Taranee to be hurt again.
They danced for awhile to this new band until someone else come over and danced with them—a roughly dressed guy with his hair in the ponytail-dreadlocks style he always had it in. It was obviously Peter—he had come to see his friends perform and to keep an eye on his sister. "Isn't Taranee with you?" he questioned.
"She's with some of her friends from dancing," Irma explained. She looked back at the other two; Hay Lin was as normal, but Cornelia wasn't dancing so much. Her face was, peculiarly, as pink as her long skirt—both Irma and Hay Lin noticed this at the same time.
"Can you show me where the drinks are, Irma?" Hay Lin asked quickly. "I'm so hot."
"Of course I can," Irma told her and they fled.
Cornelia realised a touch too soon. "What the—hey! Hay Lin! Irma!" she cried, but they had vanished. She hated giving in to their childish tricks, but… she smiled timidly at Peter. He too had worked it out, but he returned her smile anyway—with a huge grin.
A little distance away, Hay Lin and Irma high-fived each other. "Way to go!" Irma laughed. "Operation set up Cornelia and Peter, success!"
"Now everyone but us has a dance partner," said Hay Lin, giggling still with her hands on her bare knees—she was wearing a pleated skirt. She straightened and pulled back long, black hair from her face. "What'll we do?"
"Hmm…" Irma thought it over, finger on her chin. Hay Lin was right. Will, Cornelia, Taranee, even Martin had a boy or girlfriend, or a possible boy or girlfriend (this was the case for all of them but Will). When she thought about it even more, she remembered that Hay Lin had a boyfriend herself, even if he was a couple kilometres away. It didn't make her feel particularly good. "We could… find somebody, maybe?"
Hay Lin looked puzzled. "What, just some random guy?" she said. When Irma nodded she exclaimed, "No way! Are you really going to just ask… anyone?"
Grinning, Irma grabbed Hay Lin's arm. "Yeah, it looks like it! Come on!"
So the two hunted through the crowd looking for a guy cute enough to dance with. They were barely through half of it when Irma succeeded.
She was halfway in explaining to Hay Lin that when looking for boys you couldn't be too picky when she saw him in his unbuttoned shirt and combat trousers. Irma had no idea who he was, but he was good-looking and seemed easy to talk to and that was all she needed. She had already thought up a plan, and she walked up to him confidently. Hay Lin watched from further away, eyes clued to Irma and the mystery boy as if she was watching a play.
Irma tapped the boy's arm. "Hey there, I'm Irma," she smiled, playing with a curl of her hair; she had left it down but had also slid some clips in to spice it up. Turning, the boy looked at her watching him; he had grey eyes and dark brown hair and was tall and athletic.
"Hello, Irma," he replied.
He didn't give her his name, but it didn't matter. He had said hers! She proceeded by asking, "Are you enjoying the concert?"
The boy had a strange look on his face—frowning but smiling. "Yeah, thanks."
"Cool." Now was the most important bit; Irma thought frantically, please, please, please ask me to dance with you! Come on, please!
It was her secret weapon during History lessons—mind control!
At first the guy didn't say anything, but then, when he began to open his mouth, something pounced onto him.
Irma backed away in shock. It was a girl. An extremely pretty girl. His girlfriend!? She ran in the opposite direction before he recovered.
"I saw it all, Irma!" said Hay Lin when they were together again, Irma panting. "The girl totally pounced him! She was a hooker, I swear… you were so unlucky!"
Irma sighed. "Yeah, well. I've just realised that most of the good-looking guys here will have girlfriends." A mischievous glint appeared in her eyes. "Now, Hay Lin, it's your turn!"
But Hay Lin shook her head. "That would be cheating on Eric, wouldn't it?" she told her. "And there's no way I'm doing that."
"Huh. Your loss, then, Hay Hey."
"Besides, I couldn't chat someone up like you do."
"It's easy. Anyone could do it."
"I don't think—" Hay Lin paused. "Irma, you're making it up. You know I can tell when someone's lying, and that last sentence was definitely a lie. Whatever it was you did, not just anyone can do it… so what did you do?"
Irma rubbed the back of her head. "Heh, heh, heh… You got me there… I was using mind control. Now please don't be mad!"
Hay Lin sighed. "Oh, Irma, you're such a plum! Wouldn't you want to go out with someone because they honestly wanted to, and not because you made them ask?"
"Well… I'm only asking them to dance with me, so it isn't that bad, right…?"
Hay Lin sighed again, this time her eyes closed. But when she opened them she suddenly seemed to focus on something behind Irma… "Anyway, I'm going to the toilet, to… um, call Eric," she said, looking Irma in the eyes again. "Is that alright?"
Irma blinked. "Yeah, of course. I'll come with you."
"No! No, that's fine, I'm fine!" said Hay Lin quickly. Irma was full of suspicion, but she agreed and let Hay Lin walk away. What Irma didn't know was that Hay Lin went the long way to the toilet, choosing to pass somebody on the way.
And now she was by herself. Her friends were all with their loved ones—OK, so Cornelia had been her and Hay Lin's fault, but still. She felt a little lonely. "What am I thinking?" she muttered to herself. "I've never let it get to me before."
As much as Irma disliked Sheila, it seemed like she would end up spending the rest of the concert with her if Hay Lin chattered away to Eric; Hay Lin always had too much to say. Sheila was really pretty, so why didn't she have a boyfriend too? Probably her attitude—yup, Irma decided that was definitely the answer.
As Irma thought all this over she didn't notice someone come over until their hand was on her shoulder and her name was spoken. "Irma?"
Irma jumped and spun around. In front of her, to her surprise, was a guy with spiky blonde hair and glasses that fitted him much better than Martin's glasses fitted him. "Joel? W-what are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" Joel, Martin's elder brother, laughed. "I play in Cobalt Blue! What about you? Why are you by yourself?"
Irma blushed. "I, erm, well… everyone else is… with their boyfriends. Or boyfriends to be."
"No way! They ditched you so they could be alone?" Joel patted Irma on the back. "Poor little cupcake."
"Hey, don't call me that! That name is against the rules!" giggled Irma.
"Oh yeah, sugar plum? Which rules are they?" Joel smirked.
Enjoying herself, Irma grinned and shouted out, "Mine!"
They laughed. Then Joel became noticeably nervous, running a hand through his hair. "Hey, I want to ask you something…"
"R-really?" Irma blushed, and her heartbeat raced. Why did she feel this way? Joel was just a friend. What was he going to ask her? Should she choose what it would be? She paused for a split second. Should she even bother?
As the two teens hesitated, the words of her friends echoed in Irma's mind.
"Do you have your eye on someone, Irma?"
"Wouldn't you want to go out with someone because they honestly wanted to, and not because you made them ask?"
"Do you… would you dance with me until I go on stage again?" Joel's kind smile lifted Irma's heart. She felt wonderfully happy and light-headed, and without knowing how she recognised the feeling. Why would she want to control him? He was perfect enough as it was.
"Sure," smiled Irma, and Joel took her hand as he led her through a dance that came naturally to them as the rock music washed over their heads, filling their ears and their hearts. Their moves fitted together to the beat of the rhythm and they jumped and laughed and smiled.
But unfortunately it was over too soon and Joel had to stand back up on stage, but this time when Cobalt Blue played Irma stood by Will, gazing at the stage and laughing happily when Will pointed something out.
Now it was all about Irma's love story!
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The end! Hope you enjoyed it. Now I'll explain all the parts that need explaining:
Joel—this is Martin's older brother, and they are very similar-looking! He plays the guitar, I think, in Matt's band Cobalt Blue, so you may have seen him before. He is a big Kamilla fan, and that is how he and Irma first meet up.
Shelia and Luke—Taranee starts at a dance club and these two are her friends there. Shelia is a little snobby, so she and Irma get off to a bad start. And yes, Taranee does, unfortunately, break up with Nigel. He gets jealous of her passion for dancing, and the time she spends there, and forces her to choose. Bad move!
Michelle—Martin's French pen friend. She doesn't appear for ages and ages, but is the only girl who falls in love with Martin. She's actually really cute.
Peter—you may be wondering why I've written Cornelia with Peter and not Caleb. Personally, I do think Caleb is a lot better looking, but let's face it—there is no way they could be together. He lives in Meridian and she lives on Earth. I support them all the way, but for the sake of this story they have split up! Besides, Cornelia does say at some point in the comic that she likes Peter too.
Eric—no idea when he comes into the story, but he and Hay Lin go out together. I love that couple! Unfortunately he moves away for a while, and Hay Lin is left behind, but they speak to each other on some sort of Instant Messenger.
Hay Lin's Lie Detecting—a new power she discovers when they are being hunted by the police (or something…). Basically, she can hear if someone is telling the truth by listening to the sound of their voice.
Besides that, Will is still together with Matt! Isn't it sweet?
Ciao!
--KK
