I lived with my mother in a little Parisian apartment. When I was sixteen, Cat Noir and Ladybug appeared to save the city from Stoneheart, some sort of monstrous statue. Being a feyrie, I thought this might have been another in the area, or even possibly my fault by some accident.
Despite not being a feyrie herself, my mother understood enough of my kind and the creatures on the news to identify that this was not the work of nature magic. Something else was at play.
The next day at school, the incident was all anyone would talk about. In the afternoon, hundreds of copies of the monster came back, terrorizing the city at large. I hid in the bathroom, fearing the stress or any wayward magic that would expose me to my human peers.
"Nellie, are you in here?" Porter called.
"You know she hates when you call her Nellie," Ghislaine reminded.
"Almost as much as when I call her Baba."
"Making her mad won't make her come out."
Porter sighed, exasperated. "Prue, come on! One of your shoes still has lights on."
"I'm not mad. I'm terrified."
"And your solution was to hide in the bathroom?" she giggled.
"Don't mock her. It's a little cliche, but the bathroom offers privacy, and more security than many rooms of a school. It's as good a place as any if you're scared," Ghislaine chastised.
"What are you being such a fraidy cat for? You saw those super cool superheroes on the news, didn't you? I'm sure they'll take care of it."
"Like they took care of it yesterday? It's so much worse now."
Ghislaine grabbed my arm, forcefully dragging me from the bathroom at the same time Principal Thorton turned on the intercom.
"Class is being canceled for the remainder of the day. Please seek secure shelter. The gym is available to all students and faculty. The nearest known golem is approximately three blocks West of the school grounds."
Classrooms immediately began emptying as many students flooded towards the gym. I resisted Ghislaine's pull, feeling my stress levels spike and my arm slipped out of her grip. Everything from the middle of my forearm down was invisible.
I was losing my grip on my magic.
Praying that adjusting my glamour worked and that others could see my arm even when I couldn't, I weaved out of the throng to make a break for the exit.
"Hey, Prunelle!" a mellow voice I could listen to all day called.
The voice belonged to none other than Luka Couffaine, who I'd developed a crush on despite him being a year younger than me and the way every time I had a moment alone with him, something got in the way. It was lucky he was focused on what he saw as my face over everything, because I caught my leg pulling the same vanishing act as my arm. I strengthened my glamour to cover the additional invisible limb.
"Hey, Luka. Sorry again about making you trip and spill your milkshake yesterday."
"It's alright. You don't need to apologize so much. Accidents happen. Where are you going? I think Ghislaine was looking for you."
"Oh, yeah, she found me. I lost her in the crowd heading for the gym."
"I'm sure she's there by now, then. I can help you look when we get there if you want?"
"We? Oh, I wasn't going to the gym. She wanted to go there, and I'm glad she feels safe, but I'm going home. You should catch up to the others before they barricade the doors or something."
"Wait. Is your apartment really going to be safe with all of these things? I thought your apartment was near the Seine?"
"It is. Rocks sink in water, and I really need to check on my mom."
"There's a ton of them there. It really isn't safe for you to go."
"All the more reason. My mom needs me."
"I can't let you go by yourself. Let me escort you."
"It's way too risky for you to tag along!"
"Can't you just call her?"
"I don't have a phone. I always end up messing them up."
"You can use mine."
He reached for his pocket, and I saw one of my feet disappear. Without any other choice as my magic kept going out of control, I made a wind disturbance down the hall, drawing Luka's attention. I let go of my glamour and made the rest of my body vanish, tiptoeing to keep my shoes from squeaking on the tiled floor as I made my way for the nearest door.
"Prunelle? Where'd you go?"
At least he hadn't seen my eyes glow amber from using magic. No glamour ever covered that light.
I forced my cramped wings out, stretching and test flapping carefully so I didn't poke myself with one of the crystals' sharp points. They were held together with an aurora borealis.
I was horrified when I reached the apartment. The golems had left the area little more than rubble. Mom worked at night and should have been sleeping until I got back from school. What could have happened to her?
A swarm of ladybugs went by, swirling around the debris piles. When they were gone, the apartment building was just as I'd left it in the morning. I went upstairs, shedding the glamour once I'd stepped into our unit on the top floor.
"Mom? Mom, are you here?"
She wasn't in the kitchen or on the couch. She wasn't in the bedroom we technically shared.
"Mom!"
I ran to the balcony, throwing the curtain aside to find her leaning on the rail with a latte in hand. I pushed the sliding door open.
"Mom?"
"Oh, hey sweetie! What are you doing home so early? Is everything okay? Did something happen at school?"
"They ended the day early because of those rock monsters. Said we could stay in the gym or go home. My magic started going haywire, so I left."
"Funny, I can't really remember what happened. I'm glad you made it home safe."
"Mom...why am I such a spazzing freak?"
"What would make you say something like that, kiddo? You're not a freak, and you aren't spazzing. You're a teenager. Hormones happen. What you're experiencing is normal, healthy even."
"I somehow doubt that humans have to exert magical energy all day to appear the way they do, or start turning invisible if they get too overwhelmed. Why do I have to go to a human school? It just stresses me out."
"It's what your father and I both wanted for you."
"And where is he? Not here, not involved in being my dad. Why isn't he reassuring me about my feyrie powers?"
Mom sighed. My father had vanished a week before my third birthday. I couldn't even remember what he really looked like. In every photo, he was wearing a glamour to appear human like I did at school.
"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"No, it's okay. You're right. I know I don't really know what you're going through, but I am here for you, I am listening. I can't homeschool you and still be able to work and pay for what we need. Public school with humans is the only real option. I'm sorry there isn't more I can do, Prue."
"It's not your fault, Mom. I blame my father. He knew what he was, knew I would be different, and he still left you to raise me yourself."
"Please don't talk about your father that way."
"You fell in love with him, Mom, but me? I never really knew him. I don't want to keep arguing about this. I'm going to go check my assignments online and do my homework. I hope you have a good night at work. See you in the morning, alright?"
I left her stunned and on the verge of tears, going to the breakfast nook and setting my laptop and notebooks up on the table. On my school account, I found history, maths, and English assignments listed, and had a handful of messages waiting for me. Porter's continued the conversation we'd been having during class, while Ghislaine had left a string of panicky messages since losing me on her way to the gym. I let her know I was fine at home and left Porter's for later as another message came in.
Luka: Did you get home okay?
Prunelle: Yeah, I'm good, thanks.
Luka: And your mom?
Prunelle: Up earlier than usual, and I think I upset her talking about my dad, but she's fine.
I started my maths homework while I waited nervously. This was the longest conversation I'd ever managed with Luka, and I was bringing up the worst of subjects to talk about, but maybe it wouldn't bother him?
Luka: Your dad?
Prunelle: He left when I was really young. I don't remember him.
Luka: Sorry I brought it up. What happened earlier? You vanished. I was worried about you.
Prunelle: I'm sorry! I was really worried about my mom. Can I make it up to you?
I got through two problems while the computer kept notifying me Luka was still typing. Oh no, was that weird to say?
Luka: Knowing you got home okay is enough. You don't have to make anything up to me.
Prunelle: Did everything turn out okay at the middle school?
Luka: Yeah, my sister told me about it. I guess one of her classmates was being mind controlled or something.
Prunelle: You have a sister? Why doesn't she go to the same school as us?
Luka: She's in the grade below mine.
Prunelle: I wish I had a sibling. Maybe I wouldn't feel so alone all the time...
Luka: Are you lonely now?
I froze. I had no idea how to answer. I hadn't meant to let something like that slip, but when I was messaging someone, my brain had no filter between what I said and hitting the send button.
Leaving the message open and carefully not tapping on it so Luka wouldn't know I'd seen it, I cracked down on the maths equations. Even after finishing them, I still wasn't sure what to say. I started on my English assignment, hoping having to write in my secondary language would keep my mind off the awkward pause with Luka.
Just as I finished the poem, stylized appropriately and with real meaning behind it, I heard my mom's alarm that meant she had to leave for work.
"Prue, there are microwave dinners in the freezer, and there's a little money on the dresser if you want to go get ice cream with Porter and Ghislaine. I love you, kiddo," she called from the entryway.
I ran to give her a hug before she left. "I love you too. You know that, right?"
"Of course I do, sweetie. Just because we argue doesn't mean I love you any less. We can talk more later, okay? I've got to get to work."
I let her go and waved, locking the door behind her. I messaged Luka back with complete honesty.
Prunelle: Yeah, I am...