A/N: Yaaaay! A new chapter! :D Meet Jem and Eleanor. I own Eleanor, AnnaleaseTurner owns Jem. This is a strange occurance, AnnaleaseTurner's the one with the 'chew toy' OC, usually I do that, but not this time. Read & Review, we only own our OC's, everyone else is Jill Murphy. Also there are some references in this chapter which will be shown after you finish reading this chapter.
The next day, Mildred woke up with her hair an absolute mess. She blinked as she remembered what was happening that day. Tabby, her cat, mewed and hopped onto her bed, keeping her some short company.
"Morning Tabby... Do you think HB would shout at me if i used a spell to do my hair? Probably..." she asks and then sighs. She got up and did her hair and got into her outfit.
Tabby mewed, as if to answer her question, even if she couldn't speak back to the girl.
Mildred moved quickly to do her hair and get dressed and joined the others in the dining hall.
"I bet Mildred's gonna scare the new girls away." Ethel wrinkled her nose with her friends.
Mildred pouted. She didn't feel up for fighting with Ethel when the new girls were going to arrive.
A girl with long soft ginger hair was standing in front of the main door of the school smiling. "Wow!" she gasps happily.
"I can't believe we're here... I wonder if they'll like us..." the other girl said, she had long raven hair with golden eyes, she looked a bit nervous.
The girl blinked her blue eyes at the other. "I'm sure they will." she says happily. She knocked on the door.
A woman, Miss Hardbroom, opened the door and had her arms crossed. "This way." she says firmly.
The dark-haired girl kept her best posture and followed Miss Hardbroom as instructed. The ginger haired girl followed behind and stumbled over her shoelace that came undone, this was the only one that came undone. She yelped holding her hands out to stop herself from falling. Miss Hardbroom turned her head around slightly and looked at them. She raised an eyebrow slightly and pointed a finger to use a spell to stop the girl falling. The dark-haired girl took her hands to keep her from falling, and looked just as nervous. Though, she was surprised that her friend had stopped by magic.
The girl blinked shocked and got up. She bit her lip and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Miss..." she says quietly. She then shot a smile to the raven haired girl.
"Just be careful, Jem Willow..." Miss Hardbroom warns the girl.
The raven haired girl glanced at her friend, Jem, then back at the girls in front of them. Ethel saw them coming closer and had a friendly grin as they came to her. She then nudged for her close friend Drusilla to do the same. Mildred watched from a distance herself.
"Welcome to our school!" Ethel smiled brightly at them. "I hope we can all become the best of friends."
"I'm sure we will, I'm Jem Willow and this is Eleanor Elm!" Jem says cheerfully, holding out a hand for Ethel or Drusilla to shake.
"Drusilla..." Ethel's friend says, not offering to shake hands.
Miss Hardbroom gave a cold smile. "Ethel, Drusilla, you both can show Eleanor and Jem where they'll be eating their meals..." she says.
Ethel grinned, taking the girl's hands. "Nice to meet you two. Come follow us, we know everything," she looked up and down at Eleanor. "You have decent taste."
"Umm... Thanks..." Eleanor said, slightly shyly. She then went with Jem to follow Ethel and Drusilla to the lunch room, though since this was a boarding school, it was also for breakfast and dinner.
Mildred headed out, to head to class, maybe getting there early would please Miss Hardbroom. Miss Hardbroom went to tell Miss Cackle that the new girls had arrived.
"Yeah... It's bigger than my grand-uncle's basement!" Eleanor was surprised by the size of the school, it seemed small by comparison on the outside.
"Really?" Ethel asked, looking back at her, though she didn't seem that impressed.
"Yeah, so what sort of foods do you get here?" Jem asks, leaning forwards a little. She never tried to but trouble seemed to find her easily.
Drusilla blinked and stepped away in slight surprise she gasped as she bumped into someone.
Ethel was about to list some, but then they saw they had bumped into the very tall girl, Enid Nightshade and her bowl fell out of her hands and landed on the mean, rotten girl. "YOU KLUTZ!" she nearly hissed.
Eleanor didn't respond, but cupped her mouth a little nervously.
Jem covered her mouth looking sheepish. "Oops..." she says, nervously but a bit cheerily. She couldn't help the cheerfulness, she had often been refered to as a ray of pure light, or as floaty as a balloon caught in a breeze.
Drusilla frowned. "Ugh!" she exclaims, before pointing a finger at Jem. "How dare you make me do that!" she says angrily.
Eleanor watched Jem kind of get pushed around. She found a sense of dominance in those girls and glared at the ginger girl like Ethel and Drusilla did. "Bad Jem!" she snapped.
Jem looked quite sheepish. She looked at Eleanor her eyes widening and her eyebrows furrowing a little. "I-I, uh, didn't do it on purpose..." she says nervously to the three girls, plus the newest one that was involved.
"Oh, please!" Ethel stomped her foot.
Jem looked at them all and then looked down. "Excuse me..." she says quietly. She sped out of the dining room, stumbling over her shoelace a little.
"Just go..." Ethel grimaced. She then got Drusilla to help her clean herself up and even Eleanor helped. "Hey, I like this one..." she gestured to the dark-haired girl, referring she was her favorite new student so far.
Drusilla helped Ethel clean up. "Oh, her? That's Deadly Nightshade..." she says, not liking that girl. She had made up the nickname for the girl and it was something quite a few girls took to calling Enid.
Jem looked down at the floor not paying attention to where she was going. She glared at the boot with the undone lace. "You make me fall mostly... It's your fault..." she huffs and kicked off her shoe. She groaned as it flew and knocked a pile of books off a table.
"Stay away from her." Ethel advised as the tall girl in school went away, embarrassed she had made a mess.
Maud looked over her shoulder and saw Mildred.
Mildred looked at Maud. "Hi, Maud..." she says softly.
"Don't worry, HB's not here yet." Maud assured her best friend.
Mildred sighed in relief and sat down next to Maud. "I'm glad, I saw the new girls." she says.
"How do they look? Friendly, bullies, snooty?" Maud asked, a little nervous about seeing them than they were about joining the school.
Mildred shrugged. "One looked cheerful while the other just looked normal." she says.
"Normal?" Maud laughed at the word.
Mildred smiled, her friend always knew how to cheer her up.
Maud smiled back and patted her hand a bit. "Don't worry."
Mildred, hearing the racket, looked up. "Did you hear that, Maud?" she asks her bespectacled friend.
"It sounds as though someone needs help." Maud stood up from her seat.
Mildred nodded and followed Maud to see Jem walking away looking solemn.
Miss Hardbroom knocked on the office door.
"Come in!" Miss Cackle practically sang.
Miss Hardbroom entered. "The new girls are here, Headmistress..." she says.
"Oh, good!" Miss Cackle beamed. "I almost got their paperwork done."
Miss Hardbroom nodded, then frowned a little. "That Jem girl is quite like Mildred Hubble..." she says, about the clumsiness.
"She has a good heart then." Miss Cackle beamed, seeming indifferent of Mildred.
"Possibly, but she is clumsy, overly cheerful and seems ditzy... Not like a conventional witch!" Miss Hardbroom says, slightly annoyed by the thought of another Mildred Hubble type.
"How about the other one, uh... Miss Elm?" Miss Cackle asked, sorting everything out.
"Quite ordinary, nice mannered and quiet, she looks more promising..." Miss Hardbroom says. She heard the books and started to make her way to see what happened.
Miss Cackle was curious and followed her to the kerfuffle.
Ethel nodded. "I didn't think it was possible, but there's an even worse witch than Mildred Hubble."
Eleanor looked a little guilty for what she did with Jem, but looked at the other girls and felt like for once in her life, she belonged with a group.
Drusilla helped clean Ethel off. "The klutz is just as bad as Mildred." she says.
"Aw, poor thing..." Maud frowned and decided to get closer with one of the new girls to comfort her.
Mildred nodded and followed Maud to see Jem walking away looking solemn.
Jem shot a hurt look at Eleanor and then went away from the girl's sight, picking her show up. Drusilla laughed meanly. Jem leaned against the wall and sorted out her shoe.
Mildred went up to Jem "Are you okay?" she asks.
Maud gave a gentle smile. "You alright?"
"No, I leaned forward to talk to Ethel then the other one bumped into a tall dark-haired girl, she dropped her soup on Ethel and then i get blamed... And plus my shoe flew off and hit some books off a table..." Jem says quietly, frowning.
"Oh, that must've been rough, and on your first day." Maud frowned for her possible new friend.
Mildred held out a hand for Jem. "Come on, let's go to Miss Cackle's office." she says.
Jem looked up at her and Maud and took Mildred's hand. "I'm Jem..." she introduces herself.
"Hello, Jem, I'm Maud and this is my best friend, Mildred." the girl with glasses gave a formal welcome.
Mildred helped the girl up. "Call me Millie." she says, smiling softly. She then led the way to Miss Cackle's office.
Jem smiled softly and followed Maud and Mildred.
"You don't have to call me Millie." Maud said, having a joking serious face, then smiled as she went with her friends.
Mildred laughed a little. Jem smiled wider and a bit brighter. She really liked these two girls already.
"Just a warning, the food is usually served cold because of how far away the kitchen is from the dining room." Maud explained to the new girl.
Mildred grimanced a little, but nodded. "However, sometimes it is allowed to be warmed by magic." she says.
Miss Hardbroom frowned. "Who made this mess?" she asks her voice loud and mad.
"Miss Hardbroom's coming!" Ethel whispered loudly to them.
"Come on, we better hide." Eleanor suggested so they wouldn't be seen with the mess.
Drusilla nodded and pulled both girls away, so they could hide.
"Who made this mess?" Miss Hardroom repeats, her voice firm.
Miss Cackle came with a straight face, not seeming angry or annoyed, but surprised. Eleanor stayed quiet the very best she could. Drusilla kept quiet too.
"I'm sure they didn't mean it, dear." Miss Cackle said gently, though the mess is not what she was looking forward to seeing today.
Miss Hardbroom looked around. "I want whoever did this to stand forwards... Or anyone who knows to let me know" she says.
Ethel looked at her minions as she watched the innocent girls walk off and went to the strict woman. "I saw who did it, that new girl Jem Willow got away from me and she did it on purpose!" she tried to sound upset by this, kissing up once again.
"Yes, Miss Hardbroom, it was..." Drusilla agrees.
Ethel nodded with Eleanor to be convincing.
Miss Hardbroom looked at the girls and frowned. "I see..." she says, her voice cold. "Miss Cackle, i think we should show Miss Willow what happens to trouble makers." she then says to the headteacher.
"I'm sure it was only an accident." Miss Cackle shrugged, but agreed with the strict woman.
Miss Hardbroom used a spell to locate Jem and to stop her and anyone she was with in their tracks. Drusilla looked at Ethel and Eleanor.
Ethel smirked as the teachers were gone and she turned to Drusilla and Eleanor, folding their arms. "I shudder to think what'll happen to the poor, clumsy children..."
"Uhh... yeah!" Eleanor beamed, but sounded nervous and guilty for what she had done to Jem, Mildred, and Maud.
"It serves them right." Drusilla agrees.
"Right, come on, you got a lot to learn in this place." Ethel told Eleanor and walked along to get this tour over with.
Drusilla joined the two.
"So, you're a half-witch?" Ethel glanced back at the dark-haired new girl. "I thought those things were like in comic books or cartoons." (Sabrina reference)
"No, it just means I'll live longer than most mortals." Eleanor answered.
Drusilla remained quiet.
Jem nodded, listening to them. She was about to take another step but found she couldn't. She almost fell but something made her and the two girls freeze in the way they were walking.
"I got cold feet suddenly..." Maud bit her lip.
Mildred looked worried. "What happened?" she wonders.
Jem looked worried too. She wondered if someone had cast a spell on them to prank them.
"I wanted to find the troublemakers who made the mess in the dining room..." Miss Hardbroom's reply came.
Maud shook a chill down her spine. "Well, it wasn't us!"
"Ethel told us that Jem Willow was being rather clumsy and Drusilla and Eleanor agreed." Miss Cackle raised an eyebrow.
"It was my fault Miss Hardbroom, Miss Cackle... My shoe flew of my foot and hit the books... But i only leant to talk to Ethel..." Jem admits, and defends in case she was in trouble for the soup thing too. "Mildred and Maud just came to make sure i was alright..." she then adds.
Mildred looked at the girl shocked. No one had ever defended her when she hadn't done something. She could say the same for Maud since the girl became her friend. Maud was surprised too.
Miss Hardbroom raised an eyebrow. "Well Miss Cackle, we still need to decide on a punishment..." she says.
"Well, it's your first day here, so you can go with a warning, but you'll have to clean up the bathrooms tonight," Miss Cackle said as firmly as possible. "Does that sound fair?"
Mildred looked at Jem and then slightly at Maud. Maybe they could do something nice for the girl. Maud looked back, having the same thoughts.
"Yes Miss Cackle... Just don't punish Mildred and Maud, they did nothing wrong" Jem says, her last words a request.
Miss Hardbroom tightened her lips a little but nodded. "I agree..." she says. "However, no magic will be allowed..." she then warns Jem.
"No magic." Miss Cackle agreed, though her tone was more pleasant than Miss Hardbroom's punishment lay out.
Miss Hardbroom released the girls. "Okay, Maud, Mildred go to your class, Miss Willow will get her schedule and i will show her to her class." she says, firmly.
Jem squeezed her eyes shut and managed to only just get her balance back. She opened them when she was steady and gave a small half-smile to Maud and Millie before she followed Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle to Miss Cackle's office.
Mildred waved slightly and though she didn't want to she left to get to class with Maud. "We should do something nice for her..." she says quietly.
"Come on, Millie." Maud told her friend and they went to class together. Once they were alone, she agreed. "Yeah, she's had a tough day, what with being the new kid and in trouble on her very first day here... But what can we do?"
Mildred looked down in thought a moment. "Maybe we could ask cook if we could take her a favorite snack after she's finished cleaning? Or we could help her clean..." she suggests.
Maud shuddered at cleaning up the bathrooms. "It would be nice once she finished that we come with a snack like superheroes." she smiled a bit, more positive at that idea, she didn't want to make Jem do cleaning all by herself, but cleaning was something she really wasn't fond of.
Mildred nodded happily. "Okay, we'll do that" she says. She would help Jem if she could but it would take a while to convince Cook.
"Come on, we better hurry to class." Maud advised, cautiously.
Millie nodded and hurried to class with Maud.
A/N: *References in case ya missed them!*
* Okay, so Ethel asking Eleanor that the only half witches she knows are in cartoons or comic books is a reference to Sabrina: The Teenage Witch, who is infamous for being a half-witch because her mother is a mortal and her father is a warlock.
* Maud telling Jem about the school food being cold by the time it comes to the dining hall is a reference to an episode of The Worst Witch series I vaguely remember as a child where Mildred has to help serve food and Cook tells her why the food is always served cold.
* Eleanor's grand-uncle, MAY have a grand role in this story, may or may now :3
(That's all for now, read & review and umm... I'll let you join Maud and Millie in giving Jem a snack tonight! ;D )