Which Way is W.i.t.c.h.?
By: A J
Disclaimer: I do not own W.i.t.c.h. or Amber. I'm merely a Fan of both expressing my appreciation through this original piece of fiction, with no monetary gain sought.
Chapter 2
'She said what?'
"Ohmigod … Ohmigod … Ohmigod!" Taranee was panting as she careened into Home Ec. Cornelia and Hay Lin looked up as she slid to a halt at their table. "You guys, Will's mom just called the office! She's keeping Will home for a couple of days for a funeral! Who do you think it is?"
"Well, obviously, not Will or Susan," Cornelia started. "And probably not Mister Collins, or Will would have shown at school anyway."
Hay Lin nodded nervously as Cornelia counted off names on her fingers. "How did you find out, Taranee," the young Asian girl asked, winding one of her hip-length pigtails through her fingers.
"I was checking in at the office with Mrs. Rudolph, and heard the secretary telling her. Just a sec," Taranee added as she closed her eyes and expanded her consciousness, looking for Irma telepathically. Finding her on the new track field, running laps as usual before first period now, Taranee mentally filled her in on the news about Will.
"Yikes," Irma replied. "D'jyou talk to Will yet?"
Taranee shook her head, then remembered Irma couldn't see her and sent back, "No, she's too far away at home." Despite countless hours of practice, Taranee had yet to extend her telepathy's range past her current one-kilometer limit.
"Hey, don't sweat it, T," Irma sent back. I'll give her a call during free period. Give the boys the heads-up, and I'll 411 you all the dirt at lunchtime." She finished her last lap, stretched, and started towards the showers.
Back in the Home Ec. room, Taranee blinked a few times until her eyes refocused. "Alright, Irma knows. She's got the first free period, so she'll find out more from Will and fill us in at lunch." She gulped before continuing. "We gotta let the guys know, though." She sat down at last.
"No prob, Taranee, I've got all three of our famous band-boys in my geography class next hour. I'll be 'News Girl' then." Cornelia fanned her hair out one-handed, letting it settle over her back again with a sigh. Two permanents, a pageboy cut shorter than Will or Taranee's, even a black dye-wash for Elyon's very Goth birthday party, and Cornelia found to her dismay that every time they transformed back into their Guardian forms, her hair whooshed right back to waist-length blonde. At first, she'd taken Irma's teasing about being 'Natural Blonde for Life' in good humor, but after the fifth time, even the Water Guardian couldn't find it funny anymore. Especially since the other girls found out it happened to them, too! Taranee had put it into perspective for the others, pointing out that 'At least they'll never have to live through a 'bad hair day'.
"And I'll tell Elyon in Art," Hay Lin added, her ever-present smile still showing the braces she anxiously wanted removed. The 'shiny!' novelty had worn off long ago, and now she anxiously counted down the days till next Labor Day, the last day she'd have to endure with a bumpy metal bite. "OOOOH! I just remembered! I've got the next page of our extra credit project with me!" She dove for her backpack to show the other two girls her and Elyon's latest artistic collaboration, just as the bell rang.
The three girls looked up as Miss Sanchez walked in. "Alright, boys and girls, settle down. Today's the day I know some of you have been waiting all semester for: Traditional Chinese cooking. Hay Lin, are you ready?" The ever-perky Air Guardian's eyes lit up as she stood and walked to the front of the class.
"Hey, ev'rybody. I'm sure most of you know my family's restaurant, the Silver Dragon. We see enough of you in there, so it makes sense that you guys would love to cook some of your favorites up at home." She grinned wider as Bess Grumper raised a hand. "No, I'm not gonna give away Grandma's secret mu shu sauce, so don't ask, Bess."
The rest of the class laughed, and Taranee sent to Hay Lin, "Showoff."
"Hey," the Chinese girl returned, her lifelong association with Irma Lair evident in her upbeat mental voice. "If you've got it, flaunt it." She continued verbally instructing the class in the proper folding of an eggroll.
The rest of the hour whiled away in that fashion, and then the girls headed off to the rest of their classes, each wondering about their missing teammate in her own way.
As she'd promised, Irma called Will on her free hour, just before lunch. Ostensibly given to her so she could eat before going 'Lair on the Air', Irma had long ago turned it into an extra hour to catch up on sleep, gossip with the other girls (via Taranee), or horror of horrors, homework. Today's task of choice was much more important, though.
"Hey, babe," she greeted when Will answered. "How ya holdin' up?"
"I'm … I'll be okay," was Will's drawn-out response.
Irma sighed. Getting her best friend to talk was going to take up her whole free hour apparently.
"Anything you wanna unload about?" Best to be direct, she figured.
"N-noooo … Why do you ask?"
"Well, you're not in school, for one. Usually, something major has to go down for you to cut out, Miss Responsible. And it's obviously not work-related, or we'd be out with. So what happened?" She wanted Will to open up.
"Family stuff, Irma, that's all," Will said after the slightest (noticeable) delay.
'Rats; okay, time for the DIRECT direct approach.' "C'mon, Helmi," Irma started pleadingly. She used the girls' new nickname for Will to try to butter her up before she dredged for dirt the mean way. "We already know you're out for the next couple of days for a funeral. Captain Obvious, a.k.a. Cornelia, pointed out it wasn't you or your mom, so what's going on?"
Will sputtered over the line for a second. "How'd you guys find out already? I was gonna call you after school to fill you all in then." She sounded almost offended. Irma cringed.
"Relax, W. T was in the office with Missus R when Susan called, that's all. But since she didn't get any details then, we've been worried about you since homeroom, GF. So who checked out, huh?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Irma slapped her free hand over it.
Even as she was trying to mumble an incoherent apology through her fingers, Will said, "My dad," in a flat voice. Irma gasped.
"No way. Ohmigod. Uncle Tony? Will, what happened?" The girls had just seen Tony and Serena Vandom - fresh from their honeymoon – over the weekend in Fadden Hills. The Guardians went there for a cookout after the swim-meet between Sheffield and Will's old school, Fadden Prep.
"Car accident," Will murmured, almost too softly for the phone connection. Irma cursed colorfully for several seconds, before another thought made her gasp again.
"Will, is Serena all right?" Despite the malice the girls had all harbored for the gorgeous model, mostly out of loyalty to Will (and Susan), especially when Will thought Serena might have been Nerissa in disguise, they all had grown to like the lively young woman. Knowing her Ferrari was in the shop, and that Tony'd been playing her chauffer, placed her squarely in harm's way, as far as Irma's daughter-of-a-cop's mind was concerned.
"Only if breathing counts," Will answered, her voice ragged as she conveyed the next piece of info. She and her mom had just gotten the details from the hospital Tony had died in, and where Serena was recovering still. "They've g-got her in ICU, Irma. Both legs and her left arm b-broke, fractured ribs, and a concussion she hasn't woken up from, yet." Irma could hear the fresh tears brewing behind her friend's haunted voice.
"Geez, Louise," the Water Guardian muttered. "Hang in there, Will. We'll all be over right after school, and we'll help any way we can, okay?"
"O … okay," Will responded, hiccupping back a sob of renewed grief. "I don't promise Mom or I'll be the greatest company, but I guarantee we'll be glad to see you. See ya then, Irma." Will already sounded stronger as she hung up.
"Attagirl," Irma said to the dead phoneline, then looked up at the clock. 'Yikes! Only ten minutes before I'm due on the air! Now whad'd I bring for lunch again? And where did I hide it …' she mused as she started digging through her new transparent blue Poke'mon backpack.