The Incident
Tessa sat in the backseat of her mom's SUV as she drove and her dad read through brochures for this new school. Tessa could only watch as the giant oak trees flew by her on the winding highway up into the mountains of Colorado. She thought back to the day that changed her life.
"Tessa! Let's go!"
"I'm coming! I'm coming!" Tessa hollered back down at her mom.
She stepped out of her room, and her twin brothers, Caleb and Cain, zoomed by while shouting a storm. Tessa's house looked lived in for sure. There were scuffs on the floor from her brothers playing in the house with skateboards even after their mother told them not to. There's a burn mark on Tessa's door from when she discovered her mother's wand.
Tessa made her way down the winding staircase into the kitchen where her parents were having breakfast. She sat down next to her father and a plate full.of eggs and bacon floated down in front of her.
"Hurry and eat, or we'll be late," her mother commanded.
She knew her mother, Sabine, didn't mean nothing by it. Sabine tended to be a no-nonsense kind of person. Had been Tessa's whole life. Tessa went to pick up the pitcher of orange juice with her hand, and a wand came out and tapped her hand. It was her dad, Xavier. It was a way of telling her she needed to practice.
Tessa let out a long breath and focused her energies on the pitcher. The pitcher began to rise and pour into her glass. As she was about to set it down, Cain rushed into the kitchen and bumped Tessa's chair. The pitcher came tumbling down onto the table.
"Cain!" Tessa shrieked. "You little brat!"
"It's okay, Tessa," Xavier reassured his daughter. "Just use a spell to clean it up."
"I'll just get a towel," she said with a hmph. She rose to grab a towel from the counter behind her and began cleaning up the mess. She could feel her parents' disappointed stares bore into her as she did things as a human would.
"This is why your focus isn't up to par yet," her mother chimed in. "You refuse to practice and learn."
"I never asked to be a witch," Tessa muttered as she continued to scrub away the orange juice from the table cloth. "I want to be normal. I want to be able to just go out with friends and not have to worry about losing control of something. Something I don't even want."
"Alright! I've heard enough," her mother said. "One day, you're going to regret those words."
Tessa just rolled her eyes as she plopped the towel in the dirty towel basket in the laundry room. She made her way back to the kitchen to grab her books for school.
"Tess?" Xavier called for his daughter. Her mom had left the kitchen. "You know saying that sort of thing upsets your mother. We work really hard to raise you and give you a normal life. The least you could do is act like you appreciate it and try on your end. We can't change who we are."
"But I can," Tessa said. "I went through the Book. I know there's a power binding spell. Why can't I just use it and be human?"
For a second, Tessa saw the horrified look on her father's face then it dissolved into a calm look. Tessa always liked her father's approach more when talking to her. Sabine tended to snap first and apologize later.
"That's not a good idea," Xavier said. "Believe your mother when she says you'll regret it one day. Now, run off to school and have a good day."
Xavier kissed his daughter's forehead and gave her a quick hug. He gave her a slight shove to the door. Tessa breathed a sigh as she walked out the door. Her family was one battle, and now she was walking into another one. School.
As Tessa walked to school, she thought of Rebecca. Her only friend. Well, she was her only friend. Rebecca was the only one who didn't treat Tessa like a freak. She was also the only one who knew about her powers. Rebecca wanted to see it one day. This was when they were younger; they were both thirteen. Tessa showed Rebecca a simple light spell in her room when her mom walked in. Tessa freaked out, and the energy hit Rebecca in the face.
Sabine was horrified at what she had just seen. Her daughter is exposing the family, and she just injured someone. Her worst fears are becoming a reality. In a moment of panic, Sabine ripped Tessa away from the girl and began to examine the damage. The girl's face was burned slightly. It was red and slightly blistered from the energy that hit her.
Tessa sat back and cried as her mother worked to repair the damage she had done to her friend. Her mother was able to heal the wounds and perform a forgetful spell on the girl. By the end of the week, the family had packed and moved away. Tessa never saw Rebecca again. She was alone in the world again.
The sound of scattering leaves as they fell from the trees pulled Tessa from her thoughts. She was almost to school now, and her thoughts just kept getting heavier. She dreaded going to school because since the incident with Rebecca, she worried about losing control again and hurting someone else.
"Tessa," Sabine called to her daughter in the backseat. "We're almost to the school."
"Please don't send me away!" Tessa begged. "Just take them away! Take away these cursed powers! I don't want to hurt anyone else."
"Tess," her mother sighed. "I can't."
This was the second time in her life that she begged her parents to take these powers away. Now, she meant it more than ever.
"Yes, you can," Tessa countered. "You just don't want to because it'll hurt your stupid image with the magical community. Who wants a daughter who has to give up their powers because they can't control themselves? Oh, you do. That's why I'm getting sent away."
"You're getting sent away-"
"No one is getting sent away," Xavier interrupted Sabine. "You're our daughter, and we love you very much, Tessa. We just want you to get help from renowned professors and witches. They can help you control this incredible power you have. Your powers are too strong for us to help you control."
"I don't want them," Tessa said defeatedly. "Please?"
This was her final plea with her parents. She's already decided on a contingency plan. She stole the power binding spell from her mother's book to do it herself if they kept refusing to help her.
"Tessa, we will not bind your powers, and that paper you took from my book is not gonna help you either," Sabine said. Tessa's eyes went wide at her mom's words. She pulled the paper from her jacket pocket, and it was blank like nothing was ever written on it. "My book is charmed to erase writing once it's removed from my book for these exact reasons."
Tessa flopped her head back against her headrest and closed her eyes. She thought of being cursed for the rest of her life with these dangerous powers. She'll never just be normal. She thought about how she should start accepting that, and it made her face heat up a little. She took a few deep breaths and tried to relax. Her emotions are what get her into trouble to begin with. She kept her eyes closed and slept the rest of the trip to her new school. She dreamed of her old school and her old life.
Tessa walked into school with her head down as always. She made her way to her locker to drop off some books before heading to her English class. She passed by Brian Johnson, who had been her crush since first grade, and she was lucky if he even remembered her name. Tessa watched as he talked to Sarah Jennings, the head cheerleader and his girlfriend. She wished that she could be as lucky as her. She turned away back to her locker before one of them caught her staring, and they thought she was an even bigger freak.
Tessa was already the girl who made Rebecca disappear in eighth grade, and the girl who lived in the big Victorian mansion by the cemetery. Why not add stalker to the list? Her shoulders slumped thinking about it all. Tessa grabbed her English book and headed to class; she walked by Brian and Sarah looking dead ahead. As she passed by Sarah, a foot came out from the side catching hers, and Tessa's things began to tumble to the ground along with her own body.
A short scream came out of Tessa as she landed on the floor, knocking her knees into the hard concrete floors. She looked up to find Sarah smirking down at her.
"Stop staring, freak."
She looked back down at the ground and began collecting her things. A large hand grabbed at a book that Tessa was also reaching for. She looked up and found Brian helping her with her things. She quickly tucked the red loose curl that fell out of place back behind her ear and took the book from him. She muttered a thanks as she quickly got up and scurried away.
"What the hell was that Brian?" Tessa heard Sarah snapping at her boyfriend as if he did something wrong. "She was staring at us like some weirdo."
Tessa's pale cheeks flushed almost the color of her hair as she hurried to English. This wouldn't be the last of her troubles today though. She would have to face off with Sarah again in gym class, and Sarah's whole clique also had gym that hour. Tessa spent the better part of the day trying not to freak out.
The bell rang letting her out of science class. The moment of truth. Gym class. Tessa tried to think of any excuse to get her sent to the nurse, but her mind was blanking and it was too late. She was in the locker room changing into her clothes. It was a track day, so they had to run a mile during the period. As Tessa finished changing, Sarah and her groupies walked in; they were late as usual. They started changing into their clothes. They were looking at Tessa and whispering about her. Tessa didn't need powers to know that.
Coach Donald came out of her office and blew a whistle, signalling that it was time to head to the track. Everyone who was ready started to file out of the locker room. On Tessa's way out, someone knocked into her hard from behind, and she almost fell forward but caught herself at the last second. What had she done? She was gonna be bullied until graduation day for sure now.
Tessa hit the track and began running the long ways and power walking the shorts. She enjoyed running because it got her blood pumping and made her feel good. She enjoyed the burn in her lungs and legs. Luckily, Sarah's friends weren't stupid enough to start something on the track, but that didn't stop Tessa from worrying about it the entire time. She worried about back in the locker room.
After about thirty minutes, Tessa had been finished with her mile, but she took a few more laps to avoid the locker room. Finally, she called it quits and headed for the locker room to shower. As she walked in, she realized that she was alone and that she would be able to shower in peace. She stripped out of her clothes and hit one of the showers. She had just put the shampoo in her hair when she heard the curtain swish open.
"Excuse me?" Tessa said. "I'm in here."
"I don't care," a voice snapped, and she immediately recognized it as Sarah. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but leave Brian alone."
Tessa quickly rinsed her hair so she could get eyes on Sarah. She swiped the water out of her face to come face to face with Sarah and her group of friends.
"Look, I haven't even spoken a word to him since kindergarten," Tessa defended herself. "I don't want him or anything like that. Just leave me alone. I haven't done anything to you, and I dont want any problems."
"Should've thought about that earlier," Sarah said as she quickly moved forward to shove Tessa back into the shower facet. Tessa's back hit the shower handle causing pain to shoot through it.
"Stop," Tessa demanded as she felt her cheeks redden with anger. "You don't know what you're doing."
"Make me," Sarah egged her on. Tessa's cheeks flared up again and this time she didnt stop the emotion from boiling.
"I said stop."
As the words came from her mouth, Sarah and the group of girls were pushed back hard enough that they hit the floor and skidded a couple of feet. As it happened, panic ripped through Tessa's body. She did it again. Her mother would kill her for sure.
Tessa was waking from her sleep but still had her eyes closed. She heard her parents whispering in the front seat.
"Xavier, you know why I can't budge on this with her," Sabine said. "After what I went through as a kid. What my parents did to me. I can't do it. Tessa needs to learn to handle these powers. My parents chose to take mine from me without my consent."
"But honey," Xavier said. "She doesn't want them. They're making her life unnecessarily hard. We won't do this unless it is unanimous, but I don't agree with you forcing her to suffer. If she doesn't want to be a witch then who are we to make her?"
"I can't do it," Sabine said. "I can't take away part of who she is. I'm doing it because I love her too much to cut off a piece of her. She'll understand one day."
Tessa didn't catch the rest of the conversation as she drifted back into sleep. They had been in the car for 8 hours already, and Sabine had just taken over driving. Tessa didn't know how much longer they had to go, but she did know she was gonna be a long way from home by the end of it.
