Chapter 1
Parents' Evening.
Mr and Mrs Rees were sat beside a closed door, struggling to keep their posture socially acceptable on the miniscule chairs, as their soon-to-be ten year old son slouched head-back in his (more appropriately sized but no more comfortable) seat. He was just about to complain for the millionth time how bored he was when he heard a familiar, lip curling giggle. Lauren Hands- his sworn enemy. Just the thought of her made him want to jump head first into steaming vomit. As the door widened, her slender, pointed head framed by a mass of curly blonde hair glanced in his direction. She threw him a sarcastic smirk before raising her nose towards her parents and forcing a face-filling smile. Straightening up in his chair defensively, the olive skinned brunette narrowed his eyes as he imagined a brick flattening the Goldilocks-wannabe’s nose.
“Like her, do you son?” Mr Rees winked in the direction of his now horrified child.
“I would rather drink curdled milk!” the boy spat before flinging his grimacing face in the opposite direction whilst folding his arms for good measure. Mr Rees roared with laughter to his wife and commented on how their son was going to take after his old man and break hearts. The infuriated boy could feel his face burn with anger as he imagined the brick ricocheting off of Lauren’s demolished face onto his plump father’s. Repeatedly. The anger was forming a hard lump in the back of his throat when...
“Eneid Rees?”
The lump disintegrated down into his chest as his legs rose automatically and traipsed towards the door. The butterflies in his stomach were more like venomous snakes, striking with every inward breath, as he followed behind his parents into his classroom. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Walking had never felt so unnatural.
Eneid’s mother shifted him towards the centre seat, between herself and his father. The middle-aged teacher sat herself in the revolving chair, straightening her floral dress. She always wore floral dresses. It’s like the school uniform for teachers. Ms Branch tucked her ageing hair behind her ears, plastered on her most sincere smile, revealing coffee-stained teeth, and began talking about Eneid’s academic ability. Eneid knew full well that his mum and dad didn’t have a clue what his teacher was talking about. They were just nodding at the right times and asking questions that they thought were appropriate. It was a brief meeting, as usual.
“So, young Eneid is still working below age related expectations and seems to have very low self-esteem,” rounded up Ms Branch with her technical vocabulary again, “but I am confident that some positive praise and more focus will be the making of him. He has a lot of potential. I’ve seen it in the work he actually puts effort into.”
“Why don’t you put effort into all of your work, E?” Mum moaned.
“I do!” And it was true. He did try. Most of the time. He just absolutely, positively, super-really, more than anything in the world, more than Lauren, more than broccoli, really hated school. And having to sit still. And losing at football. And being made to speak in front of everyone. And his dad’s unfunny jokes. And being woken up. And spiders- especially spiders! The truth is, like all kids, Eneid struggled to imagine the future so didn’t see why he always had to work hard for it. He always felt like there was something missing; as if there was more to growing up than doing well in tests and being as good at maths as everybody else. Surely there was more to life?
The adults rolled eyes at each other just as the bell went to signal the end of their slot. After saying their pleasantries, the Rees family returned home to their two bedroom semi-detached with a take away dinner, ready to watch Goals Of The Day.
Eneid and his father watched it every night whilst his mother tidied up from dinner. Tonight, however, they struggled to hear the commentary over Carina Rees’ ranting (again) about how Eneid needed to try harder at school if he wanted a good job.
“Do you want to be struggling like me and your dad for the rest of your life? Because you will if you don’t buck your ideas up, Eneid, I mean it!”
In the living room, Eneid’s father, Perry, put his arm around his son
“Grades don’t matter,” he muttered so that his wife couldn’t hear, “because you’re going to be a champion footballer, aren’t ya?” Eneid agreed with his father. He loved football and knew that he was good at it. “That teacher doesn’t know anything,” his father added. “Just play the game and be a good boy until you can get out of there and focus on your football.”
Lying in bed that night, Eneid thought about what his father had said. Teachers were awful. She was always telling him that he had to listen and concentrate and stop throwing things. As his body shut down to sleep, his mind wandered. He thought about all of the things that could happen to his teacher tomorrow to teach her a lesson. Tossing and turning, his head spun with angering images of bad test results and Lauren’s sarcastic comments. A thought he didn’t mind so much was of Ms Branch falling off of her chair.
He wanted to be refreshed for tomorrow; to have a good day. If only he knew how... If only there was real-life magic that any normal kid could use... If only he could switch off his brain and just go to sleep...
