Magic

Rachel had felt it a long time ago, and now it was coming back again. Stronger this time, and terrifying. Something was surging inside of her, something that could not be helped. It wasn’t an emotion. She’d checked with the doctor, but the unknown inside of her was, well, unknown. Rachel grasped the sides of her chair, trying not to be sick. She closed her eyes tight. Her stomach churned. She felt dizzy and light headed.

She had felt this last year, but that was only the first time this happened. She hoped it wouldn’t happen again, but somehow she knew, since it was so mysterious, that it would happen again.

Rachel stumbled out of her chair and managed and few steps before collapsing onto her knees, where she lay, panting. Her head hurt. She took gasping breaths and managed to get up. What is happening to me?

Last time this lasted an hour. But today was a school day, and she had to get to school in an hour. Rachel took one step in front of another, and reached the bathroom. She collapsed onto the ground, shaking. Before she could try to help it, she retched into the toilet. Her vision blurred. She heard footsteps and saw the bathroom door opening, and she fainted.

Rachel woke up, and her headache peaked. She groaned and shivered, and Mom came into her blurred view.

“Rachel, are you alright?” she asked. “I swear, this happened last year!”

All Rachel could do was watch while Mom busied herself around Rachel’s room, making tea and checking her temperature. Rachel felt that if she talked, she would retch again.

The unknown was still inside her, trying to get out like a wild lion in a cage. Rachel was weak, but she resisted. And everything faded again.

The second time Rachel awoke, the room was empty. She felt better, and the unknown inside of her was away. She sighed with relief. She sat up and checked the time. It was 8:00 in the morning.

Rachel then realized how stinky the room was. She got out of bed and saw that she was in the same clothes. She peeked out of the window and saw that Mother and Father’s cars were not there. They went to work.

Rachel undressed and took a quick shower, then dressed and took a snack from the pantry. When she returned to her room, she collapsed on her bed.

Later in the day, Mom came home to find Rachel reading. “Oh good, you’re up,” she said, feeling her forehead. “We’re taking you to the doctor today, right now,”

Rachel got out of bed and Mother drove her to the hospital. The doctor checked for any symptoms of any disease or anything wrong with her, but she couldn’t find it.

The next day, when Rachel got out of Mom’s car door for school, she found William, leaning against the building. He had brilliant blue eyes the color of the sky, and blond hair, gelled to the side. Rachel could not help but admire him.

They were friends since kindergarten. Rachel had had friends that were girls in preschool, but they only lasted a year. William lasted, so far, since kindergarten to 9th grade. They were both fourteen now.

Rachel walked up to William and smiled. “Where have you been?” he asked, walking with Rachel through the crowd to Homeroom. “Just a fever,” Rachel said, shrugging.

“Don’t do get a fever again,” William pleaded. “Alright,” Rachel said, already forming what she was going to say to William next year. William left to go to his Homeroom, and Rachel trudged through the crowd towards hers.

I sat down on my assigned seat-next to a couple of girls squealing over something on Instagram. They glanced up at me, and giggled even harder. I ignored them.

The teacher, Mrs. Allen cleared her throat, and the giggling subsided into silence. Mrs. Allen led her piercing eyes over the students, finally resting on me.

“Mrs. Smith, may I have your slip?” she asked in an icy tone. Rachel gulped. “Erm... I...er...forgot to get it...” she muttered, waiting for the consequence. Rachel felt herself going red. She felt Mrs. Allens’s stare becoming even icier, if possible.

“Please tell me, Mrs. Smith, why you forgot to get your slip?”

“I...just...forgot,” Rachel blurted. “I’ll... I’ll go now,”

Not wanting to stay in the room, she hurried out of the room, down the hallway, and to the office, where she took her tardy slip, ran back down the hallway, and into the classroom, where Mrs. Allens was pacing. She took Rachel’s tardy slip, waited until she was seated, and began class.

Rachel found Mrs. Allens monotonous voice very dull. She situated herself on the seat more comfortably, and drifted off into the forest, which she always daydreamed of. Forests seemed magical to her, and calming. She was playing in a river, splashing water everywhere, the cold water lapping on her skin, and the sun beaming in on the water so that it reflected on the water-

Distantly, she heard to bell ring. She started and jumped, realizing she was still in class! She hurried out the door with her backpack slung around one shoulder. She met William and they bought lunch from the cafeteria. Rachel sat down with him next to a few other random people and started talking about random things.

“I forgot my tardy slip this morning,” Rachel said grimly. “And you wouldn’t ever know how Mrs. Allens reacted.

“How?” William asked. Rachel told him everything that happened.

“Wow,” William said. “That is one strict teacher,”

She agreed and took a bite out of her sandwich. Suddenly, she felt nauseous. The thing inside her was trying to come out again...

She ditched her sandwich, muttered something about going to the bathroom to William, and ran until she reached the girls bathrooms. Waves of nausea rolled over Rachel. Sweat poured down her face. She leaned over the sink. She tried to keep the unknown force inside herself in, but it was too much. She locked herself in a bathroom stall, and waited, panting.

It seemed to go away the moment it started. The aftermath, she told herself. It would have lasted an hour if it had not been the aftermath. She unlocked the bathroom stall and got outside just as the bell rang. She half ran, half walked to her next class. William somehow found Rachel in the crowd. He grabbed her hand, and said, “Rachel. You don’t look alright. Are you okay?”

She nodded, looking right at him, and even managed a weak smile, but William did not look satisfied. “I think you should go to the nurse,” he said sternly. She shook her head. “No, William. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, and Rachel nodded again. She squeezed his hand and he squeezed mine back, and we headed off to art class, both holding hands.

The class was painting on canvases to bring home. Rachel painted her forest with the river, sunlight, and birds, and all kinds of animals. Stones, trees, everything, and every single detail. She was so caught up with it that at first she didn’t notice William poking me on the back. “Rachel. Rachel!” he said. Rachel looked around to face him.

“Yeah?” Rachel said. He pointed at her painting, apparently in awe. “Look at it!”

“What about it?” she asked, confused. He backed her a few steps away from the painting and made her look directly at it. It was beautiful, better than Rachel had ever imagined! There was every intricate detail on the rocks, the sun shone on the river as realistic as if in real life. The pattern on the trees were perfect, and the leaves too! The waterfall was falling into the water, splashing everywhere. Rachel gaped at the masterpiece she had made. “It’s...beautiful,” William said. The art teacher, Mrs. Reyes, walked over and gaped, too, at the beautiful artwork.

“Rachel...!” she stuttered. “How... how did you...? That is a beautiful masterpiece! You could be famous, like Pablo Picasso! Or... Vincent Van Gogh! Or Leonardo da Vinci!”

She continued naming famous artists. Rachel stared at her work, amazed. She had never painted like this before...

“Could I take this home?” she asked Mrs. Reyes. Mrs. Reyes gaped at her instead of at the painting. “Why not in a museum?” she asked incredulously. “Then you surely would be famous! A student of mine who is famous! Oh, that would be wonderful!”

“I don’t want to be famous,” Rachel muttered. “What?” Mrs. Reyes gasped. “But... why?” Rachel just shrugged and said, “I dunno,” and went to the storage for packaging.