Lovesick Witches

Round Two

The excitement in the air gave me tingles as I stood, cheering, with my friends, the sun pleasantly shining through me. The entire school gathered on the sports field, everyone gazing up into the clouds as we watched Fenella and Beatrice whiz round the turrets of the academy. 

It was the second round of the head girl competition and this round was a broomstick race. Fenella was a brilliant flyer so Beatrice was feeling pretty nervous before the race, but Mildred and I tried our best to encourage her and boost her confidence. 

I raised my hand to my forehead to shade my eyes from the blinding sunlight as I continued to follow the race with my gaze. Sybil and Clarice stood next to me, holding up a colourful, handmade sign saying 'Go Beatrice' as they cheered and bounced around in excitement. Mildred stood on the other side of me with her fingers crossed behind her back in hope that Beatrice would win. 

As the two fourth years speeded through the trees in the forests surrounding the academy, I watched in anticipation as Beatrice overtook Fenella. I found myself joining in with the cheering as Beatrice cut a sharp corner, gracefully weaving in and out of the trees, Fenella following her close behind. 

Miss Cackle was standing at the front of the field next to Miss Hardbroom, smiling and cheering the two witches on. Miss Hardbroom, on the other hand, closely observed the race, her eyes narrowed and focused as she clung onto the gold stopwatch hanging around her neck. Miss Hardbroom had always taken flying contests very seriously and I loved the way she watched with such earnestness. 

As it was a big school event, it was tradition to wear our hats and for the teachers to wear their cloaks. The hats the students wore were black and pointy with a ribbon tied around the base, matching the colour of our sash. Our hat and sash were the colour of the house we were in, the only coloured items featuring on the grey dominated uniform. Mine were red as I was in red house, the same house as Mildred. 

Miss Hardbroom stood wearing her hat, dark grey with minimal, delicate embroidery, as well as her cloak, black and long, the hem at the bottom touching the grass beneath her feet. It always looked very formal when the teachers wore their hats and cloaks. Most looked awful in them. But somehow, Hecate managed to make the traditional, dull outfit look absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't help but watch her in awe as she precisely judged the flying competition. 

"HB looks really hot, doesn't she," I whispered to Mildred as she drank from a bottle of water, standing beside to me. 

"You mean like warm? Well yeah, she will be. It's like a hundred degree heat out here and she's wrapped up in a cloak," she said before drinking some more of her water. 

"No, I mean like... sexy," I said, my cheeks flushing with instant warmth. 

Mildred turned to face me in shock, spitting the water out of her mouth before bursting into laugher, me laughing with her. 

"I mean, I definitely don't see it," she said, looking over at Hecate to try and understand why I thought that, "but if you think she does, then you do you." 

We both giggled some more as Mildred patted me on the shoulder. I really loved how I could talk to Mildred about my feelings for Hecate without her judging me. She was such a lovely person and I was so incredibly lucky to have her as my best friend. 

We all continued to cheer and clap as Fenella and Beatrice got closer to the finish line, now flying right beside one another. It was going to be so close and I shouted words of encouragement to Beatrice in the hope that she would pick up some more speed. 

Both witches accelerated to their maximum as they came up to the finish line. They had to fly between two of the academy's turrets to signify the end of the race and the first witch to pass through them was the winner of the round. 

As my friends and I continued to cheer Beatrice on, Fenella picked up more speed, overtaking her competitor. My nerves intensified as Beatrice tried her best to catch Fenella up. But Fenella was going too fast for her and as Beatrice passed through the two finishing turrets, Fenella had already beaten her to it by just a few yards. 

Both witches lowered their broomsticks after finishing the race and landed on the sports field, sweaty and out of breath. A feeling of sadness swept over me as I saw that Beatrice's eyes were filled with disappointment. 

Fenella beamed with pride as the two witches walked over to Miss Cackle and Miss Hardbroom. 

"An excellent race, girls," said Miss Cackle, a huge smile across her face. "It was very, very close, possibly the closest flying race we have ever had here at Cackle's." 

"But," Miss Hardbroom interrupted, a strict and serious look on her face, contrasting with Miss Cackle's bliss, "Fenella, you are the winner of this round." 

The students clapped as Fenella stood forward to receive her badge. 

"After round two," Miss Hardbroom continued, "the score is now tied with one point each." 

The icy tone that Hecate used so confidently and the way she was rather upfront and sarcastic really turned me on. I felt bad for thinking that, especially since Beatrice had just lost her race, but my attention just seemed to be glued to Miss Hardbroom. I felt magnetised to her. Whenever I tried to focus on anything else, I was always pulled towards her. 

During that day, a thought kept crossing my mind. But I kept trying to ignore it. 

How much about my feelings for Hecate did I actually know about? But more, how much about Hecate's feelings for me did I actually know about? I mean, I'd always believed that Hecate could never love me. That she would never love me. But how did I know that? Did I know that? Or did I just decide that she would never love me and convince myself of that? 

The previous day, everything I'd thought I knew about the situation with Ethel had been proven wrong. And I'd been completely oblivious to the truth. What if that wan't the only thing I was oblivious to? I thought I had everything worked out. I thought I was seeing the truth. But I couldn't help but wonder if the truth I was seeing wan't actually the truth at all. 

Maybe, just maybe, Hecate did have feelings for me. It was me who had created the belief that she could never love me. After deciding that for myself, I saw it as the truth and became convinced in it. But what if I didn't actually believe that? What if deep down I'd always known the real truth but have just been too afraid to admit it to myself?