The Haven High Book Series (Wattys2017)

Chapter 7

It suddenly dawned on him and he blurted out, "Wait! You don't have to tell me. That's why all the guys dropped out, right? They started getting really good just before they got their powers. Let me guess what you're going to tell me: there's not going to be any time for basketball right, not while I'm training to be an angel. That's why those guys dropped out, because there wasn't any time?"

"No Zach, it's worse. We're not allowed to play. "

"What!" Zach stopped dead in his tracks in shock over what she just said.

Lauren turned to him and placed her arm on his forearm to turn his body so he could see her face. "I'll explain, but I need to do something first." She lowered her gaze and waved her arms while muttering words under her breath and turned them in a complete circle.

Zach would have laughed, but for the smell of magic in the air. He was beginning to realize it had its own scent. Her's smelled like lilies and ozone. Zach sucked in a shocked breath when all of a sudden the air pressure changed and all the outside noises of traffic dissipated. The sound of horns honking and siren's in the distance was replaced by silence.

Zach looked at Lauren as she smirked and said, "What?! Get used to it, Angel Boy."

"What did you do?"

Lauren just laughed again and began her slow meander towards the school. "I cast a spell. It's a minor one. It won't be noticed by humans, so it's totally legal."

The confused teen stood on the spot for a moment as Lauren walked away, but he quickly realized he had to start moving, because the spell seemed to have included him, and if he didn't he was about to get dragged along unbidden.

"Hey wait up," Zach called. "What kind of spell is this?"

"It's an anti-eavesdropping spell." Lauren said matter-of-factly. "Anyone passing us on the street won't hear what we're actually saying, they'll only hear us talking about mundane things like music and TV. This kind of spell is called a glamour, and glamours are some of the first kinds of spells you learn as a wielder."

"We use glamours all the time to hide from the human world,"she continued, "In fact I use a glamour in order to look human, and don't ask, cause I won't show you, but someday if you're a good little Angel Boy, I might."

Lauren smirked at him before becoming deadly serious.

"Zach, even the school uses a glamour to hide the magic wing where our magical classes are held. In fact there is even something similar to a glamour spell placed on the school. It's called an aversion spell. The school uses it to drive away non magical creatures. So parents don't drop in unexpectedly and see something they shouldn't."

"Yeah right, the school has a magic wing," Zach scoffed. "How come I've never seen it?"

"You have."

"I've what now!" he sputtered, "I couldn't have. You'd think that would be something I'd remember."

"Yeah you'd think so huh? What If I told you that you were made to forget, anyone who stumbles upon it is? There's magic for that too."

Lauren took his hand and sat him down beside her on a low stone wall that encompassed the front entrance of an old Edwardian home and said with a sigh, "Zach's we're not allowed to play on the human teams after we become enlightened, not because there's no time, it's because they're afraid we'll reveal ourselves to a crowd of people. More people than they can wipe and then our world will be in jeopardy. It's not the middle-ages any more. Everyone has access to a video camera on their phone. They could video tape you flying through the air and have it on Youtube in seconds. It would go viral and we'd be outed. "