Experimental Magic ✔

Second Semester: Part I

As soon as Misty and Millie arrived at school, Misty's eyes darted through the halls searching for Meadow. When Meadow first left, she figured it would blow over in a couple days, a week at most. But then weeks went by and still no Meadow. Misty calmed her nerves by telling herself that Meadow was just trying to torture her. She'd wait until the very last second to show up just to spite her. After dinner the night before school started, she sat at the table and waited for her. An hour went by, then two, then three, then four and before she knew it, it was midnight. School was in seven hours and still, she didn't show. 

"I don't see her, do you?" Misty asked Millie, her voice almost frantic. 

"No," Millie said. 

Millie was nervous too, but she was much less on edge than Misty. But then again, she didn't remember what happened at the basketball game and what Misty had to do to fix it. Ever since that night, Misty's anxiety had been through the roof. She had never been so nervous about anything, and she had no idea what to do about these new emotions. Misty hoped if Meadow came to school, it would be a sign that everything would be okay. At the very least, it'd be one less thing she had to worry about. .

Come on, Meadow, where are you? Misty thought to herself as she continued to look around. She spotted a curly headed, black haired girl across the hall and her heart jumped in relief. But then she turned around and she quickly realized she had gotten her hopes up for nothing. That girl was not Meadow. She didn't even look anything like her. Misty's shoulders slumped as her heart sank.

 "I wouldn't worry about it," Millie said, sensing her sister's anxiety. "She's probably just late. You know she'd be late to her own funeral if we didn't force her out of the house."

Millie's reassurance didn't ease Misty's mind. Her eyes shifted to the clock on the wall. Time was running out. First period was going to start any minute and Meadow was nowhere to be seen. She didn't know what to do. 

"You should get to class," Misty said.

Misty didn't want it to seem like she was trying to get rid of her, but she needed space to think. 

"What about you?" Millie said.

Millie was reluctant to leave her sister when she was clearly in distress. But at the same time, she had a hard time resisting her orders. It was usually futile anyway. Misty didn't take no for an answer.

"I'm fine," Misty insisted. "I just need a second."

With a click of her heels, Misty walked away before Millie had time to argue. She ducked behind a corner where she was sure no one could hear or see her. Her heart was racing and her breath was short. She took a few deep breaths and shook out her hands as she paced back and forth trying to calm herself down. 

Saying what she didn't know what to do wasn't quite the truth. She knew what she would have to do, it was just the last thing she wanted to do. With no other choice, Millie swallowed her pride and took out her cellphone. She scrolled through her contacts until she found the name she was looking for. With a heavy exhale, she pressed "dial" and waited. The phone rang and rang and rang. Just as she was about to change her mind and hang up, he answered.

"Missie?" Markos said, both confused and concerned. It had been years since Misty had willingly reached out to him. He honestly thought her name would never show up on his phone again.  "Everything okay?"

"Cut the shit, Markos. Where is she?" Misty snapped.

"Well hello to you too," Markos grumbled. 

"Just tell me where she is," Misty demanded. 

She checked the clock one more time. Two minutes remained before class started. She didn't have time for his nonsense.

"She's at school," he answered truthfully. 

"Don't insult me by lying to me," Misty said. "I know she's not here. I can't find her anywhere. You can't do this, Markos. You can't let her skip school. She needs an education. She can't float through life doing whatever she pleases -" 

"Hey, hey, hey relax, Miss," Markos interjected. "She's not skipping school. She's here with me."

"What?" Misty said, completely shocked. "You transferred her? How could you do this? You know what these people are like. She'll be ripped to shreds. She'll be an outcast."

"Oh, so it'll just be a regular day then?" Markos said. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" Misty snapped. 

She was so sick of his attitude and accusations. 

"She's already an outcast, Miss. She has been for years," Markos said, his voice rising. "No one will talk to her. She has no friends. She's miserable. I'm giving her a chance to start over. Don't you want her to be happy?"

"Some things are more important than happiness," Misty countered. 

As far as she was concerned no one had sacrificed more than her. Did cooking every meal make her happy? Did doing all the dishes make her happy? Did spending every free second she had studying make her happy? Of course not, but she did it because it was what was best for everyone. 

"Jesus, Missie, do you even hear yourself?" Markos said.

 He knew exactly where this was going. They were walking straight into the same old argument they'd had a million times. They'd tear each other down and throw insults and get absolutely nowhere. But he couldn't stop his feet from walking forward.

"Is this really what you want? Do you really want to spend your entire life begging for the approval of people who will never accept you? They hate us Misty and they always will. Nothing you do will ever change that." 

"They don't hate us," Misty shot back. "They hate you. This is all your fault. If you had just did what they said and played by the rules we wouldn't be in this mess. But you couldn't do that, could you? You had to go off and live by your stupid ideology because you think you should be able to do whatever you want without consequence even though it hurts us. You're selfish, Markos." 

Misty could hear Markos sigh through the phone. She knew exactly what he would do. He'd start an argument and then back out of it as soon as the spotlight was on him. 

"I'm not doing this with you right now," he said, proving her right. "I have to go to work." 

Misty wanted so badly to get the last word, but he hung up too quickly. 

"Ugh," she groaned, stomping her foot. 

God, he was so infuriating. She shoved her phone in her pocket and stormed off. She didn't make it five steps before her worst nightmare popped out from the corner and stopped her in her tracks. Scottie Derringer.