Sanders School of Magic (Analogical)

10: HALLOWEEN

*Virgil POV*

It's loud. There is some music playing somewhere, but it's mostly the chatter of the crowd. I love Halloween, but not these parties.

"Oh come on Virgie, stop being so down in the dumps!" Remus says, picking me up from my corner.

"No, I'm perfectly fine right here," I say.

"Sush, I found another guy you might like," Remus says.

"I don't want to date anyone, I already told you!" I say.

"But-"

"Remus put Virgil down," Janus says.

Remus groans and sets me down.

"Can I go back to the dorm?" I ask.

Janus is the only one with a key. Remus always loses his keys and I forgot mine in the dorm. 

"No, the party only just started!" Janus says.

"Ok, fine," I say, "But I am going to stay in the corner,"

"Sure," Janus says.

I walk back to the corner of the cafeteria and pull my phone out. It's going to be a long night.

I put my earbuds back in. 

"Teenagers scare the living-"

I hear a loud crash from the other side of the room. Probably Remus.

"Out of me,"

I shrink back into my corner even more. Halloween is usually the one time a year I'm not like this, but last time I had fun and tried to scare someone they dumped a bucket of water on me and I had a panic attack. That was not a fun night.

As the music plays louder and louder I decide that I've has enough. If I can't go back to my dorm I'll just go outside. There won't be nearly as much noise and maybe my headache will clear up. My head has been pounding all night.

*Logan POV*

I'm at the party. It's very loud here and Patton has eaten too much sugar to be even reasonably healthy. 

I stand near the wall, admiring the decorations. They seem very well done, which is probably why Patton is avoiding them. He has an irrational fear of spiders.

"Logan, come on! The best song is on!" Roman says.

I try to listen to the barely audible music.

"Spooky scary skeletons sends shivers down your spine,"

"What do you want me to do about it?" I ask.

Roman laughs.

"Come dance! Duh," he says, grabbing me arm.

"I'd rather not," I say.

"Too bad! It's time to be fun!" he says.

He drags me to the middle of the room just as another song starts playing. 

"Perfect! A slow one! Dance with me," Roman says, grabs my hands.

Out of all the things I've studied while being in my room, dance was not one of them.

"No," I say.

"Aw, why not?" Roman asks.

He seems delirious.

"Because I don't want to. Go dance with Patton," I say.

He shrugs.

"If you insist," he says.

He walks away and I decide to just leave the party. I'm not having fun and I'd rather not be forced into dancing.

I walk out to the school grounds because someone thought it would be a good idea to let the doors be unlocked.

"You didn't want to be there either?"

I turn around and see Virgil sitting on the ledge of a wall.

"Yes. I do not really see the appeal of parties," I say.

"Yeah, me neither," Virgil says.

We look at each other for a moment.

"Want to just walk around or something?" he asks.

I nod.

He hops down from the wall and we walk over to the lake. It's strange how modern the school looks next to its surroundings. The only sign of civilization elsewhere is the town in the distance. It's a twenty-minute walk just to get there.

"So," Virgil says, "Do you want to talk about anything?"

"Sure," I say.

A long pause passes before I decide to say something.

"So why are you afraid of swimming?" I ask.

He flinches.

"It's- it's a sensitive topic. I don't really like thinking about it," he says.

"Oh," I say, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No no no, it's fine. Let's talk about anything else. Like, uh, what was it like when you first discovered your power?" he asks.

"Oh, well, it started when I was exactly seven years old. It was my birthday party, which was just me and my one friend," I say.

"Same," Virgil mutters.

"So I was getting really upset because the flames from my candles got really big and then I felt something come over me. The lights got really bright then blew out, and the room got really cold. It only lasted a few seconds but I was scared. That's also how I lost my only friend. They said my house was haunted and they never wanted to see me again," I say.

I didn't blame them. I still don't. If they had stuck around, they might have gotten hurt.

"That-" Virgil says, "That sounds both extremely powerful and really sad,"

I nod.

"What was your first experience like?" I ask.

"Well, I was nine. I was hanging out with Janus- because we knew each other before he moved away and then we met again here- and he was about to run into the road. There was a car coming and I reached out to stop him. I somehow made him freeze in place without even saying anything. Later he told me it was like someone pulled him back," Virgil says.

"That sounds fascinating. Have you been able to do that again?" I ask.

He shakes his head.

"I never tried and I never want to. I don't want to manipulate a person unless it's that kind of scenario," he says.

"So there aren't any classes for that area?" I ask.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure it's what they'd call 'unsavory' or 'illegal'," Virgil says.

I nod. I guess that would make it so there are no classes for that specific area, but wouldn't it be better for us to at least learn about it?

"Hey, do you want to play a prank on someone? It's Halloween, after all," Virgil says.

"Is this something people do at this time of year?" I ask.

"Yep! Maybe we should prank Em- Dr. Picani and Remy, I think they'll find it funny," Virgil says.

"Ok," I say, "So what is your idea?"

I have had discord for a total of one day and it's awesome. And the turmoil/plot is coming soon I think. I'm also clueless, just a little less. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading, and feel free to leave any thoughts or feedback in the comments. Have a splendid day/night you magnificent peep!