"Hey Tiny! Watch out!"

The hall was almost empty, there was only Nolan, Sean, and a few other guys. When Elara heard Nolan's warning she stopped running and looked his way only to see Sean throwing a ball coming straight to her face. Instead of doing what any normal person would do and duck in order to avoid the ball, Elara stood there glaring at it. Her eyes were burning with hatred. Somehow, the ball's trajectory slowed down and just as it was supposed to hit her in the face it deflated and fell to the tiled floor with a light thud.

Everyone was silent, including Elara and Laura whose mouth was wide open probably shocked with what just happened. Seeming unfazed, Elara bent down and grabbed the ball with her right hand, her fiery hair framing her beautiful face. She slowly walked to the closest bin; her heeled boots clicking on the tiles was the only sound in the hall. With a defying look in her green eyes directed to Sean, she threw the ball in the bin before making her way to the end of the hall where he was standing.

Coming toe to toe with Sean and having Laura just behind her for backup, Elara felt empowered. The adrenaline kicking in her system, the hatred she felt toward Sean only amplified.

"Don't you ever fucking mess with me again Sean! I'm serious, just leave me the fuck alone!"

"Or what?" he crossed his arms trying to show power and control, but this only made Elara smirk.

"Or, I'll tell everyone what a coward you are for leaving me in the woods alone and for denying being with me after I was attacked. I'll also make sure everyone knows you're spreading rumors about me being obsessed with you with the sole purpose of directing their focus on me instead of your cowardice. And we both know who they'll believe." 

Nolan frowned and looked at Sean questioningly "You were with her that night?" Sean was staring me down intensely "You said it was a fucking ro..." He bit his lower lip and shook his head running a hand through his hair.

Laura snorted ignoring Nolan's distraught look and stifled a laugh as Sean's face turned as red as a tomato. He was at loss of words, and for a second Elara felt his eyes became darker. He took a step forward towering over Elara letting out a growl, yes a growl. Elara stood her ground with her head held high, showing him she was not afraid.

"Stand down." Nolan ordered Sean throwing him a death glare. Surprisingly enough, Sean closed his eyes and turned his back to Elara, exchanged a look with Nolan before disappearing behind one of the many doors. His friends followed after him silently leaving Nolan behind.

The way Sean responded to Nolan's command was strikingly weird. Sean never took orders from anyone, so seeing him back down without a word stunned Elara.

"You need to stay clear from him Elara." Nolan spoke softly which added to her surprise.

"You didn't call me Tiny!" She exclaimed and both him and Laura laughed at her 'happy kid' expression.

Laura groaned looking at her cell phone "I'm sorry Elara, I can't be late to this class again or I'll get detention!" she ran toward her class seconds before the last bell rang knowing her friend would forgive her for bailing on her.

"Doesn't mean you're not so don't get used to it. Anyway, just keep your distance when it comes to Sean. For some reason, he swore to make your life a living hell."

"He can try! And we both know why he wants to do that. He left me in the woods, who does that?" she shook her head "If anyone should hate someone it's me. Not him." Nolan rubbed his subtle but stayed silent, looking lost in thoughts. "Why did you warn me anyway? Yesterday you were helping him prank me..."

"I don't know" he whispered and frowned "I guess I like teasing you but when it comes to other people doing it I just... With the force, he threw the ball at you..." It was obvious Nolan was struggling to give her an explanation without seeming soft "Never mind, you're basically the only girl here that isn't being a bitch to Nora and it means a lot."

Elara raised an eyebrow, she didn't know Nora was having a hard time adjusting here. Usually, everyone here is nice to everyone so she couldn't wrap her head around the fact that other girls were being 'bitches' to Nora as Nolan put it. She wondered how she didn't notice this before, but then again, Nora always worried about Elara's well-being and never talked about herself.

"I didn't know... she didn't say anything and I didn't even notice, and now I feel like the biggest idiot of all times."

"I'm sorry if I knew I wouldn't have said anything. Anyway... We're totally getting detention, first period is almost over" he groaned and left without saying anything else.

Elara didn't know how to feel about it. Maybe Nora was right and she should give Nolan some credit for being a good guy. She found herself all alone in the hall and decided to skip the first period. It was almost over so why bother. she pulled up her phone and text Sophie to check up on her.

Sophie: I'm fine don't worry about me. I'll see you after school?

Elara:  Of course! If I don't get detention that is!

Sophie: What happened?

"Oh, soph! if only you were here" she smiled at the small screen leaning on the wall and texted her details about what went down with Sean. She was so focused on her phone that she was startled by a light tap on her shoulder. Turning around she found Principal Hawkins raising an eyebrow at her and waiting for an explanation. It looked bad. First, she was out of class, second, she was on her phone. Elara looked at him sheepishly "I'm sorry?" she tried and put her phone away.

"Nice try Miss Bell. You've been late for class too many times this month and missed even more classes... I'm very disappointed. You're affecting your grades and the chance to get into excellent colleges."

"Am I getting detention?"

He shook his head "You know what? I wasn't going to give you detention but I will. Two hours after school. Come by my office at the end of the day so I can give you the details." He was about to walk away but stopped "Oh and Miss Bell, keep that attitude up and I won't let you go to prom, or even let you graduate." That being said, Principal Hawkins left a very chocked Elara staring at his back while he made his way to his office.

She was okay with detention, she knew she would get it eventually, but not let her graduate? That was extreme even for the ruthless Principal Hawkins. He's been principal for five years now and still felt the need to prove himself capable of running the school after all the concerned parents who wanted someone else due to his young age and lack of experience. He was only twenty-eight when he took the job and has been proving all those who went against him wrong till this day.

Soon enough, the halls were crowded and buzzing with students. Picking up her bag from the floor, Elara was making her way to class when she felt someone's arm loop on hers. She looked to her side and found Laura holding the deflated ball in her hands. When did she even get it from the waste?

"How the hell did you do that?" she asked before Elara could even blink.

"Me? I didn't do it, how would I do it? I'm not a sorcerer or anything" Elara laughed shaking her head "Just throw it back in the waste and let's get to class, I already missed the first period."

"I won't throw it before you tell me how?"

Elara knew her friend wouldn't let it go but she didn't even know how that happened so she shrugged shaking her head hoping Laura would believe her.

"Hey girls!" Nora joined them and her attention went down to the ball in Laura's hand "What is that?"

Laura grinned "It's none of your business wol..." she cleared her throat and looked away as Nora took a step back.

Elara loved Laura and she was aware that she could be intense and sometimes a bit extreme or even bitchy. She would usually tolerate her behavior but after what Nolan said about Nora, she had to do something. She glared at Laura and just as Nora was about to leave, Elara grabbed one of the straps of Nora's bag pulling her back.

"Hey stop that!" Nora complaining as she harshly turned around and snatched the strap from Elara's hand "Oh... sorry I thought it was Laura."

"No don't be sorry. I'm sorry for my best friend's poor behavior" she told her while glaring at Laura who was just rolling her eyes. "Anyway, this is nothing important, Sean threw it at my face obviously wanting to hurt me."

Nora's hand flew to her mouth with a gasp "He did not! He is taking this too far" anger was apparent in Nora's eyes.

"Yep, but the good news is Elara stood up to him, and he was out of words. Plus your brother was there and like 'stand down' ordering him like a pup!" Laura smirked giving Nora a knowing look.

"Oh damn, I missed so much! I wish I was there to witness it" she laughed lightly but frowned again "Wait, my brother took your side and not Sean's?" She asked Elara who was starting to feel a blush creep up on her face. When she didn't answer, Nora who was still in shock laughed again "Well that's a first. See you girls later!" she took a turn left, and went to her class.

Elara snatched the ball from Laura and threw it in the nearest bin as they entered their next class. She wanted nothing but to forget the morning's incident, even though she was happy with herself to have stood her ground against Sean. But what happened to the ball was still a mystery to her and would only remind her of the dream she had when she passed out in her treehouse. It had only one explanation, she could do magic.

Normally that would be awesome even though it would make her question everything about the world she's living in. She would have to dive back into her beliefs and check what is real and what isn't. If magic was real, it would mean the supernatural world was real as well, and her grandpa's stories about the woods could also be true. But if it all were to be true, this would only mean one thing.

Elara stopped walking just as they were about to step into the classroom. If magic is real, it only meant her dream from the day before wasn't a dream. It was a vision, a memory. Realization hit her hard as Laura tried to call her out of her trance so many times but Elara's focus was gone to that deep corner of her mind where she always hid that annoying feeling since she was little. That feeling telling her something wasn't right. Something was missing.

At first, it was okay, she didn't mind that feeling but on her 6th birthday, she only pushed it deeper when it transformed into visions of her mother. It was just too painful for her younger self and she had locked the visions and the odd feeling away somehow. Now that she was thinking about it, she was unknowingly unlocking buried memories. Elara realized they were extremely similar to the one she had the day before, or even before that. She opened the door to memories of her mother spending time with her throughout her childhood and different stages of her life.

"Elara?" Nolan shook her shoulders calling her name a few times until she blinked and looked up at him with tears filling her eyes. Laura was on his right while Nora was on his left.

They all looked at her with concern as the hurtful truth came crashing on her. My mom is alive...