“Boo!” I yelled, sneaking up on the out of place witches. My friends were hovering outside the front door of the human Halloween party I had told them about obviously debating whether or not to go inside. Lynne squealed in fright and they all turned to look at me. “Ha-ha! Got you,” I laughed.
“Chris, is that really you?” Blake asked, not believing his eyes as he looked me up and down. His Harry Potter costume was the same one he had worn last year, but it suited his personality, kind and a bit quirky. “How did you,” he started to say as he tugged on my face right below my jaw. My skin stretched away from my bone as though it were Silly Putty then snapped back into place. The black robes I wore moved like they had a mind of their own; trailing behind me and turning into smoke. “You look like you stepped straight out of American Horror Story or something. Man! It feels and looks so real.”
“That’s because it is,” Lynne chimed in. She was dressed like a sexy version of the devil; of course she was. Her costume fit her personality as well, self-righteous, self-absorbed, and forever pissed that I was the only guy in school that wouldn’t pay attention to her. “He conjured it. Didn’t you, Chris?”
“Chris?” Blake scolded.
“What? Oh, come on!” I got defensive. “Can’t we have just a little fun with our powers once in a while? I mean it’s Halloween!” I said about to ring the doorbell. “Besides, no one will ever know.”
For some reason Lynne gave me an unexpected devious smile and stepped up beside me. “Come on boys, Chris is right. Let’s have some fun. Freshen up my costume would ya? I’m thinking Lady Gaga-esque,” she said taking my arm and intentionally letting the side of her breast rub up against me.
I flicked my wrist conjuring her a better costume, but also trying to brush her off physically. It didn’t work. She was clinging to me like plastic wrap stuck to itself. Under my command Lynne’s shoes and barely there red dress morphed into extreme high-end fashions worthy of a music video for Gaga’s little monsters. “Anybody else want a re-vamp?” I asked eagerly not wanting to be attached to Lynne for one more second.
“No, you guys go ahead. I think I’m just going to head home.” Blake shook his head in disapproval and Tim and Matt stayed behind as well. “Chris, I don’t think this is a good idea--,”
“Later, losers,” Lynne said cutting Blake off as she opened the door and pulled me inside.
The party was as wild as I thought it would be. With an equal mix of teens and adults. The human teenagers were on their best behaviors, in front of the adults at least, but there was plenty of behind the scenes action going on. Getting my hands on alcohol proved quite easy, especially since my conjured costume made me look like I was ancient. I’d even thrown in a low ominous voice for good measure. Lynne’s conjured glamour I created may have been beautiful and epic, but I had made sure she looked like she was only about fifteen or so. She was finding it extremely difficult to sneak a drink and kept glaring at me every time she failed as though she knew I had done something to impede her party on purpose. Finally looking in a mirror, Lynne gasped, stomped over to me, and threw her non-alcoholic red drink in my face. She stormed off and disappeared into the crowd. I laughed as she finally left me alone, turned the red liquid into a gel, and let it become another layer of my ghastly glamour.
The hundred year old mansion was full of people dressed up as everyone from Albert Einstein to ZZ Top and everything in between. The night was so fun that as I stepped away from Lynne for the hundredth time, with my drunken judgement I flicked my wrist in a house full of humans without even thinking twice. Time slowed under my will; not enough that any human would notice, but just enough to make the party last a little bit longer. I was getting a lot of female attention and it seemed to be driving Lynne even crazier. Why wouldn’t I want that to last forever?
“Buttercream frosting, hmm, what did you just do?” Lynne asked following me into yet another room. I had been trying to ditch her all night and she knew it. As soon as our friends had left she turned into the wicked witch she always did when we were alone. Without my friends as a buffer she was constantly on me, and it was driving me crazy.
“Nothing,” I smiled.
Something or someone in the next room drew her attention for a second then she turned her evil glare back to me. “Humph. We’ll see about that,” she scoffed and quickly stormed off.
“Muahahaha! Guys and ghouls, it’s time to announce the costume contest winner!” The DJ said, turning the music down. I barely caught a glimpse of Lynne leaving out the front door and swore I could smell sweet pine as she left. Her costume and facial features reverted back to their un-conjured state as she gave me an evil wave goodbye; almost as if it were a final farewell. But the DJ called my name and I forgot all about Lynne and my friends’ earlier disapproving looks. “Chris Heron, come on down! You wo--,”
Unexpectedly, all sounds stopped and everyone in the mansion froze right where they stood. No one seemed to be aware of being in a frozen state and unable to move. Drinks being poured didn’t spill. The liquids looked like ice dangling in mid-air and people had stopped in awkward positions all around the house. I was in a living three dimensional picture frozen in time and what had me truly terrified was I hadn’t done it. I looked around in a panic knowing I wasn’t frozen for a specific reason. Someone from one of the covens had caught me using underage magic and I was in serious trouble. I racked my brain trying to figure out who had the power to freeze an entire house full of humans and then it hit me. ‘Oh crap!’ I thought to myself. Just as I realized who it was, his footsteps echoed off the marble floor and then stopped. A wave of power hit me and I couldn’t move; only my eyes remained unfrozen. I was lifted off the ground and pulled toward the grand staircase like a puppet on strings. Abruptly, I came to a stop at the foot of the stairs and was placed back on my feet, but I still couldn’t move. The Reagent of all the covens came down the staircase one methodical footstep at a time. Finally at the bottom of the stairs he hovered over me by at least three feet, took in my conjured costume and inebriated state and stared at me stoically for what seemed like an eternity. He never even blinked. ‘Double crap!’
“Mr. Heron, come to my office once you’re sober, and do bring your parents, hmm?” Then he waved his hand in front of me and everything faded to black.
I was pulled out of my dream by loud laughter as the school subway car came to a sudden stop at our destination. I wiped my mouth. Apparently I had been drooling in my sleep, but I didn’t care. Reliving Halloween night in my dream was much, much worse. The same mermaids and elves were giggling about Kris Kringle Jr. visiting school today, confirming that it was in fact happening. Apparently some of their parents worked at Santa’s Workshop at the North Pole and had spilled the info. I rolled my eyes. All the girls were going to be fangirling over Santa’s son forever now. Fairies, mermaids, elves, even the trolls were going to be gushing about getting to meet the boy that would inherit his father’s title one day. Ugh! Could this day get any worse?
*
“Chris?” Tinker Bell motioned for me to stay after class as the rest of the students rushed out the doors to jockey for a good spot in the common area to see Kris Kringle Jr.
“Yes, Miss Bell?” Crap! I slumped and walked up to the front of the class. This was it! She knew I had planned on skipping school this morning and I was getting kicked out.
“Be a dear and help me make some potions for the mermaids, hmm? I swear, your potions seem to give them human legs hours longer than mine do.” Tinker Bell was sending flasks and test tubes floating through the air but stopped buzzing around and looked at me. “What? Don’t tell me you’re in a hurry to meet Kris Kringle, too?”
“Me? Ah, no,” I stuttered, stunned that I wasn’t in trouble. Crises averted.
“Good,” she said buzzing around the room again. “And you’re a good witch too, Chris, even when you have a lapse in judgment.” She paused intentionally letting me know without saying the words that she had in fact
caught me this morning. My eyes bugged out, as she probably knew they would, but she calmly continued. “I know it’s tough, following the rules in the human world, especially with how advanced your powers are. And I hope you can learn to like being here at school away from the covens. It’s not all bad, is it?”
“I guess not,” I shrugged not knowing what to say.
“Well, come on. Let’s get these potions done so you can join the others.”
“Ho, ho, hurl,” I said sarcastically and I swear I heard Miss Bell giggle.
*
“Hey, watch it!” I yelled, as a group of elf girls late to the meet and greet rushed passed me. They were in a hurry to see Kris Kringle.
“Sorry,” one of them apologized. “We only have a little time to spare. Only fourteen more days until Christmas, you know?”
“How could I forget? You guys remind me every ten seconds,” I scoffed under my breath. Watching the crowd of girls position themselves to see Santa’s son as they giggled and blushed was nauseating. I didn’t even know why I was out here. Curiosity I guess.
“I hear he’s a real douche bag,” a girl’s silky voice chuckled beside me.
Surprised to be standing next to the only other person on the planet not excited to meet Santa’s son, I turned. But the girl before me was so stunning I was at a loss for words. Long greyish blonde hair, dark blue eyes the color of a glacier’s moulin, and skin as pale and luminescent as ice; she was breathtaking.
“What?” She asked, twirling a curl of hair between her fingers. “They said this was the latest color.”
I stared at her hair and realized my mouth was open but no words were coming out. “Oh, sorry. No, I mean yes it’s nice. It’s just I, uh, didn’t expect to see a girl at this school who wouldn’t be lusting after Kris over there.” I said motioning to the horde of girls asking for autographs and taking selfies with him. You had to give magic folks credit though. Who needed a selfie stick when a floating phone would do the job? Actually, there were dozens of phones hovering in the air around Kringle snapping pictures as girls posed all around him.
“Eww, gross. He’s like my third cousin twice removed or something like that,” she said dismissively.
“Aren’t you a little tall for an elf?”
“Shouldn’t you have green skin and warts on your nose?” She huffed.
“Ha! Touché. Did you just start here?”
“No, I’ve been here a couple of weeks.” She held out her hand and I took it eagerly, “My name’s Nichole Frost.” Her hand was cold, but I also felt a sort of heat radiate from her skin.
Funny, I would have remembered seeing her before today. She was kind of unforgettable. We ended the handshake, but couldn’t help the goofy joke that blurted out of my mouth. “Any relation to Jon Snow? Um, I’m Chris Heron by the way.”
“You know nothing, Chris Heron,” she teased. “Chris, hmm? Maybe you’re related to Kris Kringle over there.”
“Ha! No way.”
“You’re probably right,” she shrugged her shoulders. “So show me around this place already would ya? Looks like everyone else will be fawning over Kringle the rest of the afternoon.”
“I thought you said you’ve been here a couple of weeks?”
“Pretend it’s my first day.” She huffed again.
I held the door open for her as we made our escape. “Frost, huh? Any relation to Jack Frost?” I gasped at the prospect and stood in the open doorway, “Is he real?”
Nichole shrugged her shoulders and didn’t look back, “Well, winter is coming.”
“So what’s it like being the only witch here?” Nichole asked me as we roamed the empty corridors of school.
“Kind of sucks.” I tried not to slip on the light snow that was falling around us and turning to water in the hall. No wonder Kringle went to school at the Pole. If weather like this followed him around here, we’d all be shoveling snow just to get to our desks every day or knee deep in water.
“What’s it like pretty much being a Kringle but invisible next to golden boy back there?”
“Ha! Golden boy. Now that’s funny,” her smile was breathtaking. “It’s kind of nice actually. I’d hate all the attention he’s getting.” Her statement was definitive and she seemed dead certain that she would never want that kind of attention, ever.
“Yeah, it’d just be horrible,” I said sarcastically. “Who wouldn’t want that kind of attention?” Especially from so many girls, I thought to myself. It was like Kris was a celebrity or something. But, I had to admit, having the attention of just this one girl felt pretty great. I don’t think I’d want to switch places with good ole Kris any time soon. “Where’d you go to school before this?”
“The Pole,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“The. North. Pole?”
“Yep,” she shrugged. “But, after some major negotiations my parents agreed it’d be better if I got a more well-rounded education. How about you?”
“Coven Prep out of New York. Got sent here for using underage magic in the human world.”
“Bummer, but, that explains the hat.” she paused. “I guess I’m glad it happened.”
Confused, I looked at her. How could she be glad that I got kicked out of school? “Why do you say that?”
“We would have never met otherwise.”
I felt my face flush. Did she see? How embarrassing. I didn’t know what to say. Don’t blow it. Don’t blow it!
“Will you show me around your New York sometime? I’ve never really gotten to see much of the human world before,” she asked shyly.
“Sure. Absolutely,” chill Chris, stay cool.
“When?” She asked eagerly.
“Whenever you’d like,” I shrugged. Okay, idiot, now you’re being too nonchalant!
“Okay, let’s go.” She beamed.
“What? Now?” Frantic, I looked around, already feeling guilty for wanting to ditch my afternoon classes.
“Relax. Jeesh teacher’s pet much?” Nichole gestured towards the common area where we could hear the crowd chattering and phones clicking as they still hovered around Kringle. “Didn’t you hear? We’ve been dismissed for the rest of the day so we can party with Kringle and I know you’re just dying to do that,” she mocked. I could almost see the emoticon tongue wag as she said the words.
“Ha! You know me too well already.”
“Then let’s go!”
*
As we got off the subway and went up the steps the golden light of the magic realm dissolved behind us. I watched Nichole’s reaction as we fully emerged into the human world. The sites, smells, and sounds of New York City had her mesmerized. The colors were probably pretty vibrant to her compared to the monotonous reds, greens, and whites of the Pole. Yellow cabs and metallic colored cars whizzed by, human after human walked passed us, and the buildings soared above our heads. Nichole took everything in. She even giggled as a cabbie honked and flipped off another driver.
Nichole inhaled, “What is that smell?”
I sniffed the air. “That’s just New York for you. Dumpster trash, car exhaust, and every type of food vendor imaginable from here to New Jersey.”
“It smells fantastic! And it’s so beautiful here!” She looked all around, absorbing and memorizing every new sensation the city had to offer.
“Really?” I scoffed.
“You’re lucky to live here, there are so many wondrous things, it’s magical without being magic. All I ever get to smell is cinnamon spice and pine. And all I ever see is blinding white snow.” Nichole’s hair whipped around her face and brushed her shoulders. I tried not to get too distracted as I felt another snowflake touch my face. If snow surrounded this girl I was beginning to realize I’d suffer an arctic storm just to be near her.
“Speaking of,” I gestured to the sky. It had started to snow and was really coming down. “Did you do that?”
She evaded my question with a shrug and a devious smile. “It’s no wonder you’re so tempt
ed to use magic here. I mean it’s just begging for it.”
“Oh, no. Nichole, don’t you dare!” I hissed, hoping no one was paying attention to us. “I can’t!”
“Relax. I know the rules.” Nichole began twisting one of her grey blonde ringlets around her finger. With the twirl of her finger the golden shimmer of the magic realm was back, superimposed over the human world. Her gesture when she used magic seemed familiar somehow, but I couldn’t place it.
“How did you do that?” I turned in a circle, not believing my eyes. A human walked right through me as he made his way down the sidewalk. “I thought we had to be near a hub, like the subway station, to be able to see both realms?”
She shrugged again. “Inherited it from my dad.”
“Nice trick. So now what?”
“Now you show me around New York City and we can use magic,” she beamed.
So, I was in a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, I was already on magical probation of sorts. Using magic again outside of school, even with a mystical ice goddess fudging the borders of the realms, could land me in a shit storm of trouble. On the other hand, I was with the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. And, she wanted to hang out with me. I only had one choice.
“Well who can argue with that? But how do you propose we get around? It’s not like we can hail a cab now. They can’t even see us.” I laughed as people went passed us and through us as they tried to get out of the weather that was getting worse by the minute.
“Have a broom lying around anywhere?” She teased.
“Ha, ha,” but I couldn’t be mad at her dig, she was too beautiful standing there as shimmering golden snow fell all around her.
“Meh, no matter,” she twirled her hair again and in the street materialized a conjured ice blue Lamborghini Aventador convertible. Unknowingly, a human bike messenger road right through it and kept on peddling down the street.
“Hhmm, shouldn’t it be red, Ms. North Pole?” I teased her back.
“I like blue better,” she shrugged and got behind the wheel. I couldn’t disagree there. The color matched her eyes beautifully.
“You know an awful lot about the human world to conjure a car like this.”