Enchanted High Book I

June woke up the next morning at the sound of a knock on the door. She opened one eye; the room was bright; lit with the light of the rising sun. She listened again to check if she wasn’t imagining.

Something flew up from the balcony and pelted against the glass of the balcony door. She raised herself from the bed and slipped into her night gown. She looked outside at the balcony. Two stones were on the floor. Then another one hit the glass.

Someone was throwing them.

Her heart lurched. She tip toed towards the balcony as another pebble hit the railing, her palms ready to send out a burst of boiling, acidic liquid.

June slid open the door, ran to the balcony and fired and at the same time a small stone hit her head. She looked down in utter disbelief.

‘James!’ She said in a suppressed whisper. ‘What are you doing? Are you insane?’

‘Sorry,’ he replied. He took out his left shoe and examined it. There was a gaping hole through it. ‘Whoa, good aim.’

‘Sorry,’ said June.

‘Don’t worry,’ replied James. ‘I was planning on getting rid of it anyway.’ He placed it on his foot again.

June chuckled and leaned her elbow on the railing. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Nothing, I was just taking a Sunday morning walk and decided to check on you two.’

‘To check on us?’ June laughed. ‘We can take care of ourselves, thank you.’

‘I know,’ He crossed his arms. ‘Why were you still sleeping though?’

‘Because, it’s five in the morning.’

‘Oh,’ James said. ’Dominic is also sleeping ... well he was sleeping. When I tried leaving I bumped into a table and woke him up and now he’s all grumpy,′ James squared up his shoulders and did an imitation of Dominic. ’You’re so annoying, do you have to take a walk every Sunday...′

June laughed.

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair, gazing across the gardens at the ocean.

‘So, did you finish take your walk?’ June asked.

‘No,’ said James. ‘I’m going to the gardens now.’

June tilted her head. ‘Hold on one second.’ She went back inside and changed into a pair of three quarter jeans and shirt, putting on a hoodie at the last second. She combed her hair, tying it into a quick braid, and went out of the dorm room without waking Nicole or Alexia or Gadget. She walked down to the exit of the girl’s dorms; every corridor was stripped of students, only a few were awake, studying. It was cold; just as she had anticipated; her breath came out in vapor.

She used the back exit to the school gardens, and found James, seated on a bench beneath her room balcony. She watched him mutter a spell, waving his hand at his torn shoe. Slowly, the hole began to seal, connecting each atom together until it looked brand new.

‘Hey,’ she greeted, approaching him. ‘How did you do that?’

‘Just paid attention in Sorcery class.’ he winked.

June chuckled. She dug her hands deeper into the pockets of her hoodie. ‘Do you mind if I join you on this walk?’

James stood up from the bench and stroked his chin. ‘Hmm, let me see...’

She narrowed her eyes.

‘Only joking,’ he laughed.

‘That’s beautiful,’ said June. She held the flower in her hands, the stem of it jutting through her fingers. Its petals were neon green, but as she watched, it smoothly changed into violet.

‘I know,’ said James.

They walked through the school gardens, admiring every individual type of flower and its beauty. The air was cool and moist; birds that were not visible sang natures’ songs together in a harmony that was most definitely magical. June breathed in the clean fresh air; never had she been able to do that in the human world. She remembered, back at Cinder Street, there was once a huge fire in the nearby forest, burning down trees that she had admired for a long time. Although nobody had been killed, the ashen remains of the woods left everybody devastated. And for a long time after, dangerous black smoke had covered the sky, blocking the sun, killing other plants around it.

‘You know,’ said June, as they walked past a snoring tree. ‘I’ve never been to this side of the school garden before.’

James smiled as a reply and looked ahead. ‘See this,’ he said as they approached a normal looking palm tree. He pulled one of the coconuts from it and handed it to June.

‘You don’t expect me to eat it,’ June laughed. ‘Now?’

‘You can, it’s chocolate,’ James replied, pulled another and took a big bite. ‘Choconut.’

June stared at him quizzically for a moment before taking a hesitant bite too. The taste was angelic. It was as if she was tasting chocolate for the first time.

‘Mmm,’ she said, closing her eyes as the substance melted in her mouth. ‘This is good.’

‘I know.’ James replied. ‘It’s the national flower of Emeraldholde. Plants like these grow there profusely,’ he sighed.

‘So you want to travel?’ asked June, noting the way he always spoke about other places desirably.

He nodded. ‘I want to see everything. It’s such a big world, the experiences are endless ... adventure,’ his eyes were shining, ′I crave it. You can never get enough.

The rest of their walk was rather quiet. The flowers glistened as the sunlight was reflected from the dew. They reached a place in the garden that every other pathway eventually led up to, and where, at the center, was a great, majestic fountain, several stories high, with rushing water that created beautiful patterns. They sat at one of the benches that circled it; the fountain continuously sprayed droplets of cold water on them as the wind blew it.

‘Soo,’ June broke the silence. ‘We’ll be going to Flaming Pearl hot springs today?’

‘Yep,’ James replied.

‘Why is it called that anyways?’

Somebody cleared their throat behind them. ‘Because of the legend.’

James and June spun around and found the Botany teacher, Professor Spinnet, staring at them. She wore a green garden apron over a black dress. Her grey hair was in an untidy ponytail and she removed her gloves as she walked to them.

‘What were you saying, Professor?’ June asked.

‘The legend of the Flaming Pearl...’ Spinnet replied softly. ‘Surely you’ve heard of it?’

‘I’m sorry, we didn’t,’ James replied.

‘No problem,’ said Spinnet. ‘I’ll tell you ... it’s a very interesting story...’ she seated herself on the bench in between June and James. They didn’t have much of a choice but to listen patiently, although now they were gradually becoming eager to hear about this legend. So they sat quietly on either side of Spinnet and paid close attention to every word.

‘It all began with two men, manipulators of fire they were ...’ Professor Spinnet began.

... They were the best of friends ... almost like brothers, closer than blood perhaps. They lived together, in a single house, not too grand, but acceptable, on a high mountain top, where they couldn’t be seen by anyone, but where they could view nature; the clouds, the waterfall, the sky, and at night, the stars.

They had a peaceful life. With no such anxieties as bills, or homework, or specific instructions on what to do. Until a stranger had come pass ... a woman, a beautiful woman, with bright red hair and tanned skin, big, blue eyes and a voice that took breaths. She came to them, wearing an old shawl and a ragged dress; she was bare feet.

One day when the two men were busy in the vegetable garden, she appeared before them, scars covering her face and hands, requesting shelter for the night. The men didn’t refuse, didn’t think twice before letting a stranger into their home, and immediately let her in. She carried a white stone under her shawl and whenever one of the men wanted to help her hold it, she would shout and snatch it away.

Weeks passed and she still hadn’t left. The men hadn’t asked her why; they thought it might sound rude. So they let her stay, helping with the farming, the cleaning. And they survived together.

The two men gradually fell in love with her.

One of them decided to tell his friend, when the other admitted the same thing; they loved the same woman. A huge fight occurred, an argument between two friends who didn’t know anger existed. The woman had gone out that day, picking white flowers for decorating the kitchen, and she had left her white stone behind, wrapped up in a bundle of her clothing.

The men dueled using their fire powers. And very soon, the house caught alight, and everything they ever owned was destroyed. They had escaped easily, but when the woman returned, she was furious. They had burnt down her white stone.

The men argued back that it was just a useless stone when she burst out crying, saying between hiccups that it was no ordinary one. It was a pearl. Her father’s life had been preserved in it because of a tragic curse and that it was all because of her. She was on her way to find a witch, a powerful sorceress, she was told, who could restore her father to his human self again. But now that the pearl was gone; her father was gone. And there was no bringing him back from the dead.

The men felt pity for her and extremely guilty. They searched and searched the ruins with no sign of the pearl and later gave up.

They remained together on the mountain top until each other’s last breaths.

‘... and to this day, many people fear that mountain and never dared to visit because they worry that the ghosts of the two men and the woman still haunts the place. It is known that a fire community was given permission to live there, but they refused.’ Professor Spinnet paused and looked down at her hands.

June took a deep breath.

The image of the house caught up in flames still stirred in her head. She regretted wanting to hear this. They were going there to the haunted mountain top today. She had to admit; perhaps she was a little shaken.

She glanced at the time, and realised they should be with Charlie.

‘Thanks for that, Professor, but we really have to go now.’ June stood. She shot a look at James.

‘Right,’ James said standing up too.

‘Bye, bye you two ... enjoy your day.’ Spinnet called from behind them.

June and James didn’t utter a word until they reached their dorms to wake Nicole and Dominic. Kendal watched June approach him, and swung the door open to let her in. Alexia flew to her, neighing angrily. June fed the horse a treat, and she sat in the corner, munching satisfyingly.

‘What’s up?’ Nicole inquired. ‘You were awake early.’ She surveyed June’s attire. ‘Went somewhere?’

‘Down at the gardens.’

‘At the gardens?’

‘Yep.’

‘Alone?’

‘Nope,’ June looked at her. ‘With James.’

Nicole’s furrowed eyebrows straightened and her lips curled into a wide smile. ‘Oh.’ She said. ‘Had fun?’

‘Uhh ... you can say that.’

Nicole nodded her head slowly and narrowed her eyes.

‘What?’

Nicole shook her head; still grinning. ‘Nothing.’

′For goodness sake - slow down!′ Alexia flew into the kitchen; a white fur ball was dangling furiously on her back. ‘Stop! Stop!’ Gadget yelled.

Alexia slowed down and landed into the bin with a loud thud.

‘Why do you fly if you don’t know how to land?’ Gadget’s shouting was muffled from all the dirt inside the bin.

Alexia stuck her head out of the top of it. She neighed and freed herself. Moments after, Gadget appeared out of the bin, shaking himself free of all the rubbish. He sighed. ‘And good morning to you.’

June laughed. ‘Morning, Gadget,’ she said. ‘Did you have a good sleep?’

Gadget snorted. ’If having a good sleep means having a non-stop neighing slash snoring horse with wings then, yes, I had a mighty great sleep!′

‘I’m sorry about her,’ June said trying not to laugh. ‘That’s how she is.’

Gadget snorted again and sat on the window sill. ‘Do you smell that? Smells like...’ Gadget sniffed the air. ‘...Emeraldholden chocolate! I could smell that from a mile away any day!’

‘Chocolate?’ June asked. ‘Oh it must be the choconut.’

‘Choconut?’ Nicole asked.

‘It’s a coconut, but it’s chocolate,’ June explained. ‘From a choconut tree. Emeraldholde’s national flower. James showed me.’

‘Uh-huh,’ Nicole said.

‘Yeah,’ June said, nodding.

‘Let’s go then,’ Nicole grabbed the back pack that Charlie gave them; she had argued with Dominic the previous night, that she should keep it, since she’s probably the most responsible one in the group. June agreed with that one hundred percent too; June was responsible, but Nicole was more to such an extent that it was okay to call her an organized freak. And she also insisted to keep the bag, because she wanted to stay up most of the night, studying the mechanisms of the hovercraft.

‘Off to your work, are you?’ Gadget asked.

‘Yes, we’ll be back before sunset.’ Nicole said.

If all goes well, June thought wearily; she still had that picture of the burning house in her head.

I wonder what’s it like. To love someone. I guess I can say I love my boss ... but goodness no, that’s kinda weird. I’ve never met another like me, another creature with same features as me. I don’t know if I’m the only one left. It’s a sad world.

Love from my sad, lonely life,

--THUG.