Chapter Text
Not to sound like an entitled rich girl from a 2000's movie, but I love my life.
At least I do now.
The breath of salty air. The mist of the ocean. The squishy sand between my toes. That's the life I have now. Far away from mages and vampires and anything not normal. A life that I can trust in appreciating and not have to worry about it slipping away from me in a painful burst of fire.
One year ago, I was running for my life, running from a man I thought I trusted. One year ago, a goatherd saved my life in a chapel. One year ago, I was magic.
Normals hear the word magic and immediately let themselves enjoy that positive connotation. Magic to them is sparkling, dazzling, and fantastical. Even the word magical is positive, reserved for Disney World and campfires and Broadway productions.
Whatever. I don't have to deal with any of that bullshit now.
My hands are pressed against the wooden windowsill of my dorm, my face lifted to the sky as I fill my lungs with fresh air. None of the air feels magical. And it's fantastic. No Humdrum emptiness either. Just normal air. Normal, what a beautiful word.
My roommate calls from the other room.
"Agatha, I'm heating up that takeout for supper and you better appreciate it!"
"I will, god!" I yell back.
When Midge first "made" dinner by heating up our leftover takeout, she made fun of me for the face I pulled.
"Oh my god, You look like you ate a lemon!"
"I just don't understand how this is edible."
"Sorry it's not your mom's cooking, but when you're in college, you gotta do what you gotta do."
One year ago I ate at Watford, where the scones were stacked in pyramids and the sandwiches had every filling you could imagine. If something was even slightly cold, Penny would reheat it with her magical ring, until I told her to stop doing it with my food. It would always get too hot and, frankly, was a waste of magic.
That's how Penny was. If you could look through a book yourself, Penny would fine tooth comb it. If you could wash your hands normally, Penny would clean as a whistle them. And I'm sure if Simon was able to control his magic, he'd be the same.
But here we just use the microwave. Thank God.
I peep around the corner and enter the kitchen, settling into a seat across from Midge at our mini dining table. The savory scent filling my lungs, I plunge a fork into the steaming lo mein.
Munching the dry noodles, I ask Midge, "Have you seen Ashley or Jenna around?"
"Nah, still chained to the art building."
"Do they even come here anymore? I have a theory they sleep there."
"I know right! If anyone tells me art majors don't work hard, they're gonna catch these hands."
I nod in agreement, secretly glad our other roommates are rarely here. Ashley’s nice, but she’s so smart she reminds me of Penny. And Jenna’s fun, but she’s always asking me for my opinion on her art, and she never lets me get away with simply telling her it’s good.
I carry my now empty bowl to the sink to clean up.
"I got some cookies from Dollar Tree," Midge says. "Also some Junior Mints to sneak into the movies."
"What are we even seeing?" I ask, scrubbing the bowl under the stream of warm water.
" Bewitched 3 ! Duh!"
"Is it even going to be any different than the first two?"
"What? It'll be so different. It's the finale, so Sapphire will defeat Gloombor and we’ll finally get a happily ever after. At least I hope so. Sad endings are lame."
"Hmm," I simply say.
I couldn't watch the second Bewitched movie when it came to theaters. It was released not long after I first came to California, and back then, I couldn't watch any fantasy movies with magic involved. Brought up too many bad memories. I'm better now—although Midge forced me to watch Bewitched 2 a couple of weeks ago and I kept flinching whenever someone shot a dangerous spell at another. Midge had laughed at me and said, "Calm down, Agatha! No one's gonna cast a spell on you!"
When I was still a Watford student, I invited Penny to watch the first Bewitched film with me. It wasn't really my idea. My mom thought I was spending too much of my summer with Normals, as if Normal friends would just suck the magic out of me. I said whatever, bought two tickets to Bewitched, and brought Penny along with me. Maybe I picked that film in some kind of teen defiance, but I don't really know why.
After we left the theater, Penny had talked my ear off about all the inaccuracies in the film as we waited outside for my mum to pick us up from the theater.
"Why do they keep chanting nonsense words? What power lies in fiffliedum and gibberidid if no one uses those words?"
"I don't know, Penny," I said, focusing more of my attention to the scrap of gum lying on the pavement.
"And why did Sapphire tell everyone and their mum that she was a mage—oh, I mean, witch ," she added with sarcastic flair.
"I don't know, Penny."
"It's like the producers have never seen a spell casted in their lives."
"Isn't that kind of the point? Us being all secretive about magic must be working if the Normals think this is how magic works."
"I guess," Penny admitted. "But if I see magic represented by yellow sparkles one more time I will lose my mind."
Midge sits at the table, scrolling through the Bewitched hashtag and muttering gibberidid under her breath.