Episode 1: Welcome to Wheldrake College: Part 6

Sometimes a nice walk can turn into something more...

Gwen made it to the end of the hall before panic smacked her in the face, making her step into the ladies' bathroom. She sat against the wall for a long moment, taking a deep breath, wishing she had a different last name. The drumming in her chest reached up into her skull,l wrapping her mind in a fuzzy blanket of anxiety. Her blood danced along her veins, making her wish she could remove her skin from the boiling heat of her last name; the family had caused her more agony, and they didn't even know it.

Worse, they wouldn't even care.

The sweet tone of her mother's voice would calm the drumming kicking in Gwen's chest. Gwen didn't have to say much to her; a mother could always tell when there was something wrong with their child.

The phone was set in her hand, and her breathing in her chest bounced. She couldn't dial the number.

Years of being forced to live in a different home from her family. Years where her mother could have fought her father for Gwen to come back, but she never did. She cared only on the phone, a few weekends out of the year, and on holidays. She didn't care any other time.

Gwen put the phone away, calming herself down. I needed to get home, have a glass of red wine, and read until I fell asleep, but even thoughts of her dreams whispered they wouldn't bring peace tonight.

Maybe five glasses of wine.

All she had to do was get home. She stepped out of the building to find Mason smiling at her and Oliver standing behind him. Scott was off to Oliver's side, shocked to see Gwen staring at them all.

"Hey," Mason said, rushing up to Gwen. "You still coming to the party?"

"I don't know," Gwen said. "I've had a long day and ---"

"Ah, come on out," Mason begged, "it will be a good time. There is nothing like free beer and a good party to make a stressful day less stressful."

She looked over them, telling herself she couldn't, but her legs were already walking with them to Mason's place. Something in her couldn't be alone right now. Her dreams whispered of a long night of crying and pain. At the party, she might be able to think of something else for a bit.

Oliver beamed at Gwen, walking right beside them. She moved in closer to her and whispered," I feel like there is something neat about you."

"Me?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah," Oliver said, "Outside of your cool clothes. Is it magic?" She whispered low.

Gwen shot her a hard look, more magic, great. "What are you?" Gwen asked, not seeing any tattoos on her, which knocked out her being a witch. There were many other things Oliver could be, but the list was almost endless. She hoped she wasn't a half-demon hybrid or part of the Twelve.

She shrugged and mumbled," A person, I hope."

"Then how do you know about magic?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know," Oliver said. "I just end up always finding other magic people."

"Of course, you do," Gwen explained. "Most of magic is drawn to each other."

"Oh wow," Oliver said. "Does that mean you are magical?"

"Something like that," Gwen said, nodding.

Oliver flipped her bookbag to the front, opened it, and, with wide eyes, asked, "Can you pull a bunny out of this, or does it have to be a hat?"

Gwen stared at her with a puzzled look.

"Wh-ahhh," Gwen said, putting her hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Wrong kind of magic."

"But?" Oliver started to protest.

"But nothing," Gwen said, picking up her pace to walk beside Mason. Oliver frowned, falling beside Scott, glancing over at her.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, yes," Oliver said, letting the frown go and bringing back the smile. She wrapped her arm around his as all four of them came up to the apartments, where a party was going on behind every door. They all stopped, peering up at the building.

"Is it like this every night?" Gwen asked.

"No, like every other weekend," Mason said, pulling her into his place, followed by Scott and Oliver. Gwen grabbed a cup of cheap beer and turned to chat with Mason, but she had already lost him and only had the two weirdos standing there. They seemed more out of place than she did in her pirate outfit, being gawked at by all the normal people.

Oliver stepped closer to Gwen, drinking a bit of her beer. "Why is everyone looking at us?" She whispered to her.

"You're weird," Gwen said, taking a big gulp, making Oliver back off, pouting. Gwen looked around the party, feeling even weirder than Oliver. She downed her beer, hoping it would kill off the rushing in her heart, but the eyes of the people made her skin start to crawl; she shouldn't have come. They were all going to make fun of her. They didn't care if she was here or not.

It was better not to be here. She shook her head, putting the cup down. "This was a mistake," Gwen said to Scott and Oliver. She looked dead at them. "A big mistake," and made a V-line for the door.

She was a few yards across the parking lot before she caught her name being called. She spun around, almost expecting to see Mason chasing after, but it was Scott waving at her.

"What do you want?" Gwen asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"I want to talk," Scott said, "and walk you to your car. It is not safe at night."

Gwen started to shake her head, but Scott beat her to it. "And then you'll never see me again. I want to walk with you, is all."

"What about Oliver?" Gwen asked, looking past him, trying to find the odd girl, but she had been nowhere in sight.

"She is staying at the party," Scott said, smirking and rubbing the back of his head. "I think."

"Fine, come on, I want to get home," Gwen mumbled, trying to be a bit nicer than before.