Be careful who you trust!
The exams had finally finished; Seph, Charlie, Jaimie and a few of his friends were alone at the Johnson’s. They had ordered food in, and someone had managed to get hold of some alcohol. Seph and Charlie sat in her room while the boys played Halo or whatever it was. They had curled up on her bed, watching a film in theory. Though they were a little too drunk, they were just giggling madly and chatting about nothing like drunken teenagers. Charlie leant against Seph, who laid them down a little. Dextra covered them with her wings as if she were trying to be a blanket.
They lay there, finally quiet, for a while before Charlie looked up at Seph, Seph wasn’t sure what Charlie wanted, but she, Seph, was struggling to resist her lips. Seph put her hands on Charlie’s shoulders, holding onto her gently. She didn’t know what she was doing or why, but some instinct, or maybe it was the alcohol, was propelling her forwards. Leaning in softly, she fitted her lips to Charlie’s. It felt like heaven to finally connect with her; Seph pulled her closer, and Charlie came willingly to Seph’s chest. Their lips brushed together in an awkward dance of a first kiss. There was plenty of passion, but it was clear that neither party really knew the other. Neither was quite sure what to do with the rest of their body. Seph, for her part, was unused to having to play the dominant role, that was Jaimie’s part, and he made that quite clear.
On the other hand, Charlie had only had one kiss before, a drunken kiss with a boy in her year at school and was very inexperienced all around. She didn’t know what she liked and how to play it. The alcohol made it hard for either girl to think straight, and they fell asleep, curled up together in Charlie’s bed.
Seph, embarrassed by her actions and hoping that Charlie wouldn’t say anything, left early the following day. Pretended to be busy all weekend, feigning a need to organise her wardrobe or sort out the garden shed, anything to give her an excuse to stay home. What she really did was sit in her room and question why did she kiss Charlie? Why did she even want to? What did this all mean? She was so confused, but the idea of trying to talk to her parents about it was laughable. They would drag her before the elders before she could even say lesbian, have her in some kind of conversion camp for the rest of her life or something. It wasn’t done to be gay in their world. It happened clearly, but you didn’t say anything in those cases. You denied it with everything you had. You settled down, and you made the most of it. You don’t rock the boat.
You have one partner option, and if you don’t like that gender, you are thrown away, you’re tainted, and they don’t want you anywhere near them. Seph had heard rumours about a young witch from down south who was trans, born a girl but was a boy. Everyone said that the coven had killed him in the ritual they performed to try and ‘sort her out’. Seph didn’t know how true it was, though. It could be a grossly exaggerated rumour or an all-out lie that the elders let spread to keep people in the neat little boxes they like. They wanted girls to be soft, feminine, and girly, stay at home and cook, clean, raise the children of which they will have at least 2 wherever possible, start book clubs, and organise coven events. Not take jobs or have masculine traits like offensive powers, a dominant streak, or even a desire to be different. That was for the men. Of course, the men were allowed to stand out in the right way.
The following Monday, Seph decided to try and talk things through with her friend Brooklyn. B was a human and, therefore, didn’t know anything about the coven, but she knew Jaimie and Charlie. They sat under a tree on the grounds before classes started that morning. “B, I need to talk to you……about… something private”, Seph began.
“You can talk to me about anything, Seph babes, you know that”, Brooklyn replied, leaning into Seph’s side “oooohhh, is it sexy stuff with that hunk of yours?” Seph knew that a lot of girls had huge crushes on Jaimie. It used to bother her, other girls trying to get her boyfriend right under her nose. But recently, she couldn’t find it in her to care. “Does he have a thing for feet or something?”
“No!” Seph cried, shoving her slightly, giggling softly. “God, no. It’s someone else….”
“OH-M-G! Have you been with someone else? What are you going to do now, babes… he won’t like that. Are you pregnant? Is it his?” Brooklyn cut in before Seph could continue.
“B... no… just let me tell you, ok?” Seph looked over at the other girl, waiting for her nod of agreement before she continued. “Ok, so you know how I’ve been spending more and more time with Charlie? Well, I think I fancy her… B. I’m so confused; it’s like my stomach is all tingly when she’s around; she makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and safe. Her hair is always so… so soft, and she smells good.” Seph sighed softly, hugging her knees a little “I don’t know how to explain it, B, but I don’t know what to do now” Seph looked over at her friend, rubbing her face gently. “We kissed… on Friday night. Jaimie and his friends were playing on Halo or COD or whatever, and me and Charlie were in her room watching a movie. We’d had a lot to drink, kissed, and then fell asleep. I left early the next morning and haven’t seen either of them today. I mean, I’m so confused, B, like who am I?” Seph dropped her head to her knees “urghhh, half of me hopes that she doesn’t remember it, but that would hurt so bad too,” Seph paused for breath at last before turning back to Brooklyn in panic “you can’t tell anyone, ok? No one. Promise me?”
The bell rang before Brooklyn could give any assurances; the girls stood and brushed the grass off their clothes as they walked into the building. They couldn’t afford another late or unauthorised absence, no matter how much Seph didn’t want to go to school
Over the next few hours, Seph noticed that people seemed to be staring at her more than usual. She always drew some attention, even just walking down the hall. It’s like the human’s sensed on some level that she was different or dangerous somehow. More than how she presented herself on the outside, which wasn’t a plea for attention like some people claimed, she was just trying to show herself, be independent and show off her personality. She also noticed that there was a lot of whispering after she passed people. Seph began to glare back at the stares and whispers after half a corridor, unable to take much more.
It was lunchtime before someone dared to approach Seph. She sat at her usual table in the corner of the lunchroom when a human boy, Seph thought his name was Sean, but she didn’t know. He played in the school rugby team and was built appropriately. He took a seat right next to her and slung an arm around the back of her chair. “Ew… no, leave now,” Seph told him, though he just laughed. “Aww baby, don’t be so mean. If you let me love you, you know, you wouldn’t want girls anymore,” Seph glared at the boy. Growling lowly, “what the hell are you talking about, Neanderthal?” Seph didn’t know if it was the growl, the tone of her voice, or the slightly psychotic look on her face that made him back off. Whatever it was, Seph was glad he moved away. She finally knew what was going on. Brooke was a total bitch, she had clearly told someone about Seph’s crush, and now half the school thought Seph was a lesbian. Seph’s stomach sank. She had thought she could trust Brooke. The betrayal hit her viscerally, pushing her lunch away from her. Her jaw clenched with the effort of holding Dextra back.
Stuffing her drink and the packaged sandwich in her bag, she stalked from the room. Heading down towards the art block, Seph knew that the teachers wouldn’t mind her sitting in a classroom and drawing. Jaimie was off-campus today, some sports thing, Seph thought. Clearly, she couldn’t seek out Charlie, and Brooke was a traitorous bitch she wanted nothing to do with. Kailiani Might call by if she had work that needed finishing. Otherwise, she would be with the other coven bitches. Seph wasn’t particularly popular; the curse of being an elemental witch was too much power for the humans and apparently for her coven.
Settling herself on her usual corner table in her regular art room, she began to pull out supplies and her sketchbook. Seph was working on a series of images for a display; her theme was an enchanted forest, and she was currently planning out the next large piece in the series, a witchy wolf girl holding a bow and arrow surrounded by wolves. But she wasn’t sure what kind of wolf to use. She had a sheaf of reference images. Pulling out some scrap paper, she began to sketch. By the end of lunch, she had completed two rough sketches of wolves. These two, she decided, would be at the woman’s side. One was large, his back at her waist easily, his head nearly reaching her breast. It was predominantly grey, with a few black spots dotted here and there, the tip of an odd toe, one of his ears, and a bit of his tail. His fur was almost shaggy but not quite. Thick and luscious, for sure. The other wolf was much shorter, the top of her head reaching the woman’s hips. Her fur was jet black except for the tip of her tail, which was white. She had a sleek coat; it looked like a cat’s almost. Both wolves had bright blue eyes that looked like they were staring through you