True Meaning

“Conner, where are my keys?” Tearing through the house last minute searching for things was the new normal for me lately.

“Hazel?! Are you still here? You were suppose to leave more than fifteen minutes ago.” He came running into the foyer with my keys held high in his hand, “They were on the corner of the desk.”

The breath rushed out of my chest as I grabbed the keys and slipped out the door into the light not knowing it would be the beginning of the end.

10 Years Earlier

“Ameliah, we have to get to class. Come on, class is going to start soon.” Standing there watching me slowly gather my books must have been hard for her. Freshly cut grass and cloudy blue skies were greeting us as we stepped onto official campus grounds.

“Hazel, you have to stop and smell the flowers. For all the planning you do, not everything will always work out. I have heard so many great things about this school and after all it is only the first day. How much can we miss?” I picked up my leather bag and swept back my hair.

“That is probably true but missing class on the first day sets the expectations for the rest of the year. It influences the teachers view of you, and probably the grades he gives you! We have to show them and ourselves that we can do this. Besides, magic can only get us so far in life.” Hazel was bouncing with energy.

“I don't know about you but my magic hasn't let me down. It may work in mysterious ways, but it always works.” The confidence in my walk grew as I realized as long as I had my gifts, my sense of self, and my best friend, everything would be okay.

"Hazel, what if there comes a time in life when your magic fails you? This is why our parents agreed to send us to Columbia instead of Rethina. We have two weeks to try it out here before the deadline to accept the admissions offer at Rethina passes." Ameliah looked at me with pleading eyes as we reached the doors of the first building and our future…

Hazel, I promise you I will try but it doesn't seem right to not continue our magical education even with the advanced classes we took in high school. I've had my heart set on Rethina since I was a child." My heart went out to her. She's only known her powers for a short time while I've had mine since birth.

Walking to the building felt like a new beginning. One where nothing else behind me mattered. Not my powers, not my family name, not passing the skills tests. Only the now and that was the feeling I had been searching for since I was young. I know it came with dangers, such as others figuring out who we were or unknowingly hurting them but I knew that we could undo what we did. Or so I thought.

"Freshman check in here!" The loud voice caught lots of attention as the freshman class was moving into the dorms earlier that day and still had family milling around. They shuffled over and formed a very chaotic line but effective. Soon Hazel and I were at the front and we gave the check in person over cover names that were for the sake of being in the normal world. Eyeing us with distrust, we were handed the welcome packets and directed to the chow hall for the last lunch with families before everyone was sent home.

After eating alone, Hazel and I went back to the dorms. Our fathers had to pull massive strings to get us bunked together. The degrees we were going into were exactly related so it was unusual for us to be together but we knew no one else and that was what made everyone back home feel safer so I went with it.

"Hazel, I know you are unsure about this and you have only known my world for a short time but this place is all I have wondered about since I was a small child. At least give it a chance." I looked at her with the saddest eyes I could muster and heard her give a reluctant sigh.

"This is the last place I ever wanted to be but if I am here, it might as well be with you, Ameliah."

I smiled as I crawled under the covers and curled up to the warmth of my navy blue weighted blanket. "This is going to be my dr-" My words with cut off as the ground started to shake and Hazel screamed. A blast of light hit our window and then everything stopped. No more shaking and no more light. I got up and ran to the window but the other students were unaffected. Walking as if nothing happened. I turned to ask Hazel what she thought happened but saw nothing. She was gone. The shampoo she was holding had fallen next to the scorch mark that was where she was standing.

It was back. And it had Hazel.