Little Miss Perfect

Ask anyone at my high school and they will tell you that Clair Alexander is perfect. She’s hot, smart, athletic, popular, and good at everything. However that’s not true, I suck at being patient, minding my own business, and keeping my mouth shut. So I’m not good at eeeeverything, but most things. My life is perfect. I get good grades, I’m really popular, the best athlete at school, I have lots of friends and the perfect boyfriend. As far as I could see my life was going to be amazing.

That was until I found the little black book. It was a diary with a lock that I found in the attic. The key was conveniently inside the book. It didn’t look really old, but it didn’t look brand new either.

I took the book and grabbed the jacket I was looking for. I walked to my room, studying the outside of the book. It had a hardcover with gold designs. There was a gold diamond the size of the cover, a golden key design in the center, the key had a heart bow with wings on the sides. The keyhole was in the middle of the heart, and the strap was connected to the design. ‘Pretty’ I thought.

I got to my room, setting the book down on my desk. I hung the jacket in my closet and returned to my desk. Sitting down, I looked at the book some more. It had a weird vibe to it, something was definitely off. I took the key and placed it in the keyhole. Turning the key I heard a click. I pulled at the strap, and the heart and wings came with it. ‘That’s neat.’ I opened the book and found some weird writing. I glanced over the first page and it looked like a witches manual or a beginners guide to being a witch.

I flipped through the pages and looked at some of the “spells” inside. When nothing really grabbed my attention, I started to read from the beginning.

“If you can see this text, then you have the power to be a witch. This book will be your guide into witchhood. In here, you will be given basic spells, the rules of magic, how to summon your own spellbook, and the laws of equivalent exchange.

It is important that you read and follow all text. If you fail to do so, there will be repercussions. The type of repercussion will depend on the type of spell. The strength of the repercussion depends on the strength of the spell. All factors of the spell affect all factors of the repercussion. Keep this in mind before using any spell.”

I couldn’t help but smirk at the writing. Witches? Magic? Really? Those are the things that you believe as a kid. A kid didn’t write this, I knew that for sure. Neat handwriting, correct spelling, proper grammar, and so on. There was no way a kid wrote this, but it was too childish for an adult. A teenager maybe but that’s still unlikely. As I started reading again, I heard the front door open. My parents were home. ‘Yay!’

I ran downstairs and towards my parents. “Mom! Dad!” I wrapped them both in a tight hug, which they returned. “Look what I found in the attic.” I held the journal up and open so my parents could see the writing inside.

“Oh an empty diary!” My mother hung her coat on the coat rack.

“Pretty cover.” My dad glanced at the cover of the journal.

“What? Empty? No, it has writing in it, look.” I pointed at the writing on the page and furrowed my eyebrows. ‘Can they not see it? Can they not see the writing? The book did say “If you can see this writing” but that can’t be serious. Right?’ My parents looked at me, then the journal, then at each other.

“Um, no sweetheart. There’s no writing.” My mother looked at me concerned.

“Wha- yes there is. Can you guys not see it?” I hoped my hands weren’t shaking or if they were, you couldn’t see it.

After a moment of silence, my dad spoke up, “Oh, you’re just messing with us!” He laughed and my mother joined, while I played along.

“Yeah, I am.”

“That was a good joke kiddo.” My dad patted my shoulder and my parents walked to the living room. I stood there fake giggling. Once they were out of sight; I ran back upstairs to my room, grabbed my phone, and took a picture of the page. The writing showed up in the photo. ‘Good!’ I texted the photo to my friend Chloe.

“Check it out”

“Cool notebook Clair”

“Where did you get it?”

"The attic”

“Nice find! Jelly <3”

“Love how it’s blank too!”

“IKR Like it’s never been used”

“What are you going to use it for?”

“Don’t know yet”

“Text me when you decide”

“I will! Love you! <3”

“Love you! <3”

With that, I knew she couldn’t see the writing either. I could see the words so that meant something else was going on. I decided, ‘You know what! I’m going to try one of the spells!’ I knew I shouldn’t try a spell on my own, just in case something went wrong. Nothing would because magic isn’t real, but better safe than sorry.

I scrolled through my contacts looking for the right person to help. After a few minutes, I narrowed it down to 2 people. Mara, the goth girl that everyone thinks is a witch; and Raven, my rival type person. I don’t like calling her my rival because I still like her, but everyone compares us, so it’s like we’re forced to be rivals. Does that make sense?

Raven and I are the same in almost every way. We’re both attractive, smart, athletic, and good at everything. The only difference is, I’m social and she’s not. I’m warm and bubbly, she’s cold and distant. It would normally be a big competition between us, but she doesn’t care for competition. She doesn’t care about the awards, the ribbons, the attention, none of it. I do, so I get all of that and she happily sits in second place. If I was going to try magic with anyone, it was going to be her. I trust her, wholeheartedly.

I went downstairs, got permission, went back upstairs, got ready, and then called Raven. After 20 minutes she arrived. I heard the knock at the door and ran downstairs, trying not to fall on the way. When I opened the door my heart skipped a beat. Raven stood on my porch with her hands in the pockets of her camo cargo pants. Her black high-heeled boots giving her height she didn’t need. Raven looked down at me, her cold, sharp grey eyes and scarlet red lipstick made her look dangerous. I didn’t realize it, but after a quick glance at her outfit, I was staring at her chest. “Hey.” Raven snapped her fingers in my face. Her husky voice, impossible to ignore.

“Oh, right, sorry.” I gesture for her to come inside and she did so. “Um, would you like me to take your coat?” I pointed to her black leather jacket.

“No, I would rather wear it.” Raven's voice was monotone, but her British accent made it sound smoky.

“Got it. Follow me.” I walked off towards my room and Raven followed me. Once we were inside my room I closed and locked the door.

“Ok, Alexander. Tell me what this is all about.” Ravens jet black hair was covered in water droplets from the rain that shimmered in the light. Her hair was long and kept in a high ponytail, reaching down to her waist.

I held up the journal. “Can you read what is in this book?” Raven looked at the book then at me confused. I sighed. “You can’t see the words either.”

“Either?”

“Yeah, only I can see what is in this book.”

“No, I can see the words too. It’s just… you asked me if I could read words that I clearly can. What do you- What is-” Raven paused. “Alexander explain!”

“You can call me Clair.” I explained everything, having to repeat most of it because I was babbling. “Ok, I want to try this teleportation spell first. I’ve got everything set up. Now I just need your help to do the actual spell part.”

“The markings on the floor make sense now. What will we be teleporting?”

“Bread.” I was very confident with my choice.

“Why bread.”

“I don’t know.”

“I would like a real answer Clair” My stomach did a flip when she said my name. Her accent was alluring. I’m so nervous around Raven and I don’t know why. My chest feels tight every time I look at her black tank top. It fit her perfect form so well it was hard to believe she was real.

“Say my name again.”

“Clair.” After the third time I had her repeat it, I let out a satisfied hum. “What was that?”

“Nothing!” I felt my face go bright red and looked down. “Anyway we should start on the spell.”

“You’re the sole thing delaying us.”

“Oh.”

I handed Raven the book, told her what to read, and we both got in position. I sat in one circle and the bread sat in the other. Raven walked around us reading the spell. Raven finished the spell and stopped moving. Nothing happened. I sighed “I don’t know why I expected anything to happen.” I moved to get up when the bag started to glow. The label specifically, was a fantasy style label, some king craft burger buns. Then the symbols on the floor started to glow. I looked down, the floor below me glowed completely blue. I was seconds away from running when I started to sink. “Raven!” I reached out for her.

“Clair!” Raven put the book in her pocket and grabbed my hand. She pulled me up and almost completely out of the circle. Then the floor around her glowed blue and she started to sink. We fell through the portal, landing on the ground with a *THUMP*.

I sat up and looked around. We were on a dirt road surrounded by forest. I heard Raven groan, and looked down at her. Then I realized we were still holding hands and I could feel my face heat up. Her hands were soft, but you could tell they’ve been worked. I tried pulling my hand away but she wouldn’t let go. Raven sat up, letting go of my hand, and holding her head. “Where are we?”

“I don’t know.” We both got up and looked around. “We should walk down the road and see where it goes.”

“Good idea.”

After some walking we heard, “HALT RIGHT THERE!” We turned around and saw knights in armor on horseback. The knights gasped and frantically got off their horses. “Queen Clair! Lady Raven! We apologize! We did not know it was you!” They all kneeled before us. “However, you both shall be happy to know, that our last exhibition went well and the kingdom has gained a large amount of wealth!”

“Queen Clair?” Raven spoke in a hushed tone. “Lady Raven? What’s this all about?”

“Don’t know, but I like the sound of it.” I cleared my throat, “You all may rise.” The knights rose from the ground.

“If I may,” One of the knights spoke up. “What is the Queen and the Royal ambassador doing out here?”

“We got lost.”

“I see, well we can take you back to the castle.”

“Lovely, thank you.”

“Well then, Queen Clair. I congratulate you on your last exhibition, but I do believe we should get going.” Raven bowed to me, and if shock hadn’t been there I would have passed out. However, shock can only last so long. “CLAIR!”