Wish - Chapter 4

IV

“Why does it have to be so cold?” Sarita grumbled as she trudged into school.

Talya chuckled. “Cheer up, winter's almost over!” She leaned over to whisper in Sarita's ear. “Have you granted any wishes lately?”

Sarita shook her head, unconsciously petting an invisible Indigo where he sat on her shoulder. Even after six months, he still insisted on going everywhere with her. He returned her affection by purring and licking her neck.

“There haven't been any true wishes in over a month,” Sarita bemoaned. “My power is starting to feel heavy because of it.”

“Maybe someone will wish for winter to be over already!” Talya suggested with a laugh. “I'm sure you'd love to grant that one!”

They walked into their classroom just then. A moment later, the bell rang to signal the start of class.

“Take your seats everyone! I'd like to introduce a new student!” The teacher called out.

The kids were mostly seated already, only a few loitering around checking their phones. Sarita and Talya quickly took their seats in the front. When they were settled, the teacher continued.

“Everyone, this is Liam. He just moved here from Ireland. I want you all to make him feel welcome.”

Liam looked around the classroom, and then settled his gaze on Sarita. He stared at her a bit intently for a few moments while the teacher rummaged through his seating chart.

“Looks like Kellie is out sick today, so why don't you use her desk. I'll have another one brought in by tomorrow.”

Liam looked to where the teacher was pointing to find him pointing at the desk right behind Sarita.

“And that works out pretty well. Sarita and Talya will be able to help you if you need it.”

Sarita waited until he was seated, and then turned around to smile at him. “I'm Sarita and that's Talya. Let us know if you need help with anything.”

He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, and then shrugged.

Sarita took this as a yes and turned back to face the teacher. Mildly concerned about the new kid's self-confidence, the teacher focused on his lesson for the day. He trusted that Sarita was nice enough to look after him.

At lunch time, Sarita, Talya, and their friends decided to eat out on the lawn between the middle and high schools.

“Liam sure is cute!” One of the girls stated with a giggle. The rest of them giggled along with her, except Sarita.

“He's cute enough, but Ianto's cuter,” Sarita insisted, blushing as she pictured her boyfriend.

As if summoned, Ianto playfully covered her eyes. “I am? Cuter than who?”

“Ianto!” Sarita cried out happily, turning to face him. In the background, she noticed Liam sitting under a tree watching her.

Ianto kissed her cheek. “You mind if I eat lunch with you and your friends? Thomas had to run an errand...”

Sarita looked around in concern, worried that her friends would be upset by his intrusion.

“So this is the boyfriend you talk so much about!” One of her friends stated with a smirk. “Please join us, we've all been dying to meet you!”

Talya waved hi to Ianto to remind the other girls that she actually had met him before. Ianto returned her wave with a smile. He then settled himself next to Sarita, who promptly rested her head on his shoulder.

In the six months that they had been going out, she had gotten fairly comfortable with him. Comfortable enough that she'd stopped blushing every time he held her hand or kissed her cheek. Though she was still tempted to squeal whenever she thought about it.

Throughout lunch, the conversation revolved around their various classes and homework assignments. This was mostly because the girls felt they couldn't really talk about other boys with Ianto around. He didn't mind though, feeling that it was cute to see his girlfriend around her friends.

The high school rang a warning bell.

“Uh-oh, I have to go,” Ianto lamented, kissing Sarita on the cheek again. “I'll see you after school since I'm coming over with Thomas.”

Sarita gave him her most brilliant smile. “Great! I'll bake some brownies if you want!”

He laughed. “At this rate, I'm going to gain weight! But I really love brownies, so I look forward to eating them.”

Sarita waved to him, and then watched him go with a dreamy sigh. Her friends all giggled mercilessly. Each nudged her playfully.

“You're right, he is cute!”

“Have you kissed yet?”

“Have you...?”

Sarita blushed profusely. “No! I mean he does kiss me on the cheek all the time, but other than that, no. I'm not ready for... that...”

Talya slung an arm around her shoulder. “I keep telling you, there are levels. You can kiss and make out without going all the way.”

“I know,” Sarita admitted shyly. “And I'll admit that I like thinking about kissing him, but I don't want to be a tease. I don't want him to think that I'm just trying to frustrate him on purpose.”

Her friends all rolled their eyes. “Boys are just as nervous as we girls are. If you tell him that all you want is kissing, then he'll know you're not trying to tease him.”

“Are you sure about that?” Sarita asked with a frown. She had heard somewhere that boys hated it when girls wouldn't go all the way while making out.

“We're sure!” They insisted.

“Ask Thomas,” Talya suggested. “He would be able to reassure you that it's not teasing if you set clear boundaries.”

Sarita thought about this for a moment. Talya had a point, Thomas would know the answers to her questions. On the other hand, Thomas was Ianto's best friend and might not want to think about her kissing him. Before she could say anything about it, a girl caught her attention.

“Aaaaargh!” She roared in frustration, throwing her phone across the lawn. “I just wish they would get along!”

“That sounds serious,” Sarita murmured. She took Talya's hand and squeezed it for a moment. “I'm going to go talk to her.”

Talya nodded sagely. “Yes, she probably needs someone to listen to her.”

Their friends were all staring at the girl in concern. Each glanced at Sarita as if she had lost her mind, but shrugged it off. They all knew that she was a super nice person who wanted to help everyone she could.

Sarita lightly ran over to the girl, picking up her tossed phone on the way. The girl saw her coming and growled. Tears were pouring from her eyes.

“Just leave me alone!” She shouted at Sarita.

Sarita said nothing as she held out the girl's phone. The girl sighed in frustration, and then wiped her tears. She took a step forward, hesitated, and then took another. After that, she took back her phone.

“Thanks...”

“I'm sorry about whatever's wrong,” Sarita sympathized.

The girl sighed heavily. “It's my parents. They're supposed to come to my recital tonight, but they're too busy arguing. They always argue...” She ended with another sigh.

Sarita put a hand on her shoulder. “I'm sorry. I'll come to your recital if you want.”

“Thanks, but it wouldn't be the same,” she declined. “I just wish they would stop fighting and get along.”

Sarita felt her magic flow softly in her veins. This was one of those times when it was a true wish, but not an urgent one. Even so, Sarita wanted to grant it. She pretended to rummage through a bag at her side for a moment so that she could give Indigo time to jump into her hands and then reappear.

“Could you hold him a moment?” Sarita asked, handing Indigo to the girl.

“What's his name?” The girl asked softly as she stroked Indigo's super soft blue gray fur. As a familiar, he was still the size of a kitten, although he looked a bit more mature – like a miniature adult cat.

“Indigo,” Sarita informed her.

“He's beautiful!” She whispered in awe. “I'm Mary, by the way.”

“Hi Mary,” Sarita said with a warm smile. “I really hope that your parents resolve their differences soon.”

Mary smiled at her. “Thanks...”

Indigo purred as he snuggled into Mary's arms. His purring was soothing as she petted him. Soon, Mary was almost purring herself.

A bell rang in the middle school, alerting the students that it was almost time for the next class.

“Oh no! I have to run!” Mary exclaimed in dismay. She carefully handed Indigo back to Sarita. “Thank you so much for listening to me. I feel much better now.”

“You're welcome,” Sarita murmured with a pleased blush. She stroked Indigo's head, loving how soft he was. She didn't care in the slightest if she might be late for class.

Mary ran off, waving behind her at Sarita. As she left, Liam looked like he was stomping in her direction. Sarita watched him approach with a frown. A glance over to where Talya and the others had been proved that they had also rushed off to class.

“How can you do that in public?!” Liam demanded angrily.

“What?” Sarita wondered in confusion. “Pet my cat?”

“No!” Liam growled even as he narrowed his eyes at Indigo. “And how can you just let her? What if she got caught?”

“Wait what?!” Sarita blurted out, a sinking suspicion leading her to believe that he might be referring to her magic.

“I'm not exactly sure what it is you did, but I could clearly see your magic power flow into that girl. It looked to me like you cast a spell over her. If anyone found out that you're a witch, there could be big trouble!” Liam shouted, then winced and looked around to see if anyone had heard him.

When he saw that no one was out on the lawn anymore, he sighed in relief. “Sorry, I almost outed you.”

Sarita laughed, petting Indigo all the more. “I'm not a witch, and I don't think that anyone who didn't have magic themselves could see me using it.”

“That's true,” Indigo murmured softly so that only Sarita should have heard him.

“You're holding your familiar after having performed a spell, and you want me to believe that you're not a witch,” Liam muttered sarcastically. “Riiight... I could see your power surrounding you from the moment I walked into class. It's as clear as day! In fact, it's so bright that I'm surprised that others don't see it too!”

“I didn't cast a spell,” Sarita insisted, and then muttered: “Oh never mind. So... Does that mean that you're a witch too?”

Liam tilted his head side to side and made a thinking sound. “Well, yes and no. I'm an Irish witch, so my path is more like that of a druid. In fact, I'd call myself a druid before I'd call me a witch.”

“Oh...” Sarita murmured, not really knowing the difference. “You know, here in America, lots of people claim to be witches. Yes it can cause them problems with certain religious groups, but I don't think I have to avoid using my magic in public or anything. Like I said before, no one would even notice unless they had magic themselves.”

“Wouldn't the spell you're incanting tip them off?” Liam wondered in confusion.

“I don't cast spells,” Sarita said, and then shrugged. “Or at least I don't think I do. Indigo?”

“No...” Indigo replied. “As I've explained, your power doesn't really work by using spells like a witch does. Although I suppose that since you technically use words to tell your magic what to do, it could be considered a spell.”

“Wow! Your familiar can talk even in that form!” Liam exclaimed in surprise. “Our family familiar is a tree that can't really talk to us out loud... and it's back in Ireland...”

“So... why did you move to America?” Sarita wondered.

Liam shrugged. “It's not forever. Me mam had a prophetic dream in which she saw me right here, in this school in America. So she sent me here with my uncle.”

“Wow, seriously?” Sarita blurted out in shock. “I can't imagine my dad sending me to a different country just because of a dream!”

“My mom is just like that,” Liam stated with a shrug. “She's the leader of our family, so she had to stay behind with my sisters and cousins, but she felt strongly that my destiny is here. For now...”

“Hmm...” Sarita hummed in thought. “That's actually kind of cool when I think about it.”

Indigo climbed back up to her shoulder and settled himself comfortably. “Lots of people who grow up in magical families are encouraged to follow their destiny. As a former witch, what's strange to me is that most people aren't expected to seek out their purpose in life.”

“Hey!” A teacher called out from a doorway. “Aren't you two supposed to be in class?!”

Sarita gestured for Liam to follow her, Indigo becoming invisible before the teacher could see him. When they stood before the teacher, Sarita smiled at him.

“I'm sorry Mr. Thompson. Liam is new here and he had a lot of questions, and I promised that I would help him with everything.”

“That's certainly understandable, Sarita,” Mr. Thompson replied with a soft frown. “But this is class time.”

“I'll just help him find his class, and then I'll go to mine,” Sarita assured him.

He smiled at her. “Here, I'll write you both an excuse for being late.”

“Thank you!” Sarita exclaimed with a happy smile.

Liam was quiet until they reached his classroom. “Thanks,” he murmured.

“No problem,” Sarita whispered, looking down with a soft blush. “Helping people is my reason for being.”

Liam hesitated before opening the door to the class. He looked around to see if anyone was around. Seeing no one, he looked to the floor with a light blush.

“Who was that guy you were eating lunch with?” Liam asked.

“My boyfriend, Ianto,” Sarita replied softly, looking dreamy.

“Boyfriend, huh?” Liam muttered in disappointment.

“Oh...” Sarita murmured in understanding. “You think he's cute...”

Liam blushed at least ten shades of red. “N-n-n-no! I-I-I-I j-j-just – !”

“It's okay,” Sarita stated, placing a hand on his shoulder and stopping him before he got too flustered. “I don't mind if you like him.”

Liam took a deep breath and sighed. “I'm trying to tell you, I don't think it's that. I usually like girls. It's just that when I saw him, I felt really warm.”

“That's probably because Ianto is such a kind person,” Sarita suggested with a smile. “I always feel like everyone loves him.”

“Hmm,” Liam harrumphed softly. Abruptly, he opened the door to the class and walked in.

Sarita shrugged and turned to walk to her own class. As she went, she spotted Mary in the hall outside a different classroom. Mary looked slightly dazed until she looked up and saw Sarita.

“Hey!” Mary cried out softly so she wouldn't attract any unwanted attention. “Good news, my parents both called to tell me that they're coming to my recital tonight!” She then laughed a bit nervously. “That's why I'm out in the hall. I got in trouble for having my phone on.”

“I'm so happy for you,” Sarita replied with a joyous smile.

Mary blushed and waved goodbye to Sarita as she walked past. Whispering, she added: “If I see you around sometime, I'll let you know how my recital went!”

“I look forward to hearing all about it,” Sarita whispered in return, and then waved as she finally decided that she'd better get to class before it was over.

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