I should've listened to the Nereid.

If you asked my mother, talking to the sea nymphs was never a good idea. They only brought you bad luck, at least that's what her mother always told her. But I didn't see it that way. The selkies and Nereids were my friends. Sage and I had been talking with them for as long as I could remember.

The Nereid told me I should skip school that day. Well, actually, she told me I should skip the rest of the school year and run far away from Salem. Like I was about to do that.

But as I looked down at the juice covering my dress and the coolest girl in school pointing and laughing at me in the cafeteria, I thought maybe the Nereid had a point. Who needed to pass the eighth grade, anyway?

"I still say we should hex her."

I didn't bother looking up - I was too busy trying to soak up the juice with the cheap school napkins before it stained. Besides, the only person who would say that was my best friend. "No, Sage. We don't hex people."

The laughter died down but I could still hear Melanie laughing with her friends a few tables down. Sage made an unimpressed sound in the back of her throat before handing me more napkins. "Yeah, sure. Just keep telling yourself that."

As the juice soaked into my dress and made my skin feel sticky, I couldn't help but wonder if Sage had a point. Why couldn't I put a small curse on Melanie and her friends? When had they ever been kind to me? Oh, right. Never. I had vivid memories of being in first-grade and getting sticks thrown at me on the playground, all because I was a witch.

I guess I should explain myself. My name is Willow Bradbury and I'm a witch. Yes, I could hex someone if I really wanted to. No, I don't fly on a broom - although that would be quicker than riding my bike to school every day. I've been a witch for as long as I can remember, my mom and grandmother are witches too. They run the local coven, a group of local witches, and my Gran owns the Witch's Closet in town. If you ever need an herb, crystal, or athame, just ask my Grandmother Evelyn.

Sage is a witch, too. Her mother and my mom go way back. Our mother's like to joke and say we were best friends in the womb. I think they're exaggerating a little. But Sage has been in my life ever since we were babies, so maybe our mother's aren't totally crazy. One of our favorite things to do is go down to the river behind my Gran's house and talk to the fairies. I'll have to introduce you sometime.

"I'm serious, Willow. This school year, and all of high school, would be a lot easier without you-know-who around."

The napkins were useless; my dress was soaked through. With a sigh, I laid the sopping wet napkins on my lunch tray and looked at Sage. Her nose pinched in annoyance. The way she was stabbing at her over-cooked carrots was another hint. Sage had always let Melanie and her goons get to her more than I did. Sure, don't get me wrong, sometimes I felt down when Melanie would pull a stunt like she did today. But then I remembered that I really didn't care what she thought of me. I would not let one popular girl ruin my day.

"I know, Sage. But remember that time Phoenix tried to curse his bully in the third grade?"

A small smile came to Sage's face, the wrinkle across her nose disappeared. "Oh gods, yes. Your brother's skin turned blue for days! Your mom was furious."

I nodded my head, turning my attention away from the juice-mess and back to my tofu sandwich. "Exactly. Dark magic has negative effects on the caster."

Sage groaned. "Now you're sounding like my mom when she was teaching us year-one spells."

With my mouth full, all I could do was scrunch up my nose at her comment. Not that I minded being compared to Sage's mom, she was a well-respected witch in the coven. But I was way too young to be compared to anyone's mother. As I swallowed my food, just before I opened my mouth to say something smart back, the bell rang.

Lunch was over, great. That stupid juice spill had wasted over half my lunch period.

With a sigh, I set my sandwich down, gathering up the rest of my stuff along with the rest of the kids in the cafeteria. Sage gave me an apologetic smile. "Maybe our new science teacher won't mind if you eat in class?"

Yeah, right. That would be the day the world ended.

"Anyone know why we have a new teacher? I heard nothing about Mr. Hall leaving." Sage asked as she sat down at our lab desk.

I shrugged, dropping my bag at my feet before looking around the room. It looked exactly like it had on Friday last week before the final bell had rung. Beakers sat on shelves and desks, extra textbooks lined one wall. The windows looked out over the commons, showing off the bright colors of fall in Salem. Nothing looked out of order.

Sampson, one of the boys who had been going to the same school as me since kindergarten, sat down behind us. "I hear he got a new job offer. My dad said he moved to New York City."

Glancing over my shoulder, I raised an eyebrow. "Why would our small town science teacher want a job there?"

Sampson shrugged, not bothering to look up as he rummaged through his messy backpack for a pen.

Bumping my shoulder, Sage nodded her head towards the front of the classroom. I turned in my seat just in time to see our new teacher walk in. He wasn't what I had been expecting.

He wasn't old, for a start. All of our teachers at Salem Elementary had been teaching there for at least ten years. This guy was maybe as old as my mom, and she was only thirty-seven. He was tall, his shaved head almost meeting the top of the blackboard. Even from halfway back in the room, I could see how blue his eyes were. Chillingly blue. They matched his grey suit perfectly. Why an elementary science teacher would wear a suit was beyond me. He took the coat off as he turned to us, laying it on the back of his chair.

His face broke out into a friendly smile. "Hello! Welcome to eighth-grade science! Or I guess I should say that to myself since I'm the new kid here." He chuckled at his own joke. A few students were kind enough to smile. Clearing his throat, he pulled out some papers from his bag. "Right, well. I know this change happened very suddenly, but I'm glad I could get here so quickly. No one likes subs, am I right?"

I shared a glance with Sage. What was with this guy? There was being friendly and then there was being creepy. This guy had certainly passed over into the creepy category.

No one answered his question, but that didn't seem to bother him. He just continued to smile and handed out some papers. "So, we're going to start the day with a little review of your last chemistry lesson. Your teacher, Mr. Hill, left in such a hurry last week that he left all of his lesson plans." He grinned as he handed me my paper. "Lucky me, right?" He moved on, thankfully not waiting for me to say anything. "But, just because I have his lessons, doesn't mean I know where you all stand in class. So this will help to give me a starting point."

He wound his way around the class before stopping in front of his desk. Clapping his hands once, drawing all of our attention back to the front of the room, his smile seemed to grow even bigger. "Alright! Let's get started. You can work with your lab partner for this review."

It was an inside joke between me and Sage - that doing chemistry always made us feel like witches. Hey, I never said it was a good joke.

The beakers between us were smoking, looking oddly like green slime, and we were sure it wasn't supposed to look like that. Everyone else's in the room was a blue color. But we had followed the steps perfectly.

Mr. Brener didn't seem worried though. "Oh, you're just carving a new path! I like adventurous students!"

I added a drop of water with my pipet, just like the review sheet told me to do, but the mixture didn't seem to like that. It bubbled, more smoke poured over the rim.

"Look! The freaks are at it again!"

I didn't bother looking around to see who had spoken, but Sage was bitting her lip like she did whenever she was uncomfortable. Her curly dark hair was hiding her face, but I knew she was trying to ignore our classmates. They always had to make some comment, call us names and point. I was fine - I had learned to let it roll off my back like water. But Sage was softer, she didn't handle the teasing so well.

My hands clenched into fists as I spun around to face the direction where the voice had come from. I knew I shouldn't be taking the bait, but I couldn't help it. I hated it when Sage got upset. "Why don't you come over here and try fixing it then?" Before anyone could respond to my outburst, there was a loud explosion as every beaker in the room exploded, sending blue and green goo everywhere.

There were multiple girls screaming, maybe even a boy or two, but Mr. Brener was laughing from behind his desk. "Brilliant! Well done, everyone!"

The shrill sound of the bell rang, cutting through the cries and voices.

"What a brilliant way to start my year off! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with tomorrow. Class dismissed!"

I bent down to pick up my bag, which was covered in green goo, when Sampson walked past my desk. He shook off some gunk off his hair and onto my desk. It splattered all over my notebook. "See you around, Bradbury."

Sighing, I picked up my bag and tried to brush it off. Sage gave me a small smile, "Thanks...but maybe next time try not to get angry?"

I snorted, tossing my ruined notebook into the trash can beside the desk. I'd never be able to save the notes inside it, anyway. Sage walked around the desk and we headed out of the classroom. We had gym next period, but maybe we would have time to shower quickly before class started.

As we passed the front, Mr. Brener waved and smiled at us. "Have a good day girls. I look forward to spending the year with your class. I think it's going to fun!"

A/N

Welcome to Salem! I'm so in love with Willow/this story and I'm thrilled to share a more edited version.

I'm entering this story into The Watty's 2019, so any luck (and votes) are greatly appreciated!

xx