So,they made their way to their respective classes, Katie feeling slightly awkward in her school uniform, the way she always did. She stepped into the building, weaving her way through the crowd of disgruntled teenagers grumbling at the prospect of going to class again.

"Katie!" called a voice in the hallway.

She looked around, and beamed.

"Hi, Lucy!"

Lucy was Katie's very normal but very crazy best friend. She'd left right after school at the start of the holidays to go to Ireland with her parents, and they hadn't seen each other since then. Unlike Katie, Lucy was American, having moved to England a few years before.

"How was Ireland?"

"It was amazing," Lucy said. "I had a bit of trouble with their accent, though. How do they get people to understand them?"

Katie laughed.

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad!" she grinned.

She loved Lucy. They had grown up together, and she knew everything about her secrets, though she'd never been allowed near any of the magical artefacts or spellbooks. Katie remembered how terrified she'd been when she'd accidentally used magic in front of Lucy when they were younger.

She had been sworn to secrecy, of course, but far from being scared, she'd found Katie "super lucky", and from then on, their friendship had only grown. Now, they would do anything for one another. They had most of their classes together, but they had been forced to sit apart because they couldn't help whispering to each other and driving the teachers nuts.

"Okay, okay, it's not," Lucy conceded with a huge smile that made her dark eyes sparkle.

She lowered her voice and took Katie's arm.

"So how was it? How are you feeling?"

"Oh, it was all right. Exhausting, but it went fine."

"Good," Lucy smiled. "I'm glad you're okay."

She'd been away during the ritual, and wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. It had already taken a lot of work to prevent Lucy's knowing about magic to get them all into great trouble. Because normal humans, or Unspelled, as they were sometimes known, were absolutely not supposed to know about magic, witches, or warlocks. But Lucy did. Her memory had almost been erased, but the Thomases had convinced the Madge Council, who made all the rules and final decisions whenever magic and spell casters were concerned, that it would be dangerous for a seven year old to go through such an invasive spell. They had agreed, but had insisted that if she told anyone, they would erase her memory regardless of her age, as would the person she had told. Katie's parents had had no choice but to agree, as they were already pushing their luck.

"Were you supposed to look different?" Lucy asked.

"Not specifically, why d'you ask?" Katie asked, amused.

"You just... I don't know, there's something about you that wasn't there before."

"Oh? I don't feel any different... or maybe I do. It's kind of hard to tell, to be honest."

"Well, anyway. I want a full report this evening, okay?"

Katie smiled.

"And I want a full recount of your holiday in Ireland. Deal?"

"Deal."

At that moment, the bell rang. So they went to class, arm in arm.

"Is that really Julian Norfolk? He's super hot."

Lucy and Katie were sitting together at the canteen with their food. Lucy bit into her vegetarian sandwich. Her parents didn't trust food in school canteens, and insisted she bring her own.

"Who?"

Lucy nodded surreptitiously to her right. Glancing carefully over her shoulder, Katie shrugged.

"He looks the same to me."

Julian Norfolk was a semi-popular boy who attracted some girls without being the one they all swooned over. He had interesting features, Katie supposed. Tall, blond hair and wide brown eyes, he wore nothing but designer clothing, but couldn't get his grades above a D.

"Hmm... well, I was away a week."

"He's not any smarter than he was before, that's for sure." Katie said. "Trust me, Lu, you can do much better than him."

"Hmmm yeah, you're probably right."

"I know I am."

"So, d'you have any plans for this weekend?" Lucy asked.

"Hmmm aside from study for that math test? Not really, why?" Katie asked.

"I wanted to go to this club," Lucy said. "And I was hoping to convince you to come along..."

"Lu, you know I hate those kinds of places... you hardly know anyone and they keep drinking."

"That's the fun! You never know who you might run into."

"My point exactly," Katie said.

Lucy looked grumpily at her.

"Must you take the fun out of everything?"

"I'm not!" Katie protested with a laugh. "I just think there are other ways to have fun."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

Lucy and Katie had always been good friends, but it was almost impossible to believe they were when you looked at them. Katie liked simple things like reading, hanging out with friends in a park in the sun... whereas Lucy was a lot more outgoing. She liked staying up late at parties, horror film marathons with heaps of popcorn and dancing until she was too exhausted to continue. But they still loved each other, because they balanced each other out.

"Oh, hey, before I forget, I meant to ask you," Lucy said, pulling out a paper from her bag. "I got C on my History test."

"Another one?" Katie teased, grinning.

"I don't believe I asked for commentary," Lucy smirked, sticking her tongue at her.

Katie laughed.

"You want me to help you study for a make-up test?"

"No... I was hoping for a slightly... quicker intervention. My dad'll ground me for centuries if I come back with another C..."

Katie's eyes widened as she understood.

"Lucy! You know I can't do that, it's against the vow I took! How can you even ask me that?"

"Oh, it's not deceiving..."

"It is! I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do."

Lucy sighed and slipped the paper back into her bag.

"And you know, you could change them with your own magic."

"Huh? How?"

"Studying," Katie said, enunciating every syllable.

Lucy groaned, making Katie laugh.

History, their next class, was the most frustrating subject for Katie. She was not bad at it, but she had to be extra careful not to slip in an event that had occurred in the warlock world. And since the history of magic had always attracted her more than human history, that was sometimes hard. She could date most of the main events in one, but tended to mix some of the other kind up. At least she still got acceptable marks. The rest of the day went on normally, though since she'd taken her pledge, Katie couldn't help thinking that she should be focusing on harnessing her powers. She knew how dangerous they could become when left unattended. But her parents wanted her to have a normal life. Living only half her life wasn't a way to live, they said, and Katie didn't disagree, but she did find the ordinary, human life rather boring when she compared it to learning how to turn wine into water, or conjure flames or light from your hands. She never got bored studying magic, or the properties of herbs and certain plants. She was a better spellcaster than potion maker, but she could make a sleeping draught that worked for twelve hours, and several other potions, though they would probably not be as effective as the ones her mother could do. Her mother, in the warlock world at least, was a renowned healer, known for her expert potion making. Her father on the other hand was the leader of the Starchild clan, as he was the direct descendent of the Starchild family, who had lived in the middle ages and been almost decimated during the Salem witch trials in 1692. They had been a small family, but the survivors had rallied other witches and warlocks in secret organisations. Some stories said these meetings were to plan domination over the Unspelled, and Katie admitted some of them might have been, though none of the Starchild clan would do that. But they were, of course, not the only one. There were good clans, like Katie's, and there were what were known as Dark Clans, clans of witches and warlocks who used their power for their own profit. Some even used it to play cruel jokes on the unsuspecting Unspelled. The Madge Council saw to it that those who did such things were punished; Not only for endangering the wizard world by threatening to reveal their secret, but for abusing what was considered a gift. Katie had always grown with the idea that magic was a tool to improve one's life and that of the people around you. The only time it could be used otherwise was to defend someone or yourself. Fortunately, Katie had never yet found herself in that kind of situation, and didn't particularly want to. She was one of those people who believed in non-violent solutions. Lucy, on the other hand, thought a good right hook didn't hurt either. Katie didn't disagree, but only if you had been attacked first. And it had taken Lucy a long time to convince her to take up karate lessons.

"If a warlock tries to mess with you, you can use your magic, but if it's a civilian like me, you need an alternative solution. Not to mention that there might come a time when you can't use your magic at all, warlock or civilian."

Eventually, Katie had conceded that she had a point, and had gone with Lucy to her class. She tried to focus on it as being an activity to a) release her nerves, b) do with Lucy, c) for leisure, instead of a means to defend herself if it ever proved necessary.

"So, you really don't want to come with me tomorrow night?" Lucy asked as they made their way out of the school that afternoon after the final bell rang.

"No, thanks, I'm going to finish that book for English, I think."

"That old Austen book?"

"It's not "old Austen", it's Pride and Prejudice, a classic in British literature!" Katie grinned. "It's compulsory, you won't pass if you don't read it!"

"I have read it!" Lucy protested.

Katie eyed her meaningfully.

"Okay, okay. I read like three pages. But it's boring!"

"It wouldn't be my first choice, either, but it's not that bad," Katie smiled.

"I'll take a good thriller any day," Lucy said.

Katie laughed.

"Have I told you how confusing it is that we're best friends?"

"You might have," Lucy grinned. "But that's what makes it interesting."

*********************

Ha ha isn't it funny how sometimes we make friends with people who are the exact opposites of us?

Do you prefer parties or quiet homes at evenings at home or with friends?

Will Katie manage to have fun at the party? Let's find out!

If you enjoyed this chapter, please consider voting! It is an official Watty Awards 2015 entry. Thank for you all for your support and best of luck for your entries!