𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘚𝘌𝘝𝘌𝘕

(the cursed witch, act one)

NINA'S BODY WAS PRACTICALLY ON FIRE WHEN SHE WOKE UP THE NEXT MORNING. From the burning pain of her using magic to the pain in the side of her head from it smashing against Edward's stone-like hand, it was safe to say she wasn't planning on leaving her bed.

"Mom?" she yelled out after glancing at the clock and seeing it was just past seven knowing her mother would already be awake.

Not even a second later, the woman ran into the teens room. "Are you alright?" she asked quickly, as she moved to sit on the edge of Nina's bed, seeing the sweat beading on her daughter's forehead.

"I don't feel so good," the witch admitted, pressing her face against her pillow as she moved the comforter off of her.

"Fever?" Natalie asked, though she could already see the answer just by looking at the teen.

"Mhm," Nina muttered against the soft satin pillow case. "Everything hurts."

"Do you wanna try the herbs again? I can try a higher dose, maybe it'll last longer?"

Nina's head moved slightly, a silent yes. She felt Natalie's hand rub soft circles on her shoulder as she stood from the bed, "I'll be back in a minute, sweetheart. And I'll call the school too. I'll tell them you still aren't feeling well from yesterday."

"Can you give me my phone?" Nina asked, glancing at her bedside table where the device sat.

Natalie handed it to her before leaving the room.

Nina went on her recent calls and called the last number and let it ring from her chest on speakerphone.

"Nina?"

"Hey, Bella. I'm not gonna be at school today so don't worry about picking me up."

"Are you okay?" Bella asked, ignoring Nina's previous statement.

"Just not feeling great. Edward said I hit my head pretty hard so it's probably that," the witch lied smoothly.

"I can come over. My dad already told me I had to stay home today."

Nina glanced at her mother who had just walked back into her room with a bottle of thick green liquid in hand. "Can Bella come over today?"

Natalie nodded, knowing it was for the best if someone were there to watch Nina during a time like this.

"You can come. I'll leave the door unlocked for you."

Bella smiled, "I'll be there in an hour."

Nina's eyes turned to her mother as she grabbed the drink from her. "I'm gonna have to tell her. There's no way around it. She saw my magic first hand. I can't make up a story to fool her."

"I know," Natalie replied. "It's alright. She was going to find out one way or another."

Nina frowned in confusion.

"With us staying here. You being her friend. You can't keep a secret like that forever." Natlie smiled as Nina drank the herb-filled drink, "Besides, it's always nice to have someone to confide in."

With the herbs taking their effect, Nina felt her fever lift but the pain stayed present.

"You should take a shower before Bella gets here. It'll help. And there is food in the fridge so if you get hungry–"

"I'll be alright, Mom," Nina said, cutting off her mother. "Bella knows how to cook as well so we won't starve. And I'm pretty sure Edward put his number and his entire family's numbers in my phone while I was sleeping."

Natalie grinned, "Alright. You can invite him over if you'd like. It'd be good for you to connect with people. Might distract you from all of this."

"He doesn't like ice cream, Mom. I forced him to try some and he almost spat it out on the floor."

"He... ate ice cream? Like actually put it in his mouth?"

Nina held a disgusted look on her face, "Where else would he put it? I mean, I know I used to know a guy that put peanut butter on his dick and let his dog lick it off but–"

"What?"

"Yeah. He's in prison now. Where else would he put the ice cream?"

"Who put peanut butter on their dick?"

"Dustin."

Natalie shrugged, "That makes a lot of sense."

"It does, doesn't it? He was always strange. Now I know why. So, where would he put the ice cream, Mom?"

The woman stared at her for a moment. "Dr. Cullen has his children on special diets. They're vegetarians of sorts."

Before Natalie could say anymore, not that she was planning on it, the doorbell rang.

"That must be Bella. I'll let her in on my way out." Her eyebrows creased, "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Go, Mom. I'll be fine. I'll probably sleep all day," Nina reassured with a smile painted on her lips, acting as though every movement didn't burn her limbs.

Natalie nodded slowly as she got up from the bed, "Remember to call me if you need me."

A few minutes after the woman left, Nina heard the familiar voice of Bella Swan.

"Concussion, huh?"

Nina looked up, "Oh yeah. Real bad."

Bella smiled as she moved to sit on Nina's desk chair. "You gonna tell me how I ended up twenty feet away from my truck without a single scratch?"

"Adrenaline rush?"

The girl laughed softly. "Sure. And the truth?"

Nina sat up in her bed, leaning her back against the mountain of pillows behind her. A nervous smile fell on her lips as she beckoned the girl closer.

Bella looked confused but moved to sit on the bed nonetheless.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone. Can you do that?"

"Yeah? Of course, Neens."

"I... uh," Nina paused, shaking her head from the nerves that were building. "Sorry I've never told anyone this before... I'm a witch."

Bella stared at her. "Like... Harry Potter?"

Nina giggled, "Kind of. Just, without the wands and there isn't a Dumbledore... At least, I don't know of one."

"So you can do... like spells and stuff? Can you curse people?"

"If I have a good reason," she replied, a smirk playing on her lips. "But I really can't do much magic anyway. I'm kinda the lamest witch out there."

The human frowned, "How could you be lame? Nina, you're a witch– like an actual magical being. I think that makes you one of the coolest people I have ever met."

Nina's eyes moved to the bed, "Don't speak too soon. I can't do any magic without it almost killing me. So... I'm really not even a witch."

"Seriously? Nina, you pushed me away from a van going fifty miles an hour and I landed twenty feet away without a scratch. I think I would call that a witch's work."

Nina shrugged. She had always felt like she was only half of herself. Like a part of her was missing. It only became more clear each time she actively used her magic, or rather, when she paid the consequences afterwards.

Bella stared at her. "Nina, you can't be so hard on yourself. So what if you can't do magic? From what I've seen, you're pretty incredible, with and without magic."

The witch rubbed her hands together, fiddling with the rings placed on her middle and pointer fingers as a hesitant smile fell on her lips. "Thank you, Bella. You're pretty cool for a human."

"I try my best," Bella said with a small laugh. After a moment, her eyes met Nina's again, "If it's alright, can I ask why you can't use magic?"

Nina picked at a loose thread on her blanket. "It's... um, a bit of a long story that I don't really have all the answers to."

"So you don't know why you're... different?"

"Yeah. My Mom and I had thought for the longest time it was something to do with my Father's side of the family but he disappeared before I was born. He's the reason we move around so much - trying to find him, get some answers."

"Does that mean you are going to leave again?"

"Not for a while. Apparently my mom found out something about him that's making her realize he might not be the solution so she's kinda put a halt on the search." Shaking her head, Nina smiled, "So, how do you feel? Knowing all your bedtime stories were true?"

"All of them? Even Transylvania?" Bella asked in a joking tone.

"Well I don't know about vampires. It's possible though. Anything is."

"Even werewolves?"

Nina laughed, "Alright, this isn't the vampire diaries. If Stefan Salvatore existed in this world though..."

The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.

To Nina's dismay, she found herself the center of attention for the remainder of the week.

Tyler Crowley was impossible, following her and Bella around, obsessed with making amends to her somehow. Both Nina and Bella tried their best to convince him that all they wanted was to forget it even happened – especially since they had never even gotten hit – but he was very dedicated.

He followed them between classes and sat at their now-crowded lunch table. Mike and Eric were even less friendly toward him than they were to each other, which made Bella worry that she'd gained another unwelcome fan.

No one seemed concerned about Edward, though Nina had explained over and over that he was the hero — how he had pulled her out of the way and had nearly been crushed, too. Even Bella had taken to helping Nina's words. But no matter how convincing they might have been, Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else always commented that they hadn't even seen him there till the van was pulled away.

Nina was confused as to how no one else had seen him standing so far away, before he was suddenly, impossibly saving her life. With great annoyance, and even Bella telling her she hadn't noticed the boy, she realized the reason. She had dedicated so much of her focus on Edward, so much that only she would notice his distance. After realizing that, Nina thought of herself as a complete idiot.

Speaking of the annoyingly ignored Cullen, he had begun to act the same as he had the first day they had met. Cold and callus.

People avoided him as usual. The Cullen's and the Hales sat at the same table as always, not eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edward, glanced her way anymore.

When he sat next to her in class, as far from her as the small table would allow, he seemed totally unaware of her presence. Only now and then, when his fists would suddenly ball up — skin stretched even whiter over the bones — did she wonder if he wasn't quite as oblivious as he appeared.

It was obvious how he felt – how he wished that he could build a time machine and stop himself from saving her.

She wanted to talk to him, even if it was just to thank him. She knew that if she were to even mutter the question of 'how did you get to me so fast?' that he would slam the door and run away.

Nina sighed loudly, dropping her head to lean on her hand that was propped against the table by her elbow as she blew out a soft breath, blowing away the stray hairs that had blown into her face.

Glancing in her peripheral vision, she saw him completely unmoved.

She sighed again, this time louder than before. She saw him look at her for a second, a scowl on his face, before he looked away again.

Once again, she sighed, grumbling lowly as she did so.

Before she could even think to do it again, he looked at her, his head fully turned in her direction as he glared at her. "Can you stop that?"

Nina hummed, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers as she turned to look at him. "Stop what?"

"Breathing so loudly. It's distracting."

"Oh, so you were paying all that attention of yours on Mr. Fletcher? I bet he'd be flattered."

He rolled his eyes. "I happen to be quite interested in this class."

Nina glanced at the board, "You're interested in the complexities of female sexuality?"

His eyes darted to the board, reading the words written in chalk, before slowly looking back at her. "It fascinates me."

"Oh?" Nina grinned, "And what about it is so fascinating?"

Edward cleared his throat. "It's.. um, well it's just a very fascinating topic in itself, since it... just is."

The witch laughed softly, "Alright. Sure."

Edward stayed quiet for a moment, his eyes moving back to the board, acting as though he was listening to the teacher. It wasn't until five minutes had passed that he looked back at her.

"How's your head?"

Nina hummed softly, twisting her ring as her eyes left the teacher and moved to meet Edwards gaze. "It's fine. How's your back?"

"Fine," he smiled slightly, the bell ringing as the word left his lips.

Unlike every day before, Edward didn't immediately run to the door. Instead, he got up slowly, holding his books in his arm, grabbing Nina's bag with his other.

"What are you doing?" the witch asked as she stood from her chair.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he asked as he led her out of the classroom, not yet giving her her bag.

"Petty theft?"

A deep laugh escaped his lips. A sound that made shivers run down her spine. It was as if he knew, seeing as his smirk widened.

"You're very interesting, Nina," he spoke quietly as he stopped at her locker, only then handing her her bag back after she opened the lock.

"In what way?" Nina asked, as she sorted through her books, taking out the ones she needed and putting back the ones she had used during her previous class.

His lips curved into a grin as she closed the locker, his hands moving so fast she couldn't even notice it until a second later when she no longer felt the weight of her school bag. "You're different from the rest that I have met."

"I could say the same about you," the witch replied. "I can't recall anyone else who has been so insistent on stealing my bag."

"Not stealing. Just being a gentleman."

Nina tsked as she began to walk to her next class, Edward quickly following behind her. "Never heard of a gentleman that didn't ask before he acted."

He adjusted the bag so that it was hanging off of his right shoulder, his left occasionally bumping into hers from how close they were walking. "That would be because you have never met a true gentleman, Nina. True gentleman's know when it is necessary to ask."

She hummed softly, her head bobbing slowly as she nodded. "I guess that is true. You can be off the hook for now, Eeyore."

His smile only seemed to widen more. If that were even possible.

As Nina's eyes were about to stray away from his, she felt a weight step into her, bumping her back a few steps. A yelp escaped her lips as she was knocked back, a cold arm wrapping around her waist, stopping her from falling any further.

Her eyes widened as she looked at Edward. Her lips were parted in shock as a heavy breath left her lips.

"Nina! Oh, God. I'm so sorry." A voice spoke, breaking Nina and Edwards' intense eye contact.

She turned her head quickly as she retreated from the frigid arm. A smile fell onto Nina's lips, "Don't worry about it, Kit. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Kit sent a smile in the girl's direction, a look that made Edward scowl. The former's eyes cast over to the latter. "Edward," he greeted, his voice an octave deeper as though it was a forced and unwanted altercation.

Edward looked at him for a second before he nodded stiffly. "Kit."

Kit's green eyes moved back to Nina, "I should get going. See you in Physics?"

The girl nodded, smiling as she did so. Her head turned to watch as he walked away, quickly disappearing in the busy hallway.

Edward grumbled under his breath, the sound making Nina look at him. "What's your problem, Eeyore?"

"I don't like him," he said with a shrug, his shoulders still stiff.

"You don't like anyone," Nina argued, though a small laugh escaped her lips. The sound made his frown disappear.

"That's not true," Edward told her. "I like you."

Nina's movements slowed, her body turning to face him, "Really? I thought I had to be adopted into your family in order for you to like me."

The boy sighed, rolling his eyes at her as he began to walk once again, "I take it back."

The witch ran after him, "No, no, no. No take backs. You said you liked me."

"And now I will regret it for the rest of my life."

"You're so dramatic, Eeyore. Just say you love me and I'll leave you alone till fourth period."

"So you'll leave me alone for a whole seventy five minutes."

She shrugged, "Does texting still count?"

"I'll take it. Go to class."

Before he could walk away, she grasped his arm with a wide grin on her lips, "You haven't said it yet."

Edward cleared his throat, glancing around the hallway before leaning closer to her. "I love you. Now go to calculus so I can be alone."

Nina grinned widely. The scent of her perfume filled his senses as she leaned closer. Vanilla, orchid and sandalwood. "The next time you say that, maybe you'll mean it," she spoke, her voice like silk, before she walked down the hallway after stealing her bag from his hand.

Edward couldn't stop himself. His every thought seemed to turn to her. What made it worse, was that it seemed everyone else in the building's thoughts were on her.

From her hair to the clothes she wore, her smile to the softness of her velvet voice. He could not escape her.

"You have that look on your face again," Emmett told him from his seat beside him. They were in their second last class of the day, both dreading it as it always seemed to drag.

"What look?" Edward replied with a scoff.

"The look that says 'I want something but I'm never gonna go for it because I think I don't deserve anything in life other than suffering and moral crises'."

"I don't have that look."

"Oh really? Because if you weren't a you know what you would have more forehead wrinkles than Mr. Smithe."

Edward rolled his eyes at his adoptive brother's comment. "Leave me alone."

"I get it. Seriously, I do. But, don't you think after all these years of doing good... You might deserve something nice for a change? I mean, come on, it's been 80 years since you did anything bad. It won't hurt to let someone in."

Edward stared at his books, playing with the edges of the well-worn pages, letting the paper glide along his cold skin.

"Just think about it for me, alright? I want to see my little brother happy for a change." 

He nodded slowly at his brother's words. Only one more class to endure before he could leave the dreadful building.