Veda woke up confused, with an ache in her heart. What in the world was that about? She convinced herself that it was nothing, there was no point in making some random dream something that it wasn't. She climbed down off of her bunk and grabbed the towel hanging on her door.
Veda walked to the bathroom, successfully avoiding both of her parents. She undressed and got in the shower, but the thought was still pestering her. Talking cats? Specifically talking about something so unsettling? What type of twisted child's play is that? She thought, when she heard a loud bang. "Walker, don't you dare make me throw another plate!" It was Veda's mother, and Veda began to ponder. Why didn't they just split up already? This wasn't good for anyone. Her question was left unanswered when she noticed something strange. Veda looked down, there was a faded orange dripping down the wall, into the drain. She saw her hands, that same orange flooding down them.
What in the hell? She thought, beginning to panic. She pulled a strand of her hair in front of her eyes to see if her suspicion was true. Her hair was draining, the color leaving her. Veda had a slight moment of relief because she realized that her hair wasn't falling out of her head. The color was just… bleeding out of her. "My hair is bleeding?" She asked in a panic, though no one could hear her. "Ha, I'm losing my mind." She grabbed all of her hair and pulled two parts equally around her head to her face. "Oh, my god. My hair is bleeding." She stood under the shower head for another minute or two, letting the conditioner soak out of her hair. Veda stepped out of the shower and flipped her hair up into a towel, she would figure that out after she was back in her clothes.
Veda hurried to her room and changed, attempting to hide the part of her hair that wasn't covered by the towel with the palm of her hand. Her mother shot a curious look, and Veda put on a fake smile. "I don't want the water to drip on the floor." She shrugged and hurried to her bedroom.
Veda threw on a pair of sweatpants and her biggest hoodie, then scurried back to the bathroom. She unraveled the towel. Her hair was a dark brown, how it was always when it was wet. Veda grabbed the hair dryer from the top-most drawer and promised herself that she wouldn't look in the mirror until her hair was no longer wet.
Veda flipped her head up, and ran her hands through her hair. It was dry now. She turned and looked in the mirror, her hair was bright orange. A color that it hadn't possessed since she was in the 5th grade. Veda gasped, what the hell just happened? She thought. She scooted over to the shower and picked up the bottle of shampoo she had used, to check for any extra ingredients that could have temporarily made her hair brighter. But she found none. With no idea what was happening, Veda retreated to her room.
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On Veda's way out of the front door she made the decision to say she had lice at school and now is just being careful. That would allow her to keep her hood on all day, right? As she reached for the handle, her father called out to her. The tone in his voice suggested something was wrong. "How about a hug, Ve?" He asked, she turned to meet his gaze. He had his arms open, motioning for her to come. "Yeah." Veda wrapped her arms around her father, but it felt different. She instantly felt the urge to hold on to him as tight as she could and never let go. Suddenly her mind felt clouded, and her head felt as if she had just had a brick smashed upon it.
Her father knocked down her hood and shot her a confused glance. "Was someone missing her bright childhood hair?" He laughed and didn't wait for a response before he said, "did you dye it?" Veda's father asked, running his hand through it. "Umm, yeah. I figured why not. You don't mind, do you?" She asked apprehensively. "No, not at all. You know I wouldn't care. Did you have a friend over that helped you?" He kept her eyes locked on his, like he knew she was going to lie.
"What gave you that idea?" She asked, keeping the stare locked. "There was a crash in your room last night, like you were rough-housing. Am I right?" She thought for a second, crash? What crash? Did I knock something down when I woke up from that dream last night? She wondered, trying to recall if anything looked out of place when she woke up. "Listen Veda, you don't have to sneak people in here. You're allowed to have friends you know." He sighed.
"Yeah, dad. I know, she just came really late, and I didn't know if you guys were still awake. Plus she had to leave super early because her mom called about watching her siblings. That's all." She lied.
"All right, you should introduce her next time. Out of curiosity, what's her name?" He asked, sitting back down and picking up his bowl of cereal. Veda panicked, annoyingly forgetting every name she knew. "Uh, Lily. Lily...Benson?" She coughed. "Are you asking me or telling me?" He chuckled. "Telling you." She searched the room for her mother. "Dad I-", "I know, get to school. I'll let your mom know that you headed out. Be safe."
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Why did that feel like an interrogation? Veda thought, shaking her head. Another voice in her head answered, because he never acts fatherly. That's foreign to you. Gods, get a grip, little witch. She whispered, "oh, now my own conscience is against me. That's just wonderful." Veda gritted her teeth and headed to school. She saw that girl, Isi again. But not with "Sarah" this time. She was with a boy, dark hair, small figure. She stared at him for a moment, for he reminded Veda of that god. What was his name? She recited them in her head.
Zeus, Athena, Hera, Ares, oh wait, Apollo! That's weird, he looks nothing like the depiction of that god. Wait… when did I get so invested in other people's lives? "No nosy-ing, you don't even know the kid Veda." She whispered. Veda shook her head and entered the school from the side corridor.
There was a group of kids circled around the lockers at the end of the hallway. Veda found herself curious, and walked over to see what was happening this time. Last time this happened someone claimed that there was magic here, in this very school, and that everyone was being deceived. She wondered if any of that could really be true.
Completely disregarding what Veda had just scolded herself for, she peeked through a gap between two students. There was a girl being pinned against a locker. She was small, and looked fragile. Average height, just very skinny compared to everyone around her. Veda's mind began to race with explanation to the girl's sickly appearance. She could just genetically be that way, stop getting yourself involved. Veda corrected her thoughts and began to turn away when a boy began to taunt the small girl.
"You gonna cry? Do it? Cry like a baby, like your mom." Veda laughed and retorted, "really? That's what you come up with of all things. Do you not recite your phrases in the mirror before you go making fun of people?" She laughed again, not sure why she found the event so comical.
"You laughing at me, witch?" The boy turned to her, making the girl next to him visible. Isi, of course. That girl looked off from the very beginning. She shot Veda a pitiful look. "I'm not a witch, poindexter. Looks like your intelligence really is limited to the insults of a second-grader." He growled, and it reminded Veda of a territorial dog. "Gonna bite me?" She asked mockingly. She instantly regretted making that last remark when the boy came charging at her, fist first.
Veda ducked, but he came back. He got a hit to her shoulder, she groaned. Veda turned and tripped him, he fell to the floor. A teacher came rushing down the hall and demanded that everyone headed to class. Everyone but Veda and the boy, at least.
All the other students stared at them for a moment bewildered, before leaving the scene. A small girl had stayed behind, and spoke up. "Thank you! I'm Sarah, who are you?" The girl asked enthusiastically. "Veda." She answered, keeping her gaze locked on the boy. "Oh, cool! Let's be friends, okay?" Sarah asked. "Sure." Veda agreed sympathetically.
Almost everyone had gone to class when the warning bell had rung, but the teacher told them to wait for the principal in the hallway. For, "their misconduct was too much to put on the staff of the office." Finally, a teacher came. He said, "The head of office is out for the day, so you were supposed to get me. But I have a class to teach, so go see the secretary. Veda thought, how ignorant is this. Just send us back to class. When they had made it ¾'s of the way there, the boy spoke, "you know you really didn't have to do that." He nudged her with his elbow. Veda countered, "and yet you really didn't have to do that to that girl, but here we are." She kept her gaze fixed in front of her. "It was just a joke, can't you take a joke, little apprentice?" He asked. "I'm not a witch, you ignoramus. It doesn't matter if it was a joke to you and your idiotic friends. It obviously wasn't a joke to her, if "the joke" isn't a joke to both parties involved, it's just bullying." Veda said.
"Will you stop with the ig-- whatever you said!" She laughed at him. "It's not that funny." She glanced over, and his face was serious. "Oh, but it is." She laughed again, and this time he did too.
After getting lectured by the secretary, Veda was dismissed from the office. When she joined the rest of the class, she was greeted with a stern look from her teacher. "Where have you been?" She asked. Veda replied, "principal's office." Her answer created a large "ooooooooooooooo, Veda got in troubleeeeeeeeee" from her classmates. "Enough!" Her teacher snapped, "back to the lesson." Veda took her seat in the back and tried to force herself to actually pay attention. This was the only class she needed help in, but Veda refused to get tutoring. It just wasn't who she was, that's what she told her parents when they suggested it, anyway.
Everything was fine and dandy until the wrap up. "All right class, today we've covered the economic struggle in-" she fell silent. "Ms. J?" One of the students asked. Before she knew it, her teacher collapsed to the ground.