When I was thirteen, my school counselor arranged for me to take an IQ test to see if I was qualified for advanced, individualized learning. Because of my scores, my school allowed me to use seventh period for personal study. I got to dodge PE for the year, instead spending my time with the five other kids who'd meet the same criteria. They were nice enough, though none of them were in my grade.
Aaron and Enid were both math geeks, spending their time on theoretical equations, while Yolanda and Wesley collaborated on their novel. Titus sat in the corner with his computer, programming...something. He never showed anyone what he was working on. Even me, and I'm the only one he's ever actually friendly towards.
Whenever anyone asked me what I spent my time on, I lied and claimed that I was comparing the ritualistic aspects of conflicting world religions. Little did anyone know that I was doing something a bit different with my time:
I was studying to be a witch.
"Hey, fat ass!" someone called from across the busy hallway.
I turned around automatically, just in time to see a half-eaten oatmeal cookie fly straight at my face. It hit me on the forehead, shattering upon impact, covering my entire sweater with brown crumbs.
I looked over and saw Phillip Crow standing there, laughing with his friends. I glared at him, quickly looking away so that I way I didn't have to see his smirking, piggy face.
I didn't know why of all the people in the school, Phillip was the one who spent his every last minute tormenting me. He was just as fat as I was, but for some reason, he seemed to delight in making me feel like crap.
I turned away to hide my blushing face as I brushed off the crumbs from my sweater. I was so busy pretending to be invisible that I walked straight into the skinny, cardigan-clad frame I knew so well.
"Woah, watch out!" Titus said, moving agilely to one side.
"Oh, sorry. I was taking pre-emptive action to avoid further attacks."
I peeked out of the corner of my eye. Thankfully, Phillip and his friends had moved further down the hall.
"From Philly boy and his loyal troupe of dancing morons?" Titus asked, reaching over to pull a piece of cookie from my hair. "They probably think that throwing pastries is the absolute _height_ of humor."
"They seemed to find it funny enough," I grumped, but then forced myself to smile at him. "Oh, ignore me, Titus. I'm stupidly letting them get to me. I need to learn how to not take things so personally."
Titus jerked to a halt. His freckled face turned almost the same shade of red as his hair. "Excuse me?"
"What?"
"Oh, I did NOT just hear what I think you just said."
I shrugged. "Well, it's what the school counselor told me. I need to lighten up and learn to recognize a joke."
"Since when do you listen to Mr. Mackey?" Titus demanded.
"He's not so bad," I argued.
"And did you ever tell him about all the crap that Phillip had put you through?" Titus asked, crossing his arms as he blocked my way.
"No," I said, still not looking him in the eye. "It's too embarrassing."
"Mina!" he cried, exasperated. "How in the world will you ever get anyone to help you if you refuse to volunteer the pertinent information?"
"I'll think positively," I growled, finally gathering the courage to stare him in his dark hazel eyes. "I'll learn to laugh it off."
"That's an ill-advised strategy and you know it," Titus shot back.
"Then what the heck am I supposed to do?" I shouted, losing my patience. "What other choice do I have?"
Titus leaned in closer, bending over me so that his lips brushed against my ear. I quelled the startled shiver that raced across my spine at his closeness. I tried not to enjoy the smell of his cologne as much...and failed.
Into my ear, I heard him whisper the words that I'd never expected to hear from anyone: "I know you're studying to be a witch."
I gasped, jerking away from him in horror. He _knew_! I'd been lying for years, saying that the candles and the chicken blood were all just props for my world religions study, but Titus had always been the smartest one in the class. He'd figured me out!
"Please don't tell," I begged. "Nobody would understand."
"You're wrong," Titus said, still standing closer to me than he'd ever done before. His cologne smelled so good that it was almost making me dizzy.
"No, I'm not! I'm already the school Fat Girl and now everyone will call me a Witch and...."
"You're not a freak and you're not a fat girl," Titus said, his voice firm, but absolutely sincere. "You're beautiful, Mina. Phillip harasses you all the time because he likes you in his semi-simian way...not that that excuses him."
"He likes me?" I gasped. "But he's an asshole!"
"I like you, and I'm _not_," Titus replied. "To prove it, I'm going to give you a present."
"A present?" My mind spun.
"Yeah," Titus smiled. "I got it in gym class when Phillip wasn't looking."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a hank of dirty blond hair. It was the exact same color as Phillip's shaggy mane.
I took it gingerly from his hand, my busy mind already thinking of the hundreds of curses, spells and jinxes that I could cast with this new ingredient. Even though a lot of the enchantments I'd studied were kinda mean, no one deserved it more than Philip Crow.
As I rubbed the loose strands with my fingers, I came to a decision. "Hey, Titus, are you going to be busy during seventh period?"
"I can always work on my programming later."
"Want to learn how to cast a spell?"
He grinned at me. "I'd love to, Mina."
Even though the hallways were empty now, we walked together casually to the personal study room. His arm crept across my shoulders, pulling me close to him, but I didn't say a word.
I'd never looked so forward to practicing a bit of magic.
Author notes
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I did the _underline_ thing since I couldn't use italics, so hopefully that worked out.
I believe that this story worked with all three prompts, as it's about an OBESE young lady who EDUCATES herself during the beginning of a new school year (Autumn!).... Of course, I had to edit the heck out of this story to make the word limit, so I might have nixed the 'new school year' thing. Nonetheless, that's when it takes place.
This was fun to write. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please leave a review and any constructive criticism you might have.
A contest entry
- SW Presents--1000 Words or less--1 Month Gold and Silver Membership up for grabs by Violet Moodswing.
1500 points, ended November 16, 2007, 10 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next story in this contest, remove from contest - My First Contest by Natalie-.
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Honorable mention
• next story in this contest, remove from contest - We wish you... by skyblu.
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Bronze trophy winner
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Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 20 of 20
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This was adorable! I love how they're all geeks in their own way - no stereotypes here! I also liked how you mixed several genres and characters together to make it unique. Great job!
The only thing that I would suggest would be to add a bit more detail. I want to know more about what the characters look like and what the school looks like. How old are these people? How long have they known one another? etc. Don't over do it, but some of these details would really enhance the story.
But I really liked this!
Best of luck in the contest! -
i thought it was cute and i liked the characters very well done! Bravo!
Goodluck
~dawn♥ -
I really liked that. The dialogue was brilliant, the characters were realistic and the whole thing just worked. The underlining was fine it didn't really bother me. The story was just so easy to read, I didn't have to think loads to understand it, which is good. Well done. I hope you write more to this.
Good luck and Merry Christmas. -
AGHHHHHHH KEEP WRITING I WONT TO NO THE END WATS GOIN ON WITH THAT DUDE HMMM SOMETHING FISHY ABOUT TITUS
beginning: 4, language: 4, plot: 5, dialog: 4, characters: 5.
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I really like you're main character. Are you going to write more of this story? If you do I would love to read it.
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Awwwww!!!!
Wow... this had a simple charm in it ^_^ "simple" not to be taken as an insult. I felt like the story was written with ease... and I read it and enjoyed and.. it's really so much different. From the way it was said, to the characters...
I love Mina, I love Titus - not just because they have a romance together but they seemed real enough for me to have seen them in school or what. and.. your usage of the prompts didn't feel FORCED AT ALL.
This really is a delight to read thanks so much for entering and good luck with the contest ^_^
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Cool story, even better the second time around.
plot: 5.
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Great story, I like the fact that the main character was obese since most main girls are skinny and perfect
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Nicely done
I liked the story and would like to see more; however, I thought it felt a bit rushed. Not in the sense that you didn't spend a lot of time on it, it was just so short that I could barely process what was going on before it ended. I understand that you were trying to meet a word limit, though.
Also, first paragraph: "instead spending my time with the five other kids who'd meet the same criteria." I feel it should be "met" instead of "meet."
Good story. Sorry for the harsher review. -
Great
That was a great story. Even that it was long I love it. I usually see this storys in T.V. I mean they make series of this things. I like those creative names. The underline I am not sure but I will comment you when I am sure. Again and Again I love this story you should do another one. I mean you should write more of this aventures with the same characters
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please write another part please i liked ti very much
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Hi I really enjoyed reading this and the only thing I would recommend is to change the _underline_ for thoughts, eihter () or better still, use 'underline'....if that makes sense.
Sarah.
beginning: 3, language: 3, plot: 3, ending: 3, dialog: 3, characters: 3.
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I NEED A SYNONYM FOR RAUCUS
How about thunderous? Yes! Thunderous applause! I thoroughly enjoyed this and I particularly loved the ending where the reader is left to imagine what might have happened. Thank you so much Megan.
Sincerely and wholeheartedly,
Anaya Roma
beginning: 5, language: 5, plot: 5, ending: 5, dialog: 5, characters: 5.
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Hee! I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for the nice review (and, hell, ALL the nice reviews.)
:-D
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Revenge fantasies, much?
It kind of bothered me that Mina repeats the words of the counselor, like she actually believes them. I don't think I know any intelligent person who believes crap like that. Perhaps she could use sarcasm to reveal inner fears or something.
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Really? I've often found the the 'smarter' the person is considered to be, the more socially awkward they usually are. When I was in elementary/jr high, I honestly believed that 'ignoring' them was the answer. It was only later that I learned how full of shit that philosophy actually is.
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Yeah, I agree with the whole intelligence/social awkwardness thing. And I do think that people who dispense the "ignore them" advice have never really been picked on and can't understand that it doesn't work. I mean, I learned in kindergarten that you have to fight back, even if the 4th grade boys are bigger than you. Yeah, the tiny girl may seem like an easy target, but the easiest targets are really the ones who don't fight back and pretend to "ignore" it. Then again, when you do fight back, it seems you're the one who gets in trouble. Well, we both know the educational system is seriously flawed, especially when it comes to dealing with bullies. But you know, I think I survived all the jeers and backpack-pulling and sexual harassment and so forth with very minimal psychological damage because I realized that the bullies were the weak ones, not me, and they were dealing with their own insecurities by projecting them onto other people (I've been on both sides of bullying, and it's true). And the only way to make them stop is to fight back. They won't come up to you and jokingly put an arm around you twice if you elbow them hard in the rib cage. They call you short, fat, ugly, whatever, just return the favor and point out their big nose, low IQ, bad haircut, whatever. If one of the mean girls who was on that 20/20 episode starts randomly insulting you in gym class, act as weird and creepy as possible until she starts avoiding you, and you overhear her telling one of her friends, "that girl SCARES me!" It's really the only way to deal with bullies. Yeah, it's hard when you've been taught to be passive and obedient, and you may get sent to the principal's office a few times, but getting scolded and sent home a few times is better than being teased to the point where your self-esteem evaporates and it slowly kills you on the inside.
Wow, that turned into a long essay. Which didn't have much to do with the story. But this is the result of revisiting my teenage years lately. You know, bullies didn't really affect me that much emotionally (they pissed me off, yes, and I fought back until they left me alone), but what REALLY hurt was watching my friends suffer from bullying. It still makes me furious and depressed to think of what you and some of my other close friends went through. But you know, I'm proud of you guys. You've all come so far, and you've learned to deal with it. You've all just... to be really cliche, you've blossomed, and you're such beautiful, amazing people, and...
Ok. Not going to get emotional at work. Heh. I get a little ridiculous sometimes. This comment is annoyingly long, so I'll stop now.
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Very interesting.
Although you didn't have to use all three prompts, you managed to weave them together seamlessly. (but... the 'perfume' should be change to cologne, since you referred to it as cologne at the first).
Nicely done, and a slice of life that could be seen in any school.
Thank you for entering, and good luck in the contest.
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Fixed the perfume thing.
Thanks for pointing that out. I completely missed that on the first read-through. And thanks for your review. :-)
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I liked this, I won`t do the normal review and point out any errors, it flowed nicely and the the added part of her being heavier than average was good as well, it`s been a while since Iv`e read a story where this kind of girl got what she seems to have wanted. It was a really sweet ending too.
dialog: 5.
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