A few hours later, magic stirred Paige awake. She laid in bed for a long moment, staring up at the pale ceiling, as the sensation of magic grew. It took her a moment to realise that it wasn't her own magic.

"Oh no," she groaned, burying her face in a pillow. Go away. No more magic.

Someone nearby, someone close, was using magic.

"Dammit," she swore when the magic didn't fade.

She threw the pillow to the side and leaped out of bed. Was it too much to ask to be left undisturbed? She didn't want to sense magic. She never wanted it, but she didn't know how to stop it. It was something she seriously needed to look into.

Leaning across the window seat, Paige peered out the window. The magic came from outside. From her backyard. Weird. For a moment, she thought her magic-sensing radar was broken. She didn't see anyone, until she turned towards the creek and saw a figure kneeling by the water's edge.

Wait. Is that . . .

Almost pressing herself against the glass, Paige strained her eyes for a better look.

"Kendall?"

Surely not. Why would Kendall be here? Outside her house? It made no sense. Kendall has barely spoken to her in days. But sure enough, when the figure lifted her head to search through a bag that sat beside her, Paige saw a familiar physique.

Paige leaned away from the window. She was torn. She wanted to see what Kendall was up to, but then again, Kendall had stopped being a friend recently. All because of some stupid school rumours.

The temperature in the room dropped and Paige found herself shivering despite the afternoon light outside. Goosebumps trailed her arms as she wrapped them around herself, and as quickly as it took herself to blink, she was no longer in her bedroom.

Paige stopped shivering as warmth hugged her body and a soft breeze tugged loose strands of hair that had slipped from her braid while she had slept. Soft grass crunched beneath her bare feet, and somewhere nearby, she could smell freshly cut lawn-clippings.

Twenty feet away, Kendall kneeled near the creek, an empty glass jar in her hand. Facing Paige, her chocolate-coloured eyes were wide as she stared at Paige.

"What the . . ." Kendall blinked. "Where'd you come from?"

Good question. She was about two houses away from home, and even from where she stood, she had a good view of her bedroom window. It remained closed. She had no idea how she even got outside.

She turned back to Kendell and offered a weak smile. "Er . . . magic, I guess?"

Kendall shook the uncertainty away. "Why are you here?" She became suspicious as she clutched the empty jar to her chest. Yep, she definitely knew all the rumours about Paige. The unhinged, possibly Feral supernatural.

"Could ask you the same thing," Paige barked, then altered her tone instantly. "I saw you from the window." She raised a limp hand at her house. She still felt the effects of magic. Once again, it wasn't her own. Even now, even as they spoke, Kendall clutched to her own magic. Holding it nearby, ready to use.

Kendall glanced at the house. "You live here? It's a nice neighbourhood." The magic was slipping from view.

"I know." Paige took a step towards the creek and glanced down at the murky water. Winkling her nose, she took a step back. Kendall didn't seem to mind the filth. Her sleeves were rolled up and her forearms were dripping water. "What are you doing?" Paige peered into the creek again. She looked back expectantly at Kendall, who only sighed in defeat.

"I'm collecting aqua-mugwort."

With a frown, Paige kneeled in the grass. "Aqua-mugwort? I've heard of mugwort, of course, but aqua-mugwort . . ."

"It's a different strand than the typical mugwort," Kendall said, leaning closer to the water's edge and without any kind of hesitation, she plunged her hands into the filthy water. "It grows, of course, in water and a witch planted some here in the late sixties. I need some for class tomorrow." She glanced sideways at Paige. Her magic, that was fading a moment ago, reared its head again. "If you looked ahead at tomorrows spell . . ."

"I think we both know I didn't."

Kendall rolled her eyes, but she had one of her warm smiles on her face. "Then you'll need some of this." Her smile grew in triumph as she leaned back on her heels. Water trailing her arms, she held a bushy green plant in her fingers.

Kendall dropped the plant into the jar, screwed the lid back on, then handed it to Paige. As Paige stared at the leaves, Kendall had fetched another plant from the creek and sealed it inside another jar. There was no more trace of her magic.

As Kendall placed the jar inside her bag, Paige spoke. "You came here for a weed? What about the dozen shops in town that would sell it? Easier to get it there."

Kendall gave her a weary look, then a quick once over. "Of course," she mumbled, then shook her head. She stood and shook water loose from her arms before rolling her sleeves down. "You live in a big house, in one of the best neighbourhoods in town. I've seen your supplies at school too. Impressive. Expensive. Money probably isn't an issue for you. But we're not all like that. Some of us can barely afford the essentials for our craft."

Paige diverted her eyes as a shred of guilt wedged itself in. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Whatever." Kendall gestured to the jar still in Paige's hands. "Keep it. Like I said, you'll need it for tomorrow." She looked back at Paige, her facial muscles twitching as the seconds passed.

"Stop it," Paige suddenly blurted.

Kendall was stunned. "Stop what?"

"Looking at me like that . . . like . . . like. . . like I'm some fascinating creature. A rogue. A Feral. You've done it all week, ever since Joanne announced to the whole school that I went to Solace Academy."

Kendall flinched and literally recoiled at the mention of that school. Paige wished she could take the words back, erase the look of hurt that crossed her own face, but it was too late. Kendall had seen.

"I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean . . ."

Paige shook her head and turned away. "Forget it." She took off towards her house, but she didn't get far before she heard someone desperately trying to catch up. Kendall caught up as she crossed the patio.

"Paige, wait. I'm sorry, but you can't blame me. We all know about Solace Academy."

"Do you?" Paige clenched her fists and resisted the urge to hurl the jar of aqua-mugwort back at Kendall, but that would only confirm her suspicions that Paige was just a violent thug.

"Of course." Kendall was flustered. "It's not a good school. It's where all the dangerous, uncontrollable, underaged supernaturals go. It's a terrible place."

Paige turned back towards Kendall. "You think only criminals go there? Or lunatics?"

For the first time since they met, Kendall looked uncertain. "Yeah . . ."

Paige repressed a sarcastic laugh. "Go figure. You're as ignorant as the rest."

Kendall made a face. "What does that mean?"

Paige shook her head and sat down on one of the patio chairs. After a moment of hesitation, Kendall followed and claimed a nearby chair. She remained silent, her eyes wide, face stern. Maybe she did want to talk. Learn a little.

That was a surprise. Paige sensed that Kendall wasn't just putting on an act. She did really want to know. Maybe she missed her new friendship with Paige too.

Paige cleared her throat and looked back towards the creek. "I was there because I can't control it. My magic." It felt odd hearing those words, but she hastily corrected herself. "Couldn't. I couldn't control it."

Kendall's voice was guarded as she spoke next. "Everyone has trouble with their magic. Every once in a while. I know I do."

Paige shook her head and her eyes stung, but she was determined not to shed a tear in Kendall's presence. "Not like this. When my magic manifested, I lost control. Big time. I got angry. I caused an earthquake that split my school in two."

Kendall didn't know if she should be alarmed or impressed. "Earth magic? The first magic you ever did was earth magic? That's a big spell."

Paige only shrugged and blinked hard. It was getting hard to hold back her emotions. She wet her lips. "You see, I'm adopted. I'm not saying that to make any excuses, but I never knew my real parents. I don't know where I came from."

Kendall's eyebrows rose. "Wow. That sucks. But lots of people are adopted."

"Not like this." Paige leaped to her feet and ran to the French doors and spoke over her shoulders as she stepped inside. "My adopted dad's human."

***

Paige upturned yet another spell book before shoving it roughly back in place on the library shelf. Another dead end. A total waste of time. Standing on her toes, Paige craned her neck to peek at the spines of the books on the higher shelves.

Powers of the winds. Metamorphosis. Moonlight magic.

Nothing.

She almost felt like stomping around like a little kid having a tantrum, but she had passed three other students who were in nearby aisles. She didn't want to give them a show.

Paige gave the aisle another quick loop. Purefin High's library was nothing like the library that was at Solace Academy. This library was well stocked, with thousands of titles under each category anyone could possibly ever need. The library was split into three levels, and she knew from the school map that the library could be accessed from every level of the school.

There had to be something useful here.

"Paige?"

Paige jerked at the sudden voice, dropping a book she was in the process of removing from the shelf. As the book tumbled to the hard wooden floors, Paige watched as the air around it seemed to shimmer.

Paige could feel magic in the air.

The book hesitated on its descent. It hovered above the floorboards, before floating back into Paige's outstretched fingers. The magic was gone and Paige looked up from the tattered, leather-cladded tome to the culprit responsible for the act of magic.

Ms. Schade stood at the end of the aisle, one arm raised towards the book Paige now clenched. She dropped her arm and gave Paige one of her friendly smiles. As she moved, the bright lights above caught the crystal stones that dangled from a thin black belt. There were a dozen of crystals, all in varies sizes and colours. A pale-yellow stone shimmered with the same energy that suspended the fallen book.

"What does yellow mean?"

Ms. Schade gave Paige a confused look, then must have realized where Paige's fixated gaze was locked on. She peeked down at the stone, before glancing back upwards. "Yellow topaz helps clear the mind and increases spirituality clarity. In this instant, I used it for, well, basically levitation."

"Like air magic?"

Ms. Schade nibbled her bottom lip as she thought. "Something like that." Her face sobered and she tapped the pale stone with a finger. "You saw me . . . use it?"

Paige hesitated. This felt like some kind of trap. "Something like that."

Ms. Schade didn't like having her own words thrown back at her, but she let it slide. She glanced at the cover of the book Paige still held. "Spells of Strength. Interesting read. Looking for a power boost?"

"No." Paige glance down at the book with distain then put it back in its place on the shelf. "This place is huge. I can't find my way around." Paige tilted her head back and staired at the high ceiling. Colourful light streamed in through stain-glass windows.

"What are you after? Maybe I can help. I've spent a lot of time here."

Paige looked back at the teacher and paused before she finally answered. It was better to seek help then continue on clueless. She couldn't stop thinking about yesterday. Yes, her semi-honest conversation with Kendall was on a constant loop, but the magic she used to get outside took a permanent position at the front of her brain. For now at least, until she found something else to obsess over. "Teleportation?"

Without any kind of verbal response, with only a jerk of her head, Ms. Schade turned and left the aisle. Paige scrambled to keep up and found the teacher two aisles down from where she had been hunting for answers.

"Depends on what you're after."

Paige only gave her a blank look so Ms. Schade elaborated.

"I mean, what kind of teleportation magic? There's spells that teleport yourself or others. But if you want to teleport an inanimate object, that's an entirely different kind of magic. There also spells to bring someone or something directly to you from a distance." As she spoke, she pointed out several books lining the shelves. "You have to be more precise otherwise you won't get the desired outcome."

Paige scrunched up her face as she thought of what to say. "Er – let's just say – completely hypothetically, of course – that someone, I don't know, is in one room, then with the blink of an eye, they're outside." She glanced at the teacher, but her expression was hard to read. "I'd say that's teleporting yourself, right?"

Ms. Schade nodded, then turned to the shelf on her right. After a moment of scanning titles, she pulled out a thin, flimsy, soft-covered book. "What kind of equipment did they use in this hypothetical use of magic?"

Paige couldn't meet her inquisitive eyes, so she just turned to a nearby shelf and tried to appear busy reading titles. "None."

"What?"

"No spell. No charm. No potion. Nothing like that."

Even before she was turning back to Ms. Schade, the teacher was already shaking her head. "Magic doesn't work like that, Paige. There needs to be a channel, something to help direct the magic." She gestured to her rainbow-coloured stone belt. "Like my belt. Each stone is enchanted with a different type of magic."

"Then I don't know what kind of channel was used." Paige couldn't keep the frustration out of her voice. "I just want to know what can cause someone to teleport. How it works. How it looks. You know – that kind of thing."

Ms. Schade offered Paige the flimsy little book. "Try this, then. A Brief History of Teleportation. Should offer some insight."

***

Paige almost considered skipping lunch and finding a dark place to be alone, but she overslept that morning and had no time to eat anything before school. She was starving, and from the scent as she walked into the cafeteria, pizza was on the main menu for today.

Stocking up on pizza and soda, Paige wandering through the cafeteria until she stumbled upon one of the smaller tables. Fortunately, it was empty.

Paige had scarfed down two slices of pepperoni pizza, before another tray plunged down opposite her. She glanced up as she finished her third slice of pizza.

Kendall slid into the seat opposite her. Unlike Paige, she went for a salad and a bowl of mac and cheese.

The pizza suddenly tasted like glue that she had to force down. Paige tried not to blame Kendell's presence for her tastebuds suddenly going on strike, but it was hard not to place some blame.

"Did you bring it?" Kendall suddenly asked, picking the tomatoes out of her salad. She glanced upwards at Paige's blank expression. "The mugwort," she elaborated. "We'll need it for next lesson."

Paige nodded slowly. Now Kendall wanted to be friendly? Maybe it was her sudden revelation yesterday that had gotten through to Kendall. Maybe the other girl was feeling a little guilty for her attitude. Good.

Kendall's gaze shifted from her tray to Paige. "Is it true? About your dad?"

No longer feeling any hunger for her favourite food, Paige instead turned to her soda. She could only nod at the moment.

Kendall's eyes grew wide. There was no doubt, up until that moment, Kendall had honestly believed Paige was spinning tales. "Wow. A human adopting a witch." Her brow caved inwards. "I don't get it. Why would a human do that? And why was he allowed to do that? Witches have all kinds of needs."

Paige added more soda to sooth her tense throat. "He didn't know." She glanced around at the nearby students. Some, she knew, had super-hearing and she didn't want her business spread all over school. "Neither did I."

"I don't get it."

Paige lowered her voice and leaned across the table. "My powers manifested when I was thirteen. It's when I found out I was a witch too. I didn't know. My parents didn't know. The Council didn't know. I wasn't registered as supernatural."

"What?"

Paige hushed her and glanced around the cafeteria again. Kendall's shrill voice had drawn some attention. Across the room she spotted Lucas. The blonde bitch – Joanne – practically sat on his lap as she whispered into his ear.

Her gaze came to a brisk stop at the end of his table as they landed on Aaron. He had his own groupies fawning over him, but even from a distance, Paige could tell he wasn't interested in them. Or the tray of pizza that rested untouched in front of him.

Paige felt a flutter in her chest as she realised Aaron's attention was drawn elsewhere. Instead of focusing on the pretty girl that was curled at his side, his gaze was directed across the room. At her.

His dark eyes met her gaze and held. He didn't look away, and neither could she.

Aaron's eyes didn't waver, even when his head tilted slightly and a small smile carved into his beautiful face. He continued to watch her, even when Paige lost her nerve and had to look away. Focusing her intense stare on her left-over pizza, she could still feel his gaze on her.

Kendall remained unconcerned, babbling about all these guidelines for supernatural births. All creatures, human or supernatural, had to be registered upon their birth, so at least the Supernatural Council knew what they were.

Paige hadn't heard a word she said so she didn't feel that bad about interrupting her mindless babble.

"What do you know about him?" She risked a glance upwards. While Aaron had moved onto his lunch, his gaze still remained fixed on her. She looked back down. "Aaron."

Kendall swallowed a mouthful of pasta before speaking. "Aaron Beckett?" She didn't know where this conversation came from, but she wasn't about to ignore the question. "Er – not that much, actually. He's a werewolf, so I obviously don't really cross paths with him. He's sporty, on a few school teams, I think. Popular, good-looking, obviously. He moved to town a few years ago, I think. Why'd you ask?"

Paige finished the last of her soda. "Not sure. Curious, is all."

***

Kendall was right.

That came as no surprise. What was a surprise, however, was the feeling of the aqua-mugwort. It still felt like it was submerged in water, even though it had been drying in an air-tight jar all night.

Cutting off the stem of the plant and slicing it into thin strips, Paige sprinkled lavender and jasmine petals into a mixing bowl along with the strips before grinding all the ingredients together into a thick paste. She added water and it became easier to mix.

Paige looked back down at the Guide to the Elements. The first two steps were done, now for the final phase. She glanced sideways at Kendall, who was already coating a large blue crystal in the thick greenish paste.

Water magic. Great.

She should already be an expert at this kind of magic. She couldn't help but think about the water she manipulated in the shower a few days ago. That was done without all these other steps. No mugwort, no crystals, nothing.

"Paige? Don't let the paste settle too long or the magic will become ineffective."

Paige looked up at Ms. Schade, who was giving out instructions from behind her desk. The teacher had become super-focused on her lately, always watching her. Probably ready to report back to Shane if she slacked in any way.

Following Kendall's lead, Paige plastered the icky paste along the side of a blue crystal and smoothed it out with the end of a pencil. As Paige was adding more paste into the mix, whispers broke out in the room.

"Ivy's done it," Kendall said, placing her crystal in the centre of the desk and putting a jar of water in front of it. "No surprise there. She's always among the first to complete the spell."

Paige looked over at Ivy. The redhead was beaming as her own magic took route. Like Kendall, she had her own crystal in place, except the water was swirling inside her jar, like a whirlpool.

Paige dropped her head. Surely what she was feeling wasn't a twinge of jealousy. Why would she be jealous? Especially of someone as stuck-up as Ivy. Maybe it was because everyone always applauded every magical act Ivy did, and Paige always seemed to get into trouble when her magic reared its ugly head.

Judging from Kendall's bitter tone, Paige wasn't the only one with similar emotions. Paige finished coating the crystal in paste and showed Kendall. "Is this enough? Or do I need to add more?"

Kendall had her hands raised overhead of the jar of water but dropped them with the sound of Paige's voice. Kendell seemed to come around since they spoke at lunch. No more shady looks thrown her way, but that didn't stop the other students from glancing at her every once in a while. Paige already knew what they were thinking just from their expressions; they didn't think she belonged here.

"Should be enough. Watch this." Kendall hastily replaced her hands over the jar and a deep look of concentration crossed her face. Paige held her breath as she felt Kendall's magic flutter to the surface.

The water began to sway in its glass prison, splashing up the sides of the walls.

"Come on, Kendall. You got this." Kendall's face deepened with her own words of reassurance. The water stopped trying to splash over the desk and instead, it turned inwards, moving until it flowed in a circular formation. Kendall's eyes lit up with glee as the water seemed to tighten its pattern, increasing its speed until it looked like a miniature-sized whirlpool.

Kendall dropped her hands and the water stilled. She gave Paige an encouraging look. "Your turn."

"Okay." Paige took a deep breath and pushed her hair back over her shoulder. She leaned towards her own jar of water and raised her hands over the flat surface. Palms facing downwards, she closed her eyes.

And felt nothing.

No magic. No swirling water. Nothing happened.

She opened her eyes and stared accusingly at the disobedient jar of water. It worked for Ivy and Kendall. She heard victorious cries from other students and knew they were having no trouble with this spell.

"You need to add more magic," Kendall supplied helpfully.

More magic, huh?

Paige tried again, only this time, she kept her eyes open and stared down at the jar of water. It remained flat, magicless. Obey. Magic obey.

Paige couldn't help but feel a peek of annoyance. When she manipulated the water in the shower the other day, she hadn't even been focusing, and now that she actually wants to control water, nothing. Typical. Just typical.

Just when she was about ready to call it quits, Paige began to feel it. Just a slimmer of magic. She grabbed hold before it could fade, and before her eyes, just as the magic was gathering speed, bubbling under her surface, the water in the jar began to boil.

Huh? Boil. So not what she intended.

"Close," Kendall remarked, ever patient. "Now imagine a whirlpool. See it in your head."

Paige let out an exasperated sigh, but she followed Kendall's instructions. The water stilled for a second, before it began to swish and swirl in its glass container. Before she could celebrate her victory, a single crack slithered up the jar.

Shit.

Paige froze, but her magic did not.

Oh no.

With another pulse of magic, the glass shattered. With a shriek, Kendall jerked backwards, colliding roughly with the desk behind her. The water didn't splash over the desk and floor as expected, instead, it remained floating in the air. The swirling of the whirlpool was still present and as her magic expanded, so did the whirlpool until it grew into a massive vortex.

Paige remained motionless, her arms still stretched towards her newest magical creation. Following Kendall's lead seemed like the smart thing to do, but she couldn't quite remember how to move her legs.

Paige didn't know where the extra water came from, and she didn't have any time to wonder as air lashed violently against her forearms as the vortex of water grew as tall as the ceiling. Her dark hair whipped violently around her, making it difficult to see the cyclone she was also in the process of making.

Expelled.

She was so gonna get expelled.

"Paige?"

Paige vaguely recognised Ms. Schade's voice. She sounded close, but it was hard to hear anything with the air and magic playing drums with her ear canal. The air tightened on her skin and she felt like she might hyperventilate. The air grew thin, heavy. She felt someone touch her. She figured it had to be Ms. Schade because her voice spoke again.

"Paige? That's too much magic." The teacher had to be as close as Paige was to the water vortex, but her tone remained calm. In control. "You have to let it go."

No, I don't. I don't have to do anything.

It was a rude awakening, that last thought. Until that moment, she didn't realise how true it actually was. She didn't have to do anything. She could do anything. Nothing was stopping her now.

Except a classroom of innocent people.

Dammit.

The realisation that she could hurt someone rotated in her mind, but it didn't do anything. No flutter in her magic, no changes to the vicious cycle of water or air. Come on. Get a grip.

"Everyone, get out! Now!"

The voice was so close, Paige figured it her to be her own, but her mouth remained firmly closed. Ms. Schade left her side and wildly gestured for the other students to evacuate the room.

And just like that, she was alone.

Alone with her magic. Alone with her wild emotions.

Then suddenly, she wasn't alone.

Through the wind, through the water and the magic, stepped Aaron with his long black coat swishing around his muscular frame. Was this some kind of magic-infused illusion? It had to be, but he looked so real. Like she could almost reach out and touch him.

So that's what she did. Or tried to do. She reached out, her fingers inches from his expensive coat, but before she could reach him, his body jerked to the side and out of her reach. It was almost as if he was afraid to touch her. But why would an illusion be afraid of anything?

"Trouble," he mumbled, as a gale of intense wind barrelled into him. He didn't seem bothered by the show of magic that surrounded them. "You are trouble, Little Witch. Trouble. And so powerful."

With a jerk of awareness, Paige realised this was no illusion. He was here. Aaron was actually here. Right in front of her. Right in the middle of her magic. And he wasn't concerned in the least. He seemed more . . . intrigued, than anything else.

The windows shook and desks were flung to the side. The sound of crashing was heard. Paige flinched. That sounded expensive. She was definitely gonna be expelled. Or imprisoned. Paige recalled meeting Aaron for the first time; her magic went wild then too. Was he responsible for the sudden power boost she currently felt?

It seemed crazy, impossible even, but there was no other explanation.

"Paige?"

Paige turned to the sudden voice. Kendall stood near the side of the room, her arms shielding her face from the wind. She was looking around wildly, but the pressure in the room prevented her from moving far.

Paige swallowed and turned back to Aaron.

But he was gone. With him, so too was the darkness that seemed to follow him around.

Stop. Paige's command was swallowed in the wind. Her magic didn't listen. It was as stubborn as she was. Paige raised her arms towards the centre of the storm. She didn't really know what she was going to do, but she knew she had to do something. It was gonna be like middle school again. Another magical act that destroyed her school. She was expelled and sent far away from home.

Please. No more.

"Stop!"