Magical Read online

  Bria Berg

  Magical

  © 2018 by B.C. Hollberg

  All rights reserved. Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention, Universal Copyright Convention, and Pan-American Copyright Convention. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the author.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 1

  Four more months. That was all she had to do, was get through and endure four more grueling months before graduation, before she would finally be free of these two-faced, terrorizing, scheming hormone-crazed teenagers. Tessa pulled her hair back into a ponytail before taking one last glance at her reflection. Blonde hair, hazel eyes, only that’s as far as she got before she turned away. Three months ago it wouldn’t have been a rare sight to find her primping and fussing for hours in front of the mirror, trying to look her best. She used to be confident and happy back when her smiles came easy and were even known to light up a room. She used to like the reflection that stared back at her, used to care. It’s all changed now, because of him.

  Tessa walked by her mother’s closed, large, bedroom double doors not bothering to be at all quiet just after seven in the morning; she wasn’t in there. Tessa’s mom Sandra was with her current fling, at his penthouse if she recalled correctly, which was nothing new. Sandra rarely spent her nights at home anymore, especially on the weekends. It’s been that way for the past five years, ever since her parents were divorced. Tessa’s father had caught Sandra in a rather compromising position—in their bed with another man. He immediately left and didn’t even hesitate about who he was leaving behind. It’s something that Tessa will never forgive him for. She was only thirteen at the time. Sure he calls her on a monthly basis, checks in, asks all the right questions, but he only visits twice a year, once on Christmas and again usually sometime in the summer to spread things out.

  Tessa’s younger sister, Hailey, was ten at the time of the divorce, and they only had each other during the whole process and then after. She shouldn’t be at all surprised from the lack of supervision or caring for that matter. Even before the divorce their parents would frequently take off for weeks at a time on a yacht or jet leaving the sisters behind with the nanny. Sometimes Tessa wished that at least one of her parents would see her, really see her and actually care.

  She could have dropped out of high school and moved across the country or even to another country with her massive trust fund she already had full access to. With her father being a very successful business man, and her socialite mother coming from a family of very old fortune, Tessa’s trust fund amount was in the millions. Once Hailey is eighteen, then Tessa will be able to disappear. Hailey is the only reason she’s stuck around at all—that and she really didn’t want to be a high school dropout. Even if it was just a simple piece of paper calling her a graduate, it meant something to her to have it. Lately however, she and her sister had drifted apart, the void between them growing bigger with each passing day. Sticking around became more about graduating high school, rather than hanging around for Hailey, who didn’t seem to need Tessa so much anymore.

  She walked down the a little further and knocked on the door with a vintage, flowery “H” monogram.

  “I’m coming!” Hailey’s irritated voice rasped.

  Tessa then made her way down the stairs, into the huge chef’s kitchen and straight to the refrigerator. After browsing for a moment, she selected the carton of eggs, cheese, green onions, avocado, spinach and bacon. Twenty minutes later, she had made a delicious omelet. After grabbing two plates, she cut the omelet in half and put a piece on each plate just as Hailey came into the kitchen in a fog of perfume.

  “This smells yummy,” Hailey said grabbing a plate and immediately shoving a large forkful into her mouth.

  Tessa would have wondered how she could smell anything at all after swimming in her perfume, but she was too distracted eyeing Hailey’s outfit. “You know it’s like twenty degrees outside. Aren’t you going to get cold?”

  Hailey glanced down at her pink mini skirt and white tank top before rolling her eyes. “Seriously Tess, I’m wearing boots, and I have a coat.”

  Tessa pursed her lips before saying, “It’s just a little short, and your top is a little too revealing of the girls, if you know what I mean. I don’t want you to get sent home from school.”

  “Honestly you’re one to talk Tess! I’m not deaf; I hear what all the guys say about you at school. You think because you dress all frumpy now they’re going to forget the girl you really are? ”

  Hailey could have slapped Tessa in the face and not hurt her as bad as her words did. She turned from Hailey to hide her emotions and a few minutes later the young sister abruptly stood swinging her bag over her shoulder and walked out the front door where her friend Jade waited for her in a brand new, red, BMW convertible, though Jade was rational enough to keep the top on in the cold weather.

  Tessa ate a few bites of her breakfast before breaking down into tears. Gossip of her so called escapades had reached even Hailey and who knew how many other freshman. The worst part was that Hailey believed it without question. She stifled a loud sob. If only she would have stayed home that night three months ago, and more so than that, if only she would have been smart enough to stay away from Dean McCray.

  Chapter 2

  Twenty minutes later, Tessa ambled out to her car, a Subaru Legacy. Both Sandra and Hailey were appalled that she didn’t choose something more flashy or luxurious, but her dad was pleased with her choice, calling it “practical and safe.” As much as she hated to, she agreed with him and as little flurries of snowflakes began to fall she was grateful for the all-wheel drive.

  The usual fifteen minute drive to school took ten minutes longer as the snow started dropping in heaps. The parking lot of Winston High was already full of luxury SUVs and expensive sports cars that must have made it to school before the storm because there is no way they would have been able to make it through the snow. Winston High was a public school, mostly consisting of rich kids who didn’t want to go to, or got kicked out of private school, which meant there were kids attending from all nearby districts. Tessa had gone to private school up until two years ago, when she wanted to feel a bit more normal, and chose to go public. Even the kids some considered “poor” at school still had credit cards from a parent with absurd limits, particularly for a teenager. She silently cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her, causing her to be late thus making the only empty parking spots clear in the back of the long parking lot known as the drag.

  She pulled her hoodie over her head and slid into her co
at before getting out of the car and felt a smug satisfaction imagining Hailey walking through this mess in her stiletto boots and bare legs. A few other students plowed through the snow towards the school trying to make it before the final bell rang. Tessa paused a moment before reaching for the doors, took a deep breath, and braced herself— the same as she had been doing for the past few months.

  The halls were mostly deserted, with only a couple other students hurrying to make it to class on time. The bell rang and Tessa broke into a run to the opposite end of the building hoping to slip into her first class period without anyone noticing. That’s all she wanted for the next four months, to not be seen; to be invisible before she could disappear from these people for forever. She skidded to a halt at her locker, swapping her English book for her history book, and took off again. Luck wasn’t on her side this particular morning. The second she opened the door, Mr. Crow brought the attention of the room on her.

  “Miss Grant, how nice of you to join us. You are aware that class in fact began five minutes ago are you not?”

  On a snowy day like today, most teachers would have let the tardy go, but Mr. Crow was one of those teachers who regretted his career choice more and more every day and did whatever he could to make the teenagers pay for his unhappiness. She mumbled an apology, tensing as she felt the stare of the entire classroom. Head down, she made her way to the back-corner desk where she usually sat.

  Austin Bell, one of Dean’s groupies whispered with a smirk, “Late night again? Who’s the lucky guy this time?”

  Tessa ignored him, like she had countless other times and sat down, even as her teeth clenched. Mr. Crow began speaking about the Mayans and she relaxed a little knowing she was no longer the center of attention. The hour and a half came and went and soon the bell was ringing, signaling the end of first period. She stood, pulling her backpack over her shoulders and felt her stomach knot up seeing that Austin was lingering, staring right at her. She lowered her gaze and began to push past him, but he blocked her path.

  “I was thinking tonight we could have our own personal party, what do you think?” he asked grazing her elbow.

  She jerked her arm away. “Leave me alone.”

  He laughed, undeterred. “Come on Tessa, I’ve already seen you basically naked, and I’ve practically lived through a night with you from the stories I’ve heard in the locker room. Why not make it official?”

  Tessa’s cheeks burned red as she bit the inside of her cheeks to keep herself under control. “Get out of my way,” she rasped as the first tear threatened to fall.

  He sighed dramatically but finally stepped out of her way and she bolted. She ran for the ladies room, but by the time she got there, she had calmed herself down, her breathing was back to normal, and she really didn’t want to be late to chemistry and have more unwanted attention placed on her. She turned down the hall that led to her next class, composing herself as she went. No matter how many times she went through similar interactions as the one with Austin, it still got to her every single time. At least she was getting better at calming herself down quicker.

  Chemistry was one of her favorite classes, because at least she had a friend to talk to. Nicole was her lab partner and best friend, although the term “best” was used very loosely, more like her only friend. She was already sitting at their table looking grouchy, like she normally did, when Tessa entered the classroom.

  “I hate my life,” Nicole stated as Tessa sat down. “My parents totally need to mind their own business. They are like trying this new parenting technique where they think that we can all be buddies and that will make us one big happy family.”

  At least they want to be an actual family Tessa wanted to say, but refrained. She was used to this with Nicole. Nicole would unload all of her so called drama on Tessa, while Tessa diligently listened. Like Tessa, Nicole didn’t have many friends either, though her reasons were a lot different. Nicole had a rather large, unproportioned nose, and used to constantly be made fun of because of it. Instead of shying away and shutting down like Tessa did as a defense mechanism, Nicole was rude, loud and obnoxious, which made her a rather hard person to like. They were paired as lab partners when the new semester started, and Nicole’s constant ranting fit well with Tessa’s silence.

  “They wanted to go on some serenity-tranquil-spa vacation thing next weekend hoping to ‘bring us closer together’ but I was like ‘DUH! I’m getting my nose job next weekend!’ and they forgot as if it’s not the most important day of my life!” Nicole continued on.

  Nicole’s parents had refused to allow their daughter to get a nose job before she turned eighteen. They said it brought character to her face, and they weren’t about to sign off on something so drastic and life changing. Nicole turned eighteen last week, and immediately scheduled her appointment. She could be a pretty girl; she had long black hair and big dark eyes, and a long, thin model type body, but her constant scowl and attitude made her unattractive, and if Tessa was honest, yes her nose really wasn’t very flattering on her face.

  Class started and the girls went to work scribbling notes, all the while Nicole muttered things like “This is so stupid,” or “I’m going to shove my beaker up Mr. Evans butt if he says ‘incidentally’ one more time.” The last Tessa had to agree with. Mr. Evans used the word ‘incidentally’ as if it was the letter ‘A’. The way his slow, tired, voice dragged it out, enunciating every syllable made it even more annoying.

  Finally the bell rang and the two girls left the classroom together only to part at the first fork in the hall. Homeroom was next for only forty-five minutes and then lunch, but it was homeroom that Tessa had the hardest time sitting in, because it was the class she had with Dean. Dean McCray was a star on the basketball team, incredibly handsome, and all around teenage heartthrob. That is how all the girls saw him anyway, everyone but Tessa.

  Dean sat on top of his desk, surrounded by a flock of girls, and a few buddies which included Austin from first period. Mr. Chandler was the most laid back teacher at the school, and didn’t really care what the kids did during homeroom. At the beginning of every class he’d say, “Ok everybody, catch up on homework and don’t hesitate to come to me with any questions.” Then he’d go sit on his chair, lean back and kick his feet up on his desk. Maybe he was trying to be the cool teacher, but Tessa wished that for this class they wouldn’t have so much free reign. She took her usual spot in the back corner and pulled out her English homework trying unsuccessfully to shut out the world around her.

  For the most part Dean ignored her, but it still didn’t make her feel any better about the situation, or the pain in her stomach that formed whenever he was near. Every so often, one his lemmings would look her way, make some snide remark and the group would snicker. Sticks and stones… Tessa repeated to herself not at all believing it. Some of the words they said about her downright hurt, and there was only so much a girl could take. Four months…

  Chapter 3

  Lunch—finally. Tessa stopped at her locker first to exchange books, and then trudged down the hall to the cafeteria. Nicole met her at the entrance, no smile no hello, just, “Ugh, Neal Simmons seriously just asked me out to dinner. I was like, ‘uh no thanks, I prefer my meals without a side of boogers.’ I mean seriously I’ve never seen him without his finger up his nose digging a hole to China. Can you believe him?”

  Tessa dutifully nodded with an exaggerated look of appalled shock when secretly she wanted roundhouse kick the girl in the face. Sometimes she wondered why she put up with Nicole, but then she knew the answer; It was better than being completely alone with her own depressing thoughts as the only words she heard. They walked side by side into the cafeteria while Nicole continued raving about her ‘horrible’ life, and Tessa zoned her out.

  Since Winston High School had such a wealthy student body, the cafeteria food was more like a five star catering company. Choices like artisan sandwiches, gourmet salads and soups, and even a smoothie bar was what the upper clas
s students had to choose from. Tessa grabbed a turkey cranberry on focaccia, while Nicole chose a Cobb salad. They both headed to the smoothie bar next and each got a guava sunrise. While they waited for their smoothies, Tyler Cowell, yet another of Dean’s cronies stood nearby smirking at Tessa. Austin was the most obnoxious out of all of them, but Tyler came awfully close at times, and the way he looked at her really creeped her out. She didn’t mean to catch his eye, but the damage had been done.

  He stalked closer and said, “I heard you were accepting new clients. How much do you charge for twenty minutes?”

  Tessa closed her eyes and took a deep breath while Nicole suddenly seemed very interested in the blenders. “Not happening,” Tessa replied through gritted teeth.

  He chuckled as he sauntered off no doubt to join Dean and the rest of his pigeon brained friends. Nicole went right on talking again as if Tyler had never even been there, which was normal in these kinds of situations. At first Tessa was grateful for Nicole’s lack of interest, but lately she wished that Nicole would just question or even accuse her, so she could at least deny it.

  They moved outside of the cafeteria, slightly down the hall where they sat in a large window seat and ate their lunch. Nicole continued on with the chatter. “…I know that his dad is some famous golfer or something but that doesn’t mean that I should automatically like him.”

  “Who?” Tessa asked.

  Nicole looked at her with a frown. “Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been saying? I’m talking about Neal, and how he’s like in love with me or something.”

  Maybe it was because her day started out badly with her little sister, or maybe it was just building up, but Tessa exploded, well exploded for her anyway. “Do you even know him?” Tessa questioned with her voice much louder than normal.

  Nicole had her fork lingering in front of her lips as she looked at Tessa with surprise, which quickly turned to a glare. “Um yeah, duh, I have homeroom with him and I always see him picking his nose.”