The Boy in Love With a Witch

Chapter 09

Over the past few weeks, I started hanging out with her more. I found myself really comfortable around her and so was she. We started hanging out after school at the cafe or even in our lunch break we would sometimes sit together; The boys, me, her and her friends Daisy and Summer. She got along really well with my friends and they all adored her. She was frank, jovial and very polite. I would even walk her home after she was done with her shift. 

Margaret told me that a lot of boys had their eyes on her and just wanted a chance with her. I was there to make sure they don't get it.

I had started to like her even more and noticed every little thing about her. The way her face lit up when someone mentioned coffee which she was addicted to and because of her I got too. She would always give out happy and refreshing vibes. I found her really attractive and beautiful. She was not tall, or skinny. Instead, she was really short and had great curves. Her flaws were beautiful.

---

As we were walking towards the cafeteria, discussing about our bio homework, Taylor and her squad of cheerleaders approached us.

"Oh, now I see what you meant when you said you were busy. You were busy with her." Taylor started to make a scene.

"Don't create drama here. Go away." I kept my voice low, just enough for her to be heard.

"Oh, I'm the one creating drama here? What about you Harry? What about the drama you created?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

"I did not create any drama. I just cleared things up." I wanted to ignore and walk away with Elise as I noticed she was getting really uncomfortable.

"You cleared nothing, Harry. I've seen you have been hanging out with her a lot, recently. That's why you rejected me. What do you see in her?" She pointed towards Elise who stood there mortified.

"Do not bring her into this, Taylor. She has nothing to do with what I said to you." I defended her.

"I know you are only using her because she's intelligent and does all the work." She said and I felt a little guilty. 

I was not using her in any way. This had nothing to do with good grades. I knew I was useless but I would always try my best to make some contribution in our work.

Elise looked up at me with glassy eyes.

"I'm not using her." I raised my voice.

"Then why are you hanging out with her? Is she prettier than me?" She screamed.

"Why are you bringing her into this?" I tried to avoid her question with another question.

"Because she stole you from me. She's a witch. She uses magic to attract boys towards her because she is so ugly and fat that no one likes her. No wonder, why, other than using her for your work, you would hang out with her. She has you under her spell." The words that left her mouth almost made me laugh but before I could, Elise spoke.

"That's not true. I'm not a witch." She replied.

"Yes you are. You witch. You use magic to attract boys and you have cast a spell on him." She was accusing her.

"Shut the hell up, bitch!" Summer soon arrived at the scene, and so did all of my friends.

A tear escaped Elise's eyes and she ran towards the girl's bathroom. Daisy and Summer followed her.

"You're pathetic, Taylor." I said before I followed them.

Elise

I opened the door of the girls' bathroom. Luckily, no one was in there so I locked it up and went over to the mirror. One after another, tears started rolling down my cheeks. I felt so angry I wanted to smash the mirror with my bare fist. 

She made fun of my insecurities and even accused me of using witchcraft on people, which was obviously not true. Why would I use magic to attract boys? I was not desperate like her.  I was so heart broken. Was I really ugly? Was he just using me for his work? 

Somewhere, in my head I imagined her falling down in the corridor in front of all the students. I imagined it to calm my anger. I did not want to hurt anyone. But I was really angry and I often tend to loose my mind. I tried to calm myself down but failed as my silent tears turned into sobs.

Outside, I heard Daisy and Summer trying to open the door.

"Elise, please. Open up." They said and another sob escaped my lips.

"Elise, please. Calm down and open up." Summer repeated but I was in no mood to face anyone right now.     

"Elise." I heard a familiar deep voice- Harry.

Somehow, his voice had the tendency to calm down my nerves. I always felt more confident and comfortable around him. I felt powerful. 

Wiping my tears, I got up and walked over to the door. I unlocked it and was met by those beautiful stormy green eyes.

His eyes were full of sorrow and worry. 

"Elise, I..." He started speaking but I cut him off.

"It's okay, Harry." I tried to smile.

"No, I'm really very sorry for what happened back there." He apologised. 

"It's not your fault, Harry. It's mine. I shouldn't have hung out with you guys in the first place." I said avoiding eye contact with him.

"But Elise, we all want you to hang out with us. You are a wonderful person." He said.

"And I'm not taking advantage of you. Grades don't matter to me." He stated.

"And I'm not a witch." I said and a tear fell down.

"I know and even though if you were I wouldn't mind." He said and placed his thumb on my cheek.

I felt something pass through his thumb into me, like energy. He gently wiped away the tear that had escaped my eye.

Just then, Niall came rushing towards us, smiling wildly. 

"You missed it guys." He started laughing.

"We missed what?" Harry asked in confusion.

"She... hahahahahah... Taylor... hahahahaha..." He could not control his laughter.

Zayn, Louis and Liam approached us soon.

"Taylor slipped and fell on her flat bum in the corridor." Louis completed Niall's sentence while Niall burst into laughter.

"Oh God, we really missed it." Daisy giggled.

Even though she made fun of me in front of the whole school, I still felt sympathy for her. I felt bad because a few minutes ago, I imagined her falling down in the corridor and it actually happened. How? 

"Is she okay?" I asked in a low voice.

"I hope she's not. That bitch." Summer said.

"Why do you care, Elise? She was the one talking crap about you." Daisy pointed out.

"I know, I just feel bad for her." I admitted.

"She's way too nice." Summer told everyone.

"Hey, Elise? Are you okay?" Zayn asked.

"Yes." I replied smiling. 

Harry put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. I felt safe and strong.

"You are not going to end your friendship with us over some nonsense." He told me.

"No one's going to end their friendships. We don't do that here." Liam said.

"Yeah." Niall, louis and Zayn said in unison.

"Okay." I smiled up at him. He smiled back at me, the storm behind his green eyes calming down, replaced by a forest green colour.