The Snake Queen

Chapter 32

So I know my last few updates have been pretty much back to back then it took me a bit to do this one. Over the next few months, I probably won't be writing as much because I go back to school at the end of next month. Also, my family and I will most likely be moving sometime before Christmas, which will mean less updates. Either until school starts or we move, I will be updating as much as I can. So if I go some time without posting updates on Mag and her friends, I wanted to clear that in advance as compared to the other times I've done stints of pretty much dropping off the face of the planet. So, until then, please enjoy chapter 32.

The prom had started an hour before I got there. I could hear the music blasting from the school parking lot. I walked into the school gym. The whole room was decorated with twinkle lights, and stars were hanging from the ceiling.
"A Night To Remember". Typical corny, cookie-cutter prom theme. I would've prefered something like West Side Story, but I'm not part of the prom committee. It wouldn't surprise me if they chose "Under The Sea" next year.
Half of the cheap blue and silver table clothes were slipping off the tables. Shoes, purses and jackets were all over the place. The snack table was barely touched. Probably because the food was always stale, and the majority of my classmates were drunk from the spiked punch. Whoever was still sober was waiting in line for their prom pictures to be taken.
I looked around the room until I spotted my friends at one of the back tables. As far as I know, the twins didn't have dates, so they probably went with each other. Jay was picking at the ends of her hair since it appeared as if her date was ignoring her. Skye was looking around for her boyfriend, Blake, whom I noticed was talking to Principal Freeman.
I highly doubt my friends were looking for me or expected me to show up. At least until I noticed Asher walking out of the bathroom. His eyes met mine almost instantly and the biggest smiles appeared on his face.
"Mag! You made it! I thought your weren't coming."
"I wasn't, but I changed my mind last minute after having a nice talk with Tombutoo."
"A snake convinced you to go to prom?" He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Pretty much."
"Well, I'm happy you're here. I'm sure everyone else will be too."
Asher offered up his right elbow and I accepted. We weaved in and out of the sea of sweaty teenagers to my friends. None of them had even noticed I had shown up.
"Look who showed up." Asher sidestepped from in front of me.
All my friends took one look at me and formed a huddle around me. I guess they were all happy I showed up. Even if they weren't expecting me to. I ended up overheating from the huddle and the rest of the gym being so close together.
"What are you doing here?" Jay asked.
"You said you had stuff to do." Skye continued.
"Did Tombutoo talk you in to coming?" The twins said in unison.
"Sort of." I walked over to the table and sat down. "I was so sure Ryan would have another date. I really wanted to come with him. Tombutoo said I didn't need Ryan let alone a date period."
"What even happened between you two anyway?" Ash asked.
"I told him my destiny. He didn't take it very well." I looked down. "He broke up with me."
Nobody knew what to say. If we weren't in the middle of a school dance with loud music, it would've been easy to hear a pin drop against the gym floor. I guess no one saw it coming. Everybody looked back and forth between each other and exchanged pity looks. All my friends did was crowd around me for a sympathy group hug. I wasn't sure if the group hug was because they love me and thought Ryan's a jerk, or because they felt bad about Ryan abandoning me when I needed him most.
Either way, all of my friends were there for me. They were doing what Ryan should've been. I realized I didn't need a boyfriend to get through this as long as I had my girls and Asher. They had all been there since I found out about the curse, and I know they'll be by my side the rest of the way.
"Mag?" I heard a voice behind me.
Ryan was standing adjacent to my friends and myself in the same suit and tie he wore to the formal last year. I swear he did that on purpose. What mattered more was he acknowledged me for the first time in months.
"Ryan." I said flatly.
"Girls, can you give us a minute?" He looked passed me at my friends.
"No." I stated. "Anything you wanna say to me can be said in front of them."
He starte4d eyeballing them, almost as if he was challenging them. Or he was intimidated by all seven of us. There was also the possibility he was trying to choose his words varefully. It looked more like he was trying to pick his next move.
"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be at home with your snake friend?" He said finally.
"It's a school dance. I wanted to come, regardless of being dateless." I crossed my arms.
"You  could've came with me." I just looked at him.
"You broke up with me!" I took a step back. I closed my eyes and felt all of my powers overwhelm my body. When I opened my eyes, everything was red. Siddenly, there were snakes everywhere. I had no idea how I was able to do it, but it seems as if it's from all the training I've been doing for the last few months. My friends were even shocked at my new abilities.
It took the rest of the gym a few minutes to realize snakes had pretty much coated the room. No one noticed the snakes until someone started screaming. A snake had fallen on a girl I've known since first grade named Bella, only for her it to get thrown on her date.
"Where are all these snakes coming from?!" Principal Freeman demanded.
Suddenly, all eyes were on me. Apparently, more people had noticed I showed up than I thought. Something in the air shifted and I could smell everyone's fear. The room was dead silent. I was scaring them all. These were all kids I've known since nursery school and they were afraid of me.
Skye tapped on my shoulder. "Mag, you're all scales." She whispered loudly. I looked down at my hands. She was right. I wasn't human anymore and I knew it. I was all snake with legs.
My eyes shifted around the room. Every snake in the room was ready to strike. My parents always told me snakes were tolerate of humans, but would turn if felt threatened. That's what I had done because of Ryan. Everyone in this room is now terrified of me because I felt threatened.
"Heel." I finally said.
"All snakes had relaxed except one. Out of the corner of my left eye, I noticed a green and yellow anaconda was making its way over to me. The eight foot serpent slithered up my arm and rested on my shoulder.
"What would you like us to do, my queen?" It hissed.
I thought for a moment. Snakes were supposed to be cold blooded creatures. If I let them harm anyone, that meant I was cold blooded as well. I spent so much time running from the curse because I didn't want to be like them. But if I let them harm any of these people, that's what I'd be.
"Nothing." I turned my head to look at the snake. "I don't want you to do anything. Other than please remove yourself from my shoulders. You are not light." The five-hundred-and-fifty pount serpent slithered down my other arm.
"As you wish, my queen." Everyone cleared a path as they all slithered out the door.
Once the gym was rid of the legless reptiles, everybody turned towards me. I swiveled towards my friends, whom were quiet. My vision had returned to its normal rainbow and my scales had disappeared. I rolled my wrists.
"And that's on being the snake queen." I strode towards the exit and left.