Magic is a Powerful Thing Ch. 07

From the Author: This part contains strong violence. If this triggers you then please dont read on. Thank you for reading this and please feel free to leave a comment.

From the Editor: There are some misspelt words left in this chapter, but those are intentional, as they are trying to show that the person speaks with a lisp, causing their words to be mispronounced. I have taken the liberty of providing what was said in parenthesis.

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Jacob squirmed a little in the leather armchair inside the principal's office. In a seat next to him sat a tearful Miss Abbeyforth and standing over to one side was Miss Morgan. It had been barely an hour since he woke up from his spell induced nap and he felt like his head was full of cotton wool. His cheek also burned from Stephany's slap and he knew it was causing a reddening hand mark on his left cheek. Jacob looked over beside him to Miss Abbeyforth who had her collar down revealing a vivid bruise on her neck. If Jacob didn't know better he could swear that Miss Abbeyforth was genuinely crying. He felt an intrusion into his mind and a calm voice whispered. "Eyes forward Jacob." and he obeyed. Miss Morgan had already proved her skill today, forestalling the wild magic he had almost let free through hubris and he did not want to anger the witch. He looked forward and took in the room.

The floor was thickly carpeted in dark red leading to dark oak paneling on the lower sections of the wall. Above that was a mahogany coloured wallpaper. Here and there high bookcases of dark wood were filled with books on all topics and some small nick nacks. The chairs he was sitting in were high sided black leather that hugged his body tightly. Before him was a massive heavy dark wood desk where a small laptop lay open to the side and behind that was a large window looking out at the school grounds.

Before the window stood "the walrus". Principal Adam Matthews had been teaching kids since the 60s and had worked hard to achieve his position today. He was a smaller, slightly overweight man with piercing grey eyes and wispy grey hair he obsessively combed over the bald patch on top of his head. What earned him his name was the thick walrus-like mustache on his face and his dress sense. The man today was dressed in a brown tweed suit with brown tie and white shirt. His hands were held behind his back as he bounced lightly on the balls of his feet looking out over the school.

"Tell me everything again starting from the top." said the old man, his voice cracking with age and a soul weariness that no amount of sleep could fix. He turned around and took a seat in his own leather chair resting his elbows on the armrests and steepling his fingers in front of his face as he regarded the 3 before him.

"Well." began Jacob. "Last thursday during school hours I began to feel unwell during P.E and Mr Walsh let me go get changed early to see the nurse. On the way I went to splash water on my face and well" Jacob paused and blushed. "The next thing I remember was waking up in the back of an ambulance sir. Apparently, I had a minor chest infection but with my exertions with P.E and the chill of the water, it made me faint."

"Ahh so you were the reason the ambulance was called to the school on thursday." The old teacher nodded and waved for Jacob to carry on.

"With permission from my mother, I took Friday off and spent it recovering from the illness. I wanted to return to school today however , so I wouldn't fall behind in my studies. My mom agreed but gave me a note asking for me to be excused from P.E for this week." With those words Jacob reached inside his pocket and placed the remains of the note on the desk.

Mr Matthews looked over the 4 pieces of paper and placed them together and read what was on the note before asking, "Who ripped it up?"

"Miss Angle sir," replied Jacob. "Before class, I went to give it to Mr Walsh but Miss Angle was there instead. I asked where Mr Walsh was and she told me he wasn't in and that she will be taking our class instead. When I handed her the note, she read it then told me I was foolish to hand her a fake and tore it up."

Before Jacob could continue Mr Matthews snorted. The others looked at him and he began to explain. "I have been principal of this school for over 10 years but before that, I was in charge of teaching English. But even a novice teacher should be able to tell that this writing is from an older woman." holding up the remains of the note he showed the two teachers. "Look at the writing slope, not to mention the word choice and how the handwriting flows into one another. Plus a man would never put the word "please" on a note."

"I believe anyone else would call that sexist Adam." said Miss Morgan before giving him a wide smile "but I happen to completely agree."

Mr Matthews smiled back at the substitute teacher. When she had called on Saturday informing him of her mother's fall and hospitalisation, he had felt sorry. Then when she had asked to cover for her mother as she was also a teacher and was moving into her mother's house to help her manage things he immediately jumped on it. It almost felt too good to be true but she seemed calm, decisive but approachable at the same time.

"Carry on Mr Malcome."

"I was forced to do P.E in my uniform since I had no P.E kit with me," said Jacob. "I admit sir. I was angry, but my mother always told me to never let anger fester but to channel it towards your goals. So I did. While most of the girls in my class watched, I ran as hard as I could and was able to keep pace with Rebecca from my class."

"Who?" asked Mr Matthews.

"Rebecca Summers," said Miss Morgan. "She was the one who told me what happened during the P.E class."

"Please let the young man answer Fay." said the Principal, giving her a glance of disapproval.

"Rebecca is one of the best runners in school and had Olympic scouts watching her," said Jacob. "I was amazed I was able to keep up with her today. But she always runs with the boys instead of taking the free study period."

"Wait. What do you mean by that, Jacob?"

"Whenever Miss Angle takes the boy's class, the girls are allowed to sit on the bleachers and watch us run laps around the football field. Most girls use it to study or chat with friends, but Rebecca always runs with us, sir."

Mr Matthews' skin that was visible on his face began to change from pale pink to a rose red and his breathing got heavier. No one spoke for a moment until Mr Matthews said "carry on."

"After Miss Angle blew the whistle for the end of class, Rebecca came up to me to thank me for running with her. Then Miss Angle came up and accused me of slowing Rebecca down. Rebecca stood up for me even when Miss Angle threatened her with getting the Olympic scouts sent away. Then when Rebecca walked away she told me to go see her after class."

By this point Mr Matthews was looking like a barely constrained dog, waiting for the order to attack. Jacob would have found it funny if it wasn't also completely terrifying.

"After I got changed, I headed to the P.E classroom where Miss Angle handed me a sheaf of papers and a pen. She then demanded I write an apology for several things I hadn't done. Like trying to pass off a forgery, disrupting her class and blackmailing Rebecca. When I refused she then drove her fingers just under my ribcage to wind me then dragged me to a chair, telling me I would not be leaving this room until I did as she asked."

Jacob sat silent now and after a moment the Principal looked to the other two in the room. "What happened next?"

"Mr Malcome was meant to be in my classroom by this point," said Miss Morgan. "After 15 minutes, I saw the empty chair and asked the class who belonged to it. It was Miss Summers who told me Mr Malcome should be there but Miss Angle had kept him behind. I could tell she wanted to tell me more, so I asked her to speak to me in private out in the corridor. Once out in the corridor, she told me how Miss Angle had forced him to run in his uniform and how she had threatened Miss Summers' Olympic chances. She also told me that she was worried about what Miss Angle would do to Jacob after she had heard rumours about Miss Angle's cruelty towards males. It was then Miss Abbeyforth came along and asked me what was wrong. I informed her about Mr Malcolm's absence and asked her to check the P.E department then returned to my class."

Mr Matthews nodded sagely as his face began to lose the redness and became its normal pinkish hew, turning to look at Miss Abbeyforth, who began her side of the events with a shaky voice.

"When I reached the P.E Department, I saw Louisa with a textbook, standing over Mr Malcome who looked terrified. When Louisa tried to tell me all the things she accused Mr Malcome of, I cut her off and asked her to speak outside. We ended up in her office where she...she grabbed me by the throat and told me to...to agree with her or she would physically assault me." At this, fresh tears began to fall from her eyes, and Miss Morgan walked over to comfort her. Mr Matthews looked extremely uncomfortable and that redness was beginning to return to his face.

It took a moment for Abigail to pull herself back together enough for her to continue. "I am afraid to say I allowed fear to get to me, sir. I obeyed her and told Mr Malcome he was likely going to be expelled for his actions. To this, he stood up and asked Louisa what she had done to me. I cowered behind him as he stood between me and Louisa. She tried to talk her way free with threats and promises of violence. Then she slapped Mr Malcome."

Miss Morgan then spoke. "I had left my classroom by this point under the watch of Mr Appleby who had been passing by my room and had just entered the room when that occurred, Adam. I then moved to confront Miss Angle and detain her, but she wriggled out of my grasp and ran. I followed her but she ran out the gate so I let her go."

"Damn good thing too," spoke Mr Matthews. He was quiet for a moment before he stood up and moved to the window. "Never." he began quietly. "Never in all my days had I ever heard of, never mind witnessed, something this barbaric." He turned to his desk and pushed a small button. Soon, the school secretary joined the people in the room. "Send the students home right now, and tomorrow we will hold an assembly. As soon as the kids are out, we're holding a staff meeting. Everyone must be there," he told the young woman as she was hastily writing the instructions down. "Also, inform school security that Miss Angle is to be arrested if found." He then turned to Jacob. "I am sorry this happened to you, and I promise you, it will never happen again."

"Thank you, Mr Matthews. Can I go now as I would like to catch my girlfriend before she leaves?" Jacob asked, to which Mr Matthews had to smile.

"The man gets assaulted, bullied and abused by a teacher, and his first thoughts are about his girlfriend." He thought to himself, "ahh to be young again." He nodded and replied out loud. "Yes, Mr Malcome. We will see you tomorrow."

All three waited till Jacob had shut the door behind him before Mr Matthews continued. "This could ruin the school. Abigail, will you be ok?"

"No sir. And to be honest I should head home. My niece is coming to stay with me since she and her mother had a huge argument. The fact that she has been homeschooled makes me worried about her current level of schooling since her mother was rather forceful with her physical education rather than giving an all-around curriculum. I might see her being enrolled in the school, if you do not mind, Adam."

"Yes, that is fine Abigail," said Adam softly. "You go and make sure she is ready for tomorrow and we will get her tested when she arrives."

Abigail rose and thanked the headmaster before leaving him and Fay alone. "And then there was one," smiled Fay, taking a seat and crossing her long shapely legs.

"I am guessing you will want to go see your mother?" asked Adam with a sigh.

"Ooh, My mother will be fine in the hospital. I will go see her at the 8 pm visiting time," replied Miss Morgan. "To be honest... Adam was it? Well, to be honest, Adam I do not think she will be back. She is in her 70's and the hip break was rather bad. If she does return, she will need a cane at the very least." Miss Morgan shook her head, letting her long hair flow behind her. "Anyway, enough about me. What do you need me to do?"

"Really?" asked Adam. He had not expected the mature woman to stick around but was not about to turn her help away. "You know what? I would like you to go to the P.E department and see if there is any evidence of this preferential treatment towards the girls."

"Why not check the security cameras over the pitches?" asked Fay as if it was obvious. Mr Matthews shook his head.

"Why didn't I think of that?"

"Because you are busy enough as it is," smiled Fay as she stood up and headed to the door. "I will go see officer Hooper and get the tapes." Then left with a wink.

Mr Matthews stood by the windows, watching as the school emptied and tried to ignore the rigid hard on Miss Fay Morgan had left him with.

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Jacob smiled despite himself as he met up with Stephany at the school gates. Her hair was still loose, but she still looked amazing to him. He walked over to her, and they began to walk away from school.

"So?" asked Stephany after they had gotten away from the crowds and were alone.

"So what?" replied Jacob

"What happened in the walrus den? I wanna know!" said Stephany

Jacob smiled at Stephany and she realised her boyfriend was teasing her. Pouting, she huffed.

"Don't tease me, ok?"

"Ok. ok," and raising his hands in mock surrender, he told her how the meeting had gone. "Honestly, it looked like the Walrus was going to blow a blood vessel," said Jacob, finishing his story.

"I hope Miss Abbeyforth and Louisa will be ok," muttered Stephany.

"If not, I'm sure we can help out," said Jacob, before pulling Stephany close, into a cute embrace. Stephany didn't resist and was soon leaning into Jacob with a dreamy smile on her face while she heard the steady beating of his heart.

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In the school parking lot, Louisa sat on the bonnet of a beat-up Ford Anglia as she waited for her Aunt. She was still confused and had a ringing in her head that wouldn't stop. She knew the year was 2021, but she kept thinking of 1987 for some reason. She would look at her clothes and think how weird and modern they looked, but also how she should be dressed like this. She would look at her hair and wonder why it wasn't blonde even though she had always been a brunette. Hadn't she? Confusion ruled her fragile mind to such a degree that when her Aunt did arrive, she didn't even notice till her Aunt gently slapped her knee and spoke.

"Off the bonnet, dear. That is no way for a lady to sit," said Abigail with a warm smile. Gone was the purple bruise around her throat along with the tears from her eyes. Louisa stood up before heading to the passenger's side.

"So how come they are letting all the kids away early, Aunt Abi?" asked Louisa as she climbed into the old car.

"A teacher abused her position and physically struck a student," answered Abigail as she turned the engine over and began to pull out of the school. "She then ran out of the school and is on the run. She was also doing a lot of other unethical things like letting the female students out of her classes while forcing the boys to run themselves ragged."

If Abigail had been looking at Louisa instead of focusing on driving, she would have seen each comment hitting Louisa like a lightning bolt. Each comment brought flashes of memories. Slowly Louisa looked down at her hands. They looked so young and feminine. Long manicured nails with a coat of shiny, clear polish. No sign of ageing on them. But when she closed her eyes she saw them hardened with calluses from hard work setting up equipment, with wrinkles from age and a scar from where she had cut herself in college.

But she was 18. How could she have been in college? Her head suddenly felt numb, like a glass pane breaking, as the walls in her mind shattered and she knew the truth.

"Aunt Abi?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I am Miss Angle aren't I?"

Abigail froze but mechanically kept steering the car.

"You s...should not remember..."

"I am not an idiot, Auntie," said Louisa with a sigh.

"Then tell me..." Abigail paused for a moment, before continuing. "Do you want to be my niece? To have a second chance at life without the pressures of someone jamming sports down your throat? Able to be a normal teenager without the steroids making you more masculine than you should have been?"

The car was silent for a long time as Abigail focused on driving and Louisa considered what she wanted to do. It wasn't until they both arrived at a super mall that any of them spoke.

"If you want, I will go in here and withdraw what I was planning on spending on your new wardrobe, and just give it to you. It will be enough to get you to a new town where you can start over," said Abigail as she put on the parking brake. "Or, you live with me as my teenage niece and go to school, learn what you want, make friends, and maybe have a better life. Just tell me now."

Louisa took a moment. Eventually she looked at Abigail with watery eyes. "Well, I hope you have a spare bedroom, ''Auntie`," and with a wide smile, both women hugged before heading into the mall.

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Mr Matthews stood before the entire school staff, all crowded into the staffroom. At his side stood Fay, as she told the group what she had witnessed that morning. Most of the female staff were shocked and horrified, but the men didn't blink an eye. They had all noticed how Miss Angle was, but none made a move after she got someone fired for rape allegations.

Once Miss Morgan had finished, Mr Matthews took a step forward. "I know this is a tragic affair, but tomorrow we will hold an assembly and inform the students. THIS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED IN MY SCHOOL!" He demanded to the room. "From now on, if you suspect anything like this is happening, I expect you to come straight to me or Miss Morgan. Also, regarding Miss Morgan's mother. It seems she might have to retire due to an injury to her hip. Fay here, had generously offered to take over her position, but not as head of the English department. That will go to Mr Appleby for the foreseeable future. Now, one last thing before you all go. If anyone sees or hears that Louisa is on the school grounds, inform campus security immediately. Do not try to apprehend her yourself. She has already assaulted Abigail, and I do not want anyone else to become a victim." After that, the staff began to mingle and file out in twos and threes. Mr Appleby came over to thank Adam for the promotion, and many men went over to Fay to welcome her aboard. As he watched, he saw Mr Harrison try and hit on her, then hid his smile as she told him she doesn't date other species, raising a laugh from the other women. Harrison left after that, and Adam made his way towards the exit too. He had to inform the school board now, and he was dreading the call.

Across the staff room, Fay saw the principal leave and felt a stirring in her body she hadn't felt in a long time. Even when she was in her older form, she had thought Adam Matthews to be a handsome man, but back then he was married. Then, his wife passed away and it felt wrong to offer such comfort. Now it has been 4 years, and Fay felt a pull she had rarely known in her long-lived life. "Maybe it was time for a new lover," she thought before getting absorbed into an animated conversation with some of the female staff.

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Jacob and Stephany stepped into Stephany's home, laden down with shopping bags from a local store they had passed on the way home, and both moved with haste to the kitchen. Stephany was smiling ear to ear as she began to unpack the bags while Jacob sat down in the living room to catch his breath.