"Hey, the Weddler is back!"

A boy with black hair and freckles noticed me walking in and dared to speak loudly, but it successfully got the rest of the class's attention.

"Hahahaha!" All the others in every corner of the class turned and snickered quietly amongst themselves.

I was one of the last ones to enter the classroom. Its entrance was at the front, next to the magic-board wall with some announcements written on it. Thirty or so students were already sitting at their desks, and the teacher, Ms. Senkaw, did nothing to stop them from saying mean things to me since she was sleeping. Her one rule was to not wake her up before class started. I tried not to remember what happened that one time when a student broke that rule. It was much better to keep her drooling on the ungraded homework assignments. No one knew why, but she was always tired. I had heard it had something to do with her being a dark elf. At the moment though, that did not matter.

"I'm not a Weddler!" I carefully retorted.

"Did you finally get magic?" Another boy with glasses, and a smug grin, chimed.

The class waited silently for my answer.

"No."

"Then you're a Weddler!" A girl with pigtails croaked.

"Hahahaha!"

The class safely erupted into laughter again. I clenched my teeth and tightly grasped my backpack straps. Regret screamed in my mind. Every part of me wanted to bolt out of the classroom in tears, but I forced my legs to move forward. Ignoring their hurtful comments and not-so-quiet whispers as I walked to my desk in the middle of the third row.

Is this how it is always going to be if I never get magic?

Unfortunately, it seemed that Darra had not yet arrived since she was not sitting at the desk in front of mine. Once I sat down, most of the laughter had ended, but some girls were still muttering amongst themselves about how sad I was. I tried to tune them out, but they decided to come to my desk, circling me. The snottiest of them all, a tall elf with short, light violet hair, glistening skin, and a cute face stood in front of me. Her name was Iris, and I hated her. She always went out of her way to make me feel bad, and I never did anything to her.

"Hi there, Ziya!"

"It's Zaya!"

"Whatever," she said, unapologetically, leaning closer to my desk. "So, why'd you miss school for a few days? We tried to ask Darra, but she wouldn't say. We just really missed you, and wanted to know when you'd be coming back."

Iris and her friends chuckled a little—not even trying to hide the fact that she was lying.

"It's none of your business!"

I avoided eye contact with her. Afraid that she would see the tears welling up. Don't cry! Don't cry! Don't cry! I repeated over and over in my head. If I cried, Iris would just make more fun of me. There had been a long pause since I spoke, so she must be searching for my weaknesses. Though instead, the ends of her lips dropped into a frown and her hair emitted a faint purple glow. A scary aura flowed out of Iris and caused me to instinctively duck under my arms.

"Aren't we friends?" she said in a shrill tone that sent chills down my spine as one of her hands thumped on the top of my head. Which she then used to gently stroke my hair with.

"Your hairs a mess," she said matter-of-factly, continuing to brush rougher with each stroke. "Did you not comb it today?" She started to dig her fingernails into my scalp. Pulling strands of my hair out with every intensifying sweep. I tried to pull back, but the other girls pressed their bodies on the back of my shoulders, keeping me glued to the desk.

"Stop it!" I tried to shield my head with my hand, but Iris swatted it away. Her face was too high for me to see, unlike the intense movements of her bright pink t-shirt stretching and compressing her pressed waist against the front of my desk.

"I learned something recently," Iris added maliciously, "Fire can burn hair, so if you don't want your hair anymore, I can burn it off for you."

All the girls silently snickered at her frightening threat.

Iris' palm began to warm up. The heat was like that of curling irons when held at a close distance to the skin. It felt like she was close to melting my hair. About two years ago, she awoke to fire elemental magic and had the best tutors to teach her since her family was rich. She can already do simple spells without using incantations.

If only I had magic, I could fight back! What do I do? What can I do?...

Iris's hand was getting hotter and more painful. I hated pain. After what Curtis had put me through, I never wanted to feel anything like it again. If only Darra were here…

Wait–there is one other option, but it might make things worse…

Iris cackled.

No, there's nothing else I can do. Without magic, I am powerless. I have to do it!

Breathing in and building up my resolve, I cried, "Stop! Please no! I don't want that! Ms. Senkaw!"

I had screamed at the top of my lungs, louder than it was meant to be. My intention had been to just scare Iris and her friends, but my voice easily reached the sleeping beast, Ms. Senkaw. The entire class grew completely silent. Iris let go of my hair and the other girls backed off. Their faces quickly paled. The air became still in the classroom. All eyes were on Ms. Senkaw in the front left corner, who lay motionless on the rickety wooden desk with her blue cotton-candy-like hair hiding the openness of her eyes.

No one dared to take a single breath for fear of a turbulent outcome. Everyone, even I who had called her, was hoping that she was not awake. An eternity of chilling moments passed and nothing changed. It looked like the storm may have been avoided. The stillness in the air began to stir again from whispers of agitation. And thankfully, Iris and her friends decided to leave me alone, probably fearing that I would wake up Ms. Senkaw if they continued to mess with me.

"Think about it," Iris snarled with an innocent look before she walked back to her desk. Feeling victorious, I stuck my tongue out at her back, but then a shadow of terror appeared behind me, immediately souring my simple joy.

"There is still," A hoarse voice galloped into my ears, followed by a sudden wave of hush and dread, "One hundred and thirty-eight seconds left before the first bell rings! Why'd you call me?" Fear, greater than I had felt in Curtis's dream, kept me from turning my head around. I knew Ms. Senkaw was behind me. I could feel her chilled breath on the top of my head.

"Well?" she asked again.

"I—" She was not going to accept my silence. "Iris was going to burn my hair off! I was scared."

"Oh?... Turn around Zaya."

A command, not a question. I did as I was told, and looked at the monster. Sinister blue eyes met my own. The top of her stubby nose crinkled, her thin lips furrowed, and her rosy cheeks bled. Her hair floated up from the ends, defying gravity. Ms. Senkaw was twice as old as my mother—looked way younger—and yet still somehow pulled off an angry adult look.

Without taking her eyes off me or speaking, she reached into the pocket of her sweater. A grey sweater that had the words "Tryxa Academy" printed squarely on it and seemed a few sizes larger than it was supposed to be. She pulled a pair of square glasses out, her hand grasping it from within the sleeve. And in a fluid motion, she opened and fixed the glasses to her face. She then pulled the end of her sleeve down to expose her right hand and used it to feel the top of my head.

"IRIS?!" Ms. Senkaw's irritated voice echoed after she patted my head.

"Yes?" She calmly answered.

"Did you try to burn off Zaya's hair?"

"No. I was just trying to straighten it for her with my magic. I don't know why she'd think that." Iris responded without a single nervous breath.

"She's lying." Darra said, appearing behind Ms. Senkaw, wearing a cute white blouse and blue trousers. She had let her square, mountain dwarf face drop into a frown–emphasizing her displeasure with crossed arms. Her dirty blonde hair fell to her shoulders, except for a single braid that almost reached her waist with a ribbon tied at its tip. The braid is a coming-of-age tradition for mountain dwarves where they cut it off once they reach adulthood. She adds the ribbon for decoration and changes its color occasionally. Today it was baby blue. Though, unfortunately, I could not comment on it right now because Iris shot back.

"No, I am not!"

"Yes, you were!" Darra and I both said. Her presence had instilled newfound courage in me.

"Nah ah. How would you even know, Darra? You weren't even here!"

"Because I know you'd do it and I trust Zaya!"

The bickering intensified between Daphne and me against Iris and her friends, until…

"Alright, alright! QUIET DOWN!" Her voice pulled every standing kid, including me, into their seats, and we turned our heads toward the magic board which now had the words she had shouted written on it. "Just be nice to each other, okay? One more peep out of any of you and you all go to the principal's office. Also, no recess today because you woke me up before the bell."

Ms. Senkaw pressed her glasses up her nose before turning around and walking back to her desk. Her soft blue hair fell slowly back down past her shoulders. The heads of my classmates turned toward me, seemingly blaming me for the punishment we had all just received. Trying to hide, I burrowed my head into the desk to avoid their stares.

My life is ruined. Maybe I should've let Iris burn off my hair, I thought with my eyes closed as the school bell went off.