89Missing three wishes chapter 4
Brandon ended up canceling that meeting on me. He didn't explain why. But I was waiting outside, when his friend Jeremy walks past me, saying:
"Aww… hey… you! Brandon said for me to tell ya that he can't make it. Soz." Without another word her turned his arrogant head around and muttered something incoherent to his arrogant mates.
Who the hell says "Soz" out loud anyway?
I was pretty irritated. I'd been waited for a while now and I had already missed the bus. So I walked out the gates and started on the 20 minute walk home. I could probably use the exercise anyway.
Time passed. A week to be exact. Brandon never turned up at school. How the tables had turned. He was the sick one now. He'd been on msnonce, and told me that he'd be back at school as soon as he could. But now I had all this Black Death stuff to do by myself.
I was now sitting in my own lounge room reading Jane Austin's Sense and sensibility for English. I was supposed to finish it 2 week ago, but I just find it so boring. I mean sure, the actual plot line is fantastic, and the characters are really compelling, but just the way she writes it just puts you to sleep, doesn't it? I'm certainly no fan of all these old dead writers.
To my left I heard the front door open, and I saw my Mum walk in, holding a bag in one hand, and bunch of mail in the other.
"Ally you got a letter," mum said in monotone. I jumped up from the couch, frankly ecstatic to be away from the book, and grabbed it off her. I read the writing on the thick, yellowed envelope
Aliya Bishara,
6 Dally Pl, Counand
2433
Without hesitating I opened it and read the neat cursive writing, which was scrawled across the old yellowed paper.
Dear Miss Bishara,
I am Lucinda Walsheil, Head of Magical Education at the International Control of the Supernatural Agency (ICSA). We assume that you are aware of your circumstance, and we merely wish to point out the details of what it entails.
Now that you have come of age, it is compulsory for you to now attend magical training as to ensure that your compulsory birth right as a magical being is fulfilled. This will include three years of education, and service to the human race that we assume you have been informed of.
Your first schooling year shall begin in two weeks time on the Tuesday 23rd of August. You are to meet your tutors and your fellow students at 6.30pm at 243 Forum Rd, Sydney, and shall leave at midnight. There you shall be informed of upcoming training sessions.
It is a compulsory tradition that you buy a harem outfit for your training. You can access the prescribed style at 92 Forum rd, Sydney "Bahiya's Harem costumes" . We suggest that you acquire it as soon as possible.
As you have no other living magical beings in your immediate, or extended family you have the right to request an ICSA representative to guide you when you go to buy your uniform. Similarly if you haveany questions regarding any addressed, or unaddressed matters in this letter, you can contact us using the phone number written on the back of this page. There you can ask to speak to a representative, or ask to havea representative sent.
Lastly, inside the envelope we have encased a prescribed amount of the solid Hayatashia element that we advise you to touch once every hour of the day, for 30 seconds, and 1.5 mins before you sleep. Any more than this ICSA prescribed amount is prohibited by the department of Hayatashia limitation, and is punishable via fines from 6000 Australian dollars, or imprisonment.
We wish you the best in your education.
Yours sincerely,
Lucinda Walsheil, Head of the Magical Education Department at ICSA.
The letter immediately sparked a few questions in my mind. I sped into the kitchen to find Cantara in her wheelchair, drinking a glass of water.
"I just got a letter," I muttered.
Cantara's face turned a little white. "Ah. Well I suppose you have some questions."
"uh, yeah!" I spluttered. "You have been giving me daily doses of Hayatashia for a week
I had hardly even listened to her answer, as the more important question had sparked in my mind.
"And another thing, why do you not count as a living relative?!"
"Excuse me?" Cantara replied. I shoved the letter at her, an exasperated burrow in my eyes. Cantara studied it, until she came across the right paragraph. Her breathe shook a little, as she realized what I was asking. She put the old yellowed paper onto the table.
"I cannot reveal too much information to you Aliya. I can only tell you the least you need to know. And… the least you need to know is that according to the ICSA I died a long time ago. And it needs to stay that way. You may not speak about me to anybody you will meet. This is crucial. Do you understand?"
These words clashed and bounded across my mind, as I attempted to make sense of them.
Cantara was on the run?
Oh. My. God.
I stared in horror at my mother as she held up my new "school uniform" – if you could even call it that! It looked like something you would see in a Brothel! Even the genie costumes in my dreams weren't as bad as this one! In my dream at least the poofy pants weren't see though! I mean, I'd seen these types of costumes only in movies, and envied the girls who had the bodies to pull it off – I never thought I would be in this situation.
Mum clearly noticed my horror. "What's wrong honey?" she asked moving the outfit towards me. I took a step back.
"You – You can't seriously expect me to wear that!" I spluttered.
"Ally! It's just a harem costume!" she argued "Its tradition!"
"The pants are see-through!"
"Yes but there's underwear to cover-"
"Oh god mum stop!" I huffed.
"Aliya." She said sternly, glancing around. Just try it on."
I took a big huff, and reluctantly grabbed the rags of material and walked towards the change room. Once in there I pulled on the top and pants. I took a deep breath, afraid of what was coming, before I looked at myself in the mirror.
I looked like a fat prostitute.
The transparent emerald green pants made my legs look even larger! I had a muffin top exploding out the top of them. My stomach hung loosely in a very unattractive manner, and the top was too big to hold my boobs in properly. I had no idea what to do with the 20 or so sashes that were in here with me.
"Ally honey? How is it?" Mum inquired.
"uhh… I think I need a smaller sized top. And bigger sized pants." I replied.
"Well let me be the judge of that" Bahiya stated. "Come on out"
I took one more look in the mirror, attempted to push in my muffin top, sucked in my stomach and walked through the red velvet curtain towards the adults in the store.
"Hmm…" Bihiya, the shop lady pondered, playing with the straps. "Yes a smaller top is necessary. Or actually if we just took this in here…"
She pulled the back strap of the top in, so that my breasts pushed together creating very noticeable cleavage.
"Yes… yes that's better! We'll take that in"
"Bu- But I already look like a hoar as it is…" I muttered.
"A genie must be dressed in proper harem attire," Bihiya stated. "And it is customary that they-"
"dress in transparent pants?" I asked.
"Ally…" mum gave me an exasperated look.
When I got home I ran upstairs, carrying my new harem outfit with me. I swung my bedroom door open, and slammed it closed as I rushed into my room. I immediately grabbed an old flat cardboard box from under my dresser, knelt on the floor and threw all my new items into it. The skanky top, the poofy transparent pants, the uncomfortable curled shoes, and all the sashes were all crumpled and crammed into the small space. I pushed it underneath my bed, where I didn't have to see it again until I began my training.
I huffed, and stood up, accidentally stumping my toes on my side table, making me fall back down with a large thump, hitting my head on the floor.
"Ow" I muttered, now with tears in my eyes from the pain. I sat up, rubbing my head to stop it from hurting, and breathed. I spotted my beautiful blue bottle on my dresser. Its stunning elaborated patterns brightly outshone the rest of my dull, messy room.
How am I ever going to pull this off?
It seemed to be a normal Tuesday afternoon. It seemed as though I was at school. It seemed I should not be paying attention in class. It seemed I should be finishing off homework in lunchtime. It seemed I should be getting detentions for having paint on my uniform. It seemed as though it should be happening. Maybe it was. I couldn't even tell. This Tuesday I was hardly there. My mind wasn't present. It had been scared away by the blind butterflies that pushed and rammed in my stomach. Why?
Because today was, as Cantara described it "The first day of the rest of my life". It sounds cliché and silly, I know. I've heard that expression a million times before. But it's different now. It applies to me.
Today is my first ever genie lesson.
I was in 6th period, sitting up straight, staring straight ahead. Thinking back on it now, I must have looked rather odd. But at that moment I was too preoccupied with controlling my shaking hands to let it bother me. I began to play with my long dark hair and I contemplated what I was in for. I watched the clock tick slowly, now showing only minutes until I would go home, and get ready for "the first day of the rest of my life".
Suddenly I felt a nudge in my side. I jumped a little and I was sprung out of my own thoughts, back into the room. Looking to my side I saw Danni giving me a worried glance and she slid a small folded piece of paper towards me. Still a bit out of it, it took me a second to process that she was passing me a note. I opened it and read her neat cursive writing:
Are you Ok?
I hesitated, staring at the words for a moment, deciding what to write. Before grabbing my pen and replying:
No.
The bell rang loudly the moment I passed it back to her. I immediately grabbed my folder and rushed out of the classroom, ignoring Danni's voice calling my name.
We had been driving for over an hour – but it still didn't seem long enough. My breathing quickened as the car pulled up at the building. It was a dark red and black building with ancient Arabian style architecture. The same street where I had bought the harem outfit, which I now wore underneath the sanctuary of my winter coat, except much further down. It has on the front sign in that same language I didn't recognize. I knew that this was the school. I gave one more glance to my parents, and saw the fake enthusiasm on their smiles, and the genuine worry in their eyes.
"Well… good luck." Dad said.
"Aren't you coming with me?" I asked, feeling my heartbeat speeding.
"We're human, honey." Mum stated. "We're not allowed."
"Magical beings only" my dad added.
It made me feel very disjointed from my parents to hear them say it like that. I felt like I wasn't their daughter anymore.
I forced myself to breathe normally, and I wrapped my coat tighter around myself, as I stepped out into the cold twilight air. I glanced towards my parents, and then walked towards the building, moving up the stairs towards the large, brown doors. Looking at them I could tell that they had the potential to be very beautiful. But the lack of care, and cleaning made them to appear old and dirty.
I pushed the small golden handle, and pulled the heavy door open and took a step inside. I heard the rumble of our car, pulling away.
It was gone.
I gathered myself and walked into a long elaborate hallway. Similarly to the outside it looked as though it had the potential to be very beautiful. There was a long golden embodied rug stretching all the way to the long thin hallway to a small staircase with an elaborate side rail. The walls were painted with delicate calligraphy in the unknown language, with small pictures of people in patches around them. I began to cough slightly from the dust.
"Hello?" I croaked down the hallway. I heard a ruffle from a small archway to the left. Out of it appeared a stunningly beautiful female genie. She had beautiful black hair that curled around itself down to her waist. She wore a gray, off the shoulder top, much more elaborately embroidered than my own, and she had a dark purple gas tail that slithered down to a few centimeters above the ground. I watched in awe as her small dark eyes widened in a disapproving, but friendly gaze.
"Aliya Bishara?" she asked with a heavy Arabian accent, much like my aunt's.
The threatening lump in my throat wouldn't permit me to speak. I stared for a second before giving a small frantic nod.
"Well, You're late" she smiled. I didn't move.
"My name is Huda. I am one of your tutors." She said extending her hand. I cautiously shook it.
"Don't worry; I am new here as well." Huda said, seeing my panic "I just began this year. I'm sure we'll figure it out together. Well come along. I'll introduce you to the other girls" she said beckoning me into the room. I carefully followed her, and stepped in to an old, dusty red and gold room. The wall patterns of the hallway had been repeated here, but were covered by enormous elaborately embroidered tapestries. All throughout the room there were red and gold cushions, sashes and pots. Every single item however was dusty, except for a group of cushions in a circle in the centre, where 8 other girls sat.
"Aliya, sorry but, I'm afraid I'm going to haveto ask you to remove your coat." Huda said sternly. "It is not proper uniform"
Instinctively I clutched it tighter around myself. I could see all the other girls waiting expectantly at me. I slowly unwrapped myself from my coat, and revealed myself in my harem outfit.
"You may leave it in the corner, dear" Huda said, walking towards the centre where the other girls sat. I did as she said, and followed her as gracefully as I could. I took a seat in a spare cushion, and wrapped my arms around myself to cover my stomach.
Looking around I felt so out of place. Each and every one of these other girls looked stunning in their outfits. The girl next to me looked as though she could very easily be a supermodel. Across from the circle I saw a girl with dead straight, reddish brown hair, and lightly tanned skin look at me, and then whisper something to a petite, very dark girl next to her. The both giggled, causing me to pull my arms in tighter.
"Shhh... Fadilah, Haifa, be quiet now" Huda said, addressing the two girls. "Welcome everybody, to Amtullah's Magical Educational House for Girls. Today I will mainly be introducing you to the house, and what we shall be learning in the next year. I'm sure we shall all come to be good friends." she said with a smile.
"Now, we only have a year to teach you all the rules, traditions and magical basics of genie work – It shall be hard work. We will be meeting up to thrice a week, depending on how fast you progress. Now to begin..." she trailed off. She brought her hands in towards her chest, her eyes clouded in a dark shade of grey. She then flung her hands outwards, and in front of my eyes a piece of paper appeared, and floated down to my lap. I gasped a little from the shock – that was only the second time I had ever seen proper magic. I noticed most of the girls seemed perfectly relaxed and content about it. I noticed only two others to have the same reaction as I did – One was a tall girl with short, dyed blond hair, and the other was a plain skinny girl, with shoulder length black hair, and with noticeably lighter skin than the rest of the darkly tanned girls in the room.
I returned my attention to the piece of paper we had been given:
Amtullah's Magical Educational House for Girls Curriculum.
Accepted by the International Control of the Supernatural Agency, Education department representative, Lucinda Walsheil.
SUBJECTS:
(Subject, Outcomes, Teacher)
General Magic 4 Units– Creation and Control, Hayatashia basics- Huda
Wish granting 2 Units– The rules of wish making and wish granting, master numbers and wish deciphering. -Saihah
Culture and History 2 Units– Traditions, Foreign cultures, Pre-Liberation of genie's, Liberation of genie's, Post-Liberation of genie's, modern magical history -Nasiha
Dance 1 Unit– Belly and Harem dance, fitness - Buthayna
Manner and Elegance 1 Unit – Genie presentation, politeness and respect - Fatinah
Language 1 Unit– Arabic (Reading, Writing, Speaking), Relevance - Rawiyah
On the other side there was a timetable of what subjects would be learning each week. Huda gave us a moment to read through the sheet. I was shocked – only one of the subjects actually had anything to do with performing magic! Oh, and not to mention dance. And I had to do dancing?! Me?!
"All right girls, I trust you have all read through the sheet thoroughly by now, so put it aside." Huda said, "Now is our chance to get to know one another. Now there are 9 girls here all up, and I'm sure you all have a lot in common, and all have your own uniqueness you wish to share. Now is the chance for us to discover the similarities and differences."
I was beginning to realise that Huda was one of those over-enthusiastic, "I love everybody" teachers. I wasn't sure just how I felt about that.
"Alright who wants to go first at telling us all about yourself" Huda offered. As I expected nobody put up their hands. I saw Huda's smile slowly fade.
"Well come on girls!" she persisted. I felt sorry for the poor woman. First day on the job and all. So to help her I slowly raised my hand.
"Ah yes, Aliya!" Huda noticed, beaming again. "Well off you go. Just start with your name"
"Err..." I stuttered looking around the circle at all the beautiful girls. "We-Well my names Aliya. Aliya Bishara. Um... I'm 16..."
"Please, we're all 16" moaned the reddish haired girl across the circle with a smirk.
"Fadilah, please" Huda frowned. I continued.
'Um... well I live in Counand, which is... well about an hour away from here, so. Yeah I'm – I'm pretty close. Um... I go to St Perpetua's College... I'm in year 10..." I began to loose my train of thought, frantically trying to think of things to say. "We-Well... I only actually found out that I was a... you know... genie about 4 weeks ago, so I guess its fair to say -"
I was suddenly cut off by the dark skinned girl named Haifa, who was sitting next to Fadilah. "What?! You only found out four weeks ago?" she said, shocked.
"Wow!" exclaimed the supermodel girl next to me. "I thought I had it bad and I found out a year ago!"
"Pfft. Please, I've known my whole life" another girl scoffed.
There was suddenly a lot of chatter amongst me. My cheeks burnt even more – if that is at all possible. Huda began to shush the girls, and then gestured for me to continue. I cleared my throat before continuing
"So… yeah, I guess its fair to say that I'm a little… you know, nervous about this whole thing…" I stuttered as each of the girl's eyes burnt into mine. "Uh… yeah but I'm… I'm eager to learn…" The dust made me cough slightly, so I cleared my throat again.
"I… I enjoy things like netball… um, reading… and yeah that's… that's about it."
God I'm pathetic.
After that each of the girls got up one by one, and each and every one of them had something much more interesting to say about themselves than "I like netball and reading". Most of them had exceptional talent. They could sing, or they could draw, or they were involved in a number of charities.
For the rest of the night we talked about each subject and what it entailed. Most of them sounded okay… expect for dance of course. I'm sure it shall be amusing to see how I handle myself there. Well… amusing for the rest of the girls at least.
By the end of the night I pretty much had a good idea of who all the girls were, and what clichéd role they would play in the class.
Fadilah and Haifa were the stunningly beautiful and talented girls that looked down upon everybody else. I suppose their cliché would be "Bitchy beauties"
Husniyah, Leila and Najiba were all the more uptight and serious girls who enjoyed the idea of performing magic, and looked forward to learning it. "Nerds" maybe?
Mira (The tall girl with bright dyed blonde hair), Shidilah (The supermodel girl), and Yasmin (Pale girl with long black hair) were all appeared quite nervous that night – So I had a hard time determining what they were. But it appeared to me as though they were just the "Normals".
And then there was me. Outside of the circle. No real place, no real need, no real direction. A piece of the puzzle that has no place. A bird confined to the depths of the ocean, where all the water-beings back away.
I'll suffocate alone.
A/N: Well I hope you all enjoyed chapter 4! Once again, being me I took wayyyy to long to write it. Lol. But with good reason – I have been suffering from some major writers block! You know how it is. Plus I'm in my HSC year now! For those who you who don't know what that means, it means I'm in my final year of school. WHERE EVERYTHING COUNTS TOWARDS EVERYTHING! So no more slacking off for me! So you'll haveto forgive me for my long absence between chapters. But my summer holidays start up in a few weeks! So you can expect my updates to be a bit more frequent! One every 3 weeks maybe? Two weeks if I feel like it :D
So yessss some cool things in this chapter. Cantara is on the run, Aliya got a harem costume and she had her first day of training! And found that she didn't fit in. Sighhh… poor girl.
In response to everybody's reviews I've gotten some very positive comments about my characters. Particularly Aliya. I think a lot of people can relate to her. I mean, not withthe whole genie part obviously but withher general emotions and issues with self-image, self-esteem, belonging, change etc.
I'vebeen a little worried with people thinking Aliya is like a spoilt brat or something. I've had one reviewer say that, and it sorta shocked me. I don't think Aliya is a brat at all! I just think she's a normal insecure teenage girl. What do you readers think? What do you like about Aliya? Do you relate to her? Do you consider her to be a brat?
Second thing I'vegotten a lot of positive comments about is plot development. I'm glad! I've got soooo many ideas! I'll tell you something really annoying though: About 2 weeks ago I came up with the BEST idea! I can't say what it is obviously. But its annoying coz I think it's a little to late to put it in. I feel like it should have been mentioned already. But still, I'll see if I can slip it carefully into the story. If not, I'll just have rewrite the earlier chapters. And that would be a hassle considering how long it takes me to write them! Haha!
Anyway this has been a rather long Authors Note. I wonder if anybody actually reads these things… I do on other peoples stories. I think it gives you more insight personally. Anyway I'm gonna shut up now.
Thankyou to all of my lovely readers! Constructive criticism is always welcome!
oh and btw, i'm not sure why but fictionpress keeps being weird and cutting out random spaces or letters. So if you see any two words where i've accidently left out the space in between, or a word spelt with a really obvious letter missing, its just fictionpress being retarded.
xoxox groovi