Chapter Text
"AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!"
Willow stirred at the sound of her alarm, moaning as she pulled her pillow on top of her head to muffle the ear-piercing screaming. She cast a spell circle to summon a vine to put her alarm on snooze, then returned to the peaceful world of dreams.
"AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!"
Set the alarm for snooze.
"AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!"
Set it to snooze again.
"AUUUUUGGGGHHHH!"
Set it to snooze yet again.
Willow soon felt some gentle nudging. She peered open her wary eyes, seeing her father, Gilbert. "Sweetie, come on. You gotta get up. It's time for school."
Willow tiredly whined, "I don't want to go…"
Gilbert sighed. "I know, I know, but you have to, sweetheart."
"I know…" Willow moaned, "Just… five more minutes."
Gilbert waved Harvey in, as Willow was being extra difficult today. "You already snoozed through thirty minutes of alarms, Willow! You barely have time for breakfast now!"
Willow huffed, slowly pulling herself out of bed. Gilbert and Harvey sighed in relief, heading downstairs. Willow went to the bathroom and put on her deep green Hexside uniform. She had to admit seeing the green sleeves and leggings made her feel grateful every time she wore it. Willow couldn't imagine where she’d be if she was still wasting away in abominations. She never would've reconnected with Amity or created the Emerald Entrails, and she never would've met Hunter.
Willow's heart skipped a beat at the thought of him. She had really fallen for Hunter within the past month, now knowing just how much he cared for her. She literally meant the world to him. No one had ever told Willow that. He was really handsome, too, and that voice… that adorable voice. She could listen to it all day.
Snapping out of her trance, Willow neatly braided her hair; the lessons from Amity have been really useful. She made for her usual flower hairpin but decided against it, knowing that she had been wearing it for a while already. She decided to put on a different hairpin, a yellow heart. Willow smiled upon seeing it sitting in her hair as it was a gift from Hunter.
Willow came out and walked downstairs, looking up as Harvey came to her, "You can take a Hexers Bar, right?" he said, handing her one. "You're about to be late."
Willow sadly smiled. "Yeah, I can. Thanks, papa."
Gilbert walked up to Willow. "Hey, I know school isn't the most fun thing in the world, but try to think positively. Hunter is going to attend as soon as next week. That should spice things up a bit."
Willow blushed at the sound of that. "Yeah, it'd be nice to have him around." But she immediately frowned again, "Ever since school started, I've barely had time to see him. He's stuck at home, and we're all at school. Gus and I are busy with Flyer Derby, and Amity and Luz are busy rebuilding the Isles. I'm lucky I had time to schedule a sleepover tonight."
Harvey grinned, "And lucky you are, he'll be a great boyfr-." Gilbert angrily nudged Harvey, "I mean, and lucky you are, he's your best friend."
Willow happily blushed, thinking of the idea that Hunter could be more than just her friend one day.
"Oh Titan, look at the time!" Gilbert cried. "You're gonna be late if you don't fly off right now!"
"You forget I'm the Flyer Derby Captain, Dad." Willow chuckled, summoning Clover, "I'm a speed demon. Bye!"
"Goodbye, Willow!" Her dads said in unison; their happy chorus ringing until Willow was out of their door.
Willow flew as fast as she could to Hexside without straining Clover, soon arriving at the plaza. She checked the time, seeing that she made up five minutes during her flight. That was great, as it gave her just enough time to eat a Hexers Bar before class. Willow happily munched on one while heading to her first class of the day, ‘The History of Wild Magic.’ She faintly smiled, knowing Hunter would love this class when he started coming here. She hoped she would have the same period as him.
After Wild Magic class was over, Willow went to her next class, ‘The Study of Saplings and Seeds,’ in the plant homeroom. Willow went to her usual spot and began tending to her cupid-rose flower she had grown. Cupid-roses represented the everlasting love between joyfriends, and only the most powerful plant witches could grow them. Even with her powerful magic, Willow had struggled for ages to try and grow this flower, but earlier that week, she finally had accomplished it. All it took was for her to think about Hunter while trying to grow one, and it finally bloomed before her eyes. Willow couldn't have been prouder of herself, and she often admired it in her class.
However, there was another student in that class.
Amelia.
Amelia was Boscha's closest friend, and she had noticed that Willow had grown a cupid-rose and seemed to admire it. More than a usual witch would or should. Was it possible that Willow had a crush on someone? That was certainly some nice, hot tea she could share with Boscha. However, first, Amelia needed more information before she could spill the beans. She needed to find out what unfortunate witch had the curse of being Willow's crush. Amelia kept a close eye on Willow, hoping to find clues.
Eventually, Mr. Thornhill came into the class. "Hello, everyone. Today, we will attempt to grow a tree from nothing but its seed. The bigger and healthier the tree is, the higher I will grade you. We'll start with Amelia, then go down alphabetically." Willow knew that this would be easy peasy for her. She could grow an entire vine system from a seed, even back when she was an abomination student. This would be no problem. Willow counted each student until it was her turn, ready to do her best, "Alright, Willow. Please make this seed grow big and strong."
Willow cast a spell circle above the seedling, not realizing she had cast a somewhat large spell circle. The seedling exploded into a massive tree, shooting up straight through the ceiling. Everyone gasped, and Willow slapped her hands over her mouth, her face turning bright red.
Mr. Thronhill's jaw dropped, "Well, I did say make the seed big and strong… but maybe don't break the ceiling next time."
"I…I didn't mean to cast such a powerful spell-" Willow uttered, her voice muffled from her hands.
"Well, you did do the assignment exactly as I asked, despite the damage… A-."
Willow buried her face in her hands. Not even an A+. Titan, this was going to spread throughout the school like wildfire . It was only a matter of time before Boscha and her gang found out.
Amelia, being there as a witness, was shocked to see such a show of force. It was certainly impressive and far beyond what she likely would ever achieve with her own magic. Amelia thought about asking Willow for help on her homework, but then she slapped herself in the cheek. Amelia had to think about this from Boscha's perspective.
How would Boscha see this?
How would Boscha turn this around on Willow?
…She would see this as a witch who still couldn't control her magic. A witch whose magic was out of control. A witch's magic that needed to be contained.
Later that day, Willow left her third-period class to head to lunch. As she walked, she worried about everyone surrounding her. She felt like everyone was looking at her. Like everyone was talking behind her back. That every laugh was a laugh making fun of her.
Willow felt a tug on her cowl, turning around to see the last person she wanted to see.
The three-eyed menace, Boscha.
Boscha smirked, "So I heard about your little incident today..."
Willow narrowed her eyes. "Oh, of course, you already heard about it. Amelia told you, didn't she?"
"How I get my tea is none of your beeswax, Willow." Boscha retorted, "I thought you'd know that since your palisman is a freaky bee."
"You're one to talk with your crabby palisman." Willow refuted.
"Hey, Maya is flawless, and she could beat your stupid bee in Flyer Derby any day." Boscha teased.
"Can you just leave me alone?" Willow growled. "I'm hungry, and I'd like to go to lunch!"
'I just think someone in your position should know how to control your magic." Boscha went on, not even phased by what Willow had just said, "You can't have a Flyer Derby game where you can't control your spells. That's how you lose, and that's how your team falls apart, and that's how you ultimately fail. As all witches of your kind do."
"You know what I think, Boscha?" Willow growled, putting her foot down. "You don't have any idea how close my friends and I are! Our team has gotten through the toughest of times; we even got through the apocalypse! And look at you; you can barely hold your own team together! You have already lost two members in the past year, while I am about to gain one next week! So why don't you shut your mouth, you judgmental, three-eyed, overzealous witch!"
Boscha gazed down at Willow, seemingly unfazed. "There you go again, trying to justify your sad, worthless, sorry self," she insulted. "And guess what? You know what I think, Willow?"
"What do you think?" Willow growled, "What do you think?!" she cried. "What could you possibly think?!"
"I think you should've stayed in abominations and worked hard to eventually succeed," Boscha taunted with a smirk. "You may have actually become respectable if you actually tried, but, no, instead, you took the loser's way out and switched to plants. Need I remind you it's one of the lesser tracks? That there are far less opportunities there? You may think you worked hard, but all you truly did was quit, and if one thing has stayed the same all these years, it's that whether you suck at magic or are 'good' at it, you still cannot control it, and nothing fits the definition of half-a-witch more than that."
Willow felt like she was stung by a thousand firebees. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out.
Boscha smirked, happy that she had gotten the powerful, petty, and vengeful Willow to shut her mouth. Now, she had an opening. She rushed over and dug in Willow's pocket, taking out her lunch money, "HEY!" Willow shouted. She went to take it back when Boscha pulled out a potion and slammed it on the ground, disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Willow growled, her eyes glowing green as thorns began growing out of the ground, "That JERK!"
Willow had struggled through the rest of her day. Not only with surviving off the little her friends could spare for her to have any lunch, but that insult from Boscha had really cut deep. For the whole day, it was all she could think about.
"You may think you worked hard, but all you truly did was quit, and if one thing has stayed the same all these years, it's that whether you suck at magic or are powerful at it, you still cannot control it, and nothing fits the definition of half-a-witch more than that."
She always tried to ignore Boscha, knowing she shouldn't listen to the words of a petty bully who wanted nothing more than to ruin her day… but those words stuck to her very core, and it had effectively ruined her day.
But Willow tried to look on the bright side. She thought of Hunter… and at least she still had the sleepover to go to. At least her day would get better when she spent time with him. Hunter was starting school soon, and she knew he would love it at Hexside.
She just… had to wait for the school day to be over.