Sprinkle of Magic

After a dreadful nights sleep, Maerin was actually able to pull herself out of bed with Ailbe only calling her once. "Get up and ready, Mae! I'm off for the day. Tea is on the stove still warm. Don't forget to put your uniforms in the wash when you get home. Be good and have a wonderful day, I'll be back by the time you and your Granda get done with work." Maerin nodded, even though she knew the woman couldn't see her, before she shuffled her way into the bathroom for her shower. She was out in 20 minutes. She took a few extra minutes to blow dry her hair before she put on a thick layer of eyeliner. When she was finished, she groaned loudly before she pulled on the stupid school uniform. She spiced it up, though. She stuck her new Harry Potter pin at the very end of her tie, and another on the folded over collar of her shirt. She was glad to have leggings, though. She'd felt like everyone had been staring at her, and not just because she was the new girl. She slipped her feet into the mary-janes she was forced to wear, and grabbed her bag off of the floor before she made her way downstairs.

She yawned loudly as she poured herself a cup of tea, though she barely had enough time to enjoy it. She'd slept in a little later than the previous morning, so she was a bit rushed as she slipped on her leather jacket and grabbed her car keys. She took her time driving to the school, but she still arrived early, so she simply sat in her car and enjoyed a smoke with her music blaring before she killed the engine and made her way to her locker. She threw in her jacket and bag, but grabbed out her notebook and a pen. She had plenty of time between classes, so she would just go back after Literature to get the stuff for her other classes. She took her time walking to the classroom, watching her feet as she did so, since she didn't trust herself in the stupid heels. Right before she turned into her classroom, another shoulder bumped hers, and her head whipped up, her eyes narrowed. "Watch where you're going next time, freak." Talia's laughter rang through the hallways, causing Maerin's cheeks to flush in anger. Not only did she hate being singled out by someone who'd she'd known since she was an infant, but she hated that word more than anything. She shook her head, ignoring the laughter in the hallways as she stepped into the classroom. Of course, she got a few looks from the students who were actually in there, but that was to be expected, her hair was white and purple, after all.

She made her way to the seat she'd occupied the previous day, and instantly opened up her notebook. She went to a clean page, needing a way to get her anger out without anything bad happening. She scribbled down all of her frustration, not noticing the room filling up until her teacher started taking roll call. Unlike the day before, he dove right in. "Who wasn't able to get a copy of the book last night?" Shockingly, only two hands were in the air, and the teacher provided copies for them and told them to go into the hall and read the previous nights assigned chapters. "Alright. If you read last night, you should have no problem with this." He then walked the rows of desks, setting a worksheet on each one. Maerin raised an eyebrow, looking the paper over. it was full of questions, front to back. She couldn't help but smirk. Easy A. As soon as the teacher said they could begin, Maerin's pen was on the paper. While the other students were struggling to complete just one question, the girl was rushing through them. She completed in five short minutes, and had to wait almost twenty for everyone else to finish. "Alright, not bad for time." Maerin rolled her eyes at the statement as she leaned back in her chair a bit. "Now, discussion! Why do you think Madge would have been an important asset in the movie?" Maerin's hand instantly shot up, but a certain blonde she hadn't noticed in the front had other plans. "Mr...Erm..Horan, is it?"

Niall nodded as he put his hand down. "Honestly, I don't think it matters that they left her out. They recovered from her loss by having the whole Hob scene with Katniss buying the pin, anyways." Maerin was about ready to tear her hair out. The teacher made to respond, but the girl beat him to it.

"Are you joking? Madge was the reason there was a pin. She was the only reason Katniss wasn't afraid when she volunteered for Prim!" Her voice was terse, her jaw clenched as she tried not to snap on the ignorant boy. The teacher raised his eyebrows, motioning for her to go on. "When Madge showed up in the backroom after the reaping, and gave her the pin out of pure kindness, it showed Katniss that people did actually care about what happened to a lowly girl from the poorest district in Panem. It proved to Katniss that there was something worth fighting for. She wouldn't have had the strength she did if it weren't for Madge." The teacher nodded his head in approval before he glanced at Niall, who had seemed to have turned into a mute during Maerin's rant.

"Well said, Miss Curruthers." The teacher's words were simple before he launched into a lecture about how Madge was, indeed, an asset in the book. Maerin sat in the back, notebook closed for once, with a smug smirk on her face. By the time the bell rang, everyone was in a heated argument, and Maerin was sick of hearing Niall say the same thing over and over again. She rushed out as fast as she could to get to her locker before her next class. Surprise of all surprises, Niall followed her.

"That was some class, yeah?" Maerin simply rolled her eyes as she switched out notebooks. She brushed him off, pushing past him. "Oh come on! Why do you keep ignoring me?" Again, he got no answer. He just watched the back of her purple head retreat down the hallway.

By the time P.E came around, Maerin already wanted to go home. At least she only had one more class afterwards, and it was her favorite. She rushed down the hallway, her gym clothes in her arms along with a spare lock as she pushed her way into the locker room. She inwardly groaned when she heard Talia's familiar laughter from inside. Lucky for Maerin, though, Talia and her groupies were just leaving. They pushed past Maerin, knocking her things to the ground, making the purple haired girl glare after them before she scooped up her things and ran to get changed. She picked out her locker and neatly placed her uniform inside before she changed into her tank top and shorts. She left the leggings on, though, since she didn't feel like fighting to put them on afterwards. As she stepped into the large gym, she pulled her hair into a tight bun, and groaned when she saw blue eyes looking her way. Was the boy everywhere? The teacher took roll call, then promptly put them in pairs for Badminton. Maerin got paired with her favorite person in the world, of course.

"You have to talk to me, now." Maerin's eyes rolled when Niall spoke as they picked out their rackets. She simply shook her head and went to their designated net. The other pair was already there, birdie in hand and ready to go. To Maerin's surprise, the teacher turned on a radio, loud music filling the gym before she blew her whistle for them to begin. The entire hour Maerin sang the songs she knew to herself, and she was surprised to find that she hit better when she was singing. Niall was horrible at the game. He got hit in the face twice, and had fallen even more. The final time he was hit, the birdie hit him straight in the eye.

"Curruthers! Take Horan to the infirmary." Maerin inwardly groaned but nodded to the teacher, holding out her hand for Niall, who was still on the ground, hand over his eye. He took her hand, though, letting her pull him up. As soon as he was on his feet, she let him go and led him down the hallway to the infirmary. As soon as she pushed the door open, a nurse rushed over.

"He got hit in the eye with a birdie." Maerin's comment was short and sweet, the edge still in her voice. The nurse nodded and took Niall to a cot, instructing Maerin that she could leave. She did so gladly. By the time she reached the gym, the bell was ringing, so she just went and changed back into the stupid uniform. She rushed back to her locker, stuffing her gym clothes and converse into her bag before she grabbed her jacket and bag. As soon as the strap was over her shoulder, she practically skipped to the auditorium. She took her seat, fiddling with her phone where the instructor couldn't see. She was scrolling through pictures on her Tumblr when she heard Niall sit next to her. She completely ignored him, and this time he didn't try to start a conversation. When the instructor called for warm ups and everyone stood up, Maerin caught a glance of Niall's eye, and she hissed a bit. "That looks like it feels lovely." Niall looked almost shocked that Maerin was speaking to him, and he simply nodded as the warm ups began.

"Alright! Today, we're going to decide on Senior Soloists! All of the Seniors to the front, please." Maerin groaned as she set her folder on her seat before heading up front, along with the six other Seniors, Niall included. Once everyone was in a line, the instructor had all those up front close their eyes. Maerin's eyes were closed for a good seven minutes before the instructor gave the okay for open eyes. She blinked, a bit confused, when all of the seats were empty. "Now, turn around." The line turned around, and Maerin was completely shocked. A long line had been formed behind her. Niall had the second longest, and a girl's name who she couldn't remember had the third. "It looks to me like we have our Soloists!" She clapped her hands, and everyone followed suit. Well, this will be interesting. "You must have your song picked out in two weeks. I'll search for arrangements I think will go well with your voices when you've chosen. Your first concert is the end of next month, so be prepared." The words had Maerin sucking in a breath. She would be singing. Singing in front of God knows how many people. In front of all of those people by herself. The thought sent shivers down her spine. "Now! Here's the set list for the first concert, we'll get to work straight away!" She handed each student a packet before ushering them all back to their seats.

Maerin took a second to look through the three songs they would be singing. Sweater Weather, ugh, that song wasn't her cup of tea. Say Something, that was more like it. Let It Go, also pretty good. She was impressed with the choices, minus the first one. This first concert was going to be interesting. Now she just needed to find a song for her solo, and she had absolutely no idea what she was going to do. Even while running through the songs during class, she was contemplating what to do. When the bell rang, Maerin shoved her folder into her bag and ran out the door before Niall could even stand up.

As soon as she stepped outside, she lit up a smoke and climbed into her car. She left her bag in the car, not having any homework since she'd finished it in school, and ran into the house to get changed. After shedding her uniform and pulling on a clean 'Brony' t-shirt and an old ripped pair of black skinny jeans, she scooped up the two dirty uniforms and ran them downstairs and put them in the wash. She pulled out a package of chicken from the freezer, and set it in the sink to thaw before slipping on her combat boots and heading next door. She lit up another smoke before she even crossed the road, and she finished it by the back door.

Work was a little more hectic than it had been, but Maerin didn't mind. She liked to be busy, it kept her mind and emotions at bay. As soon as they closed up the shop, Maerin and her grandfather made their way back to the house, where Ailbe was just taking her coat off. She greeted the two of them before she and Maerin went into the kitchen to make dinner. Ailbe worked on cooking some pasta, while Maerin cooked and cut the chicken and made a sauce. The dinner's conversation was almost the same as the last, minus the worry from the panic attack. "Oh! Granda! I got picked to be a Senior Soloist for our first choir concert." The pride on his face shone through as he and Ailbe pulled her into a group hug. Maerin couldn't have been happier at that moment. She stayed and helped Ailbe clean up the dishes from dinner before she dragged herself up the stairs. She was exhausted, and only hoped that sleep came to her quickly.

As soon as she pushed open her bedroom door, she knew it wouldn't. All of the breath left her in a rush when she saw the shadow hunched in the corner of the room. An odd crackling noise filled her ears, and Maerin clamped her hands over them to make it stop. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think, she didn't even know how she was able to manage the scream that escaped her lips. In no time, or what seemed like it, her grandfather was by her side, fanning her heated face. "Maerin, love, open your eyes. You're safe. There's nothing there." Maerin instantly sat up and looked to the corner of the room, but her grandfather was right, there was nothing there.

"It was there, Granda...I saw it." She whispered the words into his ear, still shaking from the experience. His eyes held worry as he nodded, standing up.

"You go on down to Ailbe, she made tea. That should calm you down." Maerin nodded and obeyed without a second thought, leaving her grandfather to stand in her doorway, staring at the corner where the shadow had been.

Maerin sipped her tea slowly, and still wasn't finished ten minutes later when her grandfather hobbled down the stairs. "All safe, Mae. No monsters." He chuckled, and Maerin tried to smile, but the memory was still too fresh in her mind. The elderly man kissed the top of her head. "Take some of your pills before you lay down, you need sleep." Maerin nodded again. She ended up dumping the rest of her tea into the sink before she rinsed out her cup and headed upstairs. She hesitantly opened her door, checking to see if it was clear before she went into the bathroom to take her sleeping pills.

While she waited for them to kick in, she changed before rushing back downstairs, putting her uniforms into the dryer. She was already getting wobbly, so she ran back up the stairs and jumped into bed only minutes before the pills took full effect and dragged her into slumber.