(Knock. Knock. Knock.)

“Meli! Lily! Wake up!” I woke up to the sound of knocking on my door. I looked over at my phone which sat on the nightstand next to my bed. Running my hand over my face I rolled out of bed moaning.

“It’s only noon.” When I opened the door Cara burst through. “Sigh.” Closing the door I walked over to Meli’s bed and plopped down on it. Meli kicked me and sat up not happy to be awake. Standing in the middle of the room with a book and the scroll in hand Cara started flipping through the book.

“So I went to the library this morning and I was looking up names and meanings on the computer when baby names popped up. So I checked the library and they had a baby book of names and meanings.”

“Okay so what does it say?”

“Well the first name is flower.” She opened the baby book of names and flipped through it. “Names with the meanings of flowers, Lily is one of those names. Hayden means heathen, Cara means friend and Meli means honeybee, Gavin means white hawk and Chase means huntsman.” She listed all of our names and the meanings to them. This is so weird.

“Well we don’t know anyone named Chase so it can’t be us.” I said clinging on to the thinnest string.

“Let’s just say it is us how are we going to beat the big bad goddess?” Meli asked, none of us had a clue.

“Sigh. I’ll text Hayden and have him and Gavin meet us at our beach.” After I texted Hayden, Meli and I got dressed and headed out with Cara. We took the staircase from the dorm room down to the north hall and walked down it until we found the back north east hall that led to a door that took you outside the back of the school. On our way down the north hall Meli bumped into something and almost fell. After a moment she found herself wrapped in something warm and hard. She opened her eyes to find what she had bumped into was a boy and that he had caught her from falling.

“Are you okay?” the boy asked Meli nodded her head.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for running into you.”

“Oh no, it’s my fault I was coming out of the office and wasn’t watching where I was walking.” Meli looked down and realized that the boy was still holding her.

“Um. I’m grateful for you catching me in all, but would you mind letting go now. I’m kind of in a hurry.” The boy let go and with a shy smile scratched his head.

“So where you headed?”

“Um… my friends are waiting for me.” Meli pointed and he looked behind him. We waved at him and I swear he turned red. Meli started walking towards us when he grabbed her arm.

“You ah never told me your name.” She smiled and pulled away from him. Walking backwards towards us she told him.

“Meli. My names Meli.” Turning her back to him she started to walk with us.

“Okay who was he?” Cara and I asked once we walked out the back door.

“I don’t know. I didn’t get his name.” we teased her the whole time we walked to our beach.

“You like him don’t you. You blushed when he caught you from falling.”

“I just met him how can I like him?”

“Chemistry.” Cara and I said at the same time. We walked through the fields and into the woods until we found our little spot. The guys were already waiting for us. Cara told them what we had figured out his morning. How all the meanings given match up with our names. When she finished explaining everything the guys looked dumbfounded.

“So where supposed to be this foretold group of teen witches that saves the world from an evil goddess?” Gavin said

“That sounds like a bad movie.” Hayden murmured. Gavin stood up from the spot he had been sitting in and walked into the ocean until he as knee deep. “If this is all true than what do we do now? Find some guy named Chance and whatever wind, earth and water people are and fight this goddess gone mortal?” Hayden asked. I shrugged, I have no idea.

“I wish we could just call the Goddess and talk to her ourselves.” Cara said and Meli blushed for the second time today.

“Um… there is a way we can talk to the Goddess.” We all looked at her and waited for her to explain.

“Well how do we talk to her?” Cara asked when Meli didn’t continue. Meli looked down at her hands and started playing with her fingers.

“Well, you know I’m a physic walker. Part of being a walker means I can commune with spirits, control healing energy, and contact and talk with the god and goddesses.” We all stared at her with our mouths hanging open. Gavin cleared his throat.

“Um… I have something to tell you guys too.” He kicked the water a little. “I’m what you call a weaver. I can bring the spiritual world and the physical world together, I can also do… I guess an easy way to put it is everyday magic.”

“What do you mean?” Cara asked. Gavin looked down into the water.

“I don’t need spells.” He bent down and put his hands in the water cupping them so he brought a little back up. The puddle of water that sat in his hands started to move forming a sphere. Without saying a word the ball of water started to float in his hands.

“What else can you do?” I asked amazed. He shrugged,

“Little tricks, nothing fancy. I haven’t really practiced it.”

“So… how do we commune with the goddess?” Hayden asked. Both Gavin and Meli shrugged.

“Will have to look into it.” Gavin said. Meli nodded in agreement. “Give us a few days to come up with something.” With that Meli and Gavin headed back to the school. Cara left shortly after leaving Hayden and me alone. We sat next to each other in the sand looking out over the water.

“You know we haven’t been alone like this since we got here.” Hayden said without looking at me. I sighed.

“I miss it.” I said to him. Hayden picked up my hand and fingered my bracelet.

“You still wear this?”

“Of course I do. You gave it to me, I never take it off.” Hayden caught my hand in his and let our clasped hands rest in the sand. This is my happy place, sitting here with him. He’s so easy to be with, I don’t know how I would have gotten through life without him. If this whole thing with the goddesses is real, I’m glad Hayden is a part of it. After a while we headed back into the school, when we walked through the school doors we let our hands drop and we parted ways. On my way back to my room I stopped in the dining hall to grab a snack; paper bag in hand I walked back down the hall and up to my dorm. I tried to keep everything out of my head for now.

When I got to my room I pulled out my Magick work book and started on my homework. How to mix different types of incense.

“Okay what I need?” juniper berries, dried dandelion root, dried nettle, dried red clover flowers, blue cohosh root and cloves. “I’ve never even heard of half of these.” I pulled out the map I have of the school. “Where do I go to find herbs?” I pulled out my map to see if it would show me a place to go, most of the map showed the inside of the castle. I looked over the parts of the grounds thinking that I might be able to find something in the gardens. On the outskirts of the map I found a small building that was labeled greenhouse. Folding up the map I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my list of ingredients and headed out.

I had to go out through the front door and walk through the lower field until it turned into grass. About a mile into the grassy field I found a brick walkway, I followed it up to a big glass greenhouse. When I walked through the door I was amazed. When you first walk through the front door your standing on a balcony with a stone fence that followed down the steps. A small river ran through the middle of the green house. Trees grew in the back, rows of flowers, herbs and some things I didn’t recognize swirled in different patterns around the glass house. A small sign was placed at the end of the steps. “You’re free to come and go as you please, but only take what you need. Don’t frighten or bother the pixies, they can be quite mean.” I had to read the sign twice because I couldn’t believe it. “Pixies really?”

I started walking around the green house looking for the stuff that was on my list. I took a small bag that was hanging on the far wall to carry my ingredients in. I found the juniper berries on a small bush, I picked five berries and placed them in my bag. They looked like blueberries only they have a lighter color. Next was the dried dandelion root. I was surprised when I found it sitting out in a large wooden basket. I grabbed one and moved on, next was nettle which looks like a weed with a tall stalk and little white flowers. Next is the red clover, than cloves. I picked a little of both before closing the bag and putting it into my pocket. On my way out I passed a bunch of beautiful flowers. There were only five petals on each bud and they were bright pink. I read the sign on that was sticking out of the dirt.

“Wild Pink Plumeria.” It’s beautiful, reaching up I picked one of the beautiful flowers and held it up to my nose so I could smell it. Hum it kind of smells like plums. With a smile and a pip in my step I started to head out. It took a second but I started to feel something hitting and scratching me, pulling my hair and cutting me. Panicked I started to run knocking things over on my way out of the green house. Running up the steps I pushed my way out through the front door and closed it was fast as I could. I looked at the glass door, a little hand sized person with long black hair, pointy ears, big brown eyes and pale skin. She wore a white dress with knee high socks and lowers in her hair. She’s angry, yelling and beating agents the door. It wasn’t that she was angry or that she was only the size of my palm. It was her wings. They almost looked transparent with how fast they were moving. I stared at her for what seemed like a long time. After a while she calmed down and left.