I’m in my backyard again, but I didn’t collapse upon entry. However, I was pumped up on adrenaline. Suppose that’s what happens when you fight someone all hopped on magic. Everything was tingling. I let out a shaky breath. Calm down. You’re back home, not fighting a dude with a gun. I take this time to inspect my costume in greater detail.

I have to admit, I actually really like it. I’m a huge Harry Potter nerd, so I enjoy wearing something reminiscent of that. The only thing I don’t like is the blinding silver of the cloak. I’m going to have to keep it reversed if I don’t want to bring attention to myself. Speaking of which…

“Shit… I just stopped a crime… in costume. And teleported afterwards. In front of PEOPLE.” There is no way this isn’t going to be on the news. And everyone will recognise me, and know I can do magic, oh god… What will my Mum think? She’ll freak! Or Tara! I never told her about this! She’d probably be so upset.

Ok now I’m guilt tripping myself. Stop it, Tara’s probably getting back from school any minute now. With my clone. I’ll just wait out here until I can switch back. I want to go to sleep. Christ, I’m tired. I’ll see if the book has something about it later, but now, procrastination.

-+= Later that evening =+-

Apparently I’m a traitor to my mother. Just because I wanted party pies AND sausage rolls instead of just party pies like my Mum expected. And she got upset that Dad had got one up her. I knew she wasn’t really upset though, because she put on this high-pitched voice that she uses whenever she’s being dramatic on purpose. Of course, it didn’t help when I started laughing, causing her to be even more dramatic.

The conversation ended up with me basically bent double over the edge of the sink, tears falling freely, and holding my stomach in pain. I still laugh whenever I think about it.

However, it seems the drama wasn’t done for the night. The news had been on for a while now, and I hadn’t been mentioned, so I thought it wasn’t going to come up. If only I was that lucky…

“Girls, come look at this!” Tara and I exchange a look, not knowing what’s going on, and walk to the lounge room.

“What’s up?” I ask as I look to the TV and see a full body image of myself on the news. The caption reads in bold ‘Superhero imitator causes an uproar in London.’ Alright, that’s uncalled for. I let out a huff of annoyance and turn my focus to a journalist reporting on the story.

“… stopped the criminal by force, leaving him to be apprehended by police. She didn’t stick around long after that however, opting to answer only a single question before seemingly disappearing into thin air. This footage was taken by an Australian tourist who had filmed the incident.” They then rolled the clip of me stating my name. Didn’t realise it wasn’t an Aussie I talked to.

“After her departure, social media went into total chaos, trying to identify the individual and her intentions. There has been mixed reception amongst citizens, some wholeheartedly supporting her in her crusade, and some urging her to leave crime fighting to the police. They switched to some London witnesses and citizens expressing their opinions.

“She should stay out of it, I reckon.” We all look to my Mum at her comment.

“Really?”

“Yeah, she’s what, your age? She doesn’t know what she’s doing.” I frown at this.

“Well, we don’t know that. Who knows, maybe she can make a difference.” She sends a disbelieving look my way.

“She’s probably going to make things worse.” The report had finished, so Tara and I retreated to our bedroom.

“I think she’s cool.” I blink at her. “I read on a news website today that she has magic.”

“Seriously, actual magic?” I have to keep up the act that I’m just a regular citizen.

“Makes sense, her name is Silver Witch after all.” She grins. “Wow, an actual superhero with magic. So cool!” Then and there, I desperately wanted to tell her. Tell her it was me, to earn that respect. I’ve always wanted her acknowledgement, I can finally have it. But, and this is my conscience again, I shouldn’t reveal my identity for such a selfish reason. Maybe later, when I have this all figured out.

“Yeah, cool.” I murmur. The ‘Silver Witch’ doesn’t come up again for the rest of the night, and I’m left wondering why my family doesn’t recognise me.

-+= Time skip to Monday =+-

The weekend passed with little mention of my alter ego. I guess attention was starting to die down without another appearance. However, I was content to sit with my friends at lunch. Not just because they were discussing ‘her’. I totally don’t care what my friends think about me. Nope.

“She’s gonna get herself killed, plus the costume is ridiculous.” Sarah, I love you, but come on!

“I mean yeah, the costume is over the top, but if she teleports, or whatever, I think she can actually do something.” I smile internally at Jen’s praise and continue watching as Bridget speaks up.

“You know there’s whole social media accounts dedicated to her, right?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” The whole group continues discussing this (which is a first), with Tara often chiming in her admiration. I could not get a word in edgewise! After being ignored for several minutes, I couldn’t take it any longer. Words flowed out of my mouth like a burst dam.

“Firstly, she is clearly doing good for society…” I rambled on defending myself for at least a minute; and may or may not have ended with, “And finally, I don’t know why you all have a problem with the costume, because it looks great on her. It really defines her figure! (It actually does).

Everyone stared at me for a moment due to my outburst. Maybe I went a little over board. The attention began to make me go red with embarrassment. Which worsened when I realised that. It seemed like an eternity before someone spoke-

“Do you have a crush on her?”