In the morning, the first thing I did was go downstairs to see if my mom was there. As expected, she was there with a bunch of cleaning supplies with her. As soon as I walked up to her, she gave me a rag and cleaning spray. She told me to wipe down all the counters in the kitchen and then the bathroom sinks. As much as I didn’t want to, I didn't have a choice, so I went to scrub the counters.

I finish in the kitchen and head to the first bathroom. Mom hasn’t said a single word to me since she told me to wipe down the counters and sinks. Is she still mad? She’s never stayed this quiet for this long before; I'm getting worried. Im still curious as to what was in that book I found. 

I thought about it for a second and got the idea to sneak into my mom's room while she was still cleaning downstairs and take the book back before she notices. The only way to make this plan work is to make sure my mom thinks I'm cleaning. She wanted me to wipe down the bathroom sinks, so I’ll just say I'm cleaning the sink in the upstairs bathroom when in reality I'm in her room snooping. I never break the rules, but today seems to be the day I shall embrace my evil side for the first time. Sorry, mom and the heavens above, but what must be done, must be done. In the name of science! Wait no, that's not right... In the name of my peaking curiosity! Yeah, that sounds better. 

“Hey, Mom! I’m moving to the upstairs bathroom! Just thought I’d let you know.” 

As expected, my mom doesn't say a word, almost as if she doesn’t exist. She must really be mad at me if she won’t even answer that. What is so wrong with that book that my mom ignores me to this extent? Now's not the time though; I need to find that book so I can answer that question myself.

When I was walking up the stairs, they creaked with every step I took, which, of course, woke up Isaac. I could hear him rummaging through the stuff in his room. I quickly ran into mom’s room and shut the door before Isaac could leave his. I breathe a sigh of relief, escaping the chance of getting caught by Isaac. I look around my mom's room; it's huge compared to the rooms me and the orphaned kids get. There are pictures of me and Mom throughout the years hung on the walls, and a couple of them are in smaller frames on the dressers next to her bed. The only other thing in the seemingly empty room is an older, wooden wardrobe. This makes the search for the book easy.

I start looking in every nook and cranny of the room. Under her bed, nothing. The drawers in her bedside tables were empty with only a few cosmetics. The wardrobe, nothing under any of her neatly folded clothes. Where in the world could she be hiding that book? I’ve checked everywhere, but I don't see it. The only other place I think it could be is. I look at the top of the wardrobe that towers over me. Of course she’d put it in the only place I can’t reach, on top of the 6-foot-tall wardrobe. She really had to use my shortness against me. Though I could rant on and on about how this is such a dirty play, I need to stall no more time and get the book back into my hands as soon as possible.

I carefully pick up one of the bedside tables and set it right next to the wardrobe. I climb on top and try to keep my balance as I stand up. The table wobbles under my weight, but I soon get both the table and myself steady. I reach up on my tiptoes and feel around the smooth and dusty wooden surface that is the top of the wardrobe. After a bit of stumbling and getting my fingertips coated in a thick layer of dust and grime, I soon feel a rougher surface bumbed up from the wood. Found it! I carefully slide the book ever so closely to the edge closets to me. Once I am able to slide it off the edge, more dust falls on my head. Does this lady even clean up here? How could she put such a precious book in this filthy place? I hold the book in my hands, absorbing its beauty.

"Oh, how I’ve missed you, my precious book,” I whisper as quietly as I can.

 I get off the bedside table and wipe off the remaining dust off the cover of the old book. Time to figure out what's written in the pages of this maybe dangerous book. Finally opening the book, the spine cracks as if it's never been opened before. The pages were slightly ripped and wrinkled and a yellowish orange color. I flipped a couple of the pages, but there was nothing written. The book smelled old but fresh, so maybe it's some old journal that was never used? I run my finger along the edge of one of the pages. The paper seems thicker than a normal page. My finger gets to the corner of the page. 

“Ouch!”

I drop the book to the floor, it landing with a loud bang.

“Ugh.. paper cut.”

I look at my finger, and there it was—the small slit that the piece of paper sliced. It wasn’t bleeding too badly, but it still needed a bandage to make sure it didn’t get infected. As I wipe the small amount of blood from the pad of my finger, the door flies open. My gaze adverts to the door, and I freeze in fear. My heart stops, and my breathing slows as I'm petrified.

“What are you doing in here, Livy!?”

“I uh… well um.”

My mom looks at the floor and sees the book she confiscated from me lying on the floor, wide open.

“Don’t tell me you read that.”

"Well, I did, but I didn’t. See, all the pages are empty, so I'm not sure why you were so worried about me reading it.”

“They were blank?”

“Uhh. Yeah?”

I tilt my head slightly before I look back at the book. I bent down to pick it up; before I could even touch it though, Mom yelled at me not to.

“What's your issue with this book anyway? Why do you keep telling me not to read it or touch it? It's just a book.” 

I look back at my mom as I speak.

My mom walks up to me and stares directly into my eyes. 

“Livy, you need to learn that those questions are better left unanswered.”

“What? But why? I’m fourteen now. You don't need to keep secrets from me like this.”

Mom cuts me off before I could say anything else. Before I realized it, Mom’s palm swipes aroused my face, bruising my cheek a fuchsia red. I sit there, not able to move; both my heart and face hurt. I feel my face start to burn, not from the slap or from my anger burning up, but from me not noticing that I started to cry. I gently touch the area my mom hit and feel a slight dampness from my tears. I look up at my mom, her face showing a mixture of frustration and guilt.

“Get out of my room.” Her voice is more commanding than telling.

I stand up without fighting back and look at the floor, refusing to look her in the face as I exit her room. I quietly headed into my room, across the hallway, slamming the door shut.

She hit me. She actually hit me. Over some stupid book that has literally nothing written in it? I get I was disobeying her, but still.

I look at the calendar that's hanging on my wall. I grab a marker and mark off April 15.

“51 more days till the entrance exams.” 

I back up against my door and slide down into a seat, curling my knees into my chest and covering my eyes with my hands, pushing up my bangs a little.

“What am I going to do? I can’t use magic, which is the main focus on points to get into the school in the first place. I may be good academically, but I have no magic to show off at all. I’m never getting in.”

I sit in front of my door for what feels like hours, still crying from the whole mom situation, though I'm not sure what I'm crying about. Is it because she slapped me or because I caused her so much stress that she felt the need to slap me? Or is it because of some third unknown reason?

I hear a knock at my door, followed by the voice of a young boy.

“Big sis? Are you okay? I can hear you crying, and I heard Momma yelling at you earlier.”

“I’m ok, Isaac. Just... leave me alone for now, please? I just need some space right now.”

“Oh, alright then.”

I can hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Actually, Isaac?”

I hear his small footsteps stop.

“Yes?”

“How about I tell you a story?”

“Please do!”

His voice perks up into a more cheerful tone. I stand up and open the door, letting Isaac inside my room. I gently close the door and turn to face Isaac as he bellyflops onto my bed. I can’t help but smile, seeing how happy he is right now.

“Did I ever tell you the story of how our world gained magic and magic beasts?”

“No! Not yet! Tell me, tell me!”

Isaac’s positive and happy energy is bouncing off the walls just as he is.

“Alright, alright. Settle down.”

Isaac sits on my bed properly; his little legs dangle from the edge of the bed. I take a seat next to him. I hope telling him a story will help me calm down from what just happened a few minutes ago.

“Lets start, shall we?”

“Yeah! Yeah! I want to hear the story!”

“The story goes, approximately 500 years ago, a giant rift opened up in the sky. It glowed bright, almost as if someone had cut into the earth’s atmosphere. Almost immediately, our ancestors saw both white and black glowing specs float down to the surface from the rift. The spread out across the land, landing on livestock, crops, waters, trees, plants, and even people.”

“Oh! Oh! Were those how we got magic?”

“Not exactly; just listen. Those particles weren’t the only things that came from the rift; there was also a whole army of what we now call magic beasts. The leader of them was the demon lord. Or at least that's what the townspeople call him. Those beasts started wreaking havoc all over the land, under the command of their leader. After watching how those beasts cast spells, a few crazy people tried to cast spells as well. Only one-third succeed.”

“Is that why most people nowadays can't cast magic?”

“Acually, those people had the mana cores development sped up because of those particles. But as you know, not everyone has a mana core to develop.”

“That's why I can't use magic, right?”

“You’re also too young for your mana core to be developed.”

“Oh… Then how old do I have to be?”

“8 is when most kids get their mana core fully developed.”

“So I’m close!?”

“That's only if you have the ability to form a mana core. Not everyone can use magic.”

"Well, I will! I want to be like Big Sis and go to the fancy academy!”

"Alright, you little firecracker. I bet youre hungry. Let's go get some breakfast.”

“Yeah!”

Isaac runs out of my room and down the hallway. A small smile forms on my face as I see him run with so much energy. He definitely made me feel better.

“Isaac! Wait up!”

I run out of my room after Isaac, forgetting to close my door.