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Charmed

 

“So,” asked Lindsay uneasily, “Is this the graduation present you were talking about?”

 

“No, this is a bottle of wine.” Tara sat down two plastic cups on an end-table, filling them both to the top. She handed one to Lindsay, and took the other herself. “And before you get all goody two-shoes on me, we just survived high school, which means we deserve a little alcohol. Now let’s enjoy ourselves for a change. The hell that was West Berkeley High is over!” With that, Tara took a long swig of wine.

 

“I guess.” Lindsay sipped from her glass. It felt bitter on her tongue, but she forced herself to take another drink.

 

“So,” asked Lindsay, “are you going to show me this graduation present?” Lindsay had no idea what to expect. A graduation present? From Tara? She wasn’t usually the type to give gifts. “You better not have spent too much, Lindsay. I didn’t even get you anything…”

 

“Your parents gave me some shitty suitcase, and my mom didn’t get you shit. Besides, it’s not just your present, it’s for both of us! Now come on! My mom’s going to be gone for a few hours, let’s open it now!”

 

Lindsay hadn’t seen Tara this excited in years. She had so moody and combative for most of Senior year. Now, all of a sudden, she could hardly contain her excitement. Lindsay had no idea why she was acting like this. Unless…

 

“Okay… Tara, this present isn’t going to be… magic… is it?”

 

Tara giggled mischievously to herself. “Well… maybe just a little…”

 

Lindsay had been Tara’s best friend since middle school. Really, her only friend… Both of them were shy and weird, both of them had been incessantly bullied by more popular girls. She was the only one, aside from Tara’s mom, who knew about Tara’s ‘abilities…’

 

“Oh my god, Tara. I thought you were done with that! After that accident… you promised to your mom… to me…”

 

“Oh god, ‘the accident?’ You’re so melodramatic. So what, it was a stupid fucking cat, and that was three years ago. You really think I stopped practicing just because you and Mom were worried about me?”

 

 

“So you’ve been lying to use all this time?”

 

“I’ve been practicing my magic, and I’ve gotten better. I’m not going to make another stupid mistake like I did Freshman year. You don’t have to worry about another exploding cat.”

 

Lindsay sighed. “Well, fine, whatever let’s see it… This had better be good. I guess as long as no one gets hurt…”

 

Tara muttered something under her breath. It wasn’t until sometime later that Lindsay realized what she had said: “Oh, I didn’t say that no one would be hurt…”

 

Tara finally opened her bedroom door. In the middle of the room was a clear plastic storage bin, with a cloth draped over it.

 

“So, what is it?”

 

“Oh my god you’re not going to believe this. Hold on, don’t look yet. I’ve got to show you something first. You didn’t hear anything about that house party that Trisha threw this Saturday, did you?”

 

“The one the most popular girl in Western threw yesterday? The one everyone was talking about the last week of school? The one we would never in a million years be invited to, not that I’d want to go anyway? Of course I’ve heard about it. What about it?”

 

“You didn’t hear what happened? Oh my god you’re going to love this. Here, check this out!” Tara led Lindsay over to her computer. She had Firefox open to a local news webpage, with a photo of a vacant lot. The headline read, “Local Home Vanishes Without a Trace. Recent High School Graduates Missing.”

 

“What? The whole house disappeared? God, Tara, did you do that?”

 

“Maybe…”

 

“Oh my God, Tara! You didn’t… you didn’t kill them, did you? I hate those girls as much as you do, but they’re still innocent people!”

 

“Innocent? Don’t you remember what happened Sophomore year, to that closeted dyke girl on homeroom? Someone found out she was fucking a girl, and Trisha and her friends got the whole school bullying her on facebook.  Then she killed herself… Not that I was friends with that ugly dyke or anything, but still…”

 

“Just tell me, what the hell did you do with them?”

 

“That’s the best part. Here.” Tara calmly walked over to the plastic storage bin, and yanked away the blanket that was covering it. Lindsay couldn’t believe what she saw underneath. It was a tiny house, a miniaturized suburban McMansion. She recognized that it was Trisha Yearwood’s house. But that wasn’t what made her jaw drop. Outside of the house were tiny people: at least a dozen guys and girls from their graduating class. Lindsay recognized a few of them, and one in particular: Trisha Yearwood. They had been pressing against the walls of the clear plastic container, trying to escape. The second the blanket flew off, panic set in. The little people gazed up in terror at the two enormous girls who loomed in front of them. They scrambled back into the house, tripping over themselves and each other. Lindsay heard them making little squeaking sounds as they ran away; it took her a moment to realize that they were screaming.

 

“Not so big now, are you Trisha? Isn’t this just the best, Lindsay? Seeing these bitches cowering in fear, running and squeaking from us like the little mice they are?”

 

Lindsay couldn’t believe what was happening. She had to put a stop to this at once. “You can’t kill them. You have to put them back.”

 

“Oh, don’t be such a worry-wart, I’m not going to kill them. I’ll return them back to size a bit later; I’ll even use a memory charm, so they won’t remember a thing. But I already shrunk them down, and wouldn’t it be a shame if we didn’t at least have a little fun with them?”

 

“I guess…  It’s not every day you get to play with your bullies like they were Barbie dolls. But… what do we do with them?”

 

“Whatever the hell we want. But first, let’s get them out of that stupid little house.” She leaned over, bending down in front of the miniature house. “Hey, Trisha, come outside so I can talk to you! I want to correct our little misunderstanding!” She waited a moment, and nothing happened. “Come on, Trisha. I want to talk to you and all your little friends.” Again, nothing. “Okay, that’s it. All of you conceited bitches! Come out, come out, wherever you are, or I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down.” Tara took another swig of wine; Lindsay took another tentative sip.

 

Tara lifted her foot above the house. Lindsay thought she could see fearful little eyes peering out through the window. “Okay, you’re making me get impatient. I’m going to count to three, then I’m going to stomp your little house in. One… Two… Three!”

 

End of Part 1

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