7 I Become Magical Like Bianca! (01)

Beth felt her heart drop from shivering at her thought. Her hands couldn't help but shake as she stared down at her new boots.

"No, it can't be...magic only happens in young adult novels."

Just when she doubted herself, a blob of messy shadow approached her and fogged her vision. They were cracking weird noises beside her and trying to suck her hair in their giant mouths. She instinctively knew that they had come to swallow her up again.

NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOO!!

Out of fear, she made her quickest action possible to protect herself--punching her fist towards the "monsters." A round shield appeared in her hand out of her expectation. Seeing its appearance, she subconsciously took in her breath and gasped.

"A shield!"

Beth gripped the back of the shield more tightly and pulled it closer to her. It felt firm, yet it was not very heavy. Looking around, Beth saw herself being surrounded by a thin transparent globe as well. It was like a little shelter that kept her safe. As the color blobs tried to reach her, they were instantly blocked by the shield and the globe. Beth tilted forward and the shield surprised her again. It suddenly changed into a large pen.

What? Is this not a shield? Can my weapon change form?

Anyways, this is not the time to consider that.

With the large pen in her hand, Beth drew lines and dots in the air. They turned into large chunks of colors and shapes and smashed into the color blobs. Some of the blobs started disappearing, and the noises began dying down.

"Wow, that's handy!"

If my lines and dots could turn into shapes, could I draw something that turns into real-life objects?

With this thought in mind, Beth doodled a color spray in the air. It worked! The doodle did become a real color spray. She rushed toward, grabbed the color spray, and sprayed them on the messy color blobs, including the distorted "Julianna" and "Simone." A mist of blue, green, red, pink, and yellow danced around her like a levitating thin veil. The color blobs started to fade away and disperse in the air. Finally, she pointed the pen tip to the blobs, and a sharp tip landed on the rest of them. Red and black started exploding from the blobs, then, everything disappeared.

The hallway was empty again.

"Were I hallucinated? Is this a dream?" She felt her dress again. "But what if it was real? What's happening to me?"

Her cellphone chimed again. It was a call from her host parents.

Oh no, I can't tell them what had happened to me! Otherwise, they may think I have magical thinking!

She decided to put her giant pen aside and pick up the phone, anxiously making up a legitimate reason why she had been missing for so long. "I am so sorry that I didn't return your phone calls...I was out with friends tonight, and we were in a movie just now. I will return home soon and make sure that this won't happen again. I promise!" Then she ended the call abruptly since it was more important for her to find an actual way out. That was when she realized again that the building was locked.

However, this time Beth had a plan. She picked up her giant pen to draw a key and inserted it into the keyhole. Three, two, one...she held her breath. In front of her, the door cracked open. Fresh air entered the building through the crack.

"Gosh, I am free!"

As she grabbed her backpack and headed out, her entire outfit and giant pen suddenly disappeared, as if nothing had happened. She stood at the crossroads on the busy Laurel street, looking around streams of passing people, in her normal attire again. One million questions suddenly popped up in her head.

"Did I just change into another person?"

But at that moment, it feels so real. And I feel myself with so much strength...

"Maybe it was just magical thinking like Owen had told me." nonetheless, she chose to shrug the thought off at the moment, "Anyways, I will head home now and prepare for tomorrow."

✨

'Magic is real. That person made me grow as a person.'

That's what Bianca told me about.

Beth was in the midst of a blend of light, fluffy colors again. However, this time, the person facing her was not Bianca. This person in front of her had her identical curly blonde hair and wore a dress just like her transformed form. Her bright green eyes peacefully reflected the colorful light sparks like a quiet koi pond. Golden glitters were pouring down her dress like gentle waves. Unlike Beth, she was charming and had a confident smile.

As she walked towards Beth, Beth's memories from her childhood to her now Laurel life appeared in the sky as moving movie clips, simultaneously flashing in the air. Then, she petted Beth on the head. "You can become me someday."

Oh! That's my idealized self. That's what I see myself being in the future.

"Now, you don't need to be afraid. You have me here. If you ever need me, just call me with this bracelet. Then, you can use your power."

She handed Beth a bracelet. It was golden with diamond decorations and floral pattern engravings. Beth nodded and took the bracelet with herself.

"Follow me."

A strong beam of white light suddenly illuminated her way out of the colorful space, with the person gradually vanishing in the light. Hearing what the person had said, Beth run towards the light trying to find the person's whereabouts.

But then, just as Beth stepped into the white light, she no longer emerged in her subconsciousness.

All that was in front of her vision now was blue.

Huh? A dream?

It was the ceiling that Beth was staring at--it looked dim and blue under dark. Yesterday it was that "magic." Now, it was a weird dream that I was having...Beth turned her body to the left side of the bed, trying to grab her phone to check her messages. As she lifted her hand, she suddenly felt something hanging on her wrist hit against the edge of the nightstand.

No...it can't be.

THIS. CAN'T. BE!!

It was just the golden bracelet she saw in her dream!