Chapter 4

I bounded through the front door of my house and slammed it shut behind me. It feels so good to come back a winner for once. This is the first chapter of my legend, and I know I can do it. I've already proved them wrong so far, so I might as well keep going with the whole shabam. "Mum, Dad, I'm ho-"

"Where the hell have you been?" My mum snapped

I grinned at her "I went to the meeting today, and I managed to complete all the tests with flying colours, even though gran tried to make it really hard for me, and I put her in a bad mood for showing up, and then I put her in an even worse mood for passing, I think. But anyway, are you proud of me mum?"

"Yes, I'm proud of you, but next time tell me that you're up and leaving, alright?" She cocked an eyebrow

"Alright, alright, I will." I agreed

"Did you eat breakfast before you left?"

"No."

"How about a snack?"

"No."

"What about a drink?"

"Nope!"

"Alexander!" Mum protested

"What? I was in a rush!" I tried to reason with her, but all she did was shake her head in dismay, handing me a granola bar.

"What's the problema?" Dad asked, walking down the stairs and joining us by the front door. Can you believe that I haven't even managed to get past my front door yet? Like, at least let me get inside before trying to have a conversation with me. I sighed and opened the packaging of the bar.

"I went to the meeting today and passed all the tests with flying colours, putting gran in a bad mood because of it, and mum's too busy asking me whether I've eaten or not to properly acknowledge my achievement," I explained, glancing at mum quickly, who just scowled in response. I took a bite out of the bar and shrugged, not knowing what else to say. Imma just enjoy my granola bar for now.

"Loosen up, baby. The boy's gone and done the unexpected. We should be celebrating his win, not lecturing him on food!" Dad exclaimed, and mum snorted in disagreement. I smirked at his efforts, knowing that they were more than likely fruitless. "How about we use a celebration as a way to feed him the food he should have eaten before he left to go to the meeting, plus more?" Dad asked, trying to meet her halfway. Mum nodded in agreement and I smiled as dad ruffled my hair in congratulations. "Well done, my boy. You did it! This could be our big chance, Alexander. Are ya ready?"

I nodded "I'm ready for MY big chance."

He rolled his eyes when I gave him a pointed look, and we both laughed in unison as mum sighed. I took the last bite of my granola bar as the door slammed open, and I moved out of the way with a yelp of surprise. Tiffany stood in the doorway, an irritated look on her face. "ALEXANDER! YOU COMPLETED IT AND DIDN'T FLIPPING TELL ME?! LIKE, WHAT THE HELL?!"

I should be asking that, not her. Does she really need to scream down the whole freaking neighbourhood just because I haven't told her that one small detail yet? Like, what the hell? I was planning on calling her, but I've only just got home, so I haven't been able to get around to telling her yet. On that note, how the heck does she already know? I guess I should start with an apology first, because if I question her first then I may be put in a worse situation. Girls can act weirdly to certain situations, and she scares me half to death, to be quite honest with you. "I'm sorry, Tiff."

"Don't you 'I'm sorry, Tiff' me, young man. I expected you to come to my house so we could celebrate. You didn't even bother to call me!" She screamed

"Loof, Tiff, I am sorry. I was going to call you, I swear, but I've literally just walked through the door, and I haven't got the chance to do anything yet." I told her, taking her hand in mine and giving her a small, reassuring smile. At first, she seemed to accept my apology, but then something seemed to change her mind, and I was back at square one.

She looked at mum and whined, "Tell Alexander how irresponsible he is."

"Alexander, you're an irresponsible wreck who needs to sort his life out and get his priorities straight," Mum said

"No fair, you put my own mum against me!" I protested

Tiffany shrugged. "All's fair in love and war, my dear boy, and anyway, I didn't do anything. Your mum was already against you. I just used it to my advantage."

Dang. she's good. I could use her at a time like this. But sadly, I'm not allowed to partner up with anyone from the village who didn't complete all the tests, and she didn't manage to complete all the tests, which is an actual shame. She shouldn't have wasted her reason on me, Oh yeah, I wanted to ask her about that. "Hey, Tiff, I gotta question."

"Yeah? What is it?" She asked, tilting her head to the side

"When we had to give a reason to the elder, she rejected yours and said that you had to come back when you were prepared to fight your own battle. What did she mean by that? What battle do you still have to fight?" I asked

Tiffany pondered the question a bit before shaking her head and giving me a small smile. "It doesn't matter."

"Well, sure it does-" I began

"I said it doesn't matter, Alexander. Just let it go." She snapped, her voice wavering slightly as she did so. I stared at her before nodding in understanding.

"Alright then, Tiff. I got ya." I replied, taking her hand and squeezing it.

She grinned "So how about we get you ready for your adventure?"

Well, that was a quick change of emotions. How the heck does she do that, and so effortlessly? I wanna learn to do that, it seems cool. How do I go about learning it? I gave her a curious look, but shrugged it off, deeming it not worth asking at this point, and then nodded in agreement, smiling at her. "I mean, I would have preferred the celebration first, but sure, let's go."

Out of the corner of the eye, I saw my mum scowl at me, unhappy that I mentioned a celebration, but I ignored her. Tiffany dragged me up the stairs and into my room, grabbing my backpack, and then threw it on the bed, shoving me down next to it. I was expecting a party, not a play date, people. I sighed as she started looking through the stuff. I swear, she acts more like my mum than my mum does sometimes - it's ridiculous.

"Tiff, what are you doing?" I asked

"What the heck does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you pack!" She told me

"No, you're packing for me." I corrected

"I'm sorry. I'm just really excited, and so proud of you!" She squealed, plopping down on the bed next to me.

"I know you are, but calm down. There's no need to rush it." I said

"You do realise that you're leaving today, right?" She checked, giving me a pointed look, and I smirked.

"I know, but name one time I've been on time to an event," I replied

"No wonder the elder hates you with an attitude like that." Tiffany murmured, and I glared at her, in which she returned with an innocent shrug.

"So what do you think I'll need for this trip other than the obvious?" I asked

"Do you have any idea where you're going or anything about the journey whatsoever?" She glanced around my room, calculating all the things that I may need on this journey.

"Nope; not a clue." I grinned

She sighed "A lot of help you are, Alexander."

"I know - what would you do without me?" I grinned, and she rolled her eyes, flicking me, which reminded me of the letter I received from gran. I got it out of my pocket and handed it over to Tiff, who skimmed over it. "This is the letter I got from gran, and apparently it explains everything I need to know."

"This doesn't explain crap. How the hell are you supposed to prepare for something you don't know anything about?" She looked at me, visibly confused

"How the heck am I supposed to know?" I leaned back on my bed and sighed. "But I guess… this could be considered the last part of the test. If you can't make an educated guess and what you'll need to bring then there's no point to you going whatsoever. It's all just fun and games, ain't it?"

"Yeah, I guess so. It's a shame I can't come with you." Tiffany said

"Hm. It's a shame we can't pack you into a suitcase or something. That would be really helpful right about now." I replied

"Seriously, Alexander? You were considering that?" She gave me a sceptical look but still laughed.

"You weren't?" I cocked an eyebrow

"Well, I had my moments." She gave me a sly grin, and it was my turn to laugh. There was suddenly a knock at the door, and then dad entered.

"I have some good news for ya and some bad news for ya." Dad grinned "Which do ya wanna hear first?"

"Good."

"Bad."

We all looked between each other, and I then glanced at Tiffany, who just shrugged. I sighed. "Good news first," I said. "It will, hopefully, cushion the bad news."

"Okay, the good news is that you're going to get some help on your journey." He said, a smile still plastered to his face.

"So what's the bad news, then?" Tiffany tilted her head to the side in curiosity

"Gran's giving you the help." He mumbled, and I groaned. Why her of all people? I think I'd rather go with a lack of knowledge instead of talking to her. I looked up at my dad, who also had a grim expression on his face

"Do I have a choice?" I asked, not really wanting to know the answer, but partially wanting to know whether I could make a run for it now and not have to accept her help whatsoever, cause we all know neither of us like the circumstances we've been presented with. She doesn't like the fact that I got through, and I don't like the fact that I have to socialise with her more than is actually necessary.

"No, she's already here to see you." He told me

"WHAT? The bad news just turned to worse. I do not want to speak to her right now. Make up some excuse for me! Please! Anything! Just don't make me talk to the stupid old witch!" I begged

He shrugged "I'm sorry, Alexander. There's nothing I can do to stop you from seeing her. She already knows you're up here with Tiffany, and that all you're doing is trying to pack for the trip."

"What if I escape out the window?" I wondered aloud

"Just talk to her. It can't be too bad." Tiffany snapped, and I nodded half-heartedly, not quite sure if I completely believed her. I don't know what that woman's capable of. She could be an actual witch. Actually, as much as that would be cool, I don't think I'd still be here, or at least not in one piece. So the worst that can actually happen is her expressing her disappointment in me, and that's it. Maybe she could steer me wrong and lead me to my inevitable death, but I think that's a bit far, even for her. I took in a deep breath. Alright. I can do this. It's now or never.