If I was utterly bewitched by you

Chapter 2 || Hazel Windsor

The girl in front of me looked like she was about to die of laughter. I did not know why, did not want to know why, and did not find anything funny about the situation. 

I don’t think Calla had any idea either, judging by her own quizzical look at the girl.

The dark haired girl took only seconds to compose herself—then half-grinned at us.

    “Sorry for interrupting! Hi—I’m Eleanora. Oh, and I’ve already heard your name when you introduced yourself to Calla, so you don’t need to say it again,” she added. 

    “Hi, Eleanora,” I replied cautiously. 

I wondered what type of friend she’d be—the rumor type, or the forever loyal. I’d have to befriend her to find out. That sounds rather tiring, though, seeing her laugh and that constant amused energy around her. 

    “Miss Berriel mentioned an end-of-year project when she was kindly explaining how the school operates. I was wondering if you could perhaps elaborate a little further on it for me? I would be very grateful. Thank you so much.”

Eleanora smiled with teeth, which was sort of adorable yet difficult to read as sincere.

    “Of course!” She paused, leaning back against the desk. “Basically, our school has this project we work on throughout the year. It determines which class you’re going to get in next year, and the theme this year is ‘identity’. So, you’ll need to create something that fits the theme.” She paused briefly, then continued. “You can choose to use whatever medium you want; painting, writing, baking, etc, anything creative. But at the end of the year, you must display your finished piece that you’ve been working on along with presentation slides. I’m going to make a painting, but right now I’m still deciding what to paint.”

I nodded attentively as she explained the project further. 

I seldom get to do presentations this casual, I mildly thought. But I’ll probably choose to do something like writing about space. It IS amazing, after all, and I think it deserves recognition. 

    “And so that’s practically it,” Eleanora finished cheerfully. 

    “If you do really well, the school might place you in a really good class next year, which gives you a better chance of entering your dream university,” Calla added excitedly. 

A boy seated behind me groaned. He had probably gotten tired of us discussing school projects, I’d say. 

    “Why are you even debating those? The projects are so bor-” 

    “No. And shut up, Kallum. No one wants to hear you whine all day,” Eleanora snapped at him, irritated. I saw her expression drop, her eyes dimming with annoyance.

Kallum cursed and sneered back at her.

    “Don’t listen to Kallum. I think the projects are rather cool,” Calla shrugged, smiling at me. “Especially if you’ve got talents. Which he doesn’t.” She innocently smirked at Kallum, who looked like he was about to explode into torrents of insults.

Eleanora rolled her eyes and wryly continued, “Whatever. Anyways, we’re in the second week of planning right now. So basically… just… the planning stage. Yep!”
I listened attentively, memorizing all the details, and asked appropriate questions where I had any. 

    “That’s basically it.” she concluded with a grin. 

    “Okay. Thank you,” I murmured with a slight smile. “Can I sit with you guys at lunch?” 

Calla looked slightly uncomfortable. “We don’t sit together,” she blurted out, while Eleanora nodded fiercely. 

My brows furrowed. “Huh. I thought you guys were friends.” 

    “Classmate friends.” 

    “Of course. Pardon me for coming to such rash conclusions.”

Calla beamed. “It’s fine,” she said, shrugging it off easily. I watched Eleanora shrug alongside her.

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At lunch, I sat with Eleanora, watching her converse with her friend, whom she had introduced as ‘Celeste Cheung’, from the classroom two doors away from ours.

Celeste was really pretty. 

Her hair was black and glossy, and her eyes were gentle and soft, and attentive but smart.

Right now, Celeste’s gaze was on me, possibly trying to figure me out. I merely gave her a knowing smile, and returned to eating my food. 

I imagined that her eye twitched, but I couldn’t know for sure. She was in my blind spot, my head bent over my meal. 

Glancing to my right, I glimpsed Eleanora—who insisted on being called Ela—mildly chewing on a piece of lettuce and typing an email to our teacher—Mrs Berriel—about something. 

    “So, ah, do you have any hobbies?” 

I glanced up sharply, and saw Celeste strain a smile. 

I’ve already been asked this question at least five times since I arrived earlier today, mostly by my new classmates and teachers. 

    “I enjoy studying space. What about you?” I said with a slight smile, inviting her to strike up a conversation with me. 

Maybe Celeste wasn’t as bad to talk to as I expected, as I saw her visibly relax. I just needed to open up.

    “I love programming little games,” Celeste admitted shyly. “I know most people expect me to become a fashion designer or something similar, because I’ve gotten random compliments and career suggestions over the years, but… I’ve been drawn to programming; creating things people will enjoy when they’re bored, ever since I joined the coding club in year 8.”

I nodded as she slowly warmed to me, though my gaze flickered to Eleanora multiple times, merely hoping she had finished writing her email. 

 

Ela slammed the cover of the laptop shut, then immediately pressed her lips together right after, trying to not laugh at how loud it was. Celeste didn’t try holding back, and I heard a laugh, pure and honest. 

A vision suddenly pierced my vision. One including exciting and fun moments with Eleanora and Calla, maybe with Celeste as well… 

With my heart warmed at the entire prospect, I couldn’t help myself and grinned alongside them.

 

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I was held away from true happiness for 14 years of my life, because of homeschooling. Not that I hated it, of course. Only that it was… dull. And lonely. With no one to comfort me except for my mentor—who was switched out for another every few months so that I wouldn’t “get too attached, in case something tragic happens”, according to my parents.

Yet now I have—and I feel like I am a bird out of its cage, a bird who is free to explore and unravel the forest, the world. I looked at Celeste, contemplated Eleanora, thought back to Calla—whom I’d see once lunch was over—and I knew that this was an amazing opportunity to expand my horizons and to fill it with joy. 

 

Writer – Chichi He
Editor – Leo Zhong
Artist – Rachel Feng

–June 2026–