Story Saturday: The Village Girl

"The Village Girl"

Sonia knew that she didn't belong at the magic school that had miraculously accepted her despite her lack of a noble background. Typically, an ordinary village girl like her could never qualify to learn magic, but she had a lucky break when a wizard showed up in her hometown to defend it against a monster when it fought back, and his wand flew out of his grasp. He was incapacitated, so Sonia picked it up and repeated the same spell she saw him use. Somehow, it worked despite her complete lack of training. The village deemed her a hero that day and enrolled her in the magic school, but the other students saw her as anything but.

Despite her one lucky break, Sonia was no magic expert. She struggled in her classes a lot more than the other students who could refer to their friends or family members who already knew how to use magic when they were having trouble. The only class she enjoyed was enchanted fashions, where she could design beautiful outfits and bring them to life. Even there, a princess named Delia was always boasting about how wonderful her life was at the castle and how sad it was that the school had admitted a commoner.

Lunchtime was Sonia's least favorite time of the day. All the other royals and nobles would group together at different tables, but none of them would let Sonia sit with them. She usually ended up sitting at a table alone while other students would teleport the empty chairs to their own tables to make room for their friends. One day, Sonia noticed someone else sitting by himself at lunch. A nervous-looking boy who appeared to be around her age was fumbling with his glasses after he dropped his wand. Sonia went over and picked it up for him.

"May I sit here?" she asked.

"Go ahead, but I'm surprised you'd want to sit with me," said the boy. "Most people avoid me."

"Me too!" said Sonia, grinning. For the first time, she felt that she had finally met someone she could relate to.

The boy introduced himself as Colin, and Sonia spent the next hour venting about her difficult classes and how stuck-up the royals were, which he adamantly agreed with. She wondered if she had finally found another commoner like herself at the school. Over the next few days, Sonia began looking forward to lunchtime and getting to know her new friend better. She confided in him that some of the princes at the school liked to play tricks on her at her locker after classes, such as putting exploding potions inside that stained her uniform or shooting paper planes at her that would magically follow her no matter where she went.

One day at her enchanted fashion class, Sonia overheard Princess Delia talk about the upcoming school dance and how her nerdy brother Colin was never going to find a date. Upon hearing this, her heart skipped a beat. Could the quiet boy who had been keeping her company all this time have been a prince all along? She decided to confront him about it at lunchtime.

"Is it true?" she asked, hoping there was some sort of explanation to the contrary.

"Yes," Colin said begrudgingly, "Delia's my sister."

"But that makes you..."

"It's not like I chose to be a prince."

"You lied to me!" Sonia shouted. "You're no different than all those other wicked boys who play tricks on me every day!"

"I never lied. You didn't ask me if I was a prince!"

"But you agreed that the royals are closed-minded and full of themselves!"

"Because that's what I really think!"

"But you're one of them!"

Blinded by her rage, Sonia grabbed her lunch and stormed off.

Later that afternoon, Sonia went to her locker to pack up her things for the day. Too late, she felt a jolt below her feet and noticed a group of mean princes who liked to pick on her laughing nearby. The next thing she knew, she was floating in the air. She clung to the door of her locker, but the magic force pulling her body up toward the ceiling was difficult to fight. Soon she might start floating all over the school with no way down.

"Let me go!" she cried.

"Only if you go all the way back to your little village and never return to this school again," said one of the boys.

"That's enough!"

Just as Sonia lost her grip on the locker, Colin raced down the hall and cast a reversal spell on her. Unfortunately, that meant she was about to fall all the way down from the ceiling to the floor. She squeezed her eyes shut and screamed, but the painful impact never came. When she opened her eyes, she found herself resting safely in Colin's arms. He had anticipated her fall and caught her just in the nick of time.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I think so," she blushed.

"This is why no one wants to be friends with you!" jeered one of the princes. "No true royal would be so nice to a mere peasant."

"Then maybe I'd rather be a peasant," said Colin, helping Sonia get back to her feet.

"What a loser," said one of the princes as they wandered off together.

"Just because I'm royal doesn't mean I'm anything like them," Colin said, with his protective grip still pressed firmly around Sonia's shoulders.

"You're right. I'm sorry I misjudged you," said Sonia, still blushing.

"Now that that's cleared up, would you like to go to the school dance with me?" he asked.

Sonia grinned, thinking of the beautiful gown she designed in her last enchanted fashion class. "I have just the thing to wear!"

And so Sonia and Colin attended the dance together, and she looked so beautiful in her magical dress that none of the other royals dared say a word against her. With Colin's help, she successfully completed all her classes and lived happily ever after.