Charles king lonely hope part 1
Chapter 12

What do you get when you put two angry young boys in an assault course race against a class of the very people who annoyed them? Exhausted winners. We ran as hard as we could, we told Grace what we were going to do first and asked her if she wanted to do it with us.

“I’m okay,” she said. The class lined up on a line, the only people I remotely like right now are, Kevin, Grace, Shinji, Ethan, Tori, and Charlotte, even though the latter doesn’t like me.

Mr Ridgewell signalled for everyone to start Kevin and I took off like a pair of rockets sprinting towards 2 ropes dangling down, You have to swing across them and not fall into the dirty water below. We hopped across quickly and ran off to a climbing rope over a wooden beam at the top, and back down into.

“What’s that?” Kevin said as we got to the bottom.

“Electric strings,” the boy band said, “put your shields up and get running” I turned to Kevin, met his his eyes, shrugged my shoulders, and ran into the small, cramped area with tons of dangling white string, zapping that much electricity, if it makes contact with you, you’d twitch in pain. Shields up we ran through as fast as we could, I bust through the electric string field.

“OH MY GOD!” I yelled, A string that I had pushed up with my shield had swung back and tapped my back.

“Are you okay?” Kevin said, seeing my mistake and resting further from the strings. I nodded and continued forward and onto a wooden beam that travels over a body of water and the fun part is the logs swinging back and forth. “Oh, come on! really?”

I ran across the beam waiting for the logs to swing past, the wind that generated from it nearly knocked me off. I got past the first one, then the second, and unfortunately the last two logs swung together.

I took a second to catch my breath and counted how long it took for the logs to swing past me and come back. “3,2,1,” I said to myself and ran as fast as I could and jumped as got to the end the airy feeling of the logs swinging back behind me was terrifying.

A 10-foot wall was in front of me, no rope to help me up, Kevin panted behind me, the colour had drained from his face.

“That was scary,” he said then he looked at the wall, “push me up and when I’m up there I’ll pull you up.”

“Okay,” I said, it was a good idea. I squatted down a little and put my hands together and formed a foot holding and Kevin put his foot in there and his hand on my shoulder and he jumped up and I pushed my hands up as hard and fast as I could and pushed Kevin to top, he grabbed on to the top and continued to push his feet up, he thrown a leg over the top and then let and put his arm down for me. I took a few steps back and ran to the wall and jumped up putting a foot on the wall and grabbing Kevin’s hand, he pulled me up, he was a lot stronger than I would have guessed, I grabbed a hold of the top and then thrown a leg over the top, Kevin and I looked at each other and laughed. The rest of the class could be seen at the start of the Swinging logs. Behind the wall was a long slide down double the size of the wall, now we were in a ditch and next was a low net over a sandpit that Kevin and I crawled through and finally a wet muddy wall.

Now here I am, muddy, wet, and exhausted panting on the floor, Mr Ridgewell was standing not far from Kevin and me, he was waiting for the others I was glad I got some time to rest before anyone turned up, 10 minutes later Shinji’s head appeared from where the moody wall was, he made his way over and to us and collapsed on the floor, eventually Ethan and Tori appeared, tired and muddy, not long after that the rest of the class appeared, I kept my eyes out Grace, She and Charlotte where pulling each other up atop of the muddy wall.

“How did you replace it?” I asked Grace when she fell over in front of me. Mud in her hair and on her face but the death look I got from her was the only answer I needed.

“Well done” Mr. Ridgewell “It’s not easy what you have done today, you all should feel very proud of yourselves, The rest of the classes should be finishing up, Let’s make our way to the changing room, Get changed and get ready for lunch break and then meet at our form room, “Okay?“.

With mumbles of tired agreeance and shuffling of feet, we made our way back to the Changing rooms, No one spoke until we got to the changing rooms and found at least the other classes in there, I made my way over to my clothes and then seen that there was a towel were I was sat, I picked it up and saw that some of the other boys were clean and already half dressed, I don’t know why but the sudden realization of getting a shower felt daunting, I took my dirty onesie off and pulled into off and wrapped a towel and around me then threw the suit into a basket for dirty laundry, and then picked up the soap I noticed too, and walked into the shower room and saw cubicles.

“Oh, thank god” I whispered to myself.

Showered, fresh and clean, I waited outside for Grace with Kevin, She came out with Charlotte both talking rapidly but that ended when Charlotte saw me, and she said something to Grace and walked past me throwing her bag over her shoulder.

“Did you kick her cat or something?” Kevin said to me when Charlotte was out of earshot.

“I don’t think so,” I said jokingly,

“If you count that Wyatt boy as a cat,” Grace said, “she told” she added when I looked at her confused, “apparently everyone in their friend group has been friends since they were little, and she apologized for not telling him to stop.”

“She should,” I said, “Guess we will see if she does it for anyone else ay.”

“Never mind that,” Kevin said, Break time and I’m hungry Let’s go get some food” he clapped his hands and snapped his things pointed to the door out of the sports building and we left and made our way to the cafeteria, and so did our entire year from both sports’ hall, then a strange thought hit me.

“The primary schools that both of you went to, did anyone else come to school too?”

“Nope,” Kevin Answered quickly, “none of them passed the tests to get in.”

“Tests?” I replied, a little confused I don’t remember taking any tests. Kevin stopped and his hungry smile dropped, Grace’s arms smacked her hips with such force I thought she was going to bend over in pain,

“You didn’t do the test?” Kevin growled. And if looks could kill I would be on the floor.

“What do you mean by tests?” Grace said. She stepped closer menacingly enough for me to lean back, “I studied for that test for months”.

“Me too,” Kevin said.

“I don’t remember any tests,” I said honestly,

“Did anyone come in from kingsborn and get you to answer things and do some magic stuff?” Grace barked.

“Yes,” I said, “but that wasn’t a test, just showing us the type of work, we would be doing in this school, right?” Kevin’s eyes flared, he flew up and baled into a fist and then out of a fist and he looked like he was going to shout.

“I hate you,” he said calmly and walked off.

“I guess that was the test huh?” I said, Grace stared coldly at me and then walked off, I followed them past the stairs and through the doors, squeezed past a few kids and into the cafeteria, Kevin had sat down at a table, and I had noticed Lincoln sitting opposite him with Yasmin.

“Hey,” I said, Lincoln looked up and smiled, and Yasmin jumped up out of her seat. She has the same Blazer as the rest of us and a skirt like Grace, blue not much to say, apart from I guess she isn’t a part of a school team, but she is only a second year,

“Come sit down,” she said, pulling a chair out for me, then she leaned in and her long braid fell over my shoulder, She whispered, “Is that ginger girl a friend of yours?” I looked to where she was looking and saw Grace standing awkwardly by the wall.

“That’s Grace and she is yeah, my friends only her and Kevin” Saying that felt weird and I think Yasmin got it too, I sat down, and she walked over to Grace stuck her hand out and came back with Grace in toe looking like she won a prize she sat down next to Kevin, he still looks annoyed.

“So, what’s up with him?” Yasmin said, breaking the silence, Lincoln looked relaxed looking around the cafeteria, Kevin was annoyed, and I was watching Grace smiling like a cat that got cream. Kevin’s head flicked up with force.

“He didn’t even know he took a test to get into the school,” he said still in awe, his hand out like he was fiving to invisible behind him, Yasmin rubbed her finger and thumb across her eyes and took in a deep.

“So, it’s a family thing then?” Yasmin said in exasperation, “he’s the same way” She gestured to Lincoln left to her, he chuckled and shook his shoulders,

“Take it you have done well in your assessment then,” Lincoln asked me in a very smug tone.

“Well? That is an understatement” Grace said, “he didn’t miss a single target, ran fast, and Kevin won the first assault course If you can win it and oh yeah during the magical power test he broke the crystal ball” This caught the attention of those being nosey around that were listening in, heads spun to face us and turned back around quickly when Tim appeared with two plates full of sandwiches mini sausages rolls and sweet and had cans of fizzy drink, he walked over, his intimidating presence was enough for onlookers to walk away and Grace looked up at, her eyes widened like a cat in surprise, he put the plates down and mouthed a word and the cans of fizz slide safely across the table, Kevin instantly grabbed a sandwich and began to eat. Tim looked down at Grace I swear I heard her squirm,

“Hi, I’m Tim, I’m friends with this lot” he signalled to the four of us.

“I’m Grace,” she said so quietly she could barely be heard.

“Nice to meet you,” Tim said before walking around and sitting next to me “Dig In have already eaten” Yasmin leaned over and got a mini sausage roll and urged Grace to eat and slid her a drink. “So, you broke the Crystal ball?”

“Yeah, by accident like I didn’t mean it”. I said honestly snatching a pink can I had never seen before. Tim laughed and then looked at Kevin.

“What’s up with him?” Tim asked and definitely didn’t expect Kevin to spring into action about the test to get into the school, Eventually Kevin finished, and surprisingly Tim doesn’t seem surprised.

“Oh, that’s not on him,” Tim said pointing at me, “I asked Nick the other day about the test and how Charles and Lincoln did, and he told me that he and Bella don’t tell them that have a test coming up, Bella and Nick teach their kids what they need to know during their lessons”

“Lessons?” Grace asked.

“Yeah, apart from the prodigies you can see here, are forged in steel, They have been taught magic since they were little, but not just that they also know how to fight, I suppose that’s what happens when you spar against the Kings all their young life.”

Kevin picked up instantly and said “Oh”, smiled began to eat more sandwiches and handed two to Grace.

We spent the next half an hour eating and talking about the assessments, apparently Lincoln had also done well. The second year had their assessment tests in the morning when the first years had time to practise spells. Tim told us about his assessments when he was in his first and second years.

“I was awful with my aim, and didn’t hit a single target in both years” Then we spoke about the guild and the fun times, Lincoln and I didn’t have much to add, and Grace had nothing to add but seemed to be loving it, her eyes flicked to whomever was talking and she listened with great intent. The bell rang and sighs rang out not long after, scratching of chairs scraping the floor as they were being moved back, slamming of trays and drink cans on the table and mumbles of chatter.

“Time to head back to our form rooms,” Tim said, standing up “Does everyone know where they are going? obviously you do Yasmin” Kevin and Grace nodded their heads and I just nodded too since I was just going to follow.

“I’m in Yasmin’s form, I’ll just follow her,” Lincoln said and that was when we all stood up, I took a moment to drink the last of my drink, I turned around picked my bag up and saw the doors were jam-packed.

When we arrived upstairs and strolled to our form room, each door had at least 10 students swarming around. The entire school gets insane when everybody is moving to classrooms, Getting through that café door I felt like sardines, Ethan and Tori stood by our form room door and smiled at Kevin and Grace, maintained it for a slight moment when they saw me before dropping it, since our room is on a corner I could hear students, when I looked I saw Shinji and more from our class and then an incoming Charlotte.

“Everybody in,” Ridgewell said, appearing behind me, opening the door, “sit in the seats you were in before”.

I walked in and sat down in my seat and the others took theirs, Charlotte came in last and sat down next to me.

“Hello class, Welcome back. First of I would like to say I am very impressed with how everybody performed in both your magical lessons and your assessments today, Everybody should feel very proud of themselves, give yourself and each other a round of applause” We all clapped our hands and Kevin and I fist bumped too, still a little proud of our assault course run.

“Now a couple things we need to go over your before we talk about the battle royale, first I have your results in your assessment, the grading is 1-10, 1 being the lowest, When I call your name come get your results”.

“I’m excited, my leg began to bounce, I can’t for my name to be called.”

“Charles King” I jumped up and held back the urge to do a little run, I scooted around Charlotte and past another table of 6 and caught Mr Ridgewell’s proud smile and nod of his head. I took the piece of paper folded it in half and took it over to over to my seat, I caught some of the people at the closest table, trying to get a peak at my results, but since I’m a dark magic devil or whatever they called me why would I let them know.

I took my seat.

“Kevin Church” Kevin jumped up, he looked excited too. I opened my results up fully and read.

Charles King form Z,

Magic – Dark

Assessment results.

Magic control - 8

Magic aim – 10

Magic spell F&F – 9

Competitiveness - 9

Physical attributes - 6

Magical power -?

Teamwork -5

Problem-solving -6

*F&F = speed of forming a spell and firing it.

Additional notes.

Charles is a confident young man, exceptional when it comes to his magical ability, he is quick to share tips with one or two students but that will be it. Charles tends to stick to his friends, and they seem to be Kevin and Grace. He has shown interest in other students, 4 to be precise, all of the rest he has kept at arm’s distance. Further information has explained why his magic has given some students the wrong idea about him.

Charles is a good listener, choosing to listen more than he talks and once again when he does choose to talk, he only talks to a select few.

What we suggest for Charles is to work on talking more to others and letting them see the real him.

Let them see the real me? They think I am a devil or demon or whatever, and I like to be around people who don’t see me that way. Kevin sat down and began nodding his head,

“Grace Joyce” Grace got up nervously, and Kevin nudged my arm.

“Apparently I am competitive, and you and I rely on each other a lot,” he said and chuckled, “I’ll take that”.

Grace left and came back with her paper not long after Charlotte did the same, I tried to get a sneak peek, but she pulled it away and strangely enough so did Grace, I was shocked a little at first but then again, I have only met her today.

“Now that everyone has their results,” Mr. Ridgewell said. “Have a good look then put them away safely, You can show your parents when you see them, but for now, we have to talk about the royale and what to expect” Suddenly the room felt tense.

“Firstly, no physical contact, punching or kicking and any sort of physical contact will result in a disqualification, all combat will be magic and that is it. That being said you are given a sword” Mr. Ridgewell reached under his desk and pulled out a grey sword hilt.

“This is the only weapon you will be given” his arm twitched and a thin white blade emerged, “This a magic blade, It’s formed from your magical energy, extremely easy to use, and can hurt you, and I bet you wonder why you’ll be using this, well that is because you will be wearing this” he once again reached underneath and this time he pulled out the one piece outfit that we wore during our assessments.

“These are magic suits, if a magic spell hit’s you, it will absorb the magic and react like it would if you were actually hit...”

Someone knocked on the door, and then it opened and in walked a fifth-year boy, who looked extremely annoyed, sulking.

“Hello Cameron” Mr Ridgewell urged him in. “This is Cameron, and he has kindly offered to help you all understand what the suit truly is” Cameron raised his arm outstretched like an angry scarecrow, MR. Ridgewell cut through his arm and limped to his side. Gasps and oh my gods sprouted out from a few people, but Cameron’s face was impressive.

“It doesn’t hurt, but it will make you act like it’s broken, you will not be able to move it, same goes for your legs too, if you’re hit in the heart you will be down and considered out, and do not worry the head is also protected, do you see this white line across the collar” when I say everyone leant forward to take a look I mean it, some even stood up and walked closer, Cameron growled his disapproval.

“This white line connects and forms the same magical shield over the head, so a stray spell hits your face, you’ll feel no pain, but you will fall to the floor and be out, we have hired guild members to patrol the area, there will also be teachers too, any questions?“. Graces had shot up. “Yes, grace?”

“Will it absorb all spells? Like even the more powerful ones?”

“Yes, the assessment today we have assessed everyone’s strength in both and know that everything will be fine”.

30 minutes! 30 bloody minutes of my form mates asking the same questions will it hurt? Are you sure it won’t hurt? Has anyone ever been hurt? Then came the joyful series of, but what if it does hurt? What if only my legs are gone? And my favourite? Will it be okay against dark magic? Yes, that’s right they were worried about me I’m a danger, I can’t even do any dark magic spells, so there is nothing to worry about, I put my hand up, I’m getting annoyed now,

“Yes, Charles?”

“It’s not really a question sir, but I can’t do any dark magic spells, much like most people in here can’t do spells of their own element magic.”

“Sir,” Kevin said, “I can’t do any lighting spells just yet, I’m just letting everybody know”, Grace shook her head,

“I know this,” Mr. Ridgewell said. “For the last time, no spell will hurt any of you! Now, before you go down to the sports hall, we have a surprise for you, your parents are here to talk to you before it starts, so pack your stuff up, stand up and tuck your chairs in”. My stomach filled with joy and a smile spread across my face, I got to see my mum and dad, I didn’t know I would be that happy to see them this fast. I wasn’t the only one, smiles were evident.

“Make your way to the back of the school by the café your families should be there, no running! Of you go” Mr. Ridgewell waved us off. I dragged my bag onto my shoulder and left with Kevin, we walked alongside our class and down towards the café, we walked down the stairs to the first floor and walked past the quad that’s in the middle of the school and then we turned on to the path the is above the cafeteria and the window looks out into the back of the school and families where gathered in groups on the field waiting for their kids, I scanned the face looking for my mum. I saw her and my heart skipped a beat, She was in conversation with Tracy, Dad, and Marvin close by chatting up a storm, they had eyes watching them in awe. Nudged Kevin and pointed them out, he smiled, and we picked up our pace and began sliding past people and through the doors, into the fresh air and chatter of parents and we flew down the steps and began to walk as fast as we could to our parents. My mum saw me and smiled, she was still in her dress, I ran over and gave her a big hug took in her scent and instantly felt better, It doesn’t matter who calls me a devil, or a demon or whatever they want! I’m back with my mum.

“How’s your day been?” she asked me, and I unloaded, told her everything from the confrontation with Wyatt, getting called out in the assembly, and the comments made about me during the assessments. “Okay, breathe” I took a deep breath, and then I remembered the paper with my results on it, I pulled that and gave it to Dad and hugged my mum again.

“Damn, done alright, didn’t you?” Dad said sounding very impressed, “What with the question mark here?”

“I broke the crystal ball,” I said nonchalantly,

“There you are,” Lincoln’s voice came from behind me, I turned to see him and Tracy coming over he looked just as happy as I was. I let go of mum so Lincoln could hug her, Yasmin gave her dad one, and Kevin was still hugging his mum.

Lincoln began to unload about his day, it’s been different and similar to mine at the same time, he got into an argument with a posh kid, and got annoyed if anyone mentioned my dark magic so he tried extra hard in the assessment tests to annoy the rest and so they won’t try to mess with him or me.

“You have both done so well,” Mum said, looking super proud of us.

“You both have done really well,” Dad said Now he has Lincoln’s results, “think we have raised a monster” he showed Mum the papers.

“Oh wow,” she said, “I can’t wait to show your sister these, Madison will be made up for the two of you”.

“Where is she?” I asked, noticing that Madison wasn’t there.

“She’s at the guild with Uncle Tommy, only parents can come today” Mum began to fluff Lincoln’s hair and then before I could laugh, she pulled me close and started fluffing with my hair, In the corner of my eyes I could see families eyeing up mine and Kevin’s, I caught the eye of Grace and a taller ginger-haired woman, very thin, in oversized jumper. And leggings. I made eye contact with Grace and waved for her to come over. She pulled her mum by the arm and came to us and stopped just in front of Mum, Lincoln, and me.

“Mum this is Grace a friend of mine and Kevin’s” I gestured to Grace and her mum and I forgot something, my mum is famous and I do forget how famous she is sometimes, Grace looked stunned and in awe, glittering eyes, mouth catching flies her mum was no different, it wasn’t hard to tell it was Grace’s mum, same green eyes but her mum looks drained, like she has had the toughest life imaginable, cheeks sunken in, large bags under eyes, I wonder if she has eaten recently. Grace eventually snapped into reality.

“This is... is.... My mum” she began to stutter and not get her words out, Mum stepped before and said.

“Nice to meet you Grace,” Mum said and hugged her, and Grace smiled and squeezed Mum tightly Grace’s mum smiled proudly, she looked younger when she smiled, Mum let go and Grace, introduced herself and then hugged Grace’s mum too.

“We need a plan,” Yasmin said, She appeared next to me and Lincoln.

“Actually, I have one” Kevin, walking over with both hands behind his head.