Once they were finished with the Awakening, Megan took Genesis back out to the living room to teach her some basic magic skills. She didn't do anything too advanced. Megan just had Genesis levitate objects and will some of them to change color.

"Okay, good," Megan said after Genesis had performed her fourth successful levitation of an object. "It seems like you're getting the hang of it."

"That's good," said Genesis. She waved her hand at a nearby notebook, and it floated a few inches off the ground. "So what next?"

Megan thought for a moment. "How about we try fixing something?" She pulled out a pencil and broke it in half. "I'm gonna show you how to use a repair spell." She waved her hand at the pencil, and the two halves joined back together, with the cracks fading away as they merged. "Now, to fix something, you have to imagine it whole, as it was before it was broken. Just imagine the pieces fitting themselves together all over again, and they should do it."

"Okay," said Genesis. "What should I fix?"

"Here," said Ramona, who'd been sitting on the couch watching the training. "My earphones stopped working. Maybe you can fix them?"

Ramona pulled out a pair of earphones that, to Genesis, didn't look like they were broken. "Uh...can I fix earphones that won't work?"

"I mean, yeah," said Megan. "It's not that much different. Just imagine them working like they should."

Genesis closed her eyes and concentrated. She tried to picture plugging those earphones into her phone and listening to music through them. She imagined rough, hardcore hip hop playing through the earphones and into her ears. She felt a tugging sensation in her gut, but when she opened her eyes, the earphones looked no different.

"Did it work?" Genesis asked.

"Let's see." Ramona got out her phone, plugged in the earphones, put one earphone in her ear, and Shuffle Played her Spotify playlist. After a moment, she shook her head. "Nope," she said.

"Huh?"

"Try it again," said Megan.

Genesis did try, but still nothing.

"What is it?" Genesis asked. "What am I doing wrong?"

"I don't know," said Megan. She looked at Ramona and asked "Just out of curiosity, what are you listening to?"

"1989. Taylor's Version," Ramona answered.

"Oh yeah," Genesis smirked. She was still waving her hands to try and magically fix the earphones. "It's an unofficial rule in our family. We always listen to Taylor's Version."

"Whoa!" Ramona exclaimed. "They started working again!"

"The earphones?"

"Yes!"

"Finally," said Genesis.

"Way to go," said Megan. She looked at her phone and saw that it was already past noon. "Well, I should probably start working on homework now," she said. "And maybe do some chores, too."

"Okay," said Genesis. "Thanks for training me."

"My pleasure," said Megan. "I'll get in touch with you so we can schedule our next session."

"Of course." Genesis started to leave, but then she faltered. "Megan?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

Genesis bit her lip. She was so afraid to ask the question that was on her mind, she didn't even know how to word it. "Am I doing well?"

"Yes, you are. Why?"

"Well...do you think maybe Mirna might've had a reason to make me her successor?"

"What do you mean?" Megan asked. She didn't notice Ramona shaking her head and mouthing at Genesis to stop.

"I mean, there are lots of other people in this world," said Genesis. "What is it about me that makes Mirna think I'm worthy of her gift?"

Megan frowned. "You didn't know Mirna before she died, did you?"

"No," Genesis lied.

"Really?"

"I mean...I did work at an internship for her nephew," said Genesis. "You know how Pride Laboratories just rolled out that gender-changing serum?"

"Yeah. Wasn't the guy who helped develop the serum arrested and sentenced to an asylum?"

Genesis nodded. "Yeah, that was Mirna's nephew Lucas," she said. "But I didn't know about that until after the fact."

"Hm," Megan mused. "Well, I'm not sure that's really relevant. Maybe Mirna just saw something in you that you don't see in yourself."

"You think?"

"It's like my mom always says," said Megan. "You just have to believe in yourself."

"I will," said Genesis. "I will."

***

That night, the Rookwood family had Jesse over for dinner. While they chowed down on potato soup and biscuits, Genesis told Jesse, along with her dad Reginald and stepmom Paulette, about the training session with Megan.

"Well, well, well," Reginald said when Genesis was finished. "My little princess is now a witch."

"Witch in training," Genesis corrected. "I feel like I have a long way to go."

"It sounds like you're off to a good start."

"I mean, I kind of am." Genesis touched her metallic gray spoon, and it turned gold.

"Whoa, King Midas," said Jesse. "Did you just make yourself a golden spoon?"

"I just changed its color, I think," Genesis answered. She picked up the spoon, and it felt no heavier or lighter.

Paulette guzzled down her biscuits. Since she was very pregnant, she needed to eat a lot of food to sustain the baby she had inside of her. "You said Megan was one of your victims," she said between bites of biscuit. "When you were a boy."

"Yes," said Genesis. "I was worried she might've been immune to Mirna's memory-altering spell and recognized me. But she didn't."

"Really?" Jesse asked.

"Well, I did kind of ask her," said Genesis.

"Which I still don't think you should've done," Ramona added.

"What do you mean?"

"I asked her if she had any idea why Mirna chose me as her successor over a million other girls in this world."

Jesse, Reginald, and Paulette exchanged glances. "And..."

"I was trying to probe," Genesis explained. "Luckily, she didn't seem to be on to me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," said Genesis. "Ramona, you were there. Don't you agree?"

"I guess," Ramona admitted.

"Well, if she doesn't remember, then that's good," said Jesse. "And you said you were planning on meeting her again, right?"

"Right," said Genesis. Without thinking, she blurted out "You don't think I'm worthy, do you? Of Mirna's gift?"

"I mean, sure," said Jesse. "Why? Do you not feel worthy?"

"Well...I mean, I know I've done some good things," said Genesis, "But I just...don't see myself as a witch."

"I'll bet you never saw Ramona as your sister," said Paulette. "But here we are now."

"This is different," said Genesis. "I didn't ask for this gift. And now I've got magic inside me, and I don't even know what I'm going to do with it once I've mastered it."

"Well, I'd think magic could come in handy," said Reginald. "It would make it easier to fix things, easier to clean the house, easier to help people...I think you could do a lot of good with your gift."

"I hope you're right," said Genesis. "I hope I can put this gift to good use."

To be continued...