This year was going to be great. Coming back to Cackles, Mildred felt more confident ,now that she had a whole year under her belt. And to her delight, Art was added to the school's curriculum, which Mildred just so happened to be really good at. Yes, this year was going to be different, monumental in more ways than none.

Today was the day, Miss. Mould was teaching Mildred's class how to make their family tree's. Mildred was beyond excited. She knew her tree was nothing to write home about, it was small, she was still happy to do the project as it had to do with her family, which to Mildred meant everything.

Mildred was brought out of her daydream by Miss. Mould's words, "And when you finish crafting your trees, the magic really begins the Manifestation Spell!" Mildred was smiling ear to ear, finally, after all of her work creating the tree, making sure it was perfect, she would get to add her family to it. "Picture your family clearly in your mind and see them come to life on your family trees." Miss. Mould exclaimed enthusiastically.

Mildred shook her head showing Miss. Mould she was listening. Picturing her family, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "All of my history, now let us see, show me my relatives on this family tree." Sneaking a peak of her tree, her face instantly grew into a smile, "Oh, hey, Granny Hubble, Auntie Mo," the final relative showed up at the bottom of the tree, "hey mum!"

Mildred was ecstatic, sure her tree was small, only three relatives, but she didn't mind. She was thankful for the family she had, and she loved them with all of her heart.

Mildred still beaming was not surprised to hear Ethel throwing insults in an attempt to extinguish her excitement, "Yours is more of a family twig." Ethel said with a smug look on her face.

Mildred immediately glared at Ethel's tree, trying to find something to throw back in Ethel's face.

"Well… yours is more like… a family argument." Mildred spat back with a surprising sense of courage.

The entire class set out in a fit of giggles, causing the look on Ethel's face to grow more and more menacing.

This shut Ethel up for a while to Mildred's delight. She was proud of her little tree, she was not about to let Ethel's words get to her, not now at least. Mildred was not stupid, she knew this was not the end of Ethel's wrath. She knew Ethel would retaliate. She always did, especially if Mildred somehow hurt her ego, which she did as soon as the class laughed in response to Mildred's comeback. Which if she had to say so herself, she was pretty proud of coming up with. But she wasn't about to let Ethel or the thought of a future payback get her down, no she would not let Ethel yield control over her.

XXX: Ten minutes had passed.

"How come your dad isn't on your tree?" Maud asked tentatively.

Mildred immediately felt the dread rush over her. She wished her friend wasn't that observant or at least to have asked when they were alone, not while Ethel is standing in such close proximity.

"It's quite tricky to manifest someone when you don't know what they look like," Mildred said with a forced smile, trying not to upset her friend for being curious.

"Hasn't your father ever wanted to meet you, Mildred?" Ethel asked in a tone that confirmed Mildred's suspicion that Ethel was only asking the question to rub salt in the wound.

Mildred swallowed, "I guess… not." She hated giving Ethel the satisfaction of getting to her, but she could not help but keep her head down to respond to Ethel's question. The thought of her father never wanting to know or even meet Mildred was something that has always been hard for her to grasp. She did her best in life to try not to think about him or what could have been if he would have been in her life, but it was hard.

"Okay girls that is all for today, put your trees on the back table, we will work on them more tomorrow." Miss. Mould instructed as the girls began carrying their trees to the back.

Mildred watched for a moment noticing the other girls' trees. Hers, without a doubt, had the fewest amount of family members that popped up. Realizing she was one of the last in the classroom, she quickly put her tree on the back table to catch up with her friends who were already headed to the dining hall.

What the girls didn't know and what Miss. Mould didn't think to tell her class. The spell made changes to the tree for 24 hours before it was complete. Meaning most of the girls would arrive at the class tomorrow with more family members added or even having members moved around on the tree. The magic would correct the tree and the relations of the family members. For instance, if the tree made any mistake, for example, by placing a grandmother in the spot the mother should be, it would be corrected. After 24 hours, the tree would be finished with the changes. The tree would be correct. Usually, there was no need to bring this to attention to the students. It was not a big deal, often. Still, every now and then, it could become a bit of a problem.

When Mildred finally caught up to Maud and Enid, they were already sat in the dining hall.

"Millie what is your opinion? Would you rather be invisible for a day or be able to fly for a day?" Enid asked before Mildred could even sit down.

Ethel, who happened to be walking by at that exact moment, lucky me Mildred thought to herself, stilled herself to answer. "I am sure Mildred would choose to be invisible for a day. Since she always making so many mistakes," Ethel made eye contact with Mildred before continuing, "being invisible would give you the chance not to embarrass yourself for once." Ethel smirked before walking away, clearly pleased with the upset look left on the young girl's face.

Enid jumped up from the table with her fists clenched to her sides.

"Just leave it be Enid," Mildred pleaded, placing her hand on Enid's shoulder. She was afraid Enid would chase Ethel and tackle her to the ground, "I am fine, really."

With a growl, Enid tugged her shoulder, causing Mildred to release her, "Why do you let her talk to you like that?" she huffed, sitting back down.

Mildred gave her friends a weak smile. "I don't know," she let out a breath of air she didn't even realize she was holding, "What else am I supposed to do? Anytime I try to say anything, it just makes it worse. Which only leads to Ethel retaliating, which somehow leads to me getting thrown into detention by HB." Mildred said, shrugging her shoulders.

Maud looks at Mildred with sad eyes, "we just care for you, Millie, that's all."

"I know you all do," Mildred said, looking at her friends with a thankful smile. Letting out a breath of air, Mildred continues, "for once Ethel is right, I just want to lay low, I am tired of always getting in trouble and having all eyes on me. If letting Ethel shoot jabs at me know and then to avoid the attention of it all, then I guess that is what will have to happen." Mildred said, throwing her arms around the backs of both of her best friends as they walked out of the dining hall.