Academy of Magic Collection

by Angelique S Anderson et al.

  The moment of glory came when Dean opened his mouth to speak and then took a good look at her.

  In the silence, Betty started fidgeting in her borrowed petticoats. Thankfully, Dean managed to compose himself enough to stand and offer Betty a hand. As he helped Betty to her feet, Dean’s gaze kept slipping back to where Francie was standing.

  “I want you back by ten o’clock, Francie, and not a minute later.”

  Francie turned to see her mother had entered the room. With her apron tied round her ample waist and a dusting of flour on her cheek, Mrs. Everette was the dearest thing in Francie’s life. Not that she would ever tell her mother that.

  “Sure thing, Mom.”

  Dean went over to shake Mrs. Everette’s hand. Francie nearly giggled aloud at the look of astonishment on her mom’s face. It was obvious that the Dean Woods charm had struck again. With a peck on her cheek, Mrs. Everette sent the kids on their way.

  Francie couldn’t help but turn back to give her mother one final wave from the back seat of Kenny’s car.

  When she turned and saw Dean looking at her, she asked nervously, “What?”

  He smiled, not saying a word. Then he turned and started talking to the guys as if she wasn’t even there. Francie refused to meet Betty’s sympathetic gaze. The last thing she wanted was pity from anyone. Cursing herself for worrying so much about her silly outfit, Francie stared silently out the window until they arrived.

  Chapter Twelve

  CHAPTER 12-

  Ginger fiddled with the tie on her shirt, wondering if maybe she had gone a step too far. Francie and Betty had assured her that that outfit was the ginchiest, which was the highest praise. But Ginger still worried that she probably looked like a flat.

  She hadn’t intended on attending the beach party at all. Her shift had run late at the soda shop and Ginger felt dead on her feet. However, when she got home and Ginger’s parents were having a card party with the Pumpernickels, Ginger knew she would rather be anywhere but home.

  Eying Betty, Ginger felt a flash of jealousy. Betty had come out in the swankiest of dresses! It hugged her body like a second skin and showed off her slight, delicate frame. But that was nothing compared to Francie, who looked like she had just stepped off the pages of a magazine.

  Francie hadn’t said hardly anything when she arrived, and Betty seemed content to hang back and bite her already stubby nails. It was obvious that the three of them were fish out of water. It was on the top of her tongue to suggest that they all go home when the sound of a motorcycle came up behind them.

  The girls turned around to see George Minks on his bike with a girl wrapped so tightly around him that they couldn’t see her face. Dread laced the pit of her stomach as the sound of insipid giggles reached her ears. Ginger knew that laugh. It was none other than Posy Pumpernickel.

  Ginger felt a tightening in her gut—anger, embarrassment, pity? She didn’t know; all she knew was that she needed to be out of there. “Let’s go and find something to drink.”

  Francie, taking in the situation, quickly looped her arm into Ginger’s. With the other, she linked up with Betty. “Come along, ladies, I saw a punch bowl over here.”

  From across the beach, they heard Dean call out something. Ginger looked questioningly at Francie, but she didn’t stop. So, they followed Francie as she made her way across the sand. It became clearer that Dean was calling Francie’s name, but she pretended not to hear him.

  When they reached the makeshift refreshment table, Francie grabbed a drink for each girl and then made a toast. “To friends, who never let your down.”

  Betty and Ginger’s nodded, clinking glasses. Throwing it back, they all gulped down the sweet liquid.

  “Careful, Francie!” Dean warned as he finally reached them. “The punch is usually spiked.”

  Francie grabbed another cup and threw it back as well. Then, without a word to Dean, she turned to walk away. It just so happened that a tall boy she didn’t know happened to be walking by. They nearly collided.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said with a laugh that was a tad too bright.

  The boy’s eyes seemed to pop as he took in the vision before him. A swagger overtook him as he responded in a deep voice, “I’m not sorry at all, Little Darlin’. You are one tall glass of water, aren’t you? The name is Ted.”

  Usually, Francie would never talk to a strange boy, least of all one that called her Little Darlin’. But with Dean glowering not fifty feet behind her, she felt somewhat emboldened. “The name’s Francie.”

  He motioned to where there were some couples dancing. “Would you like to dance, Little Darlin’?”

  A distinct growl came from where Dean was standing.

  Francie, completely ignoring Dean, grinned up at Ted. With a saucy smile, she replied, “I love to dance.”

  The older boy took her arm and began to lead her away. A frisson of fear raced over Francie; she didn’t know this boy at all. Her mama had always told her to stay away from strangers. But the music was loud, and they were surrounded by kids from school. Surely she was safe at a bonfire. With the liquid courage in her veins, Francie soon lost herself in the rhythm of the song. She didn’t complain when the music slowed, or Ted pulled her into his arms.

  It wasn’t until he tried to pull her flush up against his frame that Francie froze. Realizing their close proximity, Francie tried to politely move away. His arms locked around her. With a yelp, she gave him a little shove. “Let me go.”

  Ted barked out a cold laugh. “Not hardly, Little Darlin’. How’s about you give me some sugar?”

  Francie began to panic. Ted’s arms felt like vices. No matter how hard she shoved, he seemed immovable. Her stomach clenched, and she was sure she was going to be sick. Dark spots danced in front of her eyes.

  “Francie!” Dean’s strong voice rang out across the music.

  Francie turned her face toward where he was calling, but she couldn’t see him. There were too many people. The heat from the fire seemed to be licking through her veins. She had to get out. She needed space.

  Ted leaned in; his lips puckered. Was he going to kiss her? Francie felt a surge of anger overpower her fear. Something dark and deep erupted from within her. One moment Ted’s lips were a breath away from stealing her first kiss and the next moment he was sailing across the sand, landing on his back with a sickening thud.

  Dean arrived half a second later. His arm wrapped around Francie as she wobbled a bit. His voice was frantic as he asked, “Are you alright?”

  Ted wiped the sand from his face. Scowling, he spat, “She’s nothing but a tease.”

  Dean’s arm dropped from Francie’s waist. She watched in horror as Dean balled his fists up and stalked over to where Ted was lying in the sand.

  Chuck Berry’s lyrics seemed to fade into the background as the kids around them stopped and stared. Francie felt the hair on the back of her neck raise. To her left, Posy was glaring at her with a look of hatred so strong that Francie felt weak on her feet.

  Everyone had stopped what they had been doing. The crowd gathered closer around Dean and Ted, hoping for a fight.

  “Ha!” Ted spat. The bravado in his tone was nearly believable. “Is that your girlfriend, Woods? Is she going to go to your precious academy? Is she—”

  Dean hauled back and punched Ted right in the nose, not waiting to hear another word from Ted. Red droplets of blood spurted from Ted’s nose and he shuffled backward, screaming like a little girl.

  Dean advanced on him, ready to strike again. However, Francie was having a difficult time keeping her gaze on the pair. Her body began shaking. She figured it was because of the violence. Francie had never seen anything like that before.

  Ginger and Betty came up to flank her on both sides. Each slipping an arm under hers, they began to move her away from the crowd.

  “Come away from here,” Ginger said calmly. “Come on, now.”

  Francie didn’t put up a fuss. She followed like a little child, not
sure where they were going, only thankful to be away from there. Her legs were trembling just as much as her erratic heartbeat.

  Betty’s jaw was tight when she asked quietly, “Did that boy hurt you?”

  Francie tried to shake the fuzz that seemed to cloud her mind. “No, not really. I wanted him to let me go, that’s all.”

  “How did you push him so hard?” Betty asked in confusion. “How did you do that? He went flying through the air.”

  Francie hadn’t pushed him at all. In fact, she had been frozen in fear when Ted had tried to kiss her. Something big and powerful from inside of her had pushed him away, something that she didn’t know or understand. Frankly, she was terrified of what had happened.

  Francie’s vision swam for a moment and she found her knees buckling. If she didn’t find a place to sit, she was going to fall. “I don’t feel so good.”

  Once again, a strong arm wrapped around her waist, pushing Ginger and Betty aside. It obviously didn’t belong to one of her friends. This time it dawned on her that Dean had done this once before. Why wasn’t she panicking? Francie couldn’t understand why the sense of danger that had been so prevalent before was suddenly gone.

  Her body seemed to find relief in his arms, and suddenly she slumped against him. Dean cursed softly and pulled her against his chest. Vaguely, Francie wondered if he was trying to embrace her. That was odd. She and Dean had certainly never embraced before. Her mind seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. Things just weren’t making sense.

  Shaking her head, she realized too late that it was the wrong move. Just as the darkness descended, she felt Dean sweep her into his arms, and then she knew nothing.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Betty rubbed her bare shoulders and wished that she had thought to throw on a sweater. It was odd to be cold at a bonfire, but it wasn’t as if she were close to the flames. Content to stay in the shadows after she had made certain that Francie was going to be alright, Betty had curled up in a beach chair and stared at the distant, choppy waves.

  She could just make out her uncle’s shop from this location. The shop made her think about Kenny and their strange conversation from earlier that day. Betty was still hard-pressed to even believe it was true—boys were so odd.

  With a sigh, Betty curled up her knees beneath her skirts and placed her head on them. The cool ocean breeze tickled her bare shoulders and she shivered.

  “I’m glad you came.”

  Betty would have recognized Kenny’s voice anywhere. When had that happened? Her eyes snapped open to see Kenny smoking a cigarette. The flame from his smoke illuminated his face.

  “Cigarettes make you smell bad,” Betty blurted out, and then felt the heat staining her cheeks. “Not that it is any of my business, because it’s not.”

  Feeling young and terribly immature, she added, “I just don’t like it.”

  Kenny laughed and threw the cigarette in the sand. “Well then, Princess, I will have to get rid of it.”

  Betty winced at the nickname; it was obvious why he was calling her that. Could she possibly have been bossier?

  “You don’t have to.” Betty fumbled over the words. “I shouldn’t tell you what to do.” Suddenly, she was aware that her arms were hanging awkwardly at her sides. She tried tucking her hands in her sides. When that didn’t work, she wrapped them around her knees.

  “Are you alright?” Kenny eyed Betty as he dropped down in the beach chair beside her.

  Betty flushed, wishing for the millionth time that she could just be cool around this boy. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Kenny stopped and stared. “I don’t know. Your best friend just threw a guy clear across the beach and then passed out. You are flapping your arms around and you won’t look me in the eyes.”

  Betty flushed even hotter. Choosing the latch on to the first thing he said, Betty responded, “Right, um, yeah, that was really strange.”

  “How do you think she did it?” Kenny asked.

  Betty shrugged, her mind spinning with possibilities as she looked back over the ocean. It took her a full minute to respond. “Maybe it was an adrenaline thing?”

  “It could be…pretty strange if you ask me.”

  Betty nodded, finally bringing her gaze back to meet his. “What do you think?”

  Kenny fidgeted a little before leaning forward to whisper, “I think that there are a lot of things that haven’t made much sense lately and this is just another one to add to the list. Listen, can I trust you with something?”

  “Of course,” Betty readily replied. “What is it?”

  “I’ve heard around town that you were accepted at the academy.”

  She nodded. “Yes, all three of us were.”

  “What was your test like?” he prodded.

  Betty described the darkness and the mazes. The longer she talked, the more that Kenny’s knees began to bounce. Betty wasn’t sure if he was agitated or excited.

  “Did the same thing happen for Francie and Ginger?”

  Betty frowned as she remembered Ginger recounting what she had experienced, but Francie never had gotten into any details. She said it was much the same, but it had seemed odd at the time. Francie wasn’t one for holding back.

  “What?” Kenny searched her face. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Betty turned the conversation back on Kenny. “First, tell me what your test was like.”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “There wasn’t a test at all. I walked into the school, wandered down the hallway, poked my head into a few rooms, sat on the bleachers waiting for someone, and eventually just walked out the door.”

  “No, how could that be? That doesn’t make a lick of sense.”

  Kenny swallowed and leaned even closer.

  Betty’s stomach flipped with indecision. Was he trying to kiss her?

  Kenny whispered in a low tone. “I think that what happened earlier with Francie, that’s happened to me before as well.”

  “A strange boy tried to kiss you?” As soon as the words were out, Betty wished them back inside. She hadn’t meant to sound so flaky. It was just that this situation they were in, it was so bizarre.

  Kenny laughed. “No, although I think that would help to inspire an episode. But I have had things happen, strange things that I can’t explain.”

  “Like what?”

  “My old man, sometimes he can come on a little too strong. Last weekend he had been out drinking after work. When he got home, he was upset that the milk had been left out. He tried to…”

  Kenny seemed uncertain as to how to go on.

  Betty, no stranger to the rougher side of life, finished the sentence for him. “He tried to hit you.”

  Kenny winced. “Something like that. Anyhow, before he could touch me, I felt a burst of power throwing him back. He hit his head and slumped to the floor. I was terrified that I’d killed him. Thankfully, he woke up the next morning and didn’t remember a thing. But what was really strange was that after it happened, I felt weak, horribly weak, almost like I was going to pass out.”

  Betty watched as Kenny screwed his face up, trying to get the words out. She knew that this confession was difficult for him, and a piece of her heart softened just a little.

  Kenny went on. “I don’t expect you to believe me. I know it sounds crazy. But I think that the academy isn’t just a school, and I think that something odd is happening in town.”

  It did sound incredible to Betty. “This isn’t a joke? You aren’t trying to make fun of me?”

  “No, I swear. I should never have tried to be cool this afternoon. I was a jerk. Listen, this is something that I wouldn’t just share with anyone. In fact, I haven’t told a soul about my dad and his drinking.”

  Betty understood that. Uncle Buck wasn’t a heavy drinker, but there were kids from their neighborhood who lived in some dire circumstances. It was strange for her to consider that kids from the right side of the tracks experienced the same things. For some reason that she couldn’t
fathom, Betty had it in her head that all of the rich kids lived in perfect families.

  Kenny moved to stand. “Just forget about what I said.”

  Betty knew she needed to stop him. Reaching out a hand, she grabbed his wrist. “Wait, just hold on half a darn minute. I’m trying to think.”

  Kenny slumped back down. “You think I am crazy.”

  Betty flashed him a smile. “We are all crazy in some way or another. If I hadn’t have seen what I did with Francie tonight I might not have believed you. We need to find out what this academy is all about, and how it’s bringing out these—I don’t know what to call it.”

  “Powers?”

  “Gifts?” Betty countered.

  Kenny’s lip twitched. “That’s better than magic, I suppose. I still don’t know what to think.”

  “What’s Dean’s involvement over at the school? He seems to be on the inside.”

  Kenny’s smile faded. “That’s the thing. Dean and George are my best friends. But they both have been pulling away. I don’t know if that’s because we are getting older or if there is something more involved. Also, Dean’s dad is the chairman for the board at the academy. Whatever is going on there, Dean has to know. But when I ask him, he clams up on me.”

  Betty’s eyes twinkled as she began to formulate a plan.

  “I can see the wheels spinning in your head,” he teased with a laugh.

  Betty pretended to pout before laughing and saying, “If there is something strange going on, we have a duty to uncover it. Don’t we?”

  “Betty! We are getting ready to leave!” Ginger called as she waved her arms to get Betty’s attention.

  Betty glanced up to see Ginger across the sand. “Be right there!” She turned to Kenny and whispered, “I will be at my uncle’s shop tomorrow. Come around one and we can talk privately.”

  Not stopping to consider that she just made an assignation with the boy of her dreams, Betty hopped up and raced across the sand to meet her friends.