"Well, I did notice you. The guys at our school are idiots for not doing the same. They all chase after the same group of airheads anyway. Take it as a compliment they're not interested." His tone grew somewhat angry when he thought about his snobby classmates.
"I am thankful," I replied, considering some of the guys I'd met so far.
"Sadie, you have to realize how amazing you are. I'm going to show you, regardless if you like it or not. You're just going to have to face the fact that I'm going to be like a pesky fly you won’t be able to get away from." His tone lightened and his mischievous smile returned.
"Well, if there's nothing I can do…" I was positive he was telling the truth, and it exhilarated me. "I guess I'll just have to give in," I said, giving him what I hoped was a flirtatious smile.
"Sadie, you know I like you, right?" His eyes focused on mine, without so much as a blink to distract his gaze.
"Yes," I whispered.
"How do you feel about me?" My confident and goofy Noah disappeared, replaced by a self-doubting and nervous one. The change in his tone made me want to reach out and hug him.
"Noah, I…I feel something when I'm with you that I've never felt with anyone else before. I feel like I can be myself around you." I prayed I didn’t sound too desperate.
"Sadie, I knew you were amazing from the moment I first saw you. You are so beautiful and the tragedy of it is that you have no idea how beautiful you actually are. From the first time I saw you in class, all I've done is think about you. I just can’t get you out of my mind. I like you too much to be just friends."
This was it: every wall I'd ever built started to crumble. With every word he spoke, I let another tiny piece of him in.
"Noah, I care about you too," I said, reaching up to run my hands through his wet hair.
Noah tugged my arm, leaned in, and whispered in my ear: "So, does this make you my girlfriend?"
I laughed and nodded my head. "I guess so."
"So, this means we have to spend every moment together, and not keep any secrets from each other, right?"
He seemed to be joking when he asked me, but as I watched the intensity in his eyes, I took it to heart. I couldn’t help but feel like I should tell him about Elizabeth’s journal, about my life in California as a mediator for the deceased. I wanted to be honest with him and share all of my worries and dreams.
"Noah, I have a secret: I’ve uncovered something truly amazing. I don’t know exactly what it means, but I'm trying to figure it all out."
"What is it?" he asked, taking my hands in his and leaning in.
"You'll think I am crazy if I tell you." I shook my head, having second thoughts about telling him my secret.
"No, I promise I won't. Tell me." His eyes seemed to bore into me, pleading for me to tell him. I knew then that I could trust him‒his eyes promised me so much with just that one look.
"When I was unpacking in my bedroom, I uncovered a hidden passageway that contained a secret journal from a woman who was accused of being a witch. It chronicles her life leading up to her persecution."
He looked bewildered. His eyes seemed to glow a mix of curiosity and fear.
Great, I thought, here it comes‒I finally got up the nerve to share my bewitching secret, and he looked at me like as if I was absolutely insane. I could practically hear the sirens now.
Much to my surprise, he said, "That's amazing!
Can I see it?"
"You believe me?" I wasn't sure if he was kidding or serious and had to lean back to get a better look at him.
"Of course, I do!" he shrieked, a wide grin spreading across his adorable face.
"I'm so relieved. This is huge, and I've had to keep it to myself for so long." I sighed a heavy breath. Judging by his reaction, I wondered if I should continue with the rest of it.
Noah reached over and took my hand again. "Thank you for sharing this with me. Do you think I could see it sometime?"
"Yes, of course."
Noah had a million questions about the journal, and I happily answered each and every one of them until I'd finally gained the courage to tell him about the other life I led.
"Noah, that’s not the only thing I've been hiding," I confessed, taking both of his hands in mine in an effort to ground him.
"Oh, yeah? What are you, some type of secret spy?" He laughed, but then he noticed how serious I was.
"Seriously, this is not easy to say." I hesitated, taking a deep breath in before continuing. "For as long as I can remember I have had this uncanny curse that's allowed me to…" I stopped, unsure as to how‒or if‒to continue. "I mean, I can see and talk to the dead." I blurted that last part out, my eyes closed, afraid to see the look on his face.
"This. Is. Awesome!" he said. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in closer to him.
"You believe me?" To my utter shock, he was handling the news really well. I'd imagined the moment very differently. In my mind, Noah ran away screaming, not wanting to know any more about my life of paranormal adventures.
"Of course, I believe you! This is so creepy, but in a good way." He was holding me tightly, his breath tickling my neck. It was just like Noah to think something so wicked was awesome.
"Okay." I was still in shock that I'd even told him in the first place. Even though I'd let Lucy see part of Elizabeth’s journal, she still didn’t know about my mediator status. Now, I wondered if I should be sharing this with her, too.
We spent the rest of the afternoon talking about my "gift," as he called it. It was so comforting to be able to say all of this stuff aloud. Noah was a great listener, and he seemed only to want to know more, as if I couldn’t give him enough insight into this crazy world of mine.
We moved on to another topic after a while, in which we mocked the jocks and cheerleaders and their failed attempts to become the leaders of our school. I watched Noah with complete fascination for a long time. When he laughed, he'd lean his head back and let out a loud yelp. His hair dangled back, like a mop being propped up to dry. Something about his eyes attracted was mesmerizing, capturing in them every element that was Noah.
Sure, boys back in California were good looking‒some of them were even gorgeous, but I'd never been in the presence of someone like Noah. His personality was contagious. In the few short weeks I'd spent with him in school, I'd taken his wonderful qualities for granted. Noah was always there to walk me to class and help me with my schoolwork, and he was more than willing to show me around my new hometown. His graciousness had initially stunned me, but now I realized that Noah was just this amazing guy.
And now he was my guy‒my boyfriend.
We sat quietly for a long while‒we were on a beautiful speed boat in one of the most tranquil places I'd ever been, and Noah wanted to know more about me.
Why me? I was boring and different, nothing at all like the beautiful cheerleaders frolicking around at school. How could he not already have a girlfriend or at least a few admirers?
I decided to let it go as I took in the breathtaking view. My life in California had been so rushed and noisy. Here it was much slower and quiet. Maybe this was right where I was supposed to be, and even if it wasn't, it didn’t really matter‒I was rejuvenated.
Chapter Sixteen
My dad was the only one who remained in non- shrieking mode when I got home.
"How was your date?" my mom said, her voice raising a few octaves. "What did you talk about? Oh, tell me everything." She'd rushed me before I could even set my bag down, grabbed ahold of me by the arm, and pulled me into the kitchen. I spotted my dad standing over a box of leftover pizza, his head shaking in amusement at my mother’s excitement.
"It was fun. Noah took me out on his boat. We tried to fish, but it didn’t work out." I laughed as I remembered falling into the water.
My face felt as if it were growing red, sending sparks down to my cheeks, and burning through my skin.
"Well, do you like him?" she said, pleading for a response.
"He's really sweet, Mom, nothing like the boys from back home." I didn’t want to tell her too much; she was already overly excited about the smaller details.
"I think he likes you, and he's just so adorable." "Yeah, well, we're sort of going out now," I said, watching the grin on her face grow with excitement.
"What does that mean?" she shrieked, causing my dad to leave the room.
"Well, it means he's my boyfriend and I am his girlfriend," I stated, closing my eyes as I felt embarrassment wash over me.
"Tell me everything that happened and don’t leave out one single detail," she said, grabbed my hand and practically forced me to sit at the kitchen table. It took about an hour of trying, but I finally managed to escape from her interrogation, hoping I'd still have time after I'd completed my homework to read more of Elizabeth’s journal. I had school the next day and had made a promise to myself that I'd be a more serious pupil. I completed my math homework, reviewed my biology notes for our quiz tomorrow, and then began brainstorming ideas for my Language Arts project. I'd talk to Lucy more about it at school. She had great ideas on how I could incorporate Elizabeth’s journal into the project, so we could find out more about her family.
The sun had already settled in the sky. A thick layer of fog blanketed the air, leaving little trace of visibility. I peered out my bedroom window at the white mist floating in the air, yawned, and decided it was time to go to bed, so I changed out of my clothes, put on my pajamas, and crawled into my comfortable bed.
Just as I felt myself beginning to doze, I heard something scrape against my window. I initially ignored the sound, believing it was a bug that had committed suicide using my window as its escape. But then the tap came again, and then again.
My eyes widened, at the tapping, sounding as if someone was tapping a long fingernail against the window, asking to come in.
I jolted out of bed and ran over to the window, refusing to let fear hold me back. At first glance, all I saw was the darkness of the night sky. I opened the window and an unfriendly cool gust of air blew into the room. The sudden brush of air caught my bedroom door, slamming it shut. I stopped dead in my tracks, hoping it hadn't woken my parents.
All was quiet on the parental front, but there was a quiet voice calling my name, sounding distant but nevertheless clear. I peered out the window trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was outside calling my name.
"Hello?" I called, searching the darkness for movement.
Suddenly a figure stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the moon.
"Sadie, it’s me, Noah." He stood there motionless, like a mannequin. A thrill of anger and excitement swept through me. He was standing outside of my bedroom window, calling my name. I felt just like Juliet, being summoned by her Romeo, only I was shorter than I imagined Juliet to be and a little more irritated.
"Noah, what are you doing here? It's past midnight." I tried to whisper as I called out to him, but my words were taken by the howling wind. My parents would have a stroke if they knew Noah was standing outside of my window, so I was afraid to speak any louder.
"Sadie, can you come out? I need to see you." His voice strained a little as he called up to me. A loose shutter knocked against the side of the house, threatening to alert my parents and the rest of the block to the presence of my night visitor.
"Noah, it’s late. We can talk tomorrow." The agitation in my voice was clear. Did he not realize that it was late, and tomorrow was a school day?
"Please, Sadie. It won’t take very long." He sounded nearly frantic.
Fearing he'd continue with his insane Romeo impersonation, my willpower dissolved‒had expired the day Noah inadvertently threw himself upon me, if I'm going to be honest. Still, he didn’t have to know I melted every time I heard his voice, or that I felt jittery every time I saw him.
I held out for as long as I could before saying, "Okay, I'll be right there."
I rushed out of my bedroom and down the stairs, careful not to make a sound on my way out. When left the house I quickly realized I probably should have grabbed a jacket before I left, but I ran over to the side of the house where Noah was waiting for me anyway.
I ran up to him, trying to speak. The wind threatened a storm and blew my hair about my face. "Noah, what's wrong? Why did you need to‒?"
But before I could continue my sentence, Noah grabbed me, his hands combing through my hair. He cupped my face in his hands for a brief moment, gazing into my eyes as if listening intently to a secret I was trying to tell him.
I gasped and tried to pull myself from his embrace, but he held onto me, staring at me as if in a strange trance. He pulled me closer to him and pressed his cool lips tightly against mine. His body was strangely warm for someone who'd been standing out in the cold night air. He pressed me tighter to him and our bodies felt connected, as if we were one, as if this was where I was supposed to be all my life. My knees threatened to crumple beneath me, my body threatened to go limp, and I felt my heart begin to race, each beat coming faster than the one before.
It was very strange, standing outside of my house, my sleeping parents just feet away from us, and me, in the arms of a boy.
At last, Noah loosened his grip. This was a different Noah than the one I'd previously known. This wasn't the quiet and somewhat nerdy Noah; this was the strong, take charge Noah, and I kind of liked it.
As he held me in his arms. I tried to look up into his face, but the darkness surrounding us made it impossible to make out anything but shadows.
"Why are you here?" I managed to say.
He held me away from his, and said, "Sadie, I don’t know what prompted me to do this. I don’t do things like this, throwing rocks at a girl’s window, but I had to see you, to touch you. What happened on my boat today felt like it was a dream, and I needed to know it was real."
I smiled. "Of course, it was real." His features relaxed.
I'd only known Noah for a few short weeks, but he was right: someone‒or something‒had brought us together. Maybe it was because I'd spent the first sixteen years of my life living on my own deserted island, hiding the truth about who I really was, or maybe it was because the stars were trying to tell me something, but I knew that the same spell that had been cast on him had also been cast on me. I was happy for the first time in my life, feeling something, I'd never felt before: alive.
I took hold of his large hands in mine, the electricity shooting through me at his touch seeming almost magical. He smiled and pulled me back into his embrace.
In that moment, Salem became home.
Chapter Seventeen
Lucy stopped by my house the next day after school to show me her Language Arts project. She'd researched Nathanial Hawthorne and compared his famous works to the life he lived in Salem. It was thirty-six pages of documentation, text passages, and facts about his most famous manuscripts‒I was in awe at the sight of the masterpiece. Although it hadn't been completed, it was still way more impressive than what I had so far.
I still had only a working title for mine: Witches in Salem. Considering my audience, I didn’t feel as if I was going to get a round of applause for my title alone.
"What do you think you'll research?" Lucy asked, flipping through the pages of her project.
"I think I'm going to focus on all of the people who were persecuted as witches. I'm hoping to uncover more information about Elizabeth and her family."
It was very strange‒discussing this idea, the notion of uncovering a real witch, made me shudder. Dead girls were easy to handle, but this much bigger than I'd ever experienced. I still wasn’t any closer to uncovering why Elizabeth was contacting me in my dreams, or why I'd found the journal. The idea was interesting and would give me an excuse to delve deeper into Elizabeth and her mystery, while proving I could be studious when I wanted to.
If I could only find out what she needed from me.
After I'd spent an hour explaining the details of my date with Noah, Lucy finally calm
ed down long enough for me to bring up Elizabeth’s journal. To my surprise, she seemed more excited to talk about the journal than Noah.
As we talked, Lucy had an epiphany: "Sadie, we should go to some of the Salem Witch Museums and the libraries to look at all the artifacts. There's sure to be some pictures or lists of family names that inhabited this area around 1692."
The idea was brilliant. I needed to get out and explore the town, to uncover all of the hidden gems available to me upon request. We decided we'd go tomorrow after school to three of the local museums. I even gave in to Lucy’s annoying request for me to eat at one of the cheesy Witch themed restaurants in the area. I was onboard to go on a witch hunt, but to eat in a themed restaurant? Now that was pushing it. "Great. Let’s get started now," I said, jumping up, ready to go.
We collected our book bags and headed out to the Salem Library to do some research. I let Lucy take the lead and show me where to go. The library was only a few short blocks from my house, but the cold air proved unkind, so we decided it would be best to drive.
Once inside the huge monument, I stopped, amazed at the majesty of the place. A marble entryway greeted us on the other side of the door, with two large, white columns on each side of it. Multiple rows of shelves were filled with books from floor to ceiling. Cherrywood tables were scattered around the floor, with green-shaded lamps on each one.
"We should go up to the second floor. There's a whole section dedicated to the Salem Witch Trials. We might find what you're looking for in there."
Lucy pointed toward a steep set of gray marble stairs. I held onto the golden banister as we ascended.
The atmosphere on the second floor was very different from that of the floor below. Downstairs, large windows opened up the room by providing inviting, natural light. Large chandeliers and wall sconces hung, proving additional light for readers. Upstairs the mood was darker, more somber, with shades over the windows and dimmer light.
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