by Shay Cabe
“That’s a sexist statement. Assuming men can’t cook because they’re not women,” Phoenix teases from his chair beside mine. I was so shocked by the guys cooking I didn’t pay attention to where I sat.
Too late to move now.
“My bad,” I grumble forcing my gaze to the empty plate in front of me. “And I wasn’t being sexist. I was surprised is all,” I defend myself. When we were kids, those two were the biggest anti-kitchen anythings of all of us. In fact, Hez would throw a tantrum if his mom asked him to help with dishes.
“We all have kitchen duty now, mom said that none of us should have expectations of having a second mother take care of us,” he says, poking me lightly with his elbow in the ribs.
“That’s some true wisdom there.” Especially considering what woman will be in all four of their lives daily. Me. I ain’t their mama. This thought path makes me go even farther into future wonderland. How far will our relationship go? Witch-bound means a lot of things and one of them can be romantic involvement, but not always. This makes me look at all four of them in an appraising way.
Without digging deep down, I know that I’m physically attracted to them, anyone would be. And their behavior towards me, at least that first day when they rubbed on me like a happy pig getting a back scratch, makes me think they feel the same.
Ugh, yeah, I’m game for that. How effing annoying of me. The bigger question is, are they?
Feeling attention on me I look over at Phoenix who is blatantly trying to look down my shirt. One of them is, anyhow. I don’t have much experience in that area, a little to none actually but the internet and TV are good sources of information. Plus, I’ve been reading books since I was five. Most of which were romances. I have enough sense to weed out the unrealistic stuff—I mean; it is fiction. Expecting relationships to work like a romance novel is setting yourself up for guaranteed failure. But there are touches of real life in all romance novels. A thread of emotional truth with bits and sprinkles of reality in those journeys to the end of the book, if you know how to look for them.
I hope that if—big if, there’s no guarantees—this five-way relationship goes into that territory, I can have some inkling how to handle everything. I’m a bit of a control freak and an awkward virgin. My focus hasn’t been dating or falling in love. I focused on how many ways to stab someone in five-seconds. The first day when I thought all things were happy-go-lucky, they were rubbing on me like a happy pig getting a good scratch. Marking me as their territory. Shifters do that, even with family.
Maybe they see me as a possession versus a partner? The thought of them feeling like they own me ratchets up the annoyance. No one owns me, ever.
Stop trying to over analyze everything, Nora. Sometimes things have to take their course. My former therapist's words pop into my head.
Do I want to be more than a friend or ‘little sister’? Relationships are hard, I’ve watched them destroy stronger people than I am. I suck at them. Given the track history I’ve seen with these four, they do too. God, what kind of mess have I gotten myself into?
Being witch-bound doesn’t mean we have to get married and have a bazillion babies. It means that there will always be a bond between us and we need to remain close. That’s the thoughts I need to hold on to. The rest of it gives me a headache.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Oz asks. I look to my right and he’s standing there, in that silly apron, holding a plate full of food.
I almost blurt out exactly what I’m thinking but at the last second ask, “Syrup?” He frowns a little at me but doesn’t push it. Instead, he scoops some food on my plate and sits beside me. With a pointed look he puts the syrup pitcher in front of me and digs into his own food.
“You were thinking about the bond,” Barrett says quietly, I choke on the half-chewed french toast in my mouth and grab the glass of milk in front of me to try to wash it down.
Eyes watering I look over at him and as calmly as I can and say, “What makes you ask that?”
He shrugs and answers, “I felt it.”
“We all did,” the others chorus.
Gathering my composure, I take another long drink of milk and adopt a relaxed pose that mirrors his. Magic doesn’t understand personal space anymore than these guys do.
“I was trying to figure out how things will work, is all.” There’s a bit of a wobble to my voice, a hint of nervousness. I hate it, showing that weakness but I can’t help it either.
“That’s simple,” Hez begins and takes a big bite out of his food. I wait for him to continue but the jerk takes forever to chew and swallow before finishing. “We’re the five musketeers.” That is not the profound statement I was expecting and if the astounded looks from his brothers are any sign, they weren’t expecting that either. His smile fades as he looks around and he clears his throat. With a deeper voice he says, “We do everything together, Nora.” I’m not the only one who wants to sound cooler than I am.
“Everything, huh?” Phoenix asks with his usual aplomb.
“Everything,” Oz pipes in with a smile of pure mischief on his face. I don’t have to be a super genius to figure out what he means by that.
“Not necessarily, I figure we can stay close together and be with whoever we want,” I’m partially serious and the looks on their faces makes it worth it. All four of them look at me like I’ve grown an extra head.
“Are you dating someone?” Phoenix demands.
“Who?” Hez adds.
“That guy from school? The new kid?” Oz asks.
Barrett remains silent but I see the animal shine through his eyes. Are they jealous?
“Oh, look at the time. See you guys at school,” I say jumping to my feet and hurrying out of the room. I manage to get to grab my stuff and get to my jeep before any of them make it outside to stop me. I wear the smile on my face all the way to school.
Teddy is waiting for me on the steps. He’s standing there dressed in a pair of blue skinny jeans and a white button-up shirt. He looks like he stepped off the pages of a fashion magazine and I envy his ability to pull it off so well. His dark hair is perfect, his smile—although I can tell its fake, is all white teeth and charm. There’s a group of girls standing off to the side, whispering and pointing at him.
Every time he looks that direction his eyes carefully skips them. My attention is grabbed by the blonde guy standing in the overhang's shade near the entrance. He’s looking at Teddy with longing. Teddy’s eyes meet mine through the windshield and I flick my eyes towards the blonde and back again.
Effortlessly, he turns just enough to get a look at the blonde without being obvious. Turning back to me his eyebrows raise and he mouths the word ‘hot’. I think Teddy won’t be single much longer and I’m happy for him. He’s such a sweet guy.
I climb out of my jeep and he comes down the stairs to meet me. This time when he loops his arm around mine I let him, Teddy isn’t a threat to me. He’s like me in some ways, different and mostly alone. He doesn’t trust easily, or he’d have a group surrounding him already. He’s also got darkness in his life and if anything it makes me like him more because of the strength he’s shown concerning it.
Him and I are totally soul-bros.
“My god, he’s delicious. You think he’s into me?” he whispers, pulling me closer so we aren’t overheard.
“Did you not see how he was looking at you?” I ask laughing.
“Shh, I still need to hear it.” He smiles with that twinkle of teasing in his eyes that helps ease some of the stress strangling me. Yeah, I’m keeping Teddy.
“You were naked to him, let’s put it that way.” Teddy laughs at my attempt to be ‘hip’ and drags me along with him to my first period class.
“Where are these four Hazards I need to meet? I saw one... and he was hot enough to scorch the ground, girl. I can’t wait to see the…” his voice trails off. I sigh, I already know why. I look over my shoulder and see all four of them standing there looking at us. Phoenix
has a smirk on his face because he’s already in the know. The other three not so much.
Teddy leans closer to me, his mouth a breath from my ear and whispers, “If looks could kill I’d be a dead man. Wanna make it worse?” Before I can say yes or no he kisses me, open-mouthed on the ear, there’s even some tongue involved. The one that responds the quickest surprises me. Barrett. He’s already halfway to us when Phoenix heads him off, whispering fiercely to him with a look directed at Teddy.
Barrett gives me a puzzled look and then knowledge takes its place. They head back towards their brothers but neither one of them say anything to the other two who look mad enough to bite someone in half.
Those sneaky shits.
“This will be fun while it lasts, Nora. A bit scary too but def a riot.” He leans close again, intimately and traces his fingers down the tattoo on my wrist. I raise my arm to block the fist heading towards him and turn to Hez, his arm still in my grasp.
“Bad dog,” I chide, releasing his arm. Phoenix bends over laughing behind him while Hez looks at me in frustration.
“Is this the guy? The one you’re hiding from us?”
I sigh and Phoenix laughs harder. Barrett stops beside me and does something surprising, he kisses my cheek and heads into class. Hez looks at Teddy then at the doorway then back at Teddy.
He instantly relaxes.
“Who are you?” he asks Teddy, but the anger he was full of seconds before is gone. He’s guarded but being friendly. What the hell?
“Teddy, Nora’s new bestie. Which one are you?” Teddy doesn’t get intimidated easily and for this I’m thankful.
“Hezekiah. Nice to meet you Teddy,” he says holding his hand out to shake Teddy’s. While I’m standing there baffled. How did he figure it out?
“He caught me looking at the other guy’s ass, Nora,” Teddy mock whispers.
Facepalming, I walk away from the lot of them. God save me from horny teenage boys.
Chapter Fourteen
Everywhere I turn the Hazards are there. Teddy gets a right kick out of it and teases me mercilessly and also teases them any chance he gets. Unfortunately, where the Hazards go their fan club of bitch-faces follow. I’ve already stopped at least three curses from hitting me. They designed one to make all my hair fall out and turn my skin blue. Creative but weak and it slid off me like water. The other two were little ones that would give someone warts and crossed eyes. I give them a D- for creativity and an F- for power.
The shifter girls attempted to scare me by showing me her blunt teeth. Sooo scary. Luckily for her I didn’t give into the desire to growl at her. It was strong and turning it down was hard. Whatever creature is inside of me wanted to scare the crap out of them. In the process, it kind of scared the crap out of me. My control almost slipping had me having a mini-panic attack in the bathroom.
When I walk out of the bathroom and there’s a small crowd of girls waiting on me, I sigh. They need to find other ways to make their point, this shit is lame. They should’ve also learned their lessons from the locker room.
“Hi, you guys need a tampon? I have some in my backpack.” I don’t but something needed to be said and period talk is always a good way to break the ice with would-be bullies.
“We warned you about being around the Hazards,” says the deer shifter. Her witch friend is behind her with a glow to her brown eyes. Cookie chooses that moment to appear and stands in between me and the girls. A small ferret appears at her feet and when Cookie growls at it, it squeaks in alarm and poofs out of existence.
“You guys aren’t going to drop this are you?” The witch steps forward, braver than her friends. She lifts her hands and the only thing that happens is my backpack flap moves. She’s breathing heavy from exertion and looking at me, eyes widened in shock.
Mom didn’t birth a fool. I always have protection charms on me somewhere. Some of which are inlaid in my clothes. I don’t like taking chances.
“Ya done?” I ask. She looks around at her group of friends nervously. I wiggle the fingers on my right hand, muttering long memorized words under my breath in preparation of a spell if I need it. If they keep it up, they will discover that girls who play with fire get burned.
“Why can’t you just go away?” the deer girl demands, looking like she’s going to cry.
“That wouldn’t change anything and you know it. Being tenacious when someone doesn’t want to be with you isn’t cool, yo. It makes you look desperate and desperate doesn’t go well with those Coach bags you’re carrying.” I can be honest and a little insulting without feeling guilty. They keep trying to curse me and jump me all the time over guys who only want to get rid of them.
“Everything was fine before—“
I interrupt her, “No it wasn’t and you know it.”
“If you went away, he’d want me again,” she says with a genuine pout in her voice. This is ridiculous.
“None of this shit has anything to do with me. Ask them! And leave me the fuck alone!” I stomp my foot and they all fall backwards from the power that little tantrum of mine throws out. I’m tired of dealing with stupid people, this is my limit. “Don’t speak to me again, ladies. Go talk to the reasons you’re acting like tools. It ain’t me.”
Without another word I turn and walk off. I continue out the front doors of the school until I’m sitting in my jeep with Cookie on the passenger seat. I’m genuinely bothered by this crap. The depth of control I had to have to keep from hurting them tore at me. This… thing inside of me wanted to. The magic inside of me wanted to.
Mom was right in picking my name. I’m definitely not the good witch.
The knock on the window startles me. It’s rare that someone can sneak up on me but I was so lost in my head I ignored the warning signs. That’s a mistake I can’t repeat. I look over at Hez who’s looking at me with a bit of concern. Oh right, the bond. They probably felt me use magic.
I turn the key and roll the window down part way. “What?” I ask in irritation.
“What happened?”
“Your pep squad cornered me outside the bathroom.”
He frowns and anger fills his eyes, “Did they hurt you?”
“You need to tell your clingers it’s over—if that’s the case. Don’t avoid them, don’t be nice. Effing tell them there’s nothing there. Otherwise I will spend the next two years picking up pieces of those girls and stuffing them in your lockers.” I start the car and roll my window up. Without another look I head towards home, my real home. I need to pack the rest of my stuff and now’s the time to do it. I text Maggie and ask her to excuse me from school, tell her where I’m going—I’m not a complete idiot, and turn the music on.
The gist of it is, I’m not mad at anyone. I’m mad at the circumstances. Essentially, the guys were leading them along, not intentionally I see now, but because they didn’t set solid boundaries, the girls have hope. I know that Phoenix said he told her he wasn’t interested but I imagine it wasn’t clear and precise. Knowing him it was, hey, don’t want to hang out right now, maybe later. Stringing anyone along isn’t a nice thing to do and sometimes it makes people do stupid things to try to get attention from their love interest.
Dangerous things like picking on someone who can kill them.
I pull into the driveway and almost pull right back out. There’s a morbid assortment of dead animals on the front porch. I see raccoons and squirrels and rabbits. I’m pretty sure there’s a skunk in there too. I can smell it.
My mystery stalker is bringing them here? I grit my teeth and climb out; it doesn’t smell pretty. The air is thick with that cloying smell of decay that’s almost sugar sweet but makes your stomach want to empty your lunch on your shoes. It’s been warm so several of the bodies are bloated and there’s a swarm of flies buzzing around them loud enough to sound like a small chainsaw. The pile of carnage becomes even more disturbing when I spot the wilted red rose on top of the pile.
This weirdo has to go.
Bypassing th
e porch I use my key to unlock the garage and gather the things I’ll need to get rid of the problem. Shovel, face mask, gloves and big garbage bags. It takes me two hours to clean it all up, bury the animals in the backwoods, and scrub the porch with bleach and a power washer. Tired, I sit on the stairs inside the house and contemplate the emptiness.
No one's been here since I left. The house smells stale and other than the lingering smell of death from outside, there’s nothing else. Finished with my glass of water I take it to the kitchen, rinse it and make sure there’s no old food in the fridge. There’s not, it's empty—I’m the one who always does the grocery shopping, and I hadn’t been since we got here. Heading upstairs I pack all my stuff including my stereo and take one last, long look at the pretty purple walls of my bedroom.
I know with one hundred percent surety, I’m never coming back here to live and I’m okay with that.
It takes me four trips to load all my things into the car. I also snag some of my mom’s pictures that dad has lying around gathering dust and I lock the door with a sense of finality. Climbing into the car I take one last look at my almost home and back out of the driveway.
My Dad is on his own, and part of me hates that I’m looking at it that way, but he’s the grown up. He made this mess; he has to fix it. Other things take priority now, like finding out who my wildlife murdering Romeo is.
Maggie is waiting for me on the large screened-in porch of the house with a pitcher of lemonade. There are times like this that she reminds me of the cliche southern mom so hard that I almost tease her about it, but that might land lemonade on my head. It’s fresh squeezed and tastes delicious, I’d rather drink it.
I sit in the chair beside her, pick up the sweaty glass of cold lemonade and down it in a few swallows. The tartness of it mixes with the sugar and I smile in appreciation. She makes damn good lemonade for a cliche.
“What happened?” she asks, rocking back and forth in the pristine white rocking chair, her eyes on the trees lining the driveway.
