by Cassandra
“I’ll tell them that since you sit next to me, the teacher assumed you were part of the disruption. And then I begged you to go ahead and take the blame with me because I need your help. You know, since you know your way around the school.”
Jessica closed her locker and hoisted her backpack over her shoulders.
Chad smiled hopefully. “How about it? Will that make it up to you?”
She sighed. “Whatever.”
He laughed. “Look on the bright side—at least you have more time to study now. You weren’t ready for that test today, were you? Based on your expression when we got to class, I think the fact that Ms. Mitchell tore up your test paper was a good thing.”
Jessica pursed her lips, reluctant to admit that he had a point.
He nudged her shoulder with his. “Come on, Jess. You can’t stay mad at me over something as trivial as detention.”
When she still didn’t respond but instead, began to head down the hall, he followed her.
“Can I give you a ride home?” he offered.
She glanced back at him. Instead of begging for her forgiveness on bended knee, he checked his phone.
“Roger just texted me and told me to leave without him. He has some kind of lead he’s following up on.” He put his phone away and smiled sheepishly at her. “So I guess I do have time to talk after all.”
Jessica rolled her eyes again.
“Hey, this is good news for you.”
“Oh yeah? Why?” she demanded.
“Because.” Chad leaned in to whisper in her ear. “It means we don’t have to wait as long to get revenge on those…girls.” He hesitated at the word “girls.” Apparently, he wanted to call them something else.
She finally looked at him in earnest. Her lips twitched into a slight smile.
Chad grinned and gave her a brief one-armed hug around the shoulders. “I knew that would lift your spirits!”
Unfortunately, her spirits plummeted again once they reached her home. When she stepped through the front door, she automatically knew her parents had about been pushed to their limits.
Her father sat at the kitchen table and clutched a coffee mug. Her mother flipped through the pages of a magazine. When they heard their daughter’s footsteps coming toward them, Theresa’s jaw clenched.
“Hello,” Jessica said. She’d wanted to sound warm but instead, sounded cautious. Chad stood about a foot behind her.
Mark cleared his throat. “Jessica,” he croaked.
“I’m um…sorry about the water and stuff. From the imp. I would have come back to help clean it up, but… Well, things got a little hectic. I went by Grandma Ethel’s to—”
“Yes, we know,” her father cut her off. “We’ve spoken to your grandmother.”
“Recently?” she asked nervously. Somehow, she had a feeling that they didn’t know about the demon attack. They acted far too calm for that to be the case.
Unless they were mad about her getting herself involved in this stuff in the first place. That was always plausible.
“Yesterday afternoon. Why?” Mark asked and finally looked up at her. His eyes widened when he noticed Chad for the first time. “Oh… Hello.”
“Hi, Mr. Palmers. Mrs. Palmers,” Chad greeted them and nodded his head affably.
Theresa finally looked up from her magazine at the sound of his voice. As if she had intuitively sensed that something was wrong, her eyes homed in on Jessica. “What’s going on?”
She shifted on her feet and looked sideways at Chad. Mark set his coffee mug down and his eyes narrowed suspiciously at them. Lines had formed around his mouth, which Jessica recognized as a sign that he thought something was seriously wrong.
Chad stepped forward and cleared his throat. “We… Um…”
Jessica nudged Chad with her elbow and glared at him. Despite being several years her senior, he almost recoiled under her stare.
“I…” he corrected, “I want to let you know that I take full responsibility—”
“Full responsibility for what?” Mark asked, his voice dangerously low. His eyes darted to his daughter and back to Chad.
She squirmed, wondering what her father thought Chad was going to say.
“I take full responsibility for what happened today in history class,” he finished quickly. When Mark and Theresa Palmers merely stared at him, he took advantage of their silence and continued. “You see, I was a little disruptive during our history test. Joking around and goofing off—that sort of thing.”
“Aren’t you a little old for that?” Mark asked crossly.
“Yes,” Chad agreed. “I most certainly am. But please remember—I’m pretending to be a high school student. Anyway, I did it purposely. For my investigation, I need access to the school outside of normal school hours. I figured I could get that access if I landed myself in enough trouble to earn a Saturday detention.”
“Where are you going with this, Chad?” Theresa asked.
He took a deep breath. “I sit next to Jessica in class, so most of my joking around was directed at her. I failed to realize that I could get her in trouble, too, which is exactly what happened. The teacher thought both of us were disruptive, and she gave us both Saturday detention.”
Mark swore. “A Saturday detention? That will go on her permanent record!” He stood from the table and pointed an accusatory finger at Chad. “Look, you may not be a real student, but my daughter is.” He looked at Jessica. “We’ll go to your school and let your teacher know that none of this was your fault. She can just take that Saturday detention and shove it up—”
“But Mr. Palmers,” Chad interjected, “I… Look, you may not like the sound of this, but I really need Jessica to be with me. She knows her way around the school better than I do, and she’s agreed to help me.” He turned to Jessica and met her gaze. “Right?”
Jessica swallowed, unsure whether her vocal chords still worked. When she opened her mouth, she managed to choke out, “Right.”
She stuffed her hands in her pockets and crossed her hidden fingers. While she hated lying to her parents, this was a special situation. She knew they simply wouldn’t understand.
Mark opened his mouth to argue, but Theresa spoke before he could. She looked directly at Jessica, her expression somewhat exasperated but not quite angry.
“You’re okay with doing this?” Theresa asked. “Having a Saturday detention on your record to help him?” She glanced at Chad.
Jessica nodded. “Yes. I…it’s important,” she stammered. She forced what she hoped was a relaxed smile. “Besides, who really cares about high school records anyway? Colleges will only be concerned about my grades. If I go with him to Saturday detention, I can retake my history test. I think I got a few questions wrong. I’ll be sure to ace it this time around.”
Theresa sighed and slowly nodded. She turned her gaze to her husband and shrugged. “There’s not really much we can do about this. She said she’ll help him, so let her keep her word.”
Mark grimaced and clearly held back whatever it was he wanted to say. Instead, he flopped back into the seat behind him.
“Do you want to tell us what the investigation is about? You know, the stuff you’ll be looking for on Saturday?” Theresa asked Chad.
“Theresa,” Mark warned. He shook his head.
“All right, never mind,” she conceded, knowing her husband was finicky when it came to hearing about magic. He hadn’t exactly been prepared to marry into a magical family all those years ago, and he never liked being confronted with things that put the issue right in front of his face.
Theresa locked eyes with Chad. “Just tell me one thing—you are looking after our daughter, right? She won’t be in any danger?”
Jessica’s face warmed. At that moment, she knew she had been right not to tell them about the demon attack.
“Perfectly safe,” Chad claimed, although his voice sounded a little higher than normal. She could only hope her parents hadn’t noticed. “In fact, after what I’ve planned, sh
e’ll be even safer.”
Theresa nodded. “I like the sound of that.”
He smiled. “Great! If it’s all right, I’m off to do some research. At the library. Jessica, would you like to come with me?”
She nodded. “Yeah sure. I could use some peace and quiet to study,” she admitted. She didn’t know precisely what he was up to, but the look in his eyes told her that she needed to go with him.
“Don’t stay out too late,” Mark instructed, simply wanting to have the last word.
“Okay, where are we going? I know we’re not really going to the library, are we?” Jessica asked once they were back in Chad’s car.
“Of course not,” he answered. “We need to find your three homegirls.”
“Okay, don’t talk like that. You sound lame. And old.”
“Whatever, dude,” he drawled and started the engine. “So, where do they live? Where do they hang out?”
“Probably at Debbie’s house.” She stared out the window as a nervous excitement swept over her.
“You wouldn’t happen to have anything of theirs, would you?”
Jessica shook her head. “No. Why?”
“If you did, I could use a tracking spell. But don’t worry. To Debbie’s house we go. Maybe luck will be on our side for a change. Tell me how to get there.”
It had been a long time since Jessica had gone anywhere near Debbie’s house, but she still remembered where the girl lived. All the way back in fifth grade, Debbie’s parents had thrown her a birthday party and extended invitations to all the girls in their class. Although not very enthusiastic, Jessica had attended. She didn’t like Debbie, but she didn’t want to be left out, either.
She gave Chad directions and no more than fifteen minutes later, they were parked on the street only a few houses down from the McCrow residence.
To their surprise, luck was on their side. They could see all three girls through the front window. The trio sat on the couch and watched television, sharing a big bowl of popcorn.
“All right. What’s the plan?”
“A good scare.” Chad grinned at her for a moment, but the grin slowly slipped from his face.
“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked, unnerved by his abrupt change in demeanor. “You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?”
“It’s just… I suddenly feel a little strange about this. The thought of me, as a grown man, beating up on little girls…”
Jessica’s eyes widened. “Wait—what? Are you telling me you planned to fight them?”
“No, not like that. I wouldn’t lay a hand on them.”
“Then what’s the problem? You’re doing this for me, remember?”
Chad nodded. “Right. Thanks. That helps. Come on.”
He slipped out of the car and she followed him. She grew a little nervous again when she saw that he headed for their house. She hadn’t anticipated direct confrontation.
When they reached the McCrows’ front yard, he paused for a moment. He held his hands into the air as if pressing against a wall. When he moved them around in a circle, a faint bluish glow radiated from his palms, almost like ripples in water.
Jessica realized the air around them suddenly felt different. The slight breeze had stopped, and the sounds around them grew muffled, almost as if they were now indoors.
“What just happened?”
“I’ve locked us in. Now, no one out there can see us.” He winked. “Can you see into the house?”
“Uh huh.”
“Good. Enjoy the show.”
Chad faced the house and closed his eyes. His hands began to glow white, and moments later, Jessica heard screams from inside the house.
She hid in the front yard in a place where she couldn’t be seen but had a good view of the inside of the McCrow hom.
Inside, Debbie was covered in popcorn. The bowl must have been overturned in her lap. That didn’t really seem like something to scream over. Then the bowl of popcorn lifted up on its own and floated in mid-air before them. Other items followed suit.
The remote control spun through the air and the coffee table shook. A vase spun end over end like a yo-yo and the TV wobbled and threatened to topple.
Suddenly, the whole living room began to shake as though struck by an earthquake.
“What’s going on?” Marie yelled.
“Debbie, are you doing this? Make it stop!” cried Patricia.
“I’m not doing this, I swear!” Debbie screamed.
Her scream froze in her throat as the girl herself lifted into the air.
Chad raised his hands and began to wave them in magical patterns. In response, Debbie spun in circles mid-air. Her hair flew out, her arms and legs flailed for purchase, and her screams echoed again. Marie and Patricia screamed and looked helplessly at their friend. They really had no idea what was happening.
Still twirling one hand, Chad swung his other hand in what looked like two quick backhanded slaps.
Marie and Patricia sprawled onto the floor.
He lowered his hands and Debbie crash landed hard.
All three girls collapsed on the floor in tears. They huddled together in fear and confusion. The entire living room looked like it had been hit by a cyclone.
With a mischievous grin, Chad approached the front door and gestured for Jessica to follow him.
To her horror, he pressed the doorbell.
“Don’t answer, someone is trying to attack us!” Marie yelled.
“I need to know who did this,” Debbie replied angrily. She yanked the door open and immediately came face to face with Chad and Jessica.
She was positively livid.
“Let this be a lesson to you,” he said nonchalantly. He placed a hand on Jessica’s shoulder. “You’re messing with the wrong girl. She comes from a line far stronger than yours.”
Emboldened, Jessica nodded. “That’s right. So you and your dingbat friends had better not try me again, or else!”
Debbie opened and closed her mouth as if she had something to say, but she struggled to form words. Before she could muster an actual reply, her pallor turned sickly green.
Jessica guessed it was motion sickness from the way Chad had made her spin around in mid-air.
The girl tried to speak but only managed a terrible burp. Horrified, she slammed the door in their faces. From the other side of the door Chad and Jessica could hear her puke, followed by Marie and Patricia’s disgusted screams.
Chad and Jessica high-fived each other. With a blue flash, the forcefield Chad had created to conceal them disappeared.
“That’ll warn them about sending demons after people.” She beamed as they headed back to Chad’s car.
Chapter Twenty
Jessica groaned when she was jolted awake by the shrill alarm clock on her nightstand. Without opening her eyes, she fumbled for it and slammed the button to effectively silence the thing. She lay there for a moment longer, her face buried in her pillow. She desperately wished it was still nighttime. At that moment, she would have fought imps, demons, and even Bigfoot in exchange for another half hour of sleep.
Knowing that the longer she lay there, the more tired she would feel, Jessica forced her eyes open. Bright beams of sunlight shone from between her bedroom curtains.
With a sigh, she sat, tossed her sheets back, and swung her feet onto the carpet. She stood, stretched, and trudged to the bathroom. Part of her was convinced that this long week would never come to an end.
It wasn’t until after she was out of the shower and halfway dressed that she remembered it was the weekend. She didn’t have school. She had freakin’ Saturday detention. All because of Chad.
While she initially felt a twinge of annoyance, it slowly dissipated. He had been right. She couldn’t stay mad at him.
After their revenge on Debbie the previous afternoon, he had dropped her off at the local library, which had made her feel better. She hadn’t exactly lied to her parents about everything. At the library, she had even managed to get
a decent amount of studying done, which left her feeling far more confident about the history test she had to retake.
But still—why couldn’t Saturday detention start at two pm, for goodness sakes?
Showered, dressed, and prepared for her test, Jessica grabbed her cell phone and backpack, ready to head downstairs for breakfast. She stopped in her tracks when she looked at her phone and saw that she had a dozen missed calls and texts from her friends.
After the demon attack, she had forgotten all about them.
She closed her eyes, upset with herself. This past week had wreaked havoc on her social life.
She opened Sara’s texts from Thursday night.
Hey, u home yet?
Hey, u ok?
Jess?
Jess! Wth? Answer me.
After Sara’s messages, there were three texts from Erik—two from Thursday night and one from yesterday morning.
Did u get home ok, Jess?
R u sleep?
Hope ur ok. Sara’s freakin out. Call someone, k?
Finally, there were texts from Ashley. After calling twice Thursday night, she simply sent a bunch of angry emojis Friday afternoon, along with a message reading: Too busy for us or something?
Since Ashley seemed the most ticked off, Jessica figured she would call her first. She pressed Ashley’s name.
“ ʼEllo?” the girl’s groggy voice muttered on the other end.
“Hey, Ash…”
“Jessica?” she mumbled and some of the tiredness left her voice. “What the hell has gotten into you? Where have you been? Didn’t we tell you to call us when you got home Thursday night? Erik was worried sick. And you couldn’t even be bothered to answer any of our texts? Seriously?”
She let her finish her tirade. “Look, I’m sorry. I got home fine—”
“Yeah, we figured you did when we didn’t see any breaking news stories about you being killed. Still, you could have called somebody. We thought you’d gotten in trouble taking that shortcut through the alleyway. You know weird things have happened lately. Those two cops didn’t drop dead for no reason, you know.”
“Yes, I know. And I’m fine. I swear.”
