by Bryan, JL
“Interest rates are spookily low!” he said in the same voice. Jenny ran faster, laughing and shrieking at the same time. He chased her out of the cemetery, bounding after her down the steps.
He caught up with her in the orchard, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder. He continued running, holding her legs while she hung upside down behind him, clinging to his back, laughing uncontrollably.
Seth finally set her down on the back porch, and he kissed her. She looked over his shoulder, past the orchard, to the brick wall on top of the hill. In the moonlight, she saw the open gate gleaming.
“We left the gate open,” she whispered. “Won’t the ghosts get out?”
“They’re already out,” he whispered back. “They’re everywhere.”
***
The Italian food was delivered all the way from Vernon Hill, so Seth tipped the driver a twenty. Seth carried the bags into the kitchen, and insisted that Jenny sit at the dining room table and pretend he was cooking everything.
“One house secret,” he said. “Forget the head of the table. It’s drafty. You want to sit right in the middle, facing the fireplace.”
Jenny sat where he recommended, and he brought a bottle of wine and a pair of glasses. He opened the bottle and handed her the cork.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked him.
“Like at a restaurant. You sniff it.”
Jenny sniffed. “It smells like wet cork.”
“No, you’re just supposed to nod your head, like it’s all beneath you.”
“Okay.” Jenny put her nose in the air and nodded once.
“Perfect.” Seth smiled as he poured a tiny splash in her glass. “Now, you taste it.”
Jenny tasted the wine. It reminded her a little bit of cherries. She gave the same snooty nod.
“You’ve got it.” He poured full glasses for both of them and left the bottle on the table.
He brought the courses out one at a time, after transferring them from the disposable aluminum pans in which they’d been delivered into a set of the Barretts’ good china. He brought salad, then spaghetti—which Jenny didn’t really want, since she’d eaten venison spaghetti three times this week, but she didn’t say anything--then manicotti, then lasagna. At some point she noticed that she was using forks and knives made of gold, and eating off plates inset with the same metal. When she mentioned this to Seth, he laughed.
“Don’t think my ancestors were extravagant,” he said. “They outlawed gold in the Great Depression, but you could own it for industrial use. So Great-Grandpa had all his gold coins melted and made into tools. Upstairs, there’s still a few golden hammers and screwdrivers in a safe. It’s kind of hilarious.”
Though Jenny was stuffed, Seth insisted she try the tiramisu, claiming he’d worked all week on it. She’d didn’t regret it. She had three spoonfuls of the chocolate, cake, and cream before she really couldn’t take anymore. She’d had half the bottle of wine, which was a lot for her. She wasn’t drunk, but everything had a warm buzzing feeling, a lot like what she’d felt when Ashleigh had enchanted her and Seth at the Christmas party. No wonder her dad liked to drink.
After she was done, Jenny stood up and collected her purse from the chair beside her.
“That was great,” she said. “Now I want to see the rest of the house.”
“Okay,” Seth said. “Except for the third floor. We never go up there.”
Seth reached an open hand across the table. Jenny took it, puzzled. They could barely reach their arms across it, and it was a long walk to either end of the table.
“Come on over.” He tugged on her arm. Jenny climbed up on the table, and laughed as she walked with bare feet among the dishes and empty wineglasses. He took her in his arms as she came down on his side, and kissed her as he set her on her feet.
She drew back after a few seconds. “Now, the rest of the house.”
“It’s all the same,” he said. “Just pictures of dead people, furniture used by dead people. A museum of who we used to be.”
“I want to see.”
Seth took her upstairs, where it was indeed more of the same. She’d seen the music room and much of one hall. There were multiple guest rooms, bathrooms, sitting rooms. Seth skipped his own bedroom, she noticed.
“This is my favorite,” he said as he pushed open another guest room door. On the wall was an eight-spoked wooden wheel from an old sailing ship. There was a model frigate on the mantel, and an iron anchor in the fireplace for holding logs. Paintings of the ocean and sailing ships hung on the walls, filling the room with morose blues and grays.
“These are made from actual sails.” Seth touched the thick canvas bed curtains that encircled the bed. “They’re a hundred and ninety years old. Been all over the Americas. When you open the windows, these snap against each other and it sounds like you’re on a boat. We used to pretend the bed was a pirate ship.”
“It’s too cold to open the windows,” Jenny said.
“That’s true.”
Jenny parted the curtains and climbed up on the bed. It was huge compared to hers at home. She liked how the curtains and canopy turned the bed into its own little soft-walled room.
She sat down in the middle, stretching out her legs, and tossed her purse all the way to the foot of the bed.
Seth climbed in beside her. He pointed up at the canopy frame.
“Those timbers come from the same ship,” he said. “The whole bed does.”
“If you were a pirate,” Jenny said. “And you boarded my ship, what would you do to me?”
“I’d keep you for booty.”
Jenny turned to face him. “And what if I fought back?”
“Then I’d capture you.” He grabbed both of her wrists and pushed her back on the bed.
“And then what would you do to me?”
He looked at her, then he lay across her, his arms on both sides of her, and he kissed her. Jenny pulled him close and opened her mouth, letting his tongue inside her. She put her hands under his shirt and slid it up, and ran her fingers along his muscular belly. He had to raise up so she could pull his shirt up over his arms and off his head.
He took off her shirt, and she unclasped her bra for him. He threw that aside and scooped up her breasts in his fingers, then brought his face down and surrounded one with his mouth.
Jenny cried out, her hips pushing up against him. Her hands clenched down on his head as he licked and sucked at her. She let him do it until she couldn’t take the agony of that pleasure anymore, and then she pulled him toward her face and kissed him hungrily.
She slid her hands down over his smooth chest, across his stomach, to the buckle of his belt. She tugged the leather strip out of the buckle, then unbuttoned his pants and slid them down, along with his underwear. She took him in her hand, feeling an incredible heat well up inside of her. She rubbed her fingers along the erect length of it, exploring him, and he gasped a little.
Then Jenny unzipped her own pants and pushed them down. He let her look at the lacy black panties she’d picked out for him, and then she pushed those down, too. She kicked all of their clothes off the bed, momentarily puffing out the sail-curtain.
He kissed her again, and when he was done, she took him in her hand again.
“Come on,” she whispered.
“Are you sure?”
“You don’t want to?”
“I haven’t since ninth grade,” he said. “And that was just a couple times. And then Ashleigh would only do it with her hand—”
“Sh,” Jenny said. “I’m not Ashleigh. And if you ever say her name again when I’m naked in front of you, I’ll break your mouth.”
“Okay,” he whispered. “But you still want to, right?”
“Look in my purse,” Jenny said.
He found the black purse where she’d tossed it across the bed, and took out the red pack of Trojans Jenny had bought at the gas station.
“You already thought about this,” he sai
d.
“Hurry,” she whispered.
He tore it open. When he was ready, Jenny spread out her knees and let him lay between them. She put her hand between her legs, rubbed him for a second. Then she eased him into her.
It hurt, and she gripped the blanket as he broke through. She pressed her thighs inward against his hips. He moved slowly inside her, either because he was gentle or because he was still figuring out what to do. He gradually went faster, and Jenny pressed herself upward to take him, grunting with mingled pain and pleasure. Then he said her name and she felt something hot punch against the condom inside her.
It only lasted a couple of minutes. When they were done, she lay against him, kissing him. Then she just looked into his eyes, her hand on his cheek.
“I love you, Jenny,” he whispered.
“I think I love you, too,” she whispered back.
They let that hang in the air for a while, while she lay with her eyes closed, her face against his chest, his arm holding her.
Much later, he whispered, “I need to ask you a favor.”
“You picked a good time for it.”
“You know how they have that stupid Easter egg hunt in the square every year?” he asked. “For the kids?”
“Yeah?”
“My dad says we need a representative there, since we sponsor it. He’s too busy getting ready for a regatta. Mr. Burris, the bank manager, will be out of town. So I’m the cheapest he could find.”
“That’s a lot of people,” Jenny said.
“Will you come with me?” Seth asked. “The boredom will kill me without you.”
“I don’t know.”
“You can cover up. It’s Easter. It’s like a mini-Halloween. Ladies wear gloves and hats.” He looked in her eyes. “Come on, Jenny. It’s not that scary.”
“Who said I was scared?”
“So you’ll go.”
“I don’t have anything to wear.”
“I’ll buy you the biggest hat in the county.”
Jenny laughed. She rolled on her side and then laid back against him. He embraced her across the stomach, and that one hand just happened to end up on her left breast again, over her heart.
“Will you keep me safe?” she whispered.
“I promise.”
“Then I’ll go anywhere with you.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Ashleigh couldn’t get Seth on the phone for several days. He didn’t answer his cell, and when she called his house, she just got a recording saying the number was “not available.” For a while she was paranoid that he’d put her on call block—probably Jenny Mittens’ idea—but then she tried from Cassie’s cell and got the same result. She even had Neesha try from her house, and the same thing happened.
Ashleigh was desperate to know what was happening with him. She was cautiously excited to learn about Seth’s power, but she resented learning about it from Jenny Mittens. When Ashleigh saw Seth heal Jenny’s dad, she realized she’d missed plenty of opportunities to make better use of Seth. Ashleigh could even stab and torture people if she wanted, and make Seth erase the evidence, so her victims would sound crazy if they told anybody. There was a lot of fun to be had there.
The real problem was Jenny Mittens. Apparently, the creepy girl had gotten control of her own powers, and was ready to wield them against Ashleigh. She shook with anger when she considered how Jenny had stormed into Ashleigh’s house, stuck her tongue down the throat of Ashleigh’s boyfriend, and broken Ashleigh’s spell over Seth. What right did Jenny have to interfere in Ashleigh’s life?
Ashleigh needed to know if Seth was still on her side, or if Jenny Mittens had him. Now that she’d seen how powerful Seth really was, she wanted him even more. And Ashleigh feared Jenny Mittens more than ever. One thing that could not be allowed was for Jenny and Seth to combine against Ashleigh. Together, they might be more powerful than Ashleigh, and they would be a threat to Ashleigh for the rest of her life.
Ashleigh had only one question: did she only need to destroy Jenny, or did she need to destroy them both?
Seth finally called her cell phone on the first Sunday in January, the last day of winter break.
“Seth!” Ashleigh said. “I’m so glad you’re okay! I’ve been worried sick about you!”
“Kill the bright and chipper, Ashleigh,” Seth told her. “Things aren’t going back to how they were. I know you’ve been using your power against me, and you’ve used it more and more since I met Jenny. I could barely even think. You tricked me into believing that I loved you.”
“Seth…that is just crazy talk. Nobody can cast spells!”
“And I can’t heal people who’ve been crushed by tractors. And you run screaming, for no reason at all, whenever Jenny holds up her empty hands.”
Ashleigh panicked. She felt like she’d been stripped open and exposed. Soon the whole world could know about Ashleigh’s secret. She changed tactics.
“Seth, I love you,” she said. “You know that. I’ve given you years of my life.”
“You mean you’ve taken years of mine.”
Ashleigh gasped as if hurt by this.
“Seth, we belong together,” Ashleigh said. “Isn’t that obvious? With my abilities and yours, we could do anything. We could rule the world, Seth. Seriously.”
“I don’t want to rule the world.” His voice sounded angry over the phone.
“Then what do you want?” Ashleigh snapped.
“I want you to leave us alone. Jenny knows how to break your spell now. You won’t trap me again. Just leave us alone and mind your own business, if you have any clue how to do that.”
“Seth, that’s it,” Ashleigh said. “I’m coming over.”
“You’re not. I don’t want to see you. And I definitely don’t want to touch you.”
“Seth!” Ashleigh made herself sob. It wasn’t hard to fake, since she was terrified of losing control of this whole part of her life. “You’re just going to leave me? You’re going to crush me like that? That’s heartless, Seth. You’re my one true love. I don’t think I can live without you.”
“Ashleigh,” he said, “You can trick people into thinking they love you. And you can act like you love other people. But I don’t think you understand real love at all.”
“Seth, don’t do this to me. I need you so bad.” She was whimpering now, reduced to playing for his pity. If only she could touch him, she could sort this out fast. “Please let me see you just one last time. I’m going to die if you leave me like this. I’ll come over, and we can just talk.”
“Good-bye, Ashleigh.” Then Seth, the self-important bastard, hung up on her.
Seething, Ashleigh grabbed her car keys and ran outside. She raced across town to Seth’s house, but the front gate was locked. She stood there and pressed the buzzer, again and again, but got no response. She held down the buzzer and screamed a long tirade of insults into the speaker, not entirely sure whether he could hear her, but it made her feel better.
Ashleigh stepped back and looked at the fence. It was tall, at least twelve feet, and topped with sharp iron points. The gate was solid. The two stone lions perched on the columns mocked her with their distant, knowing stares.
“Fuck you, Seth!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, up toward the house. Then she kicked her car, before getting inside and driving away.
***
When spring semester began, there were two big subjects of gossip in school. One concerned the fact that Seth Barrett and Jenny Mittens had arrived at school together and were seen holding hands, even kissing. Ashleigh was quick to tell everyone that she had dropped Seth, not the other way around, but it was a hard tide to turn. It didn’t help that Seth was with someone new, while Ashleigh was alone. The implications were obvious.
Even if Ashleigh had left him because he was with Jenny, that was only a minor detail. Jenny Mittens had been preferred over Ashleigh Goodling by the boy who could have anyone. In the world of Fallen Oaks High, it was the equivalent
of the French Revolution—with Ashleigh as the beheaded Marie Antoinette. Everywhere, people were looking at Ashleigh, whispering, pointing, trying to figure out why Seth had dumped her. It was humiliating. Seth and Jenny had to be punished good and hard.
There was opportunity in the second rumor, the one about Seth and Jenny doing some crazy witchcraft over at the McNare farm, healing Jenny’s dad after a tractor accident. This rumor was quieter and didn’t spread so well, since many people who hadn’t been there refused to believe it. This rumor had the seeds of something useful in it, Ashleigh thought.
Monday, Ashleigh caught a glimpse of the new couple at Jenny’s locker, though Ashleigh didn’t look too long, because she didn’t want people thinking she was at all interested—or worse, that Ashleigh was jealous of Jenny Mittens.
Seth and Jenny talked very close to each other, looking into each other’s eyes with secret, knowing smiles. While Seth and Ashleigh had sometimes gotten grabby with each other, maybe a little too passionate in public, there was something deeper and quieter between Seth and Jenny. It took Ashleigh time to figure out what it was: intimacy. That diseased slut had already put out for him. No wonder he was so smitten. Well, that would wear off, Ashleigh thought.
As Ashleigh passed them, one more thing made her ill. When Seth put his arm around Jenny, she saw he was now wearing little cloth gloves, just like Jenny. Somehow, that made Ashleigh furious.
Ashleigh immediately started shopping for a new guy as she walked down the hall, but her options were terrible. She wanted an athletic boy, but the majority of them were black, and Ashleigh certainly did not date black guys. Among the white guys, most were dumb hick boys who dipped tobacco and listened to David Allen Coe and would eventually die in bar fights or meth lab explosions.
Lunch period, when Ashleigh, Cassie and Neesha were on their way to the picnic tables, someone tapped Ashleigh’s shoulder. Her head was so full of Jenny and Seth that she whirled around glaring, expecting one of them. Instead it was Darcy Metcalf, who looked on the verge of tears. Ashleigh quickly remembered she had bigger things going, more important than stupid issues with Seth. She made her face kind and concerned.
