by Lizzy Ford
She took them.
“See ya.” He rose and returned to the house.
Summer looked at the Tshirts. While plain, they were soft and worn, the material fine and smooth. They weren’t cheap like the donations she got at the orphanage. Touched by the kindness of the aloof boy, she hadn’t wanted to upset him by saying no. She looked down at her exposed bosom then at the shirts. They smelled like fabric softener and him.
She returned to her room and put them in her suitcase with the rest of her treasures. A knock on her door came a moment before Dawn entered.
“I just wanted to apologize,” Dawn said. “I meant to tease you, not drive you off. Like, every girl here would love to have you know … your chest.”
Summer said nothing, uncertain of the girl’s sincerity after Decker’s comments. Dawn was beautiful in the way Summer envisioned a cheerleader: athletic, golden skin, blond hair, green eyes, and a size zero. She reminded Summer of the daughters of rich parents she’d seen at one of the private schools the orphanage sent her to. There was no reason she could see for the pretty girl to be jealous.
“We’re going to roast marshmallows and make s’mores,” Dawn continued. “Grab a sweater and come out back!” She left.
Summer opened her suitcase. She didn’t need sweaters in LA. She had one long-sleeved shirt, though after Dawn’s comments at dinner, she feared wearing it. It had been too big for her when she was fourteen but now stretched too tightly over her breasts. Her gaze lingered on the Tshirts Decker had given her. She changed into one, relieved that it was big enough not to stretch over her chest.
Several of the teens from the house had already gathered around a raging bonfire. Petrified wood stumps and flat boulders acted as natural seating around the rugged fire pit, and all the seats were taken. A few of the kids had marshmallows on sticks already while a s’mores station at the picnic table consisted of stacks of chocolate and graham crackers. Summer watched one of them make a sandwich by piling a marshmallow on top of a graham cracker then layering chocolate and another cracker.
“Here,” Beck said, realizing she was there. He rose and handed her the long metal marshmallow holder. “You ever have s’mores in the city?”
“No,” she said. She sat down next to Dawn, whose smile went from adoring at Beck to forced when directed at Summer.
“They’re the best food in the world,” Dawn said. “I like mine burnt.”
Her marshmallow caught on fire, and she blew it out. Summer watched her own marshmallow near the fire. Beck sat beside her.
“How do you like it here so far?” he asked.
“It’s nice,” she replied.
“Is the orphanage like this?”
“Not even close.”
“Are you here for the summer or for the school year, too?”
“I don’t know,” Summer admitted. “As long as Amber wants me to stay, I guess.”
“I hope it’s awhile,” he said with one of the smiles that made her melt.
Summer flushed. “I hope so, too.”
“Marshmallow’s on fire.”
She yanked it free and blew on it, as Dawn had, before standing and going to the table. Dawn smiled as she passed and sat beside Beck. Summer began to think Decker was just too moody; Dawn had been nothing but nice since the incident at dinner.
Carefully, Summer set her crispy marshmallow on a cracker, stacked chocolate and another cracker and lifted it. Her first bite made her frown. It didn’t taste like any of the ingredients. It tasted like … fish? She took another bite. Same thing.
“You like it?” Beck called.
“Not really,” she replied. “It doesn’t taste right.”
“Let me see.” He held out his hand.
She gave it to him. He took a bite.
“Tastes fine to me,” he said. “Maybe it’s just not something you like?”
“I guess,” she said, disappointed.
Dawn offered a smile. Summer tossed the rest of her s’more and sat near the fire on the ground. The dancing flames and her full stomach from dinner made her drowsy. The kids around her talked while she sat in silence. Decker wasn’t there this evening. None of the kids in black were, and she wondered if they had their own campfire.
Dawn and Beck were hanging all over one another, and they rose together, walking hand-in-hand into the forest.
So much for that, Summer thought to herself. The two were a perfect match. With brown eyes and hair and her short stature, she’d never compete with a cheerleader like Dawn. Beck was a gentleman, though, and she could appreciate how he’d made her feel in the time they spent together.
Summer left quietly and walked to the front of the house, chilled by the evening coolness. She sat on the porch again, looking up. The moon was a sliver overhead, and there were more stars in the small patch of sky above than she’d ever seen in the LA skies. A movement down the driveway caught her attention.
Someone was there. He looked huge, standing in the middle of the driveway. There was no mistaking this for a shadow or a trick of her eyes. From the distance, he looked … furry, a cross between a man and an ape with auburn hair that covered his body. She stared at him. He stared back. After along moment, he darted again into the forest.
It had to be the hallucinations. The possibility that there was a bigfoot living in the forest, stalking her, didn’t seem as plausible as a wild invention of her tired mind.
Summer fled inside and closed the door to her room. She huddled in her bed under the covers, waiting for the monster to get her.
Chapter Three
The next morning, she sat outside with Amber, whose words sounded like the plot some sort of movie. Amber had repeated them three times so far, and each time, Summer felt as if they grew more and more foreign.
“Could you say that again?” she asked.
Amber smiled. “Everyone here possesses some sort of magick. Some will cross to Dark magick and some will stay in the Light. The balance between good and evil in the world is struck right here, in Priest Lake.”
Summer stared at her blankly.
“We train all witchlings together in how to use their magick. We test them, and wherever their decisions lead them is which side they ultimately serve.”
The words still seemed … crazy.
“I teach those who stay in the Light and those who are newly arrived, before they choose. Speaking of which, are you ready for your first class?” Amber asked. She pushed open a door in on the bottom floor of the house. “Dance.”
The clash of reality and this strange new world left Summer speechless. She followed Amber into the dance studio, her own reflection catching along one wall. The girls in the room wore dance attire, either snug clothing or leotards. Summer’s attention went from Amber’s strange words to her own baggy sweatpants with holes and an oversized T-shirt. She crossed her arms again as the eyes of the dozen girls in the class fell to her. A few of them smiled, while the others went back to stretching.
Amber took up a spot near the back of class. A woman who looked as young as any of them stepped forward to lead them in some basic stretches and ballet moves. Summer’s body responded despite the stretch of time between now and the ballet classes she took as a child, before entering the state system. She focused on moving instead of thinking, unable to digest exactly what it was Amber was trying to tell her.
She remembered the basics, stumbled a few times, but grew proud of herself for mastering the simple moves better than even Dawn. Amber smiled her encouragement.
“Dance is about understanding your body,” the instructor, Jessie, said. “It’s about identifying, controlling and mastering every muscle. For those practicing magick, it’s the starting point for becoming in tune with your body, so you can recognize where your magick resides.”
More about magick. Summer tried to ignore the magick and focus on the movements. She’d learned to listen to her body during the long nights she spent at the orphanage, when she could neither sleep nor concentrate on
reading or anything else.
The instructor finished the stretches and turned on music. Summer was surprised to hear the heavy beats and high-pitched strumming of Middle Eastern music. She watched as the instructor began to teach simple neck, hip and knee circles before moving into hip flips and other movements, ending with undulations.
Embarrassed, Summer stood awkwardly while the others around her tried the moves, some laughing when they fell or fumbled while others concentrated hard. The instructor caught her eye. Summer looked away fast but not fast enough; the instructor approached her while the others struggled with the moves.
“Newbie?” she asked Amber.
“Very. And shy,” Amber said with another smile of encouragement towards Summer.
“Teen girls are never comfortable with their bodies,” Jessie said. “You’ll find that Amber and I have similar styles of teaching. Let your body do what it feels it should. If you can move the thinking out of the way, you’ll feel the music, the same way you feel the magick.”
“You keep saying magick,” Summer said, distressed.
“Then focus on the music,” the instructor said. From a distance, the small woman looked no older than Dawn. Up close, Summer could see her laugh lines and the wisdom in her eyes. “Stop thinking. Just feel.”
Summer couldn’t do anything. The instructor winked then moved away, correcting the form of the other girls as she went. Summer stared at the clock, willing the class to be over.
It was a full hour and a half, the longest class she’d ever been in. When it ended, she was the first out the door to change into her comfortable jeans again. Summer stayed in her room until Amber came to get her.
“You holding up okay?” Amber asked, knocking as she entered.
“I don’t know.”
“Your next class will be a bit easier. History. You a fan of history?”
“It’s okay,” Summer said. The tightness in her chest unfurled a little at the thought of something so mundane.
“Come on. I’ll show you to the classrooms. The bottom floor of the main house is filled with classrooms for the girls. The boys are taught in the classrooms in the dorms.”
Summer went. The other girls were already in the small classroom with chairs arranged in a circle. She took the only empty chair. The instructor was another woman around Amber’s age with flawless cocoa skin and hair dyed bright pink.
“You must be Summer,” the instructor said with a smile. “I’m Lilian. Why don’t we go around and introduce ourselves?”
Dawn started. The girls were all around Summer’s age, several of them with heavy accents indicating they were from outside the country. The girl across from her blushed when she spoke and ducked her gaze, but her smile was brilliant and her accent British.
Biji, Summer repeated mentally. From India.
“We’ll start with some basics for Summer,” Lilian said. “Who can name the first Master of Light?”
“Alexander, the Lightbringer!” someone answered.
“The first Master of Dark?”
“Nataniel, the Darkbringer!”
“And where did they meet to create the treaty between good and evil, which we call today the Laws of Magick?”
“Priest Lake.”
“How many Dark Laws are there?”
“Three.”
“How many Light Laws?”
“Three.”
“Who is the Mistress of Dark?”
“Rania the Firebringer.”
“The Mistress of Light?”
“Nora the Silent.” Another voice added, “No one’s ever seen her.”
“Very true,” Lilian said. “She’s a mysterious woman.”
Summer listened, baffled. Lilian asked question after question, with the girls chiming in around her. Like this magick stuff was real. Summer listened, her shock fading to discomfort as the questions and discussion continued.
Magick was real. The magick within her wasn’t viewed here as a curse but as a part of life. People with magick had their own school, their own history. Their own world. It sank in slowly during the one hour history lesson, until she began to believe this really wasn’t some sort of dream or prank or worse— hallucination.
When they broke for the morning, Summer went to the front porch, where she could see the trees and sky. Things outside the house seemed normal compared to what she was learning inside the house. She sat on the steps, waiting to see if the figure appeared in the driveway again.
If magick was real, then so was the creature she saw. She rose and started down the driveway.
“Summer, you want to come with us swimming?” Dawn called.
She turned.
“It’s supposed to be in the eighties today!”
Summer hesitated too long.
“I’ll come get you in five minutes. Go put on a suit!” Dawn disappeared from the doorway.
Summer sighed and returned to her room. She didn’t have a bathing suit. She had shorts and yet another ratty T-shirt she’d used the few times they’d gone swimming in the YMCA’s pool. She changed into those. Dawn’s five minutes stretched into an hour.
“Hey, kiddo,” Amber said and opened the door. “Dawn’s having some sort of crisis with her hair. I figured I’d blow your mind again while you waited.”
Summer smiled despite her unease. Amber’s soft, upbeat voice and cheerful smile had an effect on her. She could almost pretend the pretty woman liked her and didn’t think her a freak like the other teachers always did.
“I just need this,” Amber said. She sat beside Summer and plucked a hair from Summer’s pillow. “Earlier, I told you about how we allow our students to choose their own paths, Light or Dark.”
Summer watched. Amber carefully wound the hair around a small, clear crystal amulet. When she was done, she held it out. Summer took it, and the crystal flared to life, as if it had a Christmas light in it. The light was whiskey in color. Its magick made Summer’s fingers tingle.
“This represents the magick of your soul. Everyone here has an amulet. Most wear them openly, but some prefer to hide them,” Amber explained. “When you choose your path, your amulet will be claimed by either the Light or the Dark, and your soul will become one of the many that the Masters or Mistresses of Light and Dark use to generate their power. Once the Dark path is chosen, you can never go back. Choose wisely, and remember, you will be tested.”
“Like multiple choice tests?”
“No. Trials. Real-life trials. You’ll never know what they are until you’ve been through them. There are three rules for those on the side of light to obey. One, do no harm to others. Two, help those who need it, no matter how undeserving they may be. Three, it is better to let evil win than to commit evil. Repeat them.”
Summer obeyed. They seemed simple, and she’d never done anything contrary in her lifetime.
“You can use your magick as much as you’d like within those bounds.”
“I don’t know how,” Summer admitted.
“You will learn. Now, go downstairs and wait for Dawn. I’ll drag her away from the mirror.”
Summer rose, the amulet in her hand. She crossed to her suitcase and pulled a simple, tarnished silver chain from her jewelry box. As she descended the stairs, she strung the amulet on it then placed it at her neck.
“Amber gave you the speech.” Beck was in the living area, a beach towel slung over one arm. His smile made her body light up.
“Yes. Not sure I understand all this,” Summer said. “Are you going swimming?”
“Of course.”
“Oh.” Summer glanced down at herself. She’d be embarrassed yet again in front of the handsome boy. She didn’t even have a towel. In that moment, she decided she’d just sit this one out.
Dawn trotted down the stairs, followed by two other girls pretty enough to make Summer feel even worse. Dawn wore a skimpy bikini with a thick towel over her shoulder. The other girls wore their suits, one in a bikini and the other in a one-piece that left littl
e to the imagination. All three wore amulets around their neck.
“Van’s out front, my beautiful ladies,” Beck said and opened the front door with a flourish.
The three girls giggled. Summer trailed them, feeling like the ugly duckling. Beck winked at her as she passed him. A white van waited outside for them. The girls piled into the first row, leaving Summer to squeeze past them. Two other young men were in the back. She sat in her own row while Beck got into the passenger seat.
“Guys, Summer is the new girl. Summer, Adam is the one with glasses and Brandon the fool with the bad hair,” Beck called back. “Jeeves, take us swimming!”
The van started forward.
Summer looked at the two guys in the back. Adam looked quiet, a tall, skinny boy with large glasses and a hesitant smile. Brandon grinned, his unruly curls covering one eye. He was built like a bowling ball, muscular and short.
She gazed out the window as they drove. Brandon and Beck bantered back and forth, with Dawn teasing Beck and the girls giggling. The forest seemed to go on forever, broken up only by dirt roads. The van turned down one dirt road, and the trip grew bumpy before they came into view of a partially paved parking lot and beyond it, a beach stretching to a murky lake.
“You swim in a lake?” Summer asked, surprised.
“It’s so much better than a pool,” Dawn gushed. “I guess they don’t have lakes in LA. It’s like the ocean, but smaller!”
Beck opened the door to the van, and the girls hopped out. Summer followed them to the last tree before the beach started then sat down beneath its shade. The girls, Beck, and Brandon all went to the water.
“You don’t swim either?” Adam asked, standing in the shade beside her.
“I don’t have a suit,” Summer said.
“You can go out in your underwear like Dawn.”
Summer laughed. Adam sat beside her in the shade. They watched the girls dip toes in the chilly lake water, squeal then try again.
