Lunch was a blessed break from the monotonous day. We found Steven lying out on a patch of grass where we usually spent lunch on decent days. Now that the chill in the air had let up being outside wasn’t so bad. And with the extra heat Steven let off, we didn’t have anything to complain about. I let my bag fall to the ground with relief. Jodi sat to lean against the tree; her legs stretched out in front of her and crossed at the ankles as she pulled out an apple from her bag. I sat Indian style forming a triangle out of the three of us. I closed my eyes and set my hands on the ground on either side of me with my fingers splayed. I took a deep, satisfying breath of autumn air that tasted more of winter even though it was so early in the season. I ground and centered myself, pulling energy up into me to help get through the last few hours. I knew I was going to need a nap tonight before we went out if I was going to be any kind of company.
I could see Jodi's yellow energy to my left and Steven's fading red to orange to my right, but I was only vaguely aware of them in my blissful oblivion. My fingers melted into the soft earth, my hands disappeared into the grass up to my wrists. I could feel the water that nourished the earth snake up my arms and swirl through my veins as my small pulse found the deep rhythm of the Earth’s. All too soon, a breeze stirred in the air that shouldn’t be there and it lifted the ends of my auburn hair and tickled my face. Jodi was trying to get my attention.
"What?" I asked quietly as I slowly, reluctantly came back to myself, blinking as I opened my eyes.
"Ten minutes."
"Huh?" I began extracting my hands from the ground, the grass tickling my wrists as it retreated down my skin.
"You've been out for ten minutes. That’s the limit at school, remember?" Jodi had already finished her apple and was half way through a turkey sandwich.
"Damn... it goes by so fast here." I pulled my bag over to me and retrieved a soda that was still cold and savored the sparkly sugar as it coursed quickly through my system.
"Hey, what did Mike want?" Steven propped himself up on his elbows to look at us.
"Oh, to ask if I'd wear his jersey to the game tonight."
"When is that boy gonna give up?" Steven snickered as he stole my soda and took a long drink.
"Maybe when Shay actually turns him down for late night coffee," Jodi said with a sly smile. That caused the rest of lunch to be spent dragging me through a boring interrogation and the two of them discussing Mike in full detail, from freckles to football.
The warning bell came all too early and the three of us gathered our things to trek across campus for fifth hour electives and then found each other again in English class which went by in a blur. The first twenty minutes were devoted to elective reading and the rest we broke up into groups to finish our work on next week’s presentations. I pulled my desk away, making Jodi and Steven follow me. I had to put some distance been me and Tracy; her stomach hurt, which meant so did mine. It wasn’t a big difference but it helped me get through class.
"So are you going to the game tonight?" Jodi asked as we walked out to my mom's minivan two hours later when history was finally over. I was more than a little drained due to my close proximity to Tracy during History. If she wasn’t wincing from the pain when she reached for something, then her depression and stress were biting at my skin.
"Of course,” I said.
“I wasn’t sure after your conversation with Mike.”
“That was just to get away from him,” I said, waving a hand in the air. “We wouldn’t make you endure it alone. Just make sure you’re at the top of the cheer section this time." Jodi had no choice about going to the games since she was unforgivably in the band and was forced to play at all the games.
I dropped them both off at Jodi's house. Steven only lived one block over but he always helped Jodi with her parade make-up before a game.
"Hey, call me at six and make sure I'm awake ok, Flamer?" I called to Steven through the passenger door window.
"Bitch!" He called back over his shoulder but I could hear the smile in the word as they made their way up Jodi's front walk.
I made it home, pulled the van into the driveway, and practically crawled my way to my room. I could feel all the life drain out of me, knowing my bed wasn’t far away. I think I was asleep before I even hit the pillow, shoes and jacket still on.
I was immediately engulfed in a swirl of green and faded yellow as I sped through the forest. There was a cold sweat on my forehead and my shirt clung to my back even though it was an unseasonably cold night. I lost my footing momentarily and slid on some loose dirt and rocks, coming down on my left knee. My fingers clawed at the ground as I struggled to regain my footing and make up for the precious few seconds I had just lost myself. I felt it behind me gaining speed at the sound of my fumble.
I swore to myself as I finally thrusted from the ground and pushed past the cramps tearing the muscle from my abdomen. I knew what I was looking for was close but in the dimmed moonlight I felt the pressure of the forest walls cutting off my peripheral vision. The root of one of the infrequent trees rose up just three inches from the earth and hooked my toe. My body went rigid with momentum and I fell face down into the fallen leaves, my arms outstretched trying in vain to catch anything to save me.
All the breath I had left in me was pushed out as I hit the ground hard. Dazed, I was aware of the taste of moist dirt in my mouth and twigs poking me through my shirt. My foot throbbed in pain and I shook my head to try to get my bearings. A cold gust of air blew over me and I knew it was near and closing the distance between us with every wasted second. I struggled to free my foot, feeling the root twist and take hold of my ankle, pulling me into a tangle and refusing to let go. I looked up at the tree it belonged to with a plea on my lips but before I could do or say anything I felt a cold tendril wrap around my shoulder, claws digging into my skin and I began to scream.
"Shay! Shay! Wake up!" My mother shook me aggressively. I woke with a start, realizing that I really was screaming, and apparently crying. I felt the cold wetness on my cheeks and took in deep gratifying breaths. "Honey, are you ok?"
"What?"
"Honey, are you ok?” My mom repeated, her brown eyes wide with worry. I was shaking and couldn’t think of anything to say. “Sweetie it was just a nightmare, you're ok.” She knelt on the bed, brushing my hair away from my face.
“Mom?” I managed, my voice harsh.
“Yes, baby, you’re ok. Just breathe.” I took a moment to concentrate on my breathing like she said, slowing the rate of my heart. “That’s better. Do you want to tell me about it?”
“No, I mean, I don’t really remember it.”
“Are you ok now?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, sorry I scared you.”
“It’s ok, honey. Here, Steven's on the phone, he said you wouldn’t answer your cell." She handed me the house phone with a worried look still creasing her brow.
"Oh, thanks," I took the phone with an amazingly steady hand.
"Are you sure you're ok?"
"Yeah mom, just a nightmare." I waved her out of my room and pressed the phone to my ear. "Hey Steven."
"Babe, you ok? I could hear you screaming through the phone." He sounded genuinely worried.
"Yeah, I'm fine. What's up?"
"Babe, it’s six, remember?"
"No..." I looked at my clock and saw the red numbers glaring back at me.
"The game?" He asked slowly.
"Oh right. Yeah, I'll be there in like forty-five." I hung up and turned to look at the mirror. Angry red tear streaks marked my face. Any color I had was gone and my eyes were swollen and bloodshot. I took one more breath and pushed off of my bed and winced. "What the hell?" I pulled at the collar of my shirt and saw four ragged angry welts on my shoulder.
Chapter 2
I took the full forty-five minutes to scrub the red streaks from my face and make something close to acceptable of my hair. After quickly changing out of the sweat drenched clothing I had fallen asleep in I dashed
out the door to pick up a very impatient Steven who was waiting outside his house, foot in full tap motion. He climbed in, ready to give me a verbal thrashing but stopped short at seeing the circles under my eyes.
"Whoa Shay, babe, you look awful."
"Thanks," I said flatly as we pulled away from the curb and I tried to hurry as fast as the van would allow, knowing any hope of a decent parking space was all but lost at this point. At least leaving would be easy. There’s always a silver lining.
"No, Shay, what is wrong?" He was trying to search my face in the flashing lights of the street lights as we passed under them.
"Just tired," I said, waving his concern away. I didn’t know why I wasn’t telling him and Jodi about the dream. Probably because I was determined to think of it as that, just a dream. Just thinking of explaining it out loud gave me an ominous, sinking feeling in my stomach. Until tonight I hadn’t put much stock into it
"Well, we have to do something about your face before we get there."
"We're already late, Steven."
"Babe, we can’t know where we're sitting – I mean standing – until the squads and band get into the bleachers anyway." He had a point. I heard him digging through the messenger bag he always carried with him. He pulled out a make-up case, armed and ready to attack me when I parked.
Once parked I turned and surrendered my face, knowing resistance was futile. He dabbed concealer into the dark areas around my eyes, his chin tilted up slightly, reaching blindly with his free hand for eye brightener. "I know it would kill Jodi if you ever started wearing make-up regularly, but with just a few key elements you would really be a knock out. Not that you aren’t already beautiful, but I mean you’d be like insane if you did."
"What do you mean it would kill Jodi?" I blinked trying to concentrate on not sneezing in Steven's face.
"Sweetie, you're much prettier than her without any help, even with all that make-up she wears. If you started wearing make-up to really draw out all of your features she just might hate you." I glanced at Steven, looking for something in his face to tell me he was just kidding. I could taste the truth of his words on the back of my tongue and my stomach clenched when I realized he was serious.
I started tracing the short curls of his dark hair with my eyes to distract myself. Steven’s hair grew faster than most people’s so one week it would be short enough to spike and then the next it would be curling softly as it was now. It was too dim inside the van to see the natural highlights that the sun always caught, showing shades of honey and amber.
If Steven hadn’t been gay he would’ve been beating the girls off of him. As it was he had plenty of offers anyway. He was tall and lean and he carried a casual confidence born from the years of love and acceptance Jodi and I provided that he didn’t always get at home. And under all the trendy outfits he hid lean, practical muscle that made you feel safe in a dark parking lot.
"Why do you always have mine and Jodi’s shades of make-up with you anyway?" I switched the subject, uncomfortable with the idea that our friendship hung by such uncertain strings.
"For. Just. Such. An. Emergency." He stopped on each word as he examined my face after one last brush of mascara. He nodded, seeming happy with what he was looking at. "Ok, I think your hair is fine. Kinda has that tousled not quite sex hair look to it."
"Oh gee, just what I was going for." I rolled my eyes and hopped out to make the long walk to the stadium. We walked through the bleachers just as the band and squads were settling into their designated section that we called The Cheer Section. Steven and I ducked under the railing and squeezed in next to Jodi. A couple of the girls near us squealed and hugged Steven tightly.
"You guys were cutting it close," Jodi said to me over the roar of the crowd as our team took the field.
"Passed out after school, picked Flamer up late, and had to hike a mile to get here." I saw her look at my face critically for a moment, not really listening to me. I tried to push away the thought that Steven had planted in my head that she wasn’t happy to see me made up. Steven was forcing me to realize that because I was a girl and he was not I was always going to be in a one-sided competition with Jodi. I envied that he would never have to deal with this. Magical abilities or not, we were still teenagers.
"Jodi!" Steven squealed, reaching over me to hug her. "I have a change of clothes for you in my bag."
"I love you!" They flashed matching smiles at each other as the crowd roared and the game was underway. Jodi had to pay attention at that point to keep up with the chanting they were required to yell in so-called “school spirit”. I grabbed Steven by the arm, spun him around to get to his bag, and pulled out my emergency novel. Fully planning on sitting down to be hidden in the standing mob of The Cheer Section, I was stopped short when Steven nudged me.
"What?"
"Mike’s looking for you,” Steven said, nodding towards the field below. My head snapped up involuntarily and I saw his lean, tall figure facing towards us, his head turning slowly as he scanned the stands. I sat down so fast even I thought I'd fallen for a second. "What're you doing?" Steven asked, looking down at me.
"I want to read. Besides, how do you know he's looking for me?" Steven was bending down to hear me.
"Who else would he be looking for? Hey, why didn’t you wear the jersey, you could've gotten us in for free!"
"You did get in for free, I paid for you! Besides, I don’t want to give the poor boy false hope."
"Please honey, even if you don’t want to wear his pin you could at least pass some time with him." He gave me a wicked grin and winked at me before I put my hand in his face and pushed him away.
The game passed in a series of screams, cheers, and groans. Somebody won, I was told, but I was more interested in getting the hell out of the parking lot before the team had the chance to leave the locker room. I didn’t want to chance running into Mike and be expected to congratulate or comfort him. I wasn’t sure which would be worse.
"Oh shit, hold on, my flute!" Jodi broke away from us half-way to my van when she spotted her mother's car and dashed over to stash her instrument in the car. I was gripping Steven’s sleeve, twisting the fabric tightly in my impatience to get away as I watched Jodi have a small argument with her mother while pointing at us.
You think she's telling her she can’t go with us tonight? Steven thought at me.
I hope not. We've got to get to The Oak, Ash and Thorn before they close for the night. The Oak, Ash and Thorn was the local metaphysical supply store we shopped at and the last thing I wanted to do was be there on a Saturday, it would be packed.
Aw, but there's a party!
There's always a party. And it'll still be going by the time the store is closed anyway. Oh, good, here she comes. Jodi jogged over to us quickly.
"Sorry. She wanted me to come home and visit with the grandparents."
"You sure that's ok?" I looked over her shoulder at her mom.
"Oh yeah, I pointed out that I was home earlier and that I'd be home most of the day tomorrow."
"Cool, then let’s go!" I grabbed her with my free hand and pulled them relentlessly to the van since I’d seen the first few players appearing in the parking lot.
We made it to the store with only fifteen minutes left before closing. Luckily I knew the manager behind the counter and smiled at Deb with a quick wave. She winked at us and went back to helping convince a couple of girls that a little jasmine oil would go a lot farther with their crushes than any potion they were looking for. Steven laughed openly at the exchange and we hurried to the back of the store where the real merchandise was.
"What're we getting?" Jodi was poking through the crystal baskets on glass selves.
"Um, we're out of pink and white candles... and I think I'd like some sage. Oh and you know actually, Steven?" I stood on my toes looking for him through the shelves.
"Yeah?" He stood up, having bent over to grab the sage for me.
"Go ask Deb for some of that jasmine oil sh
e's already got out, I think that'll be a nice touch." I gathered a few other items including a perfectly carved and polished rose quartz heart out from under Jodi's nose.
"Rose quartz heart, jasmine oil, pink candles? C'mon aren’t we getting a little cliché here?" Jodi eyed me skeptically.
"Hey, some things are cliché for a reason. Besides, Tracy needs true, affectionate love to convince herself there is someone better out there than Nick, otherwise she's never gonna leave him."
"We're doing a love spell?! Are you kidding?!" Jodi asked in a very accusatory voice. The term “love spell” was as bad as "black magic" in our circles.
"No! Of course not!” I said quickly. “We'd need a person to do that, you know that. We're just looking to find that one guy that actually loves her to help move the pieces closer together so she'll see there's better out there. Tracy’s convinced herself that any boyfriend is better than being alone. If there’s no one worth breaking up for she wont leave him."
"Oh, ok cool." Jodi visibly relaxed and started browsing again.
"Hey kids!" Deb came around the corner with her usual bright aura that was almost visible even to the untrained eye.
"Hey Deb," I reached out and hugged her before she stared taking our items for us to hold at the counter until we were ready to pay.
“Hm, rose quartz, pink candles,” Deb muttered, looking at our items before glancing over to Steven at the counter. “And jasmine oil? Shay, Jodi, you’re not doing what I think you are, are you?”
“It’s not a love spell,” I said, my voice barely in check. “It’s a banishing and calling,” I explained through clenched teeth but Deb relaxed as quickly as Jodi did so I let my frustration go.
"Oh, good, need any help?" Deb asked.
"Just some good vibes tomorrow night, say around nine o’clock?" I looked at her hopefully.
Elemental Series Omnibus Edition Books 1-4 Page 2
