Magic and Shadows: A Collection of YA Fantasy and Paranormal Romances

by T. M. Franklin

  “I agree! I wish we could ask your grandmother about it. Do you think that she would tell us anything?” she asked, sounding almost as excited as I was about it.

  “I don’t know if she will or not. But I’m afraid that she might say something to my dad. Anyway, you know how she likes to keep secrets, I think that our best bet would be to go to the library, like you just suggested, and see what we can find there.” Stacy agreed with me. “I figure I can ask Mom to take us later in the week. I could ask her to drop us off for a few hours. I’ll see if Bess wants to come, too.”

  “That would be great, Elizabeth, and then we could see if we can get anymore information about this.”

  Mom was preparing chicken for dinner when I went into the kitchen. I hadn’t realized it had gotten so late. “Mom, do you have enough for Stacy to stay for dinner?”

  Mom laughed. “That is fine. Peggy just called because Janet asked if your sister could stay for dinner at their house tonight.”

  This happened quite often with our two families. It was funny how both families had five girls, and all such good friends. Mom and Peggy have that in common at least. They take us to a lot of places together, especially over the summer.

  As we were eating dinner, Dad told Mom about a good movie that was playing over in Hyattsville at the drive-in, something he thought would be nice for us kids to see. I smiled when I saw Mom’s face light up. “I’ll call Peggy and see if her and the girls would like to go as well. I think they would all enjoy it.”

  Sometimes Mom and Peggy would pile us all into Peggy’s station wagon, and take us over to Palmer Drive-In to watch a movie. That was the only way that they could afford a movie, with ten kids between them. We’d take a big trash bag full of popcorn, a cooler of soda and head over to the drive-in. It was one dollar a carload on Friday nights. I really didn’t think they liked to see twelve people getting in for one dollar, but that was their price. Mom and Peggy kept a blanket over the cooler and the bag, so I don’t think they realized we snuck in our refreshments, as well. Dad always said it wasn’t cheating, because they charge way too much for the refreshments anyway. I understood how hard it would be for Mom and Peggy to pay for all the sodas and popcorn at movie theater prices.

  I looked over at Stacy and saw she was thinking the same thing that I was. We wouldn’t be going to Crane’s on Friday if we were going to the movies. That made me a little sad, because it would mean that I wouldn’t get to see Isaiah until the following week. Mom didn’t like to drive us out to Crane’s on the weekends because it was more crowded than she liked. I would make sure to let Isaiah know tomorrow when we got there. Wow, here I am, thinking he is really going to care about seeing me again within the week! Maybe I was getting a bit ahead of myself.

  After we cleaned up the dishes, my little sisters went out to meet up with Stacy’s sisters to play hide-and-go-seek. Stacy and I headed outside to sit on the porch, and make our plans for tomorrow. “I think that I’m going to wear my sundress that Mom got me. What about you?” I asked her.

  “I think I’m going to wear that new shirt, and pedal pushers Mom got me. Do you think they will really be there Elizabeth?” she asked me, expressing what I was thinking to myself.

  “I hope so,” I said, with as much enthusiasm as I could manage, which wasn’t very much because in truth, I wasn’t sure at all.

  Soon we heard Stacy’s mom calling her and her sisters in for the night. As we said goodbye, I hoped that I would dream that night.

  3

  I woke to the sunshine pouring in my window. Again, I didn’t remember having a dream. I wasn’t that tired last night, so why had I not dreamed again? As I got out of bed, I decided not to worry about it. I knew it was going to be a wonderful day for the pool.

  I put my sundress on the bed and headed out into the kitchen to eat my breakfast. I watched my sisters eating, and listened to them talking about how much fun the pool was going to be that day. Bess had already been outside, and she proclaimed that it was a perfect pool day. I got up, and started putting the dishes into the sink.

  Mom shooed me away, saying, “Elizabeth, go on and get ready to go. I will take care of these. It won’t take me but a minute.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I headed back to my room and put on my bathing suit and sundress. I looked in the mirror, and thought how nice the dress flowed over my curves, hugging them just enough to show I had them. The blues in the dress were close enough to the blue in my suit that it wouldn’t look funny if the strap slipped down a little.

  After I pulled my hair back into a ponytail, I put my beach towel in my bag and headed out to the living room. Mom was just getting snacks packed into the big bag that we always took with us to keep the younger ones happy. “Thanks, Mom. Are you and Peggy staying with us today at the pool?” I was really hoping that she wasn’t going to stay, but I didn’t want to tell her that.

  “No, we are going to drop you girls off, and head to the store for a bit. We won’t be long. We are thinking about coming back out and spending some time at the pool ourselves today,” she replied. “But don’t worry about it, Elizabeth, we will sit on the other side of the pool. We won’t ‘cramp your style’ if we can help it.” she said with a big grin.

  “Mom, you know that you aren’t going to bother us if you and Stacy’s mom stay.” I smiled my most innocent smile, hoping that she wouldn’t see through the little lie I had just told. I didn’t really want them there while we were just getting to know the brothers, but I certainly wasn’t going to tell her that.

  When we got outside, Stacy waved at me from her driveway. I waved back as I climbed into the car with my sisters. Off we went on what felt like the longest ride we had ever taken to Crane’s pool. I know it felt so long because I just wanted to see him again.

  As soon as we got to the pool I spotted his sports car parked by the fence. I tried to hide my excitement as I climbed out of the car, and made sure that we got everything out of the trunk. Mom climbed into Peggy’s car, and they waited until we showed our passes and were inside the gate before they waved goodbye and drove off.

  We headed over towards our favorite spot to put everything down at our tables. My breath caught in my throat; there, sitting at our table, smiling at us were Isaiah and Samuel.

  I walked as casually as I could towards them, feeling the smile forming on my lips. I hope that it isn’t too obvious that I am so excited to see him. I glanced at Stacy, and saw the same big goofy grin on her face that I figured was on mine as she looked at Samuel. When we got to the table I sat my bag down next to Isaiah’s and smiled at him.

  “Hello Elizabeth,” he said, in that soft and sexy voice. “How are you today?”

  “I’m fine, thank you. How are you, Isaiah?” I replied, liking how his name sounded coming from my lips. “Glad to see that you and your brother could make it.”

  “We told you we would be here,” he said, tilting his head a little. “Stacy, how are you today?” He turned towards her and asked.

  “I’m fine,” Stacy replied, not taking her eyes off of Samuel. Samuel was intently staring at Stacy.

  We sat for a while chatting while Bess and Janet took our younger sisters in the pool. I asked Isaiah, “Where will you be going to school this year?”

  “I’m going to Peary High. Where will you be going?” he was looking at me and I could see hope in his eyes that I was going to say I went to the same school.

  “Me too,” I replied. I was so happy hearing he would be attending the same school as me. That meant he must live closer to us than Stacy and I had hoped. I guess the happiness showed on my face, because the expression on his face seemed to be one of happiness as well.

  “It pleases me that you’re so happy. I hope we’ll have some classes together. Are you taking art this year, by any chance?”

  “Yes, I am. I love art, it’s one of my favorite subjects.” I sat up a little straighter. He liked one of the classes I’m most excited about.

  “Oh, yes, it’s
one of my favorite subjects as well, along with English. I love reading, and I can’t wait to see what the teachers will recommend to us for this year’s reading assignments.”

  This is great! He loves art and reading. How much more could I ask for? Now, how do I ask him to take off his sunglasses so that I can see his eyes? I didn’t want to sound pushy. I looked at him and smiled. I swear he must have been reading my mind, because he was reaching up to remove his sunglasses. When he did, I saw that his eyes were a deep blue, the most beautiful blue eyes I think I have ever seen. I felt like I could drown in them. They invited me to look closer as he leaned towards me.

  “Elizabeth.”

  I sat back, startled. Bess was asking me something. I could feel my face turning red.

  “Yes?” I asked, turning towards her. “I’m sorry, what did you say Bess?” I saw Isaiah smiling at me from the corner of my eye.

  “I asked if the girls could have some of the snacks Mom packed. They said they’re hungry,” she said, staring at me with her hand over her mouth trying to cover her giggling, which made me blush even more.

  “Oh, of course. I’m sorry. I’ll get you something. What do you want?” The words seemed to be rushing out of my mouth as I hurried over to the bag to get their snacks out. I could see Bess smirking, and I made a mental note to get even with her later.

  Suddenly, her jaw dropped and she stopped giggling as she noticed Samuel. The look on her face was priceless. She glanced back at me, and whispered, “Wow!”

  Trying not to giggle, I got the crackers and drinks for each one of my sisters out of the bag and handed them out. I hadn’t realized so much time had passed. It didn’t feel like we had been sitting here long at all. What have we talked about? When I turned back around, Isaiah was still watching me. I felt my heart flutter. “Do you want to get into the water for a while?” I asked him.

  “Sure, I guess we did come here to swim, didn’t we?” From the way he said it, I didn’t think that was the reason he had come today at all. For some reason, this handsome boy really seemed to like me. I’m not sure why.

  I stood up and turned towards where Stacy and Samuel had been sitting, and realized that they were already walking towards the water. I blushed again, thinking how I had been lost in conversation with him earlier.

  I caught him looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I dropped my head, and blushed even more. I felt his hand brush against mine. My heart caught, and for a minute I didn’t think it would start again. I let his fingers entwine with mine and thought how perfectly our hands fit together. I hoped this would be the start of a very long relationship.

  It seemed much too soon when Mom and Peggy came back from their trip to the store. We were sitting at our table during the fifteen-minute break. Mom waved as the two of them made their way to a table a safe distance from where we were sitting. I looked at her, wondering if she would be upset when she saw us with the two boys. She lifted her sunglasses and winked at me. I knew that she would be asking me a ton of questions later. I hoped that Stacy had gotten a bit more information out of Samuel that she would remember than what I remembered getting from Isaiah. I felt a little panicked, my heart started beating faster and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

  “What’s wrong?” Isaiah asked, looking down at me with his eyebrows drawn down and a frown on his face.

  “Nothing is wrong,” I said trying to look at him without giving myself away.

  “You seem a little nervous, and you got a little pale for a second. Is that your mother?” He nodded towards Mom and Peggy.

  “Yes, mine and Stacy’s. I’m afraid she’ll be asking me all sorts of questions when we get home tonight.”

  “Like what?” he asked, very casually, his mouth turning up in a little smile. From the way he was looking at me, I knew that he was very aware of what type of questions our moms would be asking.

  “You know, Isaiah, the usual questions. Where is he from? Where does he live? What do his parents do? Where did he live before moving here? Those questions,” I said with a sly smile. “All the usual things that parents want to know.”

  “Well, why don’t we go over and you can introduce me to her, and I can take care of some of that right now?” He was already standing up, pulling me to my feet.

  “Are you sure?” I asked him, really surprised. Most boys not only didn’t want to meet your parents, they didn’t want to talk to them, either.

  “Yes, I’m very sure. If we’re going to be spending time together and I’m going to be picking you up, I think that she should know me,” he said, as we walked around to the other side of the pool.

  Now I know I am dreaming! He wants to spend more time with me? “If you’re sure you want to.”

  “I’m very sure,” he replied glancing down at me. He was holding my hand and beaming.

  When we got to the other side of the pool I could see Mom and Peggy smiling at each other. I knew they were already wondering about this handsome boy that was walking me towards them. “Hello Mom, hello Ms. Peggy, this is Isaiah. Isaiah, this is my mother, Emma, and Stacy’s mother, Peggy,” I said, trying to sound very grown up and sure of myself. I didn’t want either my mom or Isaiah to know how nervous I was.

  “Hello, Elizabeth,” Mom said, looking at me before turning towards him “It’s very nice to meet you. Would you like to sit down for a few minutes?”

  “Thank you very much, Ms. Emma,” Isaiah said. He pulled a chair out for me, and then sat down at the table across from my mother.

  “So, where do you live?” she asked. I wanted to roll my eyes and scream. We hadn’t even warmed the chairs up yet, and the questions were already starting. I could feel the blush creeping up my face already.

  “I live in Wheaton Woods. I just found out today that I would be going to the same school as Elizabeth. We moved here just after the end of the school year from Virginia because my father took a job at the bank in town. He actually transferred here from his old job. Mom grew up in Maryland when she was younger, and has always wanted to move back. When the opportunity arrived, my father said he couldn’t pass it up. I’m really looking forward to going to school here. My mother said she loved it.” He glanced over at me with a look that seemed to say, “Did I get them all?”

  My mother smiled at him. She seemed pleased that he was so upfront and open about things. “So, does your mother work, too, or is she a stay-at-home mom?” she asked him.

  I couldn’t believe she had thought of something else to ask! How embarrassing. I looked over at him as he gently squeezed my hand under the table. “She stays at home. She thinks that it’s the best thing when you have children. My brother and I really like knowing that she is at home if we need her.”

  I loved that he was talking so easily to her and didn’t seem annoyed with any of her questions. Just as this thought crossed my mind, Stacy and Samuel walked over, for Samuel to meet our mothers. I could see Stacy had that same look of dread on her face that I knew I must have had on mine at first. I smiled to myself, figuring that Samuel would be just as cool as Isaiah was. I don’t know why I felt like this, but he seemed just as cool as his big brother. Isaiah and I sat there for moral support while Samuel answered questions from Peggy.

  June ran up behind me a yelled, startled I turned and saw our little sisters were running up to the table. They started jumping up and down asking if they could get ice cream from the snack bar, and we were off the hook. The four of us took off and jumped into the pool. I knew it wouldn’t be much longer before Mom and Peggy would want to go, and I wasn’t ready for the day to end. I was wondering if Isaiah would ask for my phone number today so that we could talk later that night. It was making me a little anxious because he hadn’t mentioned when he and Samuel would be coming to the pool again.

  He popped up out of the water in front of me, shaking his head and spraying me with droplets. Laughing, he asked, “Do you think when we get back to the table it would be okay if I get your phone number?”

  �
�Of course. Maybe you could call me tonight?” I hoped that I didn’t sound too eager. I felt like my heart was going to explode from my chest I was so excited. Again I had the feeling that he had read my mind.

  “I would really like to call you tonight, if it’s okay with your parents,” he said.

  This day couldn’t have gone any better. Here was this gorgeous boy, who actually wanted to be with me. How lucky could one girl get? Oh, I guess I should say two girls, since Stacy and Samuel seemed to be feeling the same. Stacy looked just as happy as I was. I was so glad that the brothers had found Crane’s pool to spend their summer at. I looked up at Isaiah. He really is too good to be true. I hope I don’t wake up and realize this was all just a dream.

  All too soon, Mom was calling us; it was time to go. I was not ready for this day to be over. I wrote my number down on a piece of paper for Isaiah and handed it to him.

  “We won’t be coming back out to the pool this weekend, so hopefully I’ll see you next week,” I said watching his face to see his reaction.

  “I’m sorry we’ll have to wait that long to see each other. Thank you for allowing me to have your number. Is it all right if call you about eight tonight? ”

  “Yes, eight should be fine. I wish I didn’t have to leave already.” He was holding my hand, looking at me with a sad expression on his face. His eyes were filled with such sorrow it confused me a bit.

  “It’s okay. I promised my mom that Samuel and I wouldn’t be out too late today.”

  Isaiah picked up my bag. “Can I carry your bag to the car for you, now that your mother has met me?”

  “Of course you can,” I said. I let him take my hand, thinking again how perfect my hand fit into his.

  He walked me to my car as Samuel walked Stacy to hers. Isaiah smiled at my mom as he placed the bag in the trunk of the car “It was really nice to meet you.” He waved at my sisters and turned back towards me. “Tonight Elizabeth.” Then he turned, and walked away.