by Cassandra
She had come very close to stopping by the school nurse’s office, faking sick—although with very minimal effort since she actually felt sick—to see if she could score a couple more Tylenol and a nap. However, she feared the school nurse would recognize the symptoms of a hangover, which Jessica didn’t think would help her case any. Even though the drinking had occurred off school grounds, she didn’t want to test her luck and land herself in more trouble.
So, to the cafeteria she went.
When she arrived, she was pleased to see that her friends weren’t faring any better than she was, at least. It felt good to know she wasn’t alone in her suffering.
“Hey, guys,” Jessica said as she approached Sara, Ashley, and Eric at their table.
They grunted in response.
She sat beside Ashley, who had piled her books on the table and attempted to use them as a pillow. Across from them, Sara looked at her lunch tray as if it had somehow offended her. Beside her, Eric shoveled food into his mouth as if his life depended on it.
“Okay—you’ll make me throw up just looking at you eat,” Sara said and scowled at him in disgust. “I don’t understand how you can eat in the first place.”
“Well, stop looking at me,” Eric said. “I haven’t eaten since…before the concert. I couldn’t keep anything down afterward. I’m starving now.”
“I still can’t keep anything down,” Sara lamented.
“Will you all keep it down? I want to sleep. My head is killing me,” Ashley moaned and squeezed her bloodshot eyes shut.
“I know how all three of you feel,” Jessica said with a sigh. “I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning. But of course, my grandma wouldn’t have that. She’s even given me yard work for a week.”
“You have got better at sneaking in and out of the house then,” Ashley mumbled, her eyes still closed.
“My sneaking skills are fine,” Jessica said. “It’s only that…you don’t know my Grandma Ethel. I learned the hard way that it’s impossible to sneak anything past that woman.”
“That sucks,” Eric said around a mouthful of turkey sandwich.
“Well, that’s still better than what happened to me,” Sara said. “I had my car taken away for a month. A whole month! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve had to use the bus?”
“Ouch,” Jessica said.
“Tell me about it.” Sara turned a pleading gaze toward Jessica. “Listen—whatever happens, let’s not ever do that again. No matter how tempting.”
“Agreed,” Jessica and Eric said at the same time.
Ashley snored loudly, having finally fallen asleep.
“Oh, look who made it to school today.”
Jessica rolled her eyes immediately when she heard the voice. Sure enough, Debbie, Patricia, and Marie sauntered toward them, malicious smirks on their uptight faces.
She frowned and tried to remember what had happened with Debbie and her minions once they were all inside at the concert. She had been so thrilled about getting into the twenty-one and over section that they had completely fallen off her radar.
“Wow, you guys all look like shit,” Debbie said and shook her head.
“Well, what did you expect?” asked Marie. “We knew these lames couldn’t hold their liquor. It was probably their first time at a twenty-one and up event, and they were in completely over their heads.”
“Oh, shut up. Give it a rest. Don’t you hags ever get tired of being so obnoxious?” Sara demanded irritably.
The girls laughed. “Look at them. So immature!” Debbie said.
“Well, we’re not the ones doing an extra year of high school. So perhaps that’s why we’re not as mature as you,” Jessica retorted.
Eric laughed. “Good one, Jess.”
Debbie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Come on,” she said to her friends and led them away.
“Hey, guys.”
Jessica turned her head and her heart skipped a beat when Kacey strolled toward their table. Much like the rest of them, he looked a little worse for wear. When his eyes locked briefly with hers, though, a small smile flickered across his face.
Feeling awkward, she averted her gaze and reached for an apple slice on her food tray, although she still wasn’t really hungry. She took a bite as he sat down on the other side of her and forced herself to chew without gagging.
“What’s up?” Eric said. He clearly tried to be polite but seemed unable to look Kacey in the eyes.
Jessica’s leg began to bounce nervously under the table. Her brain still felt fogged, but she could clearly remember making out with Kacey at the concert. Unfortunately, she still couldn’t sort out exactly how she felt about that.
A silence settled around the table in which Ashley continued to snore, Eric continued to eat—albeit with less gusto—and Kacey stared at the side of Jessica’s face as if he had something he wanted to say to her. She refused to look his way, though, yet hoped it wasn’t obvious. With a half-eaten apple slice before her, she drummed her fingers on the table and tried to look nonchalant while she felt the exact opposite.
While it wasn’t her intention to make Kacey think she was giving him the cold shoulder, she hoped to at least relay that now was not the time for them to have any…discussions…about whatever was happening or had happened between them.
Not with their nosey friends around.
Did I even respond to his text message last night? Jessica wondered, unable to remember.
“So, Kacey…” Sara said and broke the silence. “Did you have a good time last night at the concert?”
He nodded vigorously while he munched a bag of barbeque potato chips. “Yeah, I did. For a while, at least. When I got back home, though, my dad happened to still be up. He grounded me for a week, unfortunately. Not to mention that he gave me a good tongue lashing.” He grimaced briefly at the memory. “I’d say it was worth it, though. You only live once, right?”
“Right. And, well—at least your punishment fits the crime. Being grounded for a week isn’t too bad. I, on the other hand, had my car taken away for a whole month. Anyway—I’m glad you enjoyed yourself because we’ve collectively decided that we will never do that again. Like ever.”
Kacey nodded and chuckled. “All right. I can understand that.”
“Hey, at least we can all say we lived it up once in high school,” Sara said and winked as she looked right at Jessica.
She narrowed her eyes warningly at her friend. Don’t you even start.
Sara gave her a playful grin—one that she didn’t find funny at all.
Beside her, Ashley exhaled another loud snore, her mouth open and a string of drool running from the side to pool onto her English literature book.
Jessica shook her head and stared at her. “This one and her bright ideas,” she said and her voice sounded so unlike herself.
“Well, her idea was fun while it lasted,” Kacey argued and nudged her in the arm with his elbow. “And considering you’re the one who helped make it happen, you can’t give her all the credit.”
Her face warmed and she stared down at the table, keenly aware of the smirk Sara gave them.
“You know—now that I think about it, you two did keep disappearing on us,” Sara said slyly. “You missed a lot of the action that happened around the stage. But something tells me you found action elsewhere. So, what were you guys up to? Do tell.”
Kacey chuckled and sounded rather pleased to Jessica’s ears. “Oh… We were just hanging out, that’s all.”
Sara wiggled her eyebrows. “Just hanging out? Really?”
At that moment, Eric stood suddenly and grabbed his food tray, presumably to empty it. Oddly, though, Jessica was fairly certain she heard him grumble along the way.
She kicked Sara under the table.
“Ouch!” her friend cried.
“Oops. Sorry,” she said pointedly.
“Huh?” Ashley said abruptly and raised her head from her pile of books. She cleared her throat and wiped her
hand across her mouth.
The bell rang and lunch hour was over.
“Thank God.” Jessica sprang up from her seat and ignored the way the hasty gesture made her headache pound worse. “I’ll see you guys later,” she said, ready to bolt from the cafeteria. As she passed the trash can, she tossed her tray of uneaten food and felt slightly guilty for wasting so much.
“Hey, Jess—hold up a second.”
At the door, she halted. A hand touched her shoulder and her breath caught momentarily in her throat. She didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Kacey but she did so anyway.
He smiled and looked hopefully at her.
“Uh… Hey, Kacey,” she said and scratched the back of her head a little awkwardly. “Um… What’s up?”
“I wondered if…you know, you wanna go out again sometime. After we aren’t grounded anymore, I mean.”
Jessica planted her feet firmly on the floor and forced her hands still at her sides, determined not to squirm and fidget. And although she didn’t mean to, she couldn’t keep herself from looking at Kacey’s lips. If she was honest with herself, that was the real reason she had avoided looking at him.
It didn’t matter that she didn’t know how she felt about their miniature make-out session because deep down, she couldn’t deny that she had enjoyed it
She had thoroughly enjoyed it, no matter how much she wanted to pretend otherwise.
When she realized she was still staring at his lips, she cleared her throat and forced herself to look elsewhere.
Oh, what the hell? Why not? a voice in her head reasoned.
Kacey’s expression had already begun to falter uncertainly when she smiled at him. “Sure,” she said and added after a moment’s hesitation, “I’d like that.”
He laughed and sounded relieved. “You scared me for a second there,” he said. “I thought you would say no.”
Jessica didn’t tell him that she almost had said no, and a part of her still felt that she should have done so. But why deny herself a little harmless fun and flirting? She cleared her throat and took a step backward. “Well, I need to be getting to class, so…”
Kacey nodded. “Me too. Lord knows I don’t want detention in addition to already being grounded. So…talk to you later?”
“Yeah,” she said.
And with that, they hurried their separate ways.
All the while, Jessica was overtly aware that as far as their kiss went, she didn’t know if it had been the alcohol at work, or something else.
I suppose there’s only one way to find out, she thought and already wondered how their third date would go.
Was it really even a third date? Maybe this would actually be the first real one. After all, she had been adamant that the first one wasn’t a date. And last night had been a group outing. So maybe next time around, she could accept it as an actual date.
The thought made her heart patter in ways she didn’t understand. Primarily, though, she had a strong suspicion that their next…outing…would likely end with another kiss—and she didn’t exactly mind that at all.
In fact, she wanted it. To sort out how she really felt, of course.
Chapter Six
The school day finally came to an end and Jessica couldn’t have been happier. As she headed across the school parking lot, she practically dreamed about the comfort and warmth of her bed and was dying to return to it. Yet, as she hopped into her cold truck, she knew she still had a long way to go before she could realize the dream if Grandma Ethel was still serious about her doing garden work. It had drizzled on and off all day, and the air was cold and damp. Hence, she halfway hoped the old lady would ultimately have mercy on her.
She wouldn’t really make her hung-over granddaughter work outside in the rain, would she? If necessary, she could do her punishment another day.
“Hi, Grandma,” she said tentatively as she walked into the house.
Her grandmother sat at the kitchen table, her glasses low on her face as she held an outstretched newspaper before her.
“Good afternoon, my dear. How was school?”
“It was fine.” Jessica took small steps toward the dining room stairway and wondered if she could somehow lock herself in her room for the rest of the day. She cleared her throat. “It was actually a busy day. I’m really tired and I still don’t feel too well. So I think I’ll just…” She jerked her thumb towards the stairs.
Grandma Ethel glanced up from the newspaper. “I understand,” she said and nodded sympathetically. “You do look awfully tired, sweety.”
Oh, my God, she’s falling for it. Unable to believe her luck, Jessica yawned for added measure and slouched in an effort to look as if she could hardly remain standing. “Yeah. Plus, I’ve got sooo much homework. I think I’ll lie down for a while before getting started on it.”
“Okay. But first, you should go ahead and change. And make sure you layer up. It’s cold and rainy out there, as you can see. Hurry up and get that garden in order so that you can get back inside to take your nap before doing your homework.” Ethel smiled serenely and then turned her gaze back to the newspaper.
Jessica groaned and looked at the ceiling. “Seriously, Grandma?”
“Totally seriously.”
Knowing there was no sense in arguing, she stomped up the stairs and to her room, where she changed into sweat clothes and layered up like Ethel had suggested. On her way back down the stairs, Grace passed by and her fluffy tail swished in the air as she walked.
“Nice try,” the familiar teased.
“Shut up, Grace,” she retorted as she headed toward the back door of the house.
“Jessica,” her grandmother called.
“Yeah?” She turned to find Grandma Ethel standing behind her, holding a warm cup of tea. Jessica stared at it wistfully. “Rake the leaves, clean out my plant pots, pick out any weeds you see. You know, that sort of thing. Basically, make sure everything is neat and tidy, exactly how I like it.” She nodded and took a long sip of tea before she grinned and trotted off to the living room with several cats trailing behind her.
“Yes, Grandma,” she muttered and exited the back door.
The instant she stepped outside into the yard, she could have sworn it started to rain harder to spite her. She pulled her hood on and shuddered against the cold, unable to believe her grandma was making her do this.
Just get to it, she thought, knowing that there was no point standing in the rain being angry about what she had to do. It was best to do it and get it over with.
She retrieved the rake from the garage and set to work cleaning the yard, starting in the back of the house, which provided more shelter from the icy wind. After she’d shooed away a few cats who seemed determined to get in her way, she raked leaves into neat piles throughout the area. She hadn’t noticed how big Grandma Ethel’s yard really was until then. By the time she finished raking, she was drenched and couldn’t tell if it was from rain or sweat.
It suddenly didn’t feel as cold outside anymore, to say the least.
Once she’d disposed of the leaves, she turned her attention to the flower beds, pulled weeds up, and tried not to freak out every time a worm popped up from the soil. She hated worms. As a kid, one of her classmates had captured a wiggling creature and thrown it at her. The disgusting thing had tangled in her hair, and she had been unreasonably terrified of them ever since.
When she yanked out the last of the weeds, a worm attached to the end and managed to wiggle its way onto Jessica’s glove. With a screech, she flung the creepy creature across the yard and her skin crawled. She shook dirt and leaves furiously from her gloves and prayed for the nightmare to end.
But she wouldn’t be so lucky. There was still more work to be done.
There has to be a spell for this, she thought bitterly. Knowing Grandma Ethel could have probably cleaned the entire yard with a simple snap of her fingers only left her feeling even more irritated than ever.
Surely Ethel could have taugh
t her some spells for this kind of work instead of making her dig through worm-infested soil. After all, her mother had instructed the old lady to reveal the full magical world to her. Plus, considering the difficulty she’d had in simply trying to light a candle, learning yardwork spells would have been a sufficient enough punishment. There was no need for her to be out working in the rain with a hangover.
“Dammit, Grandma,” Jessica muttered out loud and halfway hoped the old woman heard her.
She paused for a moment and wiped her brow. Looking upward, she saw that she had made her way around the yard and now stood beneath her own bedroom window.
Her mind drifted to her set of cards and she wondered whether there was something in the deck that could possibly have helped her with yard work because she would have given anything—risked anything—to be done already.
The Earth Coven, Jessica thought and recalled the specialties of the different covens that she still tried to memorize. She grimaced and tried to think of what would possibly make someone want to join a coven dedicated to garden work. Granted, she supposed there was more to it than that.
I sure as hell won’t join it though.
As she gathered a few leaves that had eluded her earlier, she thought that perhaps she would eventually have to choose which coven she wanted to belong to by process of elimination. Deciding which ones she didn’t want was as good a start as any.
She pondered how hard it was to join a coven in the first place as she considered the different ones. Chad and Maximus had casually suggested that she should join their covens—they had practically invited her as if they were at liberty to offer open invitations. So how hard could it really be?
All the errant leaves finally disposed of, she returned to the spot under her bedroom window and stretched her back, which had started to ache some time ago.
That’s right—that stupid tree. She recalled how the branch had continuously tapped her window and disturbed her constantly at night while she slept. This, she decided, would be a good time to cut it, but there was only one problem.
