by Jules Barker
Now Simon was picking up a bag Nate’s dad was packing for him, so Nate could get away. He was going to finish his senior year online, living with relatives in Montana. Would he ever come back? The thought that he might not left a dread in her core that she didn’t understand.
She was leaning on the railing, staring into the velvet dark of night, when Nate had come out the door and halted. He knew she’d heard it, his whole story. He came to stand by her and leaned his forearms on the railing, head down, defeated.
If Laurel was beginning to master her magic, she could do this. She could be there for him. She couldn’t run away from him again when he needed a friend. Carefully, she’d reached out and rested her hand on his. He’d frozen, then grabbed it tightly in both of his, a lifeline to human comfort.
“I’m so sorry, Nate.”
He’d turned his head into his shoulder, wiping his face against his sleeve.
She’d looked at their hands, hers nestled between his, and marveled that she felt taken care of even when he was the one who needed it now. The one that needed to know he was cared for.
So she’d reached over and gently touched his cheek with two fingers, turning his face toward hers.
He was all strong jaw and soft eyes, boyish curls and a hint of stubble.
She was brave and brimming with emotion she couldn’t decipher.
And so she’d leaned forward. Eyes open so she wouldn’t miss.
Her lashes fluttered closed just as her lips brushed against his in the barest hint of a kiss.
As she leaned in more to deepen the connection, he shoved back from the railing.
She stumbled forward, eyes leaping to his as he exclaimed, “No!”
“What?”
“You don’t need to do this.” The bitterness in his voice was sharp, like a knife.
“Do what?” She stared, numb and confused.
“I don’t need a pity kiss for comfort, okay? I know you don’t like me so just… And you’re Simon’s freakin’ little sister!” Nate pushed both hands through his hair, and paced in a tight circle. “You’re fifteen!”
“Sixteen!”
“Whatever. I can’t do this. I’m losing my mind.” He clenched his jaw and turned away, effectively cutting her out.
Pity.
Simon’s little sister.
Laurel didn’t need to touch him to guess how he felt about her. She turned and ran, holding back her heartbreak until she was out of sight.
And she didn’t see him again for ten years.
Laurel righted herself in the water and began to tread. She’d thought about that night a lot recently, especially since Nate returned to the island. Sixteen was not too young for a kiss, no matter what he’d said; it was that he couldn’t get past seeing her as the kid sister. But it was so silly to let that moment hold such sway. He probably didn’t even remember much of it in the emotional crisis of that night.
And so what? He was right. She was Simon’s little sister. And maybe she had pitied him a little—she didn’t truly know what was behind that urge to lean in. And it’s not like she had real feelings for him now.
Putting so much stock in something from so long ago was juvenile.
But repeating that to herself didn’t make it easier to wipe it away, not when it had been so humiliating for her.
Laurel swam a few laps back and forth, working out her energy.
The past was the past. She could be friends with Nate again. She could. Friends would be enough.
9
Laying it Bare
A round, ripe moon rose in the east and Laurel swam to where she could stand. Feet planted on the stones beneath her, she turned up her face to the light and let it bathe her skin. She knew most people, even most of those with Gifts, didn’t feel the moonlight like she did. Not all magical people had a strong affinity for the moon. But for Laurel, the way she could lay on a beach and soak in the sun and feel it toast her skin was how she could feel with the moonlight. Except instead of heat, it was a cooler, silky feeling. Instead of the warmth of cinnamon, it was the cool of vanilla. Not actually cold, but... different.
The full moon was a time of recharging, of bringing projects to fruition, of an abundance of energy. Laurel loved to be out in it. Meditating, sleeping in a hammock, swimming by moonlight… it all fueled her.
A smile stole across her face and she couldn’t suppress it. She had an idea.
And why not? No one came down to this beach but her and Gran. And if she was feeling sixteen again so often lately, she may as well enjoy it.
So she slipped off one shoulder of her emerald suit and then the other, shimmied it down and over her hips and pulled it off her feet. Using her toes, she caught it, pulled it up to her hands, wadded it into a ball, and tossed it onto the rocks near her towel.
She was careful to stay under water. Just because no one ever came down here didn’t mean she was comfortable walking around naked in the moonlight, for goodness’ sake. Getting back out would be risk enough.
But hidden beneath the silky surface of the salt water? Yes. Skinny dipping felt adventurous and thrilling even though she knew it really was a pretty tame activity.
Laurel splashed her arms and raised them over her head, sending a spray of silver droplets in an arc around her. She let her arms float on the surface as she twirled, sending spiraling ripples across the moon-kissed water. And then she relaxed, floating, letting the water eddy around her limbs, swirling and caressing. This was being one with nature. This was bliss.
She was totally relaxed.
Until she heard footsteps coming down the path.
Limbs flailing, Laurel sunk underwater, then rose up barely enough for her eyes and nose to clear the surface. The moon was bright enough that she could make out a man’s figure coming down the hillside.
She gasped and nearly choked on ocean water.
Slapping a hand over her mouth, she sputtered and swam to the side, tiptoeing once she could touch. There was a large boulder on the south side she could hide behind.
The water was only waist deep at the rock, so she crouched down behind it, trying to stay covered.
Was he here yet? Who was it?
“Laurel,” a voice called out.
Stars above. Why did it have to be Nate?
“Laurel! You down here?” he called.
Then again, she supposed as she shivered in chilly water out of reach of the warming stone, it was probably good it wasn’t a stranger. That would be bad, too.
Maybe he would just leave if he couldn’t find her?
She heard some shuffling at the shore. Maybe he was leaving already! Laurel tried to shimmy-swim her way around the corner of the rock to peek, but her foot slid off a slippery rock. She fell sideways in the water, banging her hip on the rocks at the bottom of the shallow pool. She only half-managed to cut off her whimper of pain.
Nate called out her name again, a new note of urgency in it.
“Laurel? Laurel!”
Splashing sounds overlapped him yelling her name again.
Laurel whipped her head around the edge of the rock. Nate was practically running into the water!
As much as she’d like to replay the sight of him powering his way through the dark waves in slo-mo on repeat, he’d be within sight of her in only a few more steps.
“Stop!” she yelled. She put out a hand from behind the boulder, waving it like a pale, white, flag of surrender. “Stop right there!”
“What?”
She pushed out from the rock, careful to glide low in the water, out to where only her head could be seen.
“Just stay there, okay?”
Nate froze, in the water up to his knees, arms held to his sides, breathing heavily. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine,” she muttered.
“Why didn’t you answer me? You scared me half to death. What are you even doing out here?”
It was Laurel’s turn to freeze. “Umm… going for a swim?”
“Now?”
“So?” Laurel rolled her eyes at her very mature response.
Nate stared her down.
Laurel sank lower in the water and paddled back a few feet. The glint of mischief in his eye had better be just a glimmer of moonlight because she knew that look all too well…
“Since I’m already half-soaked, maybe I’ll join the fun. Remember our splash wars?”
No. No! Those splash wars had been epic and there was no way Laurel could defend herself and remain underwater. She could easily imagine him trying to drag her out.
Nate was already crouching down, pulling his arms back in an exaggerated slo-motion prep for his opening charge and raising one eyebrow in challenge.
Just as he moved into action, Laurel screamed, “I’m naked!”
Her voice ricocheted off the rocky hill and bounced from boulder to boulder.
Nate was so startled that he flung himself backward to stop his momentum and ended up scrambling until he tripped and fell flat on his butt in the shallows with a mighty splash.
“What did you say?” he asked.
Laurel bit her lip and eyed her swimsuit. There was no way she could get to it now. She wished she could slide beneath the water and never resurface.
Nate followed her gaze and stared at her towel and bag and swimsuit for an extra long moment. He put both hands to his face and let out a long, low chuckle. “You’re going to be the death of me, Laurel Penwythe.”
He hauled himself out of the water, squelching with every step, and scooped up Laurel’s wet swimsuit. Wadding it into a ball, he tossed it across the water to her.
It landed with a loud slap in front of her face and she reared back from the splash, then darted forward to grab it.
Nate had moved farther on shore and now stood, hand on hips, with his back to her. His shoulders appeared to be shaking, but Laurel wasn’t sure.
It was hard to tug the swimsuit on underwater and slide the straps over her shoulders, but she managed it without tipping over.
Since his back was to her, Laurel decided to grab the warming stone as well. She carefully waded ashore and placed it into her tote. “All clear.”
She wrapped her coverup around her as Nate walked over.
“So that’s why you didn’t answer me when I first came down,” he said. Water squished from his tennis shoes with each step. A particularly loud squelch drew both of their eyes to his feet.
Laurel snorted.
Nate looked up at her, eyebrow cocked. “It’s not funny, Lars. I really thought you were hurt at first. Or drowned. Turns out you were just buck naked.”
But his attempt to look sternly at her only made her have to fight harder to keep her previous panic from bubbling into giddy relief.
A grin fought at the corners of Nate’s mouth for about three seconds before he couldn’t suppress it. “You’re killing me, Lars.”
Their shared laughter broke Laurel’s tension.
Nate bent down to take off his shoes and peel off his soggy socks. There wasn’t much he could do about his wet pants.
Laurel turned her towel sideways and sat on it, gesturing to him. “Here. Sit. Let’s drain you off a little before you hike back up.”
He sat next to her, bare feet white in the moonlight.
Laurel pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, looking at Nate. She smothered her grin in her elbow.
Beside her on the towel, Nate laughed and stretched his legs out in front of him.
“Skinnydipping, huh?”
Laurel’s chin rose. “Yes. It’s a private beach.”
Nate grinned and cocked an eyebrow. “Mostly.” He looked out over the ocean, apparently content with the quiet.
Laurel carefully maneuvered her bag with the warming stone in the guise of resettling. She tipped it on its side with the top angled toward Nate’s shoes and socks spread out in front of them. The stone had deactivated when removed from the water and Laurel wanted to reactivate it in the air so it could warm them a little. Maybe help dry off his footwear faster.
She slid her hand inside the bag and quietly muttered the activation.
“What?” Nate asked.
“Oh. Nothing. Thinking to myself.” She smiled and shrugged.
A moment later, Nate turned to her again. “The water was warm tonight, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah. It’s always been a good spot.”
“It wasn’t warm when we were kids. Well, not unless Simon was in the water with us.” Nate winked.
Laurel shrugged. “Maybe you don’t remember it clearly. It always seems warm to me.” It was the truth, even if she wasn’t saying why it was warm.
“So it was you that peed in the water?” Nate bumped her shoulder with his.
Laurel bumped him back.
“Hey. We’re both adults now,” he said.
Laurel’s chest tightened. “Yeah?”
“Can we be honest with each other?”
Laurel bit her lip. She didn’t know what he wanted to be honest about and she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go wherever he was leading. Was this the talk he’d mentioned wanting to have? Was it about that night? “Honestly? It depends on what you mean. But I promise I won’t lie about anything.”
Nate considered a moment, then nodded. “I’ve wanted to talk to you about this for a long time, but the timing was never right.” He paused.
Laurel’s stomach tightened. Her whole torso tensed up. Come on, Nate! Don’t pause there! What do you want to say?
He looked at her, a careful expression on his face. He took a deep breath.
“I know you’re a witch.”
10
Secrets and Memories
Laurel’s lungs expelled the breath she’d been holding and then forgot how to breath in again. What? He knew what?
She coughed, which restarted her breathing if not her brain.
Nate reached over a hand and patted her back, then his hand ran in little circles over her shoulders. Was he trying to comfort her or something?
He dropped his hand when she looked at him. “Sorry,” he said. “You guys don’t like to be called that. I forgot.”
“What makes you think I’m… a witch?” It was the best Laurel could come up with.
“Okay, nice try. I know this surprises you, but I’ve wanted to ask you about it for years. Ever since I first figured out your prolonged bout of mono wasn’t real. I mean, who skips school that long just for mono?”
Laurel remembered that lie, suddenly. That they’d used mono as the excuse when she first hit magical puberty at thirteen. She’d been so unfiltered, she’d had to skip school the second half of eighth grade and hide away until she could function around people without being overwhelmed. It had taken a long time before she went back, and then ended up skipping a grade in a lot of subjects because she’d done so well with her online schooling. She’d never realized Nate doubted the story.
“And of course, Simon let me in on the whole ‘magically gifted people’ thing when I figured out he was always cheating at cards. Literally.”
Laurel was shocked. She’d had no idea Simon had told anyone other than his wife, Gwen, about his magic. To think he’d told his friend… “When? When did he tell you?”
She had to know how long Nate had known. How long she could have had another friend who knew instead of being alone. Sure, she knew other people with gifts. But she didn’t have any close friends growing up who were magical.
“Um. Probably when we were fifteen or sixteen. Right around the time you started avoiding me.”
“Oh.” He’d noticed?
“I already thought it wasn’t mono, not for that long. Then I caught Simon cheating one day by changing an eight of clubs into an ace, and he told me all about his magic. He was kind of thrilled to finally be able to show me how he could manipulate ink on paper. I wondered if your magic was somehow hurting you or making you sick and if that’s why you were always hiding. So I made him tell me.”
“And w
hat did he tell you?”
“Not much. He just said that your magic was kind of tough on you. That you needed time to figure it out. He wouldn’t tell me what it was. He said that was yours to tell.” Nate shrugged.
Huh. So Simon at least respected that part of it. Ooh, she was going to give him an earful when she called him next. He’d told Nate and hadn’t told her he’d told Nate? All these years? She picked up a rock from beside her and threw it into the water.
Nate cleared his throat. “So, uh, yeah. I’ve been wanting to ask you forever about your magic. But then you wouldn’t come near me for a couple years and then I left. But I’m back now and I’m going to be around you a lot this summer. I want you to be comfortable. I don’t want you to feel like you have to hide anything.”
Warmth spread through Laurel’s chest. Here she was about to explain her magic to him and he was the one trying to put her at ease. Her heart felt surprisingly tender.
“Is this the thing you wanted to talk about?” she asked.
“Yeah. But there wasn’t really a good time until tonight. It’s not like I could say “Hey, I’ve got your disposal ready to install and also, did you know I know you’re a witch?” He grinned. “But I really do want you to know you can be comfortable around me, you can be yourself. Like, tonight. The water. What was that? Did you cast a spell on it or something?”
Laurel smiled. “Well, I didn’t pee in the water, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Well good, since I ran straight into it to save you.” He smirked. “So, what? You can cast spells? You have water magic? Don’t hold me in suspense, Lars.”
His face was so open, so curious. Laurel trusted him. Besides, Simon had already done the hard part and opened him up to magic in general.
“Not exactly,” she said. She reached into the bag and pulled out the rune stone. If she was inviting him in, she may as well show him everything.
She explained how the warmth came from the stone that had been charged with a rune spell.
“So you do runes?” he asked, holding the stone in his hands.