Dancing With A Stranger (Londyn Carter Book 1)

by A. L. Martin

  Sam was looking down at her phone, dabbing her Rudolph nose with a tissue. “Hey, guys,” she said, her voice giving away that her nose was stuffed up again.

  I happened to look over Gavin’s shoulder at Jayde with Lucas and his friends a few tables away from us. I prayed that she wouldn’t come over to start shit with me today.

  Chapter 21

  The rest of lunch was uneventful, and I wouldn’t be lying if I said I was happy about it too. Jayde had kept her distance from us the entire lunch hour. I was able to enjoy being with my friends, talking about normal things that friends talk about at school. We made plans for after school and the rest of the week. I had texted Mom during lunch to make sure it was okay that everyone came over tonight for some of her spaghetti and homemade meatballs. Of course, she didn’t mine in the least.

  I went back to Spanish with a clearer mind, which made it a little easier to focus on class. I did find my mind wandering a little from time to time, but I was able to get back on task rather quickly. Biology was more of a struggle since we had a substitute teacher and they pretty much let us do what we wanted as long as we were quiet. The class talking quietly amongst themselves. There were only a handful of girls in the class, and most of them were new followers of Jayde. They all had long dark brown hair; their makeup was a little excessive with their fake eyelashes. Their tops barely touched the top of their jeans, and they each had on high heel ankle boots. The more I looked at them, I realized they were a perfect match of friends for Jayde. They would take turns glancing over at me, then turn back around and whisper a few things. I could feel my annoyance for them growing by the minute, and I didn’t know if I would be able to control myself around them or not. I grabbed my phone and texted Wyatt real quick, in hopes he would be able to calm me down. He kept texting me on and off throughout his class to keep me calm and not to do something out of anger to her minions.

  Right as one of her bitchy friends turned around to say something, the final bell of the day ran. She glared over at me while she gathered up her things. I wanted to wave at her, but I didn’t want to take the chance of doing something to them. I could feel an evil smile spread across my face when I thought about what could happen if I did wave my hand in front of them.

  Londyn, you really don’t want to hurt them. I heard Wyatt’s voice, which let me know he must be right outside the door. I quickly gathered up my things, budging my way past Jayde’s followers.

  Wyatt was standing next to the doorway with his right shoulder pressed against the wall.

  “Are you ready to leave?” He smiled.

  “Yes!”

  He grabbed my hand and led me away from the door before the girls made it out of the classroom. “You were enjoying the thought too much in class.” He peeked over at me, raising an eyebrow.

  “I couldn’t help it. They are Jayde’s bitchy friends.”

  “Well, that may be true, but you would regret doing something to them that you couldn’t take back. Trust me,” he whispered, pulling me closer to his side.

  Jules started yelling before I was halfway to my car, but I couldn’t make out what she was saying. She yelled a couple more times, and I tried letting her know I couldn’t hear her by putting my hand up to my ear.

  When I got to the car, I let her know she could’ve waited until I got closer to tell me whatever she had to tell me instead of screaming across the noisy parking lot. All she wanted was to ask me if Asher could come over tonight too. I reminded her that she needed to ask Mom, but I didn’t think she would mind. Mom would probably think having more people around would be better for me right now. I couldn’t disagree with her, but I wanted more answers. Then again, did I really want those answers?

  “I’m going to text Mom real quick and ask her,” Jules said, grabbing her phone out of her purse. “What is Mom fixing for dinner tonight?” she asked, not taking her eyes off her phone.

  “Mom’s making her spaghetti and homemade meatballs. Why?” I asked.

  “Yum!” She smiled. “Mom said it was okay. I’m going to ride with Asher to the house,” she said, putting her bag in the backseat of my car. “Bye.”

  I stood there, watching her take off with Asher across the parking lot, completely clueless that her life is about to change in a way she never imagined possible. In a way, I still wanted to be in the dark about being a witch.

  “What’s wrong?” Wyatt asked, putting his arm around me. “You look so sad all of a sudden.

  “I keep thinking about Jules and what she will do when she finds out she’s a witch. Will she be okay with it, breakdown and cry over it, be in shock?”

  “Something tells me she will be fine with it. She’s going to accept it better than you think.” He led me around the car, opening the driver side door for me. “I’m going to follow you home. I’m sure Gavin will be a few minutes behind me. Everything’s going to be all right, Londyn.” He cupped my cheek in his hand. He stepped back from the door and turned to walk over to his car. I waited until he was in his car before I started out of the school parking lot. I saw Gavin walking out of the school, so I circled around and pulled up beside his car.

  “Hey, Gavin. Are you heading over to the house now or going home first?” I asked, leaning over the console toward the passenger window.

  “Hey, Sunshine. I was going to run home real quick, then head over to your house. Jules go with Asher?”

  “Yeah. Guess he’s coming over to the house too.” I shrugged. “You will be over within the hour?”

  “Yeah, I shouldn’t be that long,” he said, getting in his car.

  I waved at him as I headed toward the parking lot exit. Wyatt was waiting for me close to the end of the parking lot. I mouthed sorry at him when I passed by on the way out.

  We arrived home about twenty minutes later to find Mom was already there, along with Jules and Asher. Jules had Asher park in front of the house, and I had Wyatt park behind me in the driveway. He was out of the car and getting my book bag out of the backseat before I was even out of the car yet. He had my book bag in his left hand, and offered me his right when I got out of the car. The aroma of Italian spices hit us the minute I opened the front door.

  “Oh my god. That smells so good,” Wyatt said, inhaling deeply. “I can’t wait until dinner now.” He laughed.

  “Hey, Mom. Smells so good!” I said, walking over to get a couple of glasses for me and Wyatt. “Do you need any help?”

  “No. I’m almost ready to put the meatballs in the sauce and let them cook for a while. How was school today?” She peeked over at me.

  “It was okay. Jayde’s new friends kept staring at me in class, then whispering amongst themselves. No, I didn’t do anything to them. I did enjoy the thought of something happening though.”

  “Londyn!” she snapped.

  “I talked to her about it and that she would regret it later if something did happen to them,” Wyatt said, taking the glass from me.

  “Good. He’s right you know. As much as you hate them, don’t wish something bad to happen to them. Especially now, since you don’t have your powers under control. We aren’t even sure what kind of powers you are going to end up with. You could really hurt someone with your powers. I know you wouldn’t be able to handle that.” She turned around to face the stove, adding the meatballs to the sauce. “We can talk about this later on before someone walks in the kitchen, overhearing our conversation.” She glanced back at us over her right shoulder.

  “I think we are going to go in the living room. Let me know if you need any help, Mom,” I said, tugging on Wyatt’s shirt.

  “I will be in there soon. Please go breakup Jules and Asher’s kissing session.” She rolled her eyes.

  I couldn’t help but giggle, walking out of the kitchen. I started tiptoeing the closer I got to the living room to catch Jules and Asher kissing on the loveseat. I stood a couple steps away from the archway, stretching my neck out as far as I could to look in the living room.

  “I know you ar
e there, Londyn!” Jules yelled. Annoyance echoed throughout the room.

  I stood up and walked into the living room. How did you know I was close by?”

  Jules glared over at me. “You tiptoe as loud as an elephant.”

  Wyatt let out a chuckle, then quickly stopped when he saw me staring over at him.

  “Sorry.” He went over and sat down on the end of the couch by the table.

  “Mom sent me in here to make sure you two weren’t connected at the lips for too long.”

  “Funny.” Jules rolled her eyes.

  I was about to go sit down next to Wyatt, when there was a knock on the door before it opened.

  “Londyn?” Gavin said, closing the door behind him.

  “We’re in the living room!” I yelled, sitting down next to Wyatt.

  “Hey. OH. MY. GOD. It smells so good already.” He sat down on the other end of the couch next to me. “Do you want to watch a movie while we all try to wait patiently for dinner?” He smiled.

  “Sure. What kind of movie does everyone want to watch?” I asked, leaning back against Wyatt.

  “How about the new movie that just came out on DVD about witches?” Gavin said, getting up to get the remote over by Mom’s chair.

  “No!” I blurted out.

  Gavin looked down at me with confusion in his eyes. “No? You were just talking about wanting to see that movie a couple weeks ago. What changed your mind?” He walked across the living room to get the remote.

  “Umm…I saw online somewhere that is got bad reviews,” I stuttered.

  “Bad reviews? I heard it got great reviews.” He raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah. Let’s watch it,” Jules butted in.

  I turned my head slightly to look back at Wyatt, trying to cover up his laughing with his hand.

  Remember you have to act normal as possible. Besides, I find witch movies funny. They are wrong with how they portray us.

  I gave him a slight smile, then turned back around and reluctantly gave in to the watching the movie. Right as I was bout to yell for Mom, she happened to walk into the living room to see what we all were doing. I explained to her that we were getting ready to watch the new movie out on DVD.

  “The one about witches?” she questioned, trying to camouflage her expression with her hand. “Okay. Does anyone need a drink before we start the movie? Dinner will be done in little over an hour.”

  I got up off the couch to go help Mom get drinks. I looked over my left shoulder to make sure no one besides Wyatt was following us.

  “Mom, you seriously don’t want to watch that movie do you?” I walked around the counter to get the glasses out of the cabinet.

  “They are ridiculous to be honest.”

  “Doesn’t it bother you that people may actually see us how the movies project us?” I asked, putting the glasses down on the counter.

  “It did at first, but then you eventually learn to laugh at the movies. We don’t look any different from everyone else. Being a witch doesn’t change the type of person you are, Londyn. You are still the same girl you were a few weeks ago. No one can take that away from you.” She smiled, pouring tea into the glasses.

  Then terror flooded over me in an instant. How would my friends react to me when they find out that I’m a witch? I hadn’t thought about that until now. My thoughts quickly went away from accidentally hurting someone to what would they think of me. I know it would tear me apart if Gavin or Sam rejected me as a friend once they found out. I stood there frozen in front of the glasses, unable to move in either direction.

  “Londyn? What’s wrong?” Mom asked.

  I couldn’t take my eyes off the glasses, now filled to the top with tea, and ice cubes swirling around, settling to the top. I hear her, but her voice was muffled as if she was talking to me from the other room instead of right next to me. The doorbell rang causing me to flinch, almost knocking over one of the glasses.

  “Was Sam coming over?” Mom said, walking past me out of the kitchen.

  I took off out of the kitchen after her. “Um…She never did give me an answer earlier, now that I think about it. She was going to go home and take something for her allergies. Maybe she decided to come on over.”

  I hurried around Mom to get the door. I was somewhat behind the door when I opened it. I looked over at my Mom who was standing there with her mouth open, eyes wide, staring straight in front of her. I stumbled moving out from around the door, my eyes catching dark blue jeans, and black and white canvas shoes. My eyes, against my wishes, gazed up slowly past the blue and white plaid button shirt to the beautiful, familiar grey eyes.

  Rage engulfed me like a wildfire. “What the hell are you doing here!” I bellowed, raising my hand up close to his face.

  “I’ve come to warn you,” Hunter said, stepping closer to me. “You all are in danger because of me.” He lowered his head.

  “What the hell did you do, Hunter?” Wyatt asked, walking around the corner of the living room. “What kind of trouble did you bring on everyone?”

  “Well, big brother, if you hadn’t swooped in like you did, none of this would’ve happened. So, technically…You caused all of this,” Hunter said, tilting his head to the side, pushing my hand out of the way.

  “I see you got the necklace,” Hunter said, pulling down my sweatshirt to expose the chain that wrapped around my neck.

  “This is from you?” I crinkled up my nose.

  “Yes.”

  Then, it dawned on me what they had just said to one another. “Big brother?” I questioned, turning around to face Wyatt. “You lied to me! You told me I could trust you!” I screamed to the point my throat was scratchy.

  “Londyn, you are mad at me and have every right to be, but you know you can trust me.”

  I stood there peeved, staring him down, but something deep down kept telling me he was right that I could trust him. I didn’t want to admit it at the moment though.

  Wyatt’s attention quickly turned back to Hunter, who was inside the door now.

  “You didn’t answer my question! What the hell have you done?” Wyatt demanded, putting himself between me and Hunter.

  “They’re coming.”

  “Who’s coming?”

  “The Vexers. They know.”

  “What did you tell them, Hunter?” Wyatt grabbed Hunter by the shirt, lifting him up.

  Hunter dug his nails into Wyatt’s fist, causing Wyatt to drop him. Hunter managed to catch himself before falling on his ass.

  “I told them that I had seen Jonathan Carter around. I didn’t say anything about Londyn or her sister.”

  “What about me?” Jules asked.

  “Nothing, Jules,” I snapped, looking over my shoulder.

  “I think I have a right to know what is being said about me.” She huffed.

  “Jules! Now, isn’t the time!” Mom yelled, staring her down.

  Jules stormed back into the living room, mumbling the whole time. She never did mumble softly to herself. She always made a point to be heard, which got her in more trouble most of the time. Mom was too busy panicking to yell at her for her attitude.

  “Do you have any idea what you’ve done by going to them?” Mom said, her voice deep and fierce. She began to raise her hands, waving them around slowly in circle like motion. Her eyes became dark as the midnight sky.

  “Elizabeth, stop,” Wyatt said, lowering her right hand. “You don’t want to do that now.” He motioned his head toward the living room.

  “Count what blessings you have, Hunter. You best thank your brother for saving your life right now,” she hissed through gritted teeth.

  I looked over at Hunter, about to say something when I caught Dad flying up the steps of the porch. I could see the terror in his eyes the closer he got to the door.

  “They’re coming!” He flung the door open, pushing past Hunter, practically knocking him to the floor. “This is all your fault!” Dad grabbed a hold of Hunter.

  “What’s going on?” Gavin
question, walking out of the living room.

  “Nothing,” Dad said, letting go of Hunter.

  “What are we going to do?” Mom asked, moving closer to Dad.

  “There is something definitely going on,” Gavin said, shifting his eyes toward my parents.

  “He doesn’t know?” Dad asked, motioning his head toward Gavin.

  “No,” I said.

  “He’s going to find out, Londyn. He should hear it from you before they show up,” Dad insisted anguish filled his eyes.

  “Tell me what?” Gavin demanded, moving closer to me.

  I stood there looking at Mom being cradled in Dad’s arms then at Hunter, who was glaring over in Wyatt’s direction. I finally realized Wyatt had placed his arm around me. I glanced up at Wyatt, searching his face for some kind of solace. He smiled down at me, giving me a light squeeze into him. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, exhaling the air out through my mouth. I opened my eyes to find my parents staring out the front door, my mom clutching onto my dad’s shirt. Wyatt followed their gaze out the front door, then whispered, “They’re here.”

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  About the Author

  A.L. Martin

  Lives in Evansville, IN with her husband, two sons, and daughter.

  Cursed or Blessed is her debut novel.

  Martin found her love for books at a young age, and would sit writing for hours as a teenager. It was then she realized that she wanted to write stories.

  When not working or writing, Martin loves watching her kids in sports.