Blackheath Resurrection (The Blackheath Witches Book 2)

by Gabriella Lepore

  Lexi stood speechless for a moment, one finger frozen mid-twirl around a lock of hair. Then, eyes blazing, she stormed back to her workbench.

  Numbly, Joel stared at the empty glass beaker on the table in front of him.

  Beside him, Charlie shifted in his seat. “Uh . . . ohh-kayy.”

  Joel buried his head in his hands.

  “No, I mean . . .” Charlie cleared his throat. “Good speech, bro.”

  Joel made a noise.

  “Informative,” Charlie added.

  They went quiet.

  Just when Joel was on the verge of deciding never to speak again—ever—a chair scraped somewhere across the lab. Joel didn’t dare look up, but he heard her voice loud and clear.

  “I love him, too,” Maggie declared.

  Joel looked across the room to where Maggie was standing, tall and confident, with a chewed pencil tucked behind her ear.

  “I love Joel Tomlins,” she professed.

  Joel found himself smiling.

  Okay, he thought. Chemistry was fun again.

  LOVE, THOUGHT JOEL as he slipped his safety goggles back down over his eyes.

  What a strange concept. For instance, when could it be called love? Could it be instantaneous, like in those initial seven seconds after locking eyes with someone? Did some people know right there and then if it was going to be true love? And why did it take some people seven years to figure it out in the middle of Chem Lab?

  Joel thought back over the past seven years, including the four years that went on record as being simply lost. Joel had been thinking a lot lately about what had happened to those years. It was like everything had paused between him and Maggie while they’d navigated their way through life. But perhaps it hadn’t really been on pause at all; perhaps he’d still cared for her, his feelings slowly growing and building until his whole being was altered without him really noticing?

  It was around age thirteen when they’d stopped being playmates. Up until then, Joel’s summers had been Maggie’s, and Maggie’s had been Joel’s—well, during the daylight hours, anyway, before Maggie had to be back at the boarding house for dinner. On those summer mornings, Joel would walk from the Tomlinses’ old split-level bungalow all the way to campus to wait for Maggie by the third apple tree. He’d pick at the bark, peeling it from the trunk while he waited for her to emerge from the boarding house. When she’d finally come out, her hair was almost always in a tangle and she’d have some funny story or another about something Ms Joy had said or done. They’d spend the hot summer days inventing games to while away the hours. Even now, the smell of cut grass always reminded Joel of her.

  At dinner time he’d return home smiling, imagining what fun they would have the next day.

  The first time Joel remembered a next day not happening was in their fourth summer, when they’d been thirteen. School was out and Isla and the other boarders had gone home to their families for their annual summer vacations, jet-setting around the world with their wealthy parents. As usual, the Tomlinses had stayed home. Or some of them had, at least. Not Maximus, however. In fact, he’d just left for the second time, abandoning all four sons and subsequently tearing their world apart.

  It was at this time that Joel had needed Maggie the most. He needed to escape with her to their magical summer world where he was no longer Joel Tomlins, abandoned child, but Joel Tomlins, Maggie’s friend. He’d needed that more than ever, and when she didn’t come to meet him by the third apple tree on Day One of their fourth summer, he’d felt as though his heart had been torn into a million pieces. He’d waited all morning, but she’d never shown. Each day after, he’d waited less and less time. By Day Six, he’d stopped going altogether. He couldn’t wait another moment at that apple tree, its bark now picked and scraped with his grief.

  Of course, he couldn’t blame Maggie for not coming out to meet him. He wasn’t entirely faultless in the situation. No, the damage had been done before summer break had even started. Back in June, actually, when Blackheath High had put on its traditional end-of-year dance. Joel had usually preferred to skip those sorts of events, but that year Charlie and some of the soccer guys had been planning on going—and they’d been planning on taking dates, too. It had been the first year when the girls had been girls, and the boys had taken notice.

  Joel had noticed, too. He’d noticed Maggie, anyway. But then again, he always noticed Maggie.

  “Are you going to the dance?” Evan had asked him as they’d been walking home from school on a Wednesday a few weeks ahead of the event. Maximus hadn’t left them yet, and the boys’ minds had been occupied by nothing more than looking forward to a leisurely summer full of long days and carnival nights.

  Joel shifted his rucksack, feeling the hot June sun beating down on his back as they’d walked along the pavement. “Dunno. You?”

  “Yeah,” Evan said with a gleaming smile. “I asked Jane to go with me. She said yes.”

  Joel raised his eyebrows, but he wasn’t surprised. All the girls in Evan’s grade adored him. In fact, everyone adored Evan. He was kind and considerate, a peacekeeper and a friend to all. Joel should have known then that Evan would grow up to be the Chosen One.

  “You should go,” Evan said. “It’ll be fun.”

  Joel stared absently at the cars cruising along Blackheath’s main strip. “Maybe.”

  Evan cast him a sideways glance as they walked. “You could ask Maggie Ellmes.”

  Joel felt himself turn red. “Maggie?” he stuttered. “Why would I ask her?”

  “Dunno,” Evan said, laughing. “Cause you guys’re friends. You spend the whole summer with her! Why not ask her?” He paused and grinned at Joel. “I think she likes you, anyway.”

  Joel’s heart rate quickened. “Really? Who said?”

  Evan tapped his index finger to his nose. “I just sense these things. And you like her, too.”

  Joel’s jaw dropped at the accusation. “No, I don’t!” He frowned. “Okay, maybe.”

  “See?” Evan puffed out his chest. “I told you, I sense these things.” He ruffled Joel’s unruly hair.

  Despite the fact that Evan had only been fourteen at the time, to Joel he had seemed so mature, so wise. For the next week, Joel thought incessantly about what Evan had said. By the following Wednesday, he had worked up the courage to approach Maggie after class. He stopped her at the classroom door while the other students filed out into the corridor.

  In those days, he and Maggie hadn’t socialised much during the school term. So she seemed surprised—though pleased—to see him.

  “Hey, Joel,” she said. “What’s up?”

  Her caramel-coloured hair was long and wavy that day, and Joel caught the scent of her cherry-flavoured lip balm the moment she spoke.

  “Hey,” he answered, and then his mind went completely blank.

  Come on, he urged himself. Just do it.

  “Listen, Maggie.” He scratched the back of his neck. “I was wondering . . Are you going to the summer dance?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Isla’s going home early this year, so she won’t be around. I don’t really want to go on my own.”

  Perfect, Joel thought, his heart beating fast.

  “I’ll go with you, if you want,” he offered hopefully.

  Maggie broke into a smile. “Okay! It’ll be good to have a friend there.”

  A friend? Joel’s shoulders sagged at the word.

  “Okay,” he replied. Then he stopped himself.

  No, he thought. No, it’s not okay.

  The bell for the next period sounded and Maggie was about to walk away. He pulled her back.

  “Wait, Maggie,” he said quickly. “I don’t want to go as your friend. I want to go as your, um, date.”

  For a bated moment, Joel held his breath.

  “Oh,” was all she said, her eyes cast downwards.

  Oh, man, I’m such an idiot, Joel chastised himself. The whole school knows I’m a witch. Of course Maggie would never�
��

  And suddenly Maggie was smiling up at him. Not a mocking smile, but a strange flushed smile that Joel had never seen on her before.

  “Okay,” she said in a small voice.

  Joel bit his lip to supress his grin. “Okay, cool. So it’s a date,” he said, attempting to sound casual.

  She was blushing from ear to ear by then, and the sight made his heart melt.

  “Thanks, Joel,” she said softly. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

  “Me, too,” he said.

  Over the next week, Joel thought a lot about the upcoming dance. And he decided, after some careful thinking, that he would kiss her. After that, they’d probably make it official—or whatever it was that girls liked to do. He’d get a part-time job helping Alleged Aunt Topaz over the summer so that he could afford to take her to the movies or out for ice cream—or whatever it was that girls liked to do.

  On the Friday of the dance, he and Evan jogged the whole way home from school, both feeling as high as kites. The brothers laughed as they ran, for no particular reason except that they’d been happy.

  They ran all the way to their front door, vaulting gates and low stone walls, and taking as many shortcuts as possible. They only had a couple of hours to eat, change, and get back to campus.

  They reached their front porch, out of breath but energised. Evan jammed the key into the lock and shoved the door open.

  “Dad!” he yelled. “We’re home!”

  Joel sprinted into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl from beside the cereal cupboard. “Dad! Can we have a ride back to school in a couple of hours?” he called.

  There was no response from Maximus.

  “Dad?”

  Weird, Joel thought. He must be out with Ainsley. They’d better get home soon or we’re going to be late.

  But for some reason, he found his feet frozen to the kitchen floor. Something was wrong.

  Sure enough, Evan walked into the kitchen with nine-year-old Ainsley at his side.

  “There’s a baby in Dad’s bedroom,” Evan murmured, his face ashen. “And a note from Dad.”

  “Wait, what?” Joel’s brow creased. “What do you mean, there’s a baby?”

  “In Dad’s room,” Evan choked, tears pooling in his glassy violet eyes. “Dad’s gone.”

  “What?” Joel struggled for breath.

  “He said he had to go,” Ainsley put in, weakly. “He said we have a new baby brother that we have to take care of.”

  Joel looked up sharply at Evan, whose lavender eyes were streaming with tears.

  No, was all Joel could think. Not again.

  Evan handed him a scrap of paper without another word.

  My boys, the note read. I’m sorry, but I have to go. I have to find her, and when I do, I’ll bring her home and we can all be together again. We can finally be a family, just like we were supposed to be.

  The cereal bowl slid from Joel’s hand and shattered on the tiled floor.

  All the light that had filled the brothers just minutes before was extinguished.

  Joel didn’t go to the dance with Maggie that night. Evan didn’t go with Jane, either. And neither of the boys explained themselves, for they could barely speak at all. They stayed at home with each other, Evan and Joel and Ainsley and the baby, too. The four of them, together. They were frightened and broken. In an instant, their whole lives had gone dark.

  THE BELL RANG and Maggie tossed her safety goggles onto the work bench.

  “Well, that was an eventful Chemistry lesson,” Isla remarked, giggling above the commotion of people getting out of their seats.

  Maggie raised her eyebrows. “Tell me about it.”

  She glanced over to Joel, who was cramming his books into his backpack. It was the same tatty backpack he’d had ever since she’d known him. She smiled fondly at the grubby old bag.

  “Are you coming?” Blonde Lauren asked with a nudge, drawing Maggie’s attention back to the present. Hilary, Blonde Lauren, and Isla were all hovering around the work bench, waiting for her.

  “I’ll catch up with you later,” Maggie told them.

  “Right,” Isla drawled with a wink. “Later.”

  Maggie blushed and began heading across the lab towards Joel.

  “Hey,” she said quietly as she approached.

  “Hey.” He grinned as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

  The other students had all dispersed by now, leaving only Joel and Maggie in the classroom. Even Mr Hickman had already left, no doubt traumatised by the day’s emotive outpourings.

  Joel took Maggie’s hand and they walked slowly to the exit. When they reached the doorway, Joel planted a small kiss on her lips.

  She smiled up at him. “What was that for?”

  He touched the door frame and a sentimental look appeared in his eyes. “This was where we were when I first asked you out on a date, remember?”

  Maggie frowned. “No. When?”

  “The summer dance,” he reminded her. “Four years ago.”

  “No, don’t!” She pressed her hands to her cheeks in mock horror. “Don’t even mention that dance, Joel. That was awful!”

  “Yeah, I . . . uh . . .” he trailed off, looking down at his sneakers. “I never really explained to you what happened that night.”

  “It’s fine,” Maggie said lightly, linking her fingers through his. “It’s in the past.”

  “But I should have called you,” Joel insisted. “I should have let you know that I wasn’t coming.”

  Maggie bit her lower lip. “It’s fine,” she said again. “Really, don’t worry about it.”

  The truth was, she didn’t want to even think about that night. In fact, she’d done her best to repress the memory completely. She’d been so excited about the dance that she’d spent her entire savings on a ridiculously expensive new dress, then waited at their apple tree with her wrists spritzed with perfume and her hair teased within an inch of its life. She’d stood there in the orchard, listening to the distant shrieks of excitement and the music thumping from the gymnasium.

  She’d waited. Ten minutes had turned into half an hour, then half an hour had turned into an hour, and everything after that was immeasurable. Eventually, she’d given up and gone back inside the boarding house, fighting back the tears. She’d torn off her dress and thrown it to the floor, then kicked it beneath her bed where it could no longer taunt her. Isla had already left for the summer, and there was no one else for her to turn to. She’d cried herself to sleep that night. Joel Tomlins had played a cruel joke on her, and she had fallen for it.

  But now, at seventeen, she knew that this Joel Tomlins was different. He wasn’t a silly thirteen-year-old anymore, and this wasn’t a trick. She certainly didn’t want to revisit those feelings now, not when everything was so great between them.

  “But Maggie . . .” Joel tried again.

  She held up her palm to silence him. “You were a kid, Joel,” she reasoned. “Kids pull pranks. I’ve gotten over it.”

  Joel slapped his hand to his brow and groaned. “God, Maggie, do you think I ditched you as a prank?”

  She blinked back at him.

  “No,” he breathed. “Maggie, I adored you! I would never . . . I was looking forward to it. I had it all planned out.” He smiled coyly. “Even down to the goodnight kiss.”

  “Oh, really?” Her eyebrow lifted mischievously.

  He lowered his gaze. “Yeah. But then . . . that was the night my dad left. I got home from school, and there was a note. And a baby.”

  Maggie’s lips parted. “Oh, Joel . . .” She exhaled heavily. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  He raked his hand through his hair. “I couldn’t. I was a complete mess. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. I was just . . . lost, I guess.”

  She reached up and hugged him, resting her chin on his shoulder.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “No, I’m sorry,” said Joel, drawing back to look into her eyes.
“I’m sorry you thought that I’d do that to you, because I wouldn’t. Never in a million years.” A wave of understanding flashed across his face and he sighed. “So that’s why you didn’t come to meet me that summer?”

  She pursed her lips, feeling awful all of a sudden. She’d misjudged him. She’d punished him, ignored him, even hated him. And for what?

  “I didn’t know it happened on that night,” she said quietly.

  “I didn’t tell you,” Joel accepted. “I should have. I just assumed the whole town was already talking about it.”

  “They were,” Maggie admitted with a tentative smile.

  Joel nodded his head. “Figures.”

  “I just wasn’t listening.”

  Joel smirked. “Figures.”

  Maggie swatted at him. “Anyway,” she cajoled, “if you take me to the dance this year, I promise I’ll hang out with you over summer break.”

  Joel leaned against the doorframe and grinned. “You’d better.”

  Maggie sighed dreamily. “We can set off a couple of killer fireworks . . .”

  “Risk our lives . . .” Joel supplied.

  Maggie simpered. “Just the usual.”

  There was a pause, and when Joel spoke again his tone had altered. “I do, you know,” he said tenderly. “Love you, I mean.”

  “I know,” Maggie whispered softly. “I love you, too.”

  Even in the windowless corridor, a sudden flutter of air gently curled around them, binding them. And Maggie knew at once that the breeze was moving just for her.

  JOEL’S FINAL LESSON on Monday was Study Hall in the library. The Blackheath High library was a grand space with slate floors and high windows. Vast columns of old stonework rose upwards towards the vaulted ceiling, and thousands of worn books lined the walls.

  Joel wandered to a quiet section of the library and found an empty table by a window. The view looked out onto a stretch of garden, now white with snow, and beyond that were the tree tops and distant hills.

  Sinking into a seat, Joel slipped on his headphones and flipped open his workbook. He cranked up the volume on his iPod and began scanning his notes from fourth-period English. He had barely made it through the first page before he noticed a packet of M&Ms being waved in front of him. He let his headphones fall down around his neck and traced the M&Ms to their possessor.