“Much,” she lied. “So how was your day? I want to hear every detail.”
“Went to school, came home. You?”
Ariel giggled. “Pretty much the same. But I did speak to some witches about your curse. The coven that old lady belongs to has agreed to help me. They’re going to meet to discuss it soon.”
“That’s good news,” Gabe said, but it didn’t translate to his face.
“I’m not going to get hurt,” Ariel said with a sigh, not wanting to have the whole discussion all over again. “The witches know what they’re doing, they won’t put any of us in harm’s way.”
“Good, then I don’t have to remind you how much I love you and would be really annoyed if you got hurt.” He pouted, making a stern face.
Ariel felt a rush of happiness wash over her, just like it did every time he said he loved her. She could never get used to hearing it. To cover her blushing, she quickly changed the subject. “Is your new school working out?”
“Same old.”
“And which school would that be?”
“Ariel…” Gabe warned. “You know I can’t tell you where I am.”
“Yes you can, you just choose not to.”
“For your own protection.”
“To drive me crazy,” she teased. “What about if I want to send you a present or something? I wouldn’t know where to send it.”
“I don’t need a present, I need to keep you safe. If you are anywhere that I am, you’re not going to be safe. All you have to do is remember the last time we were alone to know that.”
“You didn’t hurt me.”
“I almost killed you.”
“But you didn’t,” Ariel pointed out, wondering how many times they had that same discussion in the past two months. “You controlled the compulsion, I know you would be able to do it again.”
“Let’s not test that theory,” Gabe replied. He was trying to keep his tone of voice light, but Ariel could hear the pain behind it. It hurt him to be apart just as much as it did her. He was just too tough to admit it.
“Fine, then tell me all about your classes then,” Ariel finally relented. She didn’t let Gabe off the hook until he had really told her all about his day, even down to what he had for lunch.
Ariel loved to hear him talk. With not having anyone to hang out with at school, he saw and noticed everything that went on. He could probably tell her more about his new classmates than any of them even knew with talking to each other. He observed everything, from the way his Math teacher fiddled with his toupee during their pop quiz to the way the football mascot had a massive crush on the head of the debate team. There was nothing that Gabe didn’t notice.
During their many conversations about his observations, Ariel often wondered what he saw when he was at Central Heights High School. Did he study her and Cassidy like that? What had he learned about her classmates that he never shared with her? Her mind whirled with all the possibilities but she was never game enough to ask. If she wasn’t prepared to hear the answer, she wouldn’t ask the question.
They finally finished their conversation close to ten o’clock. They said their goodnights and Ariel closed her laptop with sleepy eyes. She climbed into bed and fell fast asleep.
When her alarm beeped earlier than usual, Ariel felt like she had only just gone to bed. She tried to remember why she had set her alarm so early.
Then it hit her, she groaned with the memory. She had a prom committee meeting before school and if she was late again Cassidy would skin her alive and then hang her from the school’s flagpole. It was enough of a threat to get her out of bed and into the shower without any further hesitation.
She practically ran to school, bursting through the classroom doors with just minutes to spare. She took the empty seat next to Cassidy, trying to hide the fact she was out of breath.
“Are you alright? Your face is all red,” Cassidy asked, her own face a mixture of concern and disgust.
Ariel didn’t get a chance to answer. She merely nodded as Ms. Thatcher started the meeting. “Good morning students. I want updates from everyone before we start talking about what else needs to be done. Niccolette, go.”
Niccolette clearly wasn’t ready for the task. She grappled for her notes as she stood. “We, uh, have arranged for catering quotes from three different companies as required by the school board. We’re now considering which one will give the best value for money.”
“Excellent, make sure you play them off against each other,” Ms. Thatcher nodded and turned her attention to the next unsuspecting pair. Ariel watched in horror, growing more nervous as each couple said their piece. She hadn’t done anything towards selling the prom tickets, the thought of announcing that to the entire room was terrifying.
“Cassidy, Ariel, go.”
Ariel panicked, wondering if she was going to throw up, just as Cassidy stood.
“We have obtained the tickets from the printers and can now start selling,” Cassidy said steadily, completely unflustered. She looked around the room happily, her gaze falling on Niccolette, not by chance. “Please send people our way and we will be sure to close the sale.”
“Good. Paula and Tiffany, go,” Ms. Thatcher moved on and didn’t stop until she had heard from every pair. True to their overachieving nature, all the girls had made a good start on their tasks. All except Ariel, anyway.
By the time the meeting was over, Ariel was exhausted just trying to keep up with all the others. Chatter about the fairy tale theme was buzzing amongst the girls. Some were already planning their outfits, right down to the most intricate detail. Ariel, on the other hand, dreaded the whole thing. It just wouldn’t be fun without Gabe.
Ms. Thatcher allowed them to leave just ten minutes before school was due to officially start. Cassidy and Ariel started towards their lockers, both relieved to be getting out of there.
“Please tell me this whole prom thing is working out,” Ariel begged as they went. “Does Niccolette know you’re alive yet?”
“I think so. I’ve been making sure to be in her eye line every chance I get,” Cassidy explained. “I accidently-on-purpose tripped over her the other day. She was annoyed at me, but at least she noticed who I was. Stage one is almost complete.”
“Do I want to know what stage two is?”
“Probably not, but I’m going to need your help when I’m ready to commence, so you’re going to be a part of it whether you like it or not.”
Ariel grinned. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less.”
They reached their lockers and hurried to retrieve the books they needed for the morning classes. Ariel was already feeling more than a little grumpy at having to rush because of the stupid prom. She kept it to herself though.
As Ariel picked up her science textbook, she noticed a note lying on top of everything inside her locker. She picked it up, unfurling the neatly folded pages.
“What’s that?” Cassidy asked, peering over her shoulder to see better. “Did someone leave you a looove note?”
“I seriously doubt that,” Ariel said skeptically. She had never received a love note in her entire life, it wasn’t likely to start now. And certainly not on such plain paper.
“Well, what does it say then?”
Ariel skimmed through the words, she didn’t really want to tell Cassidy but knew she wouldn’t be able to lie to her. She took a deep breath and prepared for the fallout.
CHAPTER 20
“It’s a note from Kourtney and Karen, they are having a meeting tonight at eight o’clock and have invited me,” Ariel read the contents of the letter out loud.
“Why would they invite you?” Cassidy took the note from her hands, confirming the words with her own eyes. “Why are they meeting in the woods? What’s going on?”
There was no way Ariel was going to get out of having the conversation. She considered hesitating long enough for the bell to ring but it would only delay the inevitable. Cassidy had the best memory of anyone she knew. She n
eeded to get it over with quickly, like pulling off a Band-Aid.
“Remember that old witch you went to visit with me?” She paused, waiting for the assenting head nod before continuing. “Kourtney and Karen are in her coven. So is Miss Perry. They’re going to help me lift Gabe’s curse.”
Cassidy could only stare at her as the seconds ticked by and the gambit of emotion rushed across her face. Finally, she settled on anger. “You’ve got to be kidding me? All this talk of witches and curses, I thought you were done with that? You haven’t mentioned it for ages.”
“Only because I knew you didn’t approve. I didn’t want to upset you by saying anything. I’ve been doing my research alone.”
“I thought I was your best friend, how could you keep this from me?”
Ariel quickly tried to work out what she was most upset about – being left out of the loop or the fact she was still pursuing her seemingly idiotic quest. She couldn’t tell which one she needed to appease first.
“I didn’t want to bother you with it,” Ariel tried one, crossing her fingers. “I never meant to exclude you or anything. You have your own problems.”
Cassidy went to retort but stopped and closed her mouth instead. She glared at her, staring Ariel directly in the eyes as she breathed through her anger. “Fine. But don’t think I’m letting you go meet with those witches by yourself. I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Someone’s got to look out for you,” Cassidy said before stomping off to class. Ariel quickly closed her locker and hurried after her, already imagining what it would be like when she turned up at the coven meeting with her. It would be like her worlds colliding again.
It didn’t help that their first class was History. Ariel took her seat next to Cassidy and tried to ignore the annoyance that was flooding from her. She focused on Miss Perry at the front of the class, trying not to envision her in a black cloak with a broomstick and warts. Everything she imagined she knew about witches was about to get shaken to the core.
She had to admit to herself, if not Cassidy, that she was nervous about the coven meeting. She had no idea what happened during one or what they were going to tell her. What if they changed their minds and wouldn’t help her anymore? What if dealing with dark magic was going to be too much for her to handle? The questions swirled around in her mind but none of them ever found an answer by themselves.
It was a good thing Ariel actually enjoyed History and didn’t have to concentrate too hard during the class. She knew Miss Perry was going on about the Victorian Age and their political intrigue but she was far too nervous to fully concentrate.
History went by in a blur, as did Science class. By lunchtime, Ariel was a nervous wreck but she was determined to make sure Cassidy didn’t see that. When her best friend grabbed her at her locker, she played it as cool as an Eskimo.
“Lunch in the courtyard?” She asked, praying Cassidy didn’t bring up the whole coven thing again.
“We’ve got tickets to sell.” Cassidy held up half a dozen wads of booklets. “They arrived yesterday and if we don’t sell them all, the prom is going to be a failure. I’m not going to tell Niccolette that we didn’t sell enough tickets to cover the cost of catering, get my gist?”
“Tickets. Sell. Money. Got it,” Ariel replied. At least she seemed to be over her bad morning mood anyway. In truth, she was grateful for the distraction – even if it did mean selling tickets all lunch.
Cassidy dragged her to the cafeteria and they set up shop in the centre where everyone could see them. She placed posters over the table, pulling them from her bag like a never ending handkerchief. Ariel felt a pang of guilt at not having contributed anything to the whole thing. She was certain moral support didn’t count for anything.
They waited for the throng of student to pounce on them, demanding their tickets and throwing money at them. It didn’t exactly come, but they did have a steady stream of the occasional person buying a few tickets. They were going to need to spend every lunch break selling or the prom would be devoid of bodies.
“I’ll take two, please.”
Ariel started tearing out the tickets, writing the date on them as she looked up. She stopped, the tickets waving in the air. Her customer was Spencer. “That will be, uh, twenty dollars, thank you.”
He handed over the money, the hint of a smile on his lips. Up close, he was even better looking that she had first thought. She tried desperately not to notice.
“Thanks,” Ariel said as she tucked the money into the pouch. He didn’t leave, the tension in the air palpable between them.
“Now all I need is someone to go with.” Spencer shifted his weight to his other foot awkwardly.
Ariel got the hint but she still couldn’t convince herself he was talking about her. He probably had a dozen girls waiting in line to go out with him. There was no way he had eyes for her.
“You’ve still got plenty of time to find someone before the prom, it’s still weeks away,” Ariel replied lightly. She wished there was a line for tickets so she had an excuse to move on.
“Yeah, there’s weeks,” Spencer agreed but still didn’t leave. “Have you found someone to go with yet?”
“I’ll probably just go with my friends.”
“Good idea. I should probably… go. Thanks for the tickets.”
“Anytime.”
He gave her an odd wave before backing away. He only turned when he ran into another table. Ariel couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face. Good looking, weird, and a little awkward – just her type. She pushed the thought away, it didn’t matter anyway. The only reason she was going to the prom in the first place was because of Cassidy and she planned on spending the entire night collecting tickets. It didn’t matter that she was going alone.
Cassidy finished with her customer and leaned over when there was nobody else waiting to be served. “He was totally sussing out whether you had a date or not.”
“Spencer? No, he was just being friendly.”
“Yeah, right. He lined up to buy his tickets from you when I was here with nobody else to serve. Explain that, Ariel.” Cassidy was proud at her powers of observation, she looked like she was the cat that got the cream. “Oh, wait, you can’t explain it because it’s true. Spencer has a crush on you.”
Ariel shook her head, wishing she could explain it at the same time wishing Cassidy wasn’t so nosey. “It doesn’t even matter if he does, I’m with Gabe. I’m not going to cheat on him.”
“Going to a dance together isn’t cheating. You should consider it like a trial run. You’re just learning how to be a good date by dating someone else.”
“That could only possibly make sense inside your head.”
“Think about it,” Cassidy insisted, unrelenting. “You’ve never had a boyfriend before, you don’t know what you’re doing. But if you went out with Spencer, you’d be all knowledgeable when you found Gabe.”
The thought had never occurred to Ariel. She had never worried about it before. When it came time to being able to be with Gabe, she assumed everything would just come naturally. But, come to think of it, she didn’t even know how to kiss properly. Perhaps there was something to Cassidy’s crazy logic.
But there was no way she could date someone other than Gabe, it was ridiculous to even think about it. “I’m not doing it, Cassidy, I can’t.”
“Just think about it,” Cassidy replied before turning on the charm for her new customer.
If Ariel wasn’t distracted by a customer of her own, she would have stewed on Cassidy’s interference for a while. Just because she didn’t like Gabe, didn’t mean she had a right to encourage her to date other guys. She didn’t understand how much Gabe meant to her – clearly.
* * *
Ariel paced in her bedroom, she knew she had to do it but it wasn’t going to be pleasant. She knew there was no other option, it wasn’t like she could just go downstairs and tell her parents she was going to the deser
ted woods to meet with a coven of witches. They either wouldn’t believe her and ground her for lying, or completely freak out that their daughter was a devil worshipper. Either way, it would mean Ariel couldn’t leave the house that night.
Lying never came easily to her, even though she had been doing it more regularly over the past few months. Ariel hated having to look into her parent’s faces and deceive them. It never felt right. The only thing she could hope was that the end justified the means.
Glancing at the clock, it was almost a quarter to eight. If she didn’t leave now, she was going to be late. And something told her that she didn’t want to keep a bunch of witches waiting. She picked up her bag and hurried downstairs.
“I’m going to meet Cassidy, I’ll see you later,” Ariel said, hearing the lies in her own words. She hoped it sounded more genuine to her parents.
They both turned around on the lounge in front of the television. Her mother spoke first. “Why are you meeting Cassidy so late on a school night?”
“I told you before, we’re going to the movies.”
“But it’s a school night.”
“And I’ve done all my homework. We’ll be back at ten, it won’t be late.”
“You said it was okay for her to go to the movies on a school night?” Her father directed the question at Mom.
“I must have been distracted.” She shook her head while wrinkling her brow.
“I’m going to be late and miss the start,” Ariel complained, trying to hurry them up. “I won’t be late, I promise.”
“Fine,” Mom sighed. “But be careful and don’t talk to strangers. Straight home afterwards.”
Ariel didn’t wait around for them to change their minds. She hurried outside and then to Cassidy’s house. They were off to see the witches.
CHAPTER 21
“This place is spooky,” Cassidy whined, jumping as yet another rustling sounded in the trees beyond the path. Ariel would have normally laughed at her unease, but she was too nervous to think about anything other than the meeting they were about to have.
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