Inherit

by Liz Reinhardt

  Jonas breathes deep through his nose and exhales slowly. “The day you stopped at the gas station, I’d been waiting to get up the courage to ask you out. And there you were, so I took a chance.”

  “But I—” And I have to stop, because telling him how much I liked him before counteracts what I’m saying now. “I don’t believe it. You could have said something any time. It’s too big a coincidence that the day I got a lucky fox was the day you started paying attention.”

  It’s a good point. Mrs. McKenna would have complimented my logic in debate.

  Jonas isn’t giving me any points at all. He stares at the ground, his mouth moving back and forth for a long minute. When he finally looks up at me, those eyes are as cold and grey as ever, but this time they’re stormy.

  “So you think this whole thing we’ve got going on is based on that fox and some kind of weird magic?”

  His words are bone-chillingly cold, like the winter winds when the electric lines are downed. I stomp my feet, half in frustration, half to get the blood moving so I stay warm against his chill. “You say that like it doesn’t make sense. How can you agree with everything else I’ve told you, but not even consider this?”

  He jerks a hand through his hair. “Because everything else was small time. This is you and me.”

  “You and me?” My voice echoes back at him, emaciated and uncertain.

  “You and me. Something special. Something that I thought went deeper than all these magic tricks, Wren. Look, it’s weird. I get it. Paranormal stuff is just weird. But sometimes, things are…they’re just perfectly normal. And that’s more magical than any spell or lucky fox.” He rubs the back of his neck and shakes his head.

  “I don’t understand. You’re saying you don’t think there’s any chance what we feel is part of this whole luck thing I have going on. You and me I mean.” I stop talking because I’m just tripping on the words.

  “No. I’m saying that I’ve liked you longer than this whole situation existed. That you and me and what we feel, it’s all incredibly normal because I just like you. That’s it. You for you, Wren. Sometimes that’s the crazy answer. Sometimes the insane truth is that it’s just the goddamn magic of totally normal human attraction, okay? Does that sound possible?” He kicks at a very innocent clump of dirt with a lot of fury.

  “It’s not that I didn’t…or don’t. You are so amazing and I did feel…I do feel…but Loki and the luck? My head is just all over right now, and the timing just seems like it’s too much of a coincidence, you know, when you throw in Loki—”

  His furious glare chops my tongue at the base and leaves me silent. When he finally speaks again, it’s like ice burrowing into my pores.

  “Funny, you keep talking about Loki and your luck that day. And all this time, I thought it was my lucky day.” He shrugs. “Even if this was about Loki, she only gives you what you want. You’re not seeing what’s right in front of your face.” He gives me a desperate look, and I know my mouth is hanging open. I’m too shocked to know what to say. He blows out a long breath. “Look, just let me put the battery in for you, and I won’t bother you anymore.”

  I open and close my mouth, a stupid, dying fish out of water. I should call him back. I should think this through. But it’s too much all at once, and I wind up letting him go rather than facing what he said. My heart sinks a little more with each step he takes across the lawn and over the fence, a straight shot out of my life.

  Chapter 14

  I read long into the night, until my eyes ache and my head feels like it’s full of pebbles. The books contains some major contradictions, a ton of obvious old wives’ tales, but a few kernels keep coming up consistently, and I take those for truth because I have nothing else to go on. What they say is that my luck is much more complicated than thinking ‘I wish…’, and will get more complicated the closer Loki and I become. Because we just met, Loki and I don’t have a strong bond, but with time, it will grow until there’s nothing I can hide from her. There will even be things I can hide from myself that I can’t hide from this fox.

  While I read, she sleeps, curled in a tight reddish ball of soft fur tucked into one corner of my bed. She looks innocent as a napping puppy, but the more I’m around her and feel her quietly creeping in my head, the more she scares the crap out of me and the more I fall blindly, madly in love.

  Thinking of wild love brings me to the inevitable subject of Jonas and our disastrous last meeting. Yes, I was absolutely a partial twit, but he was choosing to ignore my arguments and put all the blame on my shoulders. The more I think about it, the more frustrated I get, and it finally becomes so distracting, I realize I’ve flipped five pages and can’t recall a single word.

  I lie on my bed super-still, one hand resting on her warm body, and wait for morning, my muscles tense and my head swarmed with way too many muddy thoughts. By the time the room moves from dark blue to black to silver to purple-grey, I’m not sure I’ve slept for a single second. Bestemor and I don’t say much over breakfast.

  The buzzer on the dryer vibrates and we both jump, our eyes directed not toward the laundry room, but the living room and the silent phone. Loki whines and paces.

  “Do you have work tonight, skaat?” Bestemor adds too many lumps of sugar to her coffee with a distracted twist of her teaspoon.

  “I’m on for open tutoring until five, but straight home after that and don’t worry about the dishwasher. A friend of mine’s dad does appliance repair, and I’ll talk to her today.” I squeeze her shoulder, and she clamps one boney hand tight over my fingers.

  “She’ll come.” Her voice is whisper-small, trying to be sure even though she has no idea.

  “If she doesn’t, at least it won’t be a big surprise.” My voice is obnoxiously loud, trying to be nonchalant even though I care so much it aches.

  Vee pulls up and honks, I kiss Bestemor’s cheek, flick my fingers over Loki’s fur and kiss the top of her head while I ignore her desperate whine, glad to escape into Vee’s car.

  “Did you get any reading done?” Vee plugs her iPod in and scrolls through the songs. One of the dance tracks from Elijah’s party blares on. It’s the one she was dancing to with Sakura when I left the party.

  “So much.” I lean my forehead on the cool glass of the window.

  “Anything?” She licks her lips and clicks her sparkly navy nails on the steering wheel.

  “Just that whatever there is between Loki and I will get stronger until, basically, it won’t matter if I wish for something or not. Also, Sakura?”

  She nods excitedly, and I hate to shoot her down the way I have to.

  “Sakura is my evil first cousin whose mother hates my father. I told you she was a psycho at the party, and then I started hearing her in my head. Crazy stuff. Anyway, Bestemor pretty much freaked out when I brought her up, and I’m under strict instructions to stay as far away from her as possible.”

  “Oh no.” Vee winces with apology. “And I was all dancing like a fool with her. I thought it was a good thing you had some family around, even if she was a little off.”

  “There was no way for you to know. Don’t worry about it at all. But Bestemor got freaked enough that she contacted my mother.” I massage my aching temples and switch gears, not that the next subject is any better for my raging headache. “We think Robin is in Colorado. Bestemor made a call last night.”

  “Colorado?” Vee frowns. “Isn’t that a little crunchy for your mother? I always picture her very cosmopolitan chic.”

  “Who knows? She’s probably following some fungus-toed boyfriend with a thing for found art sculptures to a less competitive area or whatever.” Whoa. There’s always a dull ache rattling around for my mother, but the slicing bitterness that coats my words shocks me.

  “Sorry, sweetie.” Her voice is so sad it’s almost pitying, which makes me love her for being so good and hate myself for being so pathetic all at once. Vee pulls up at Immaculate and we both get busy collecting our bags and purses and
pretending I’m not as upset as I am.

  Just when I’m sure that I’m scraping some kind of new depressed low, I see a shock of pink hair and an entourage in navy and grey headed my way.

  “Tell me this is the worst nightmare ever.” I claw at Vee’s arm as she gets out of the car and waves.

  “You aren’t in your underwear,” Vee says softly. “You need to face this head on. Don’t let her know you hate her guts. It will throw her off guard.”

  It’s good advice, but my best friend has never had Sakura’s mocking voice in her head like a psychotic, sociopathic criminal. I know I laughed her away yesterday, but that was with Loki at my side. I’m all alone now.

  She’s not. Her accessories don’t stop at her navy blue bow-adorned headband and high heeled Mary Janes. Clutched over one shoulder is a navy Prada bag and out of the bag pokes the head of an orangey fox.

  “Ohayou, cousin.” She flicks a look over me and giggles like she’s just seen something profoundly hilarious. The fox studies me with eager gold eyes.

  “I thought you wanted Loki,” I blurt. “Why would you want her when you have your own fox?”

  Her look hardens. I get the feeling Sakura likes to play games, so my cut-through-the-bull method seems to be getting results. “This is Honoo, a treasured member of the Kochi family.” Her voice is tight. “Though we have much respect for Honoo, he does not command the power Kaji does.”

  I’ve been doing my best to keep the whole ‘I might be a witch’ thing under wraps from the general population, but Sakura doesn’t seem to have any worries. Among her little mob are several regular ICHS students who don’t, as far as I know, believe in witches or magic foxes, but they seem to be laughing and talking like her conversation isn’t remotely weird. Even Vee isn’t paying attention.

  Sakura rolls her gold eyes. “Really? You are so untrained, it’s horrifying.” She holds one hand out at her side and points her finger, then makes a poking motion. The air around us shimmers and glistens for a second, then returns to normal.

  I smash my hand palm-first to the edge and make the same wavery ripple against an invisible wall that feels semi-solid. Like clear, wobbly Jell-o.

  “We’re in a bubble?” As amazing as it is to realize I’m standing inside an actual Jell-o bubble, I hate that I’m so close to Sakura.

  “It’s your shield power. I just drew it from you. Witchcraft 101. How is it possible you don’t have any command over your own shield abilities?” She fluffs her bright pink hair at the crown and shakes her head. “Look, I told you I wasn’t going to fight you for Kaji, and I didn’t say it just to be a bitch, okay? There’s no reason for me to fight you when you have no skills. At all. So I want to offer you a deal.” She slides on a smile I’m sure has launched a thousand crotch rockets back in her hometown. “I will ensure Bestemor’s health and offer you a stipend from the Kochi family in exchange for Kaji. And I swear to you, once I leave, you’ll never see me again.”

  The bubble shimmers around us. I’m inches away from the only blood relation other than Bestemor I’ve seen in years. She’s offering to take the one thing that’s driving me insane out of my life and take care of the one aspect that consistently worries me.

  Bestemor will be okay.

  Loki will be loved and cared for by the Kochi family.

  Sakura promises money.

  I will know for sure if what Jonas and I have is real.

  Life will go back to normal.

  Maybe she and I got off on a bad foot, but she’s my blood cousin. She’s aggressive and knows what she wants. Maybe this is all so weird because I happened to have the thing she happened to want. If we resolve this, maybe we might even become friends.

  There’s still a nagging question I can’t resolve, and I have a feeling Sakura knows more about it than she’s offering. “Why did Sofu send the fox here without even asking me? Why didn’t he tell me about it?”

  And with those two simple questions barely out of my mouth, she snaps. Like a popped bubble, the sweet face bursts and is replaces by something deeper than anger or jealousy or heartbreak…and I know every one of those faces from seeing them in my mirror. Her face radiates pure hatred.

  “Sofu is a fool,” she hisses. “And he’s made a huge mistake. If you don’t hand Kaji over to me, you’ll be making one, too. Negotiations are through. I want my answer by Friday.”

  She turns on her heel and walks through the shimmery wall, exploding it. Everything is suddenly overpoweringly loud, but no one seems shaken by it except for me. Vee gives me a questioning look, but the first bell already rang, and I can’t explain what just happened in two hours, let alone two minutes. “Later,” I promise.

  Sakura and the bubble dominate my thoughts through homeroom and gym, where a new horror takes over. Gym at Immaculate is usually gender-divided, but the early morning’s drizzle turned into a belching, thundering spring storm, so we have to cancel our softball game and the boys are out a soccer field. That leaves the usual barrage of odd indoor games. We usually get to use the smaller gym for some throwback Tae-Bo DVDs or Extreme Yoga while the boys play dodge-ball, but the coaches have huddled, and they are all excited about something.

  “Gather round, people, gather round!” Coach Kiley, our nauseatingly sunny teacher looks like a blonde bobble-head hopped up on caffeine. “We thought it would be fun to do something a little different today. I need two captains.” She searches the crowd. “Balto! And Hamilton!”

  Good. That’s Nevaeh and Jonas. She’ll pick me first and I’ll be safe from him. Jonas gives me a long, icy glare over his shoulder as he takes his place against the wall. I resist the urge to stick my tongue out, give him the finger, or yell, “What’s your problem?” across the echoey cavern of a gym.

  They take their places on either side of the shiny wood floors, and we look at Coach Kiley expectantly.

  “Gear up, kids,” she grins as her partner in crime, Coach Landry, throws a huge bag of balls on the floor. “We’re playing warball!”

  The entire class screams and whoops. The possibility of warball is one of the few things that makes rolling up my kneesocks worth the trouble in the mornings. The game itself is ridiculously simple; it’s basically dodge-ball, but there are mats propped up as shields and many little foamy balls instead of one big rubber one. The object is to gather and throw as many balls at people on the other team as you can while not getting hit. Easy, but so fun.

  I actually feel a smile breaking over my face. This will be a school-sanctioned way to work out some of my pent-up aggression. And if a few of my stray throws manage to pelt Jonas Balto in the head, I’ll live with the penalty timeout.

  Just as I’m about to relax, Sister Alicia waddles in with her arm around Sakura, who manages to look gorgeous and sweet and slightly needy all at once. I can actually hear the drool spilling out of the mouths of every guy in the class and pooling in a massive puddle on the gym floor.

  “Good morning. I’d like you all to welcome Sakura Kochi.” Sister studies the paperwork. “Are you girls by chance related, Wren?” she asks.

  “Wren is my first cousin, Sister.” Sakura smiles like that fact doesn’t, in fact, make her want to projectile vomit. I don’t have as good a game face, as evidenced by Sister’s tongue cluck and head shake at my return glower.

  “Sakura, if you’d like to suit up, we’re just about to choose teams.” Coach Kiley is hardly done speaking when Sakura saunters to the locker room.

  Damn. Why did she have to ruin warball along with everything else?

  “Dude, your cousin is smokin’,” Tommy Recchio whispers, nudging me with his elbow like we’re on a road-trip to White Castle together.

  “Go for it. You two would be awesome together.” I mean it. Tommy is the shallowest, most self-centered yuppie rat I’ve ever met. I couldn’t think of two lowlier lowlifes ending up together.

  The teams start getting picked. I’m usually somewhere in the top five, not that I’m such an awesome athlete, but I’ve always
had that short girl spunk. It’s because I always feel like I have to prove that I’m good since I’m always underestimated based on height prejudice. And now I have Vee picking teams, so I get ready to stand up when she opens her mouth.

  “I’ll take Arabesque.”

  I relax. Arabesque is practically legally blind and plays ball like she has hooves instead of hands. But Vee’s soft spot is endearing, and Arabesque is jumping up and down like she just won a spot on an Olympic team. I need a little heart-warming this morning.

  Jonas, of course, isn’t even looking in my general direction, though every time he catches sight of me he scowls just to let me know what he really thinks of me. It’s aggravating that I find him so attractive even as he lobs daggers at me with those sexy narrowed eyes. He’s wearing the Immaculate gym shirt with the sleeves cut off, which the majority of the boys at school attempt to pull off, thought most don’t realize you need arm muscle to make the effect work. I guess all those hours of lifting motors and turning wrenches or whatever he does have really paid off, because Jonas’s arms are totally defined.

  And I’m not the only one mooning over them. Just as Jonas picks Elijah, Sakura parades out of the locker room in short shorts, a tiny Immaculate tee and those striped boy socks that I hate to admit are adorable. She flutters her fingers at Jonas and he blushes and waves back. A couple of the guys hoot.

  I feel a very unfair glow of all-encompassing jealousy flame up, but if I’m pissed, Vee is on the warpath.

  “I pick Sakura,” she seethes.

  Sakura sticks her bottom lip out at Jonas. On her way across the gym she leans close to me.

  “Hey, loser, get over him,” she hisses. “He’s all mine.”

  My fist is about to jab her in the gut when Jonas shouts, “Wren! I pick Wren.”

  Chapter 15

  “Are you crazy? You can’t deck your cousin in the middle of the gym.” Jonas has his arms crossed and looks at me with that aggravatingly self-righteous smirk that makes me want to punch his hawk nose in.