“This place is so big, it would take forever to dust and polish all of these floors,” I stated, noticing that most of it was hardwood.
“Watch where you’re walking,” said Megan, as two cats raced by, chasing each other. “My mother has ten cats running around here somewhere.”
“Hi there,” I said to a tabby who’d brushed up against my leg before taking off to follow the other two cats.
“My room’s upstairs,” said Megan as we neared the staircase.
“So, um, where’s your mom?” I asked.
“Oh, she’s probably around… somewhere.”
We went up the old winding stairway and down two more hallways until we finally reached her room. “Come on in,” she said, opening the door with a secretive smile.
I gasped when I entered her bedroom; it was so different from the rest of the house.
She smiled at my shock. “I know, right?”
As I stepped onto her plush cream carpeting, I stared in awe at all of the modern décor in a room that was twice the size of mine. Basically, it was the coolest bedroom, I’d ever seen.
“Pottery Barn,” she said, waving her hand in the air. “Gotta love them.”
“This room is amazing,” I said, staring at her large flat-screen television, which was bigger than the one in our living room. “I’m so jealous.”
Even the walls were cool. One was the color of sapphire, and as I stepped closer, I noticed that someone had painted tiny, intricate stars that glittered almost… magically.
“Who painted your wall?” I asked, amazed at the details of each of each star.
“One of my aunts did it. Gemma, she’s an artist.”
“Awesome.”
Next to that wall was an enormous platform bed with a velvety blue and black comforter. Plush pillows were scattered all over it, along with a black cat, who eyed me suspiciously.
“This is Willy,” she said, motioning towards the cat. “He’s mine.”
“Hi, Willy,” I said, offering a friendly smile.
He stood up, stretched his legs, and then jumped off the bed and pressed up against my legs.
She raised her eyebrows. “Wow, he likes you,” she said. “He doesn’t like anyone.”
I bent down and scratched his fur while he purred happily.
“I’ve got to get me one of those,” I said, admiring the plush white leather chaise that sat next to her bedroom window.
“Go ahead, take her for a spin.”
“Thanks,” I said, sinking into the cool leather. I closed my eyes and smiled. “Oh, wow, this is freaken’ amazing. I’m so jealous.”
“Sometimes I fall asleep in it and don’t wake up until the next morning.”
“I bet.”
Willy jumped on my lap and made himself at home.
“So,” she said, staring at me as I pet her cat. “Did you find anything at Secrets?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t about to tell her I’d purchased a bottle of potion to make myself thinner.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” she answered. “I’ve purchased quite a few items since they’ve opened.”
“Oh?”
She nodded. “Yes, one must be prepared for anything, you know.”
I wasn’t sure what she meant but I agreed.
“I saw your sister with Mark today,” she said, getting onto her bed. She lay on her stomach and rested her chin on her hands, watching me. “I was really surprised.”
“I know. I can’t stand him.”
She nodded. “That was one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you. Mark.”
“Oh?”
Her eyes hardened. “He’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“He’s into… witchcraft.”
I laughed. “What is all of this talk of witchcraft today? It seems like everyone I talk to has something to say about it.”
“You live in Bayport. What do you expect?”
“So,” I said, watching her closely. “I heard that you’re a witch.”
I expected her to burst out laughing but she only shrugged. “Oh, who said that?”
“Some of the girls at school.”
She rolled her eyes. “God, I hate gossipers.”
“You and me both,” I said.
She stared past me but didn’t answer.
“So,” I said, changing the subject. “Mark is dangerous, huh?”
“Definitely. He has a bad aura about him.”
“What’s an aura?”
“Basically, it’s the energy he produces, and it’s connected to his personality. Mark’s is black. Really black.”
“Oh,” I said. “I’m assuming that’s pretty bad.”
“Yes,” she said, sitting up. “So, if you care about your sister, keep her away from him.”
There was a soft knock on the door. “Megan,” called a woman’s voice.
Megan rolled her eyes again. “What, mother?”
Megan’s mother walked into the bedroom. She was an older version of Megan, but with permanent worry lines on her forehead. “Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t know you had a guest.”
“Well,” I said. “I really have to be leaving anyway.”
“How’s your mother doing?” asked Megan’s mother.
“Um, good I guess,” I said, surprised that she’d asked about her.
She smiled at me. “Could you please tell her that Adele says ‘hello’?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Thank you.”
I nodded and turned back to Megan. “I should probably get going now. It’s getting late and my mom’s going to get worried. Sorry I couldn’t stay very long.”
Megan stood up. “Another time maybe?”
I smiled. “Definitely.”
She walked me back through the house to the front door and handed me something.
“It’s my phone number,” she said. “If you ever run into any problems with Mark, call me. Seriously.”
“Uh, okay, thanks,” I said.
She closed the door behind me, and as I walked away, I glanced back towards the house. Staring down at me from one of the windows above, was Adele. Before I could raise my hand to wave goodbye, she vanished into thin air.
I’m losing it, I thought, as I turned on my heel and walked home.
Chapter Eight
“Where’ve you been?” asked my sister as I walked in the door. It was almost six o’clock.
I shrugged. “I went shopping and then stopped at a friend’s house.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You went shopping?”
I nodded. “Yes. Enough about me, what’s going on with you and Mark?”
Kala smiled. “I’m not sure yet. He’s super sweet, though.”
“He’s as sweet as a moldy lemon,” I muttered.
“Whatever,” she said. “He invited me to a party this weekend and mom said I could go.”
My jaw dropped. “A party? Really?”
“Um, yeah, she said it was fine – if you come with us.”
I snorted. “Fat chance of that.”
“Oh, please?” she pouted, following me as I walked towards our bedroom. “She seriously won’t let me go if you don’t come with us. Pretty please? I’ll do anything.”
“Kala, any party that Mark’s going to will be trouble.”
She scowled. “What do you mean?”
“Come on! You’ve heard the stories from last year. You know there’s probably going to be alcohol and drugs. I heard Mark’s a total lush.”
“No, he doesn’t drink anymore. I asked him.”
I snorted. “Right…”
“Listen, if I don’t go to this party, my friends will think I’m lame, and I’ll never live it down. Please go with me? I will do anything, absolutely anything!”
I sighed.
“This could be good for you, too, Kendra! If people get to know you, they might be nicer to you at school. Come on, I’ve never asked you for anything.”
She was right about that.
My sister was always offering to do things for me and never asked for anything in return.
I owed her.
I sighed. “Fine, I’ll go, but if anyone is rude to me or I see something I don’t like at this party, we’re leaving.”
She squealed and gave me a hug. “Thank you! We are going to have such a blast!”
Something told me I’d be regretting this decision, but I bit my tongue and decided to hope for the best.
~~~
“So, how was your shopping experience?” asked my mom during dinner.
“It was okay,” I answered. “I also stopped by Megan’s on the way home and her mom Adele said to say ‘hi’.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Oh, okay.”
“I didn’t know you even knew Megan’s mom.”
“I really don’t,” she answered and then stood up. “Does anyone want seconds on the casserole?”
“Uh, no thanks, mom,” I said, not really caring for the tofu surprise that night.
“Megan and her family are really weird,” said Kala.
“Megan seemed pretty nice,” I replied.
“Not very hungry tonight?” asked mom, pointing to my plate.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m just not into tofu, mom.”
“It’s so much healthier for you.”
“Mom, it’s gross,” I said.
She turned to Kala. “So, you actually managed to talk your sister into going to this party, huh?”
Kala’s eyes lit up. “Yes. I spoke to Mark and he’s picking us up around seven on Saturday. I’m so pumped.”
“Just make sure he gets you both home by midnight.”
“Midnight?” pouted Kala. “Nobody leaves a party by midnight. Besides, we’re eighteen now!”
“I don’t care. Your curfew is midnight until you graduate, then you can stay out later.”
“Fine,” mumbled Kala.
“And I want to meet Mark before he brings you girls to this party.”
Kala’s face looked stricken. “Oh, God, mom. Don’t make me drag him in here with all of the daycare stuff lying around. I’d die of total embarrassment if he walked into this place.”
My mom frowned. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed about my line of work. It’s the only way we can keep this place. If he’s turned off because of how or where you live, he’s definitely not worth seeing.”
Kala sighed. “Can’t you just meet him outside? I’m sure he’ll be in a hurry to get going, and it would only take a minute to talk to him anyway.”
Her eyes narrowed. “We’ll see. I’d rather him be the gentleman and come into the house to introduce himself.”
“It’s not the seventies or eighties, mom. Guys don’t do that anymore.”
“That’s the problem,” sighed my mom. “Nobody has manners anymore.”
“Especially Mark,” I said mumbled under my breath.
“What was that, Kendra?” mom asked.
“Nothing. Can I be excused?”
“Sure. Make sure you hit the sack earlier tonight so I don’t have to drag you out of bed again tomorrow,” she answered as I walked away from the dining room.
I hurried upstairs to my room and took out the bottle I’d purchased from “Secrets” and the note from Rebecca. The instructions said “one droplet only.”
I carefully opened the bottle and squeezed some into the dropper she’d given me.
“Bottoms up,” I whispered.
The potion was really bitter as it went down and I shuddered.
“What are you doing?” asked my sister, walking into the bedroom.
I quickly folded the bag up and stuck it into my nightstand. I grabbed a book about vampires from inside and shut the drawer. “Uh, just reading.”
She fell onto her bed and began filing her nails. “Can you believe mom? I’m going to die if Mark comes in here. The kids have practically destroyed the inside of our house, and from what I hear, his parents are loaded. I’m sure his house is immaculate.”
I wanted to scream at her… who the heck cares what he thinks! But I kept my cool. “So, there’s a little crayon on the walls and some chipped wood,” I said, opening up my book. “It’s better than having to move somewhere smaller.”
Truthfully, when my dad was still alive, the house had been kept up and in perfect condition. In fact, it had been my parents’ dream home at one time. But that was before he’d died. My dad had owned his own construction company and my parents had designed and built the house exactly the way they’d wanted it. After he’d been diagnosed with cancer and had undergone many months of therapy without success, my mom had used what was left of his life insurance to pay off all the medical bills and then started doing daycare.
I miss you, daddy…
I tried to picture my father’s face, with his dark hair and warm, loving eyes the same color as mine and Kala’s, but it only made me long for him even more.
“You okay?” asked Kala.
I nodded, blinking back tears. “Yeah, just thinking about dad.”
“I miss him, too,” she said in a soft voice.
I knew that for the both of us, nights were the hardest, especially since he used to tuck us into bed, telling goofy stories, and using those corny voices of his. It had been a ritual, even as teenagers, and something we’d taken for granted until it was too late. Now, he’d been dead for only a year and a half, but it already seemed like a lifetime ago.
“I’m the luckiest man alive,” he used to say. “Three beautiful angels, and they’re all mine.”
Now my dad was the angel and we were left with only pictures and bittersweet memories of him.
Life really sucked sometimes.
“I wish we had our licenses,” mumbled Kala out of the blue. “Then we could just meet everyone at the party and I wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”
I nodded. “Yeah, but you need money to buy a car and you spend all of yours on clothing.”
“I’m getting a job,” she said, opening up her hot-pink nail polish.
I snorted. “Where?”
She began painting her toenails. “There are a couple of places in the mall that are hiring. I’m going to see if mom will drive me this weekend to fill out some applications.”
I put my book down and stared at my pudgy toes, which hadn’t shrunk one bit.
Potion, right.
I sighed. “Yeah, you know, I’d like a job, too, but there’s no way I’m working in a clothing store or boutique.”
“Why not? Then you can get discounts on clothing and stuff.”
“I don’t really care about clothes. You know that.”
“Well, whatever. Maybe you can get a job at a bookstore or something. What about that shop you visited today? Are they hiring?”
An image of Tyler and I working together in the shop popped into my head and my heart fluttered. I closed my eyes and smiled. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
Chapter Nine
I woke up earlier the next morning; a little intrigued about what I’d find when I looked in the mirror. Unfortunately, the same lumpy body stared back at me. I closed my eyes and groaned.
Come on, what did you expect? There’s no such thing as a magical potion to lose weight.
“What’s wrong?” asked my sister, walking into the bathroom.
“Nothing,” I sighed.
“Mom said it’s going to be really hot today,” she said, putting her dark hair up into a ponytail.
I pulled out a strappy sundress from the closet that hadn’t looked too bad on me in the store and put it on.
Kala nodded in approval when she saw me dressed. “That looks good on you.”
It was black with lime green and white dots.
“Thanks.”
“Let me do your makeup?” asked Kala. “I’ll make you look gorgeous,” she drawled.
I bit the side of my lip. “I don’t know. I usually don’t wear makeup.”
“I know but maybe you should live on the edge f
or once, sis. You have beautiful eyes. Why not accentuate them a little more?”
“Okay, but don’t make it too obvious.”
She smiled wickedly. “When I’m done with you, the guys will be hypnotized by your sultry eyes.”
I smiled wryly. “I’d settle for them just shutting their mouths and leaving me alone.”
“Believe me, when they see you, their mouths will be open and they’ll be panting.”
Right…
I sat down and closed my eyes, trying not to chicken out. When she was done applying some kind of grayish-blue shadow, dark liner, and mascara to my eyes, she squealed in delight. “Wow, you look pretty, girl.”
I looked into the mirror and smiled. My eyes were definitely more… intense.
“It looks pretty good, thanks,” I said, standing up.
“Pretty good? You look amazing!”
I didn’t know about that, but I had to admit, I looked better than I would have thought.
~~~
When we sat down for breakfast, my mom eyed me curiously. “Wow, look at you all dazzling this morning. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with makeup.”
I shrugged. “It was Kala’s idea.”
“Well, you look very pretty today. Your dress looks nice too, I’m glad I picked it out.”
“Actually, I picked this one out,” I said. “You didn’t like the dots.”
She smiled. “Well, I was wrong. The dots are working.”
“Mom,” said Kala. “Mark’s driving me home again from school. We’re stopping at the library again.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What’s with this new interest in the library? I didn’t think you even liked to read.”
Kala’s face turned crimson. “Um, we are working on this project for school.”
“You already have a project for school and have only been there for one day? What kind of project is it?” she asked.
“Oh, my God, look at the time,” said Kala, pointing to the clock. “We’re going to miss the bus if we don’t leave now. I’ll tell you about the project later, okay mom?”
“Sure. I can’t wait to hear about it,” she answered with a wry smile.
I followed my sister outside. “Project? Right. I’ll bet you’re creating your own little project in the back corner of the library.”
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