As Ashleigh passed them, one more thing made her ill. When Seth put his arm around Jenny, she saw he was now wearing little cloth gloves, just like Jenny. Somehow, that made Ashleigh furious.
Ashleigh immediately started shopping for a new guy as she walked down the hall, but her options were terrible. She wanted an athletic boy, but the majority of them were black, and Ashleigh certainly did not date black guys. Among the white guys, most were dumb hick boys who dipped tobacco and listened to David Allen Coe and would eventually die in bar fights or meth lab explosions.
Lunch period, when Ashleigh, Cassie and Neesha were on their way to the picnic tables, someone tapped Ashleigh’s shoulder. Her head was so full of Jenny and Seth that she whirled around glaring, expecting one of them. Instead it was Darcy Metcalf, who looked on the verge of tears. Ashleigh quickly remembered she had bigger things going, more important than stupid issues with Seth. She made her face kind and concerned.
“Ashleigh,” Darcy whispered. “I need to talk to you.”
“Gosh, what is it, Darcy?” Ashleigh put a hand on Darcy’s arm and let just enough juice seep out that Darcy would feel relieved to be talking to her.
“It’s private,” Darcy whispered.
“Okay.” Ashleigh waved to Cassie and Neesha. “Catch up to you later, ladies.”
For Darcy’s privacy, they had to go out to the deserted football stadium and sit on the bleachers. Darcy leaned on Ashleigh’s shoulder, weeping, and Ashleigh’s lip curled. It felt like the girl was leaking snot onto Ashleigh’s sweater.
“Come on, Darcy.” Ashleigh eased Darcy’s face away from her. She opened Darcy’s panda-bear lunchbox and lifted out a Capri Sun. She even punched the straw into place before handing it to Darcy. “Hey, have some juice.”
“Thank you.” Darcy sipped the straw, and at the same time, snorted back a wad of snot and swallowed it. Ashleigh shivered with disgust.
“Now, nothing can be that bad, Darcy. Just tell me what the problem is.”
“Ashleigh…I’m pregnant. With a baby.” Darcy broke down crying again. “Momma’s gonna kill me!”
“Oh, Darcy.” Ashleigh covered her own mouth in pretend shock and horror. “How did this happen?”
“It was Bret Daniels,” Darcy sobbed. “That night, at the library? He said he knew a pretty spot to hang out at Barrett Pond. We went there…and we started drinking tequila…” Darcy sobbed harder. “And we got carried away and we did it. Twice. And a third time when we woke up in the morning. Oh, Ashleigh, you shouldn’t have set me up with him! You ruined everything.”
“Come on, Darcy. I was doing you a favor. You wanted to get with Bret. You asked me to do it. You can’t blame me for your irresponsible choices.”
“But I just wanted him so bad—and he wanted me—”
“That’s why I always say women need to lead the way on abstinence, because boys won’t,” Ashleigh said. “You failed in your responsibility. Now God has given you this sin child to punish you and force you to learn responsibility.”
“But what do I do?” Darcy wailed.
“Are you going to eat those?” Ashleigh pointed to the yellow and orange Cheetos bag in Darcy’s lunchbox. Darcy shook her head, and Ashleigh ripped them open and started snacking. One good thing about her power, and the constant energy drain that went with it, was that Ashleigh could eat like a cow and never gain weight.
“Well,” Ashleigh crunched, “I know you aren’t thinking about abortion. You’re not that wicked.”
“No, of course not!” Darcy breathed. “I would never.”
“Good. And what does Bret say?”
“We’re not together anymore!” Darcy put her face in her hands. “He’s dating some sophomore girl from the swim team.”
“Well,” Ashleigh said, “Now he has to marry you.”
“What?” Darcy looked frightened. “I don’t want to marry him! I want to go to college and meet a nice Christian guitar player—”
“Those are your plans, Darcy. Now you have to give those up and let God’s plan take over. If Bret is good enough to impregnate you, he’s good enough to marry you.”
Darcy laid her arms across her knees, and her face in her arms. She was sobbing very hard now, her whole body shaking, and Ashleigh could even feel it through the bleachers’ bench seating. Ashleigh snacked on Cheetos while she waited.
“The good thing,” Ashleigh said as she tilted up the Cheetos bag and shook the last orange crumbs into her mouth. “Is God’s will is so clear.” She chomped on the Cheetos remnants and talked with her mouth full. “He wanted this baby born, and He picked you and Bret as the parents. Submit yourself to God’s will and everything will be fine.” Ashleigh dropped the empty Cheetos bag down between then bleachers and licked the orange cheese powder from her fingers. Then she took Darcy’s hands and looked deep in Darcy’s eyes. She pumped her enchanting energy deep into Darcy—and through Darcy, into the little developing fetus inside her. “But I want to tell you something now, Darcy.”
Darcy raised her eyes and gave Ashleigh full attention.
“I want you to know,” Ashleigh said. “That I’ll always be there for your baby. And you. From now on, you’re a very important part of my life, Darcy. And I’ll take care of you.”
“Oh, thank you, Ashleigh!” Darcy threw her arms around Ashleigh and cried into her shoulder again. “You’re my best friend in the world. I love you, Ashleigh.”
“There’s just one thing.” Ashleigh plucked up Darcy’s left hand and tapped Darcy’s abstinence ring. “You have to give this back.”
“What? No!” Darcy shrieked.
“Come on, Darcy. How would the Crusaders look, with pregnant teenagers wearing abstinence rings? What would people say about my daddy’s church, Darcy?”
“Oh, wow.” Darcy’s eyes were very wide now. “I didn’t think about all that. I’ve disgraced the Crusaders. And Christians Act!” Her voice fell to a whisper. She slid the ring from her finger and stared at it. This was clearly breaking her. It was tedious to watch. “I’ve disgraced Fallen Oak Baptist. And my family!”
Ashleigh took the ring and pocketed it.
“You’re a sinner, Darcy,” Ashleigh said. “And you acted like a tramp. But God forgives, and so do I, if you do the right things from now on.”
“I will, I promise,” Darcy sniffed.
“Come here, baby.” Ashleigh embraced Darcy, and then she surprised herself. She slipped one hand under Darcy’s shirt and laid it on Darcy’s skin, against the new bulge in Darcy’s chubby belly. She bathed the unborn in hot, glowing Ashleigh-energy. She didn’t know what this would do. The idea had only just occurred to her. “I love you, and I love your baby,” Ashleigh said in a deeper, huskier voice that didn’t sound quite like her own. “Stay with me and obey, and you both will thrive.”
“Oh, thank you, Ashleigh!” Darcy kissed her cheek. Ashleigh would need a stack of Handi-Wipes to clean up the snot. She nudged Darcy away, and fortunately the end-of-lunch bell rang. Ashleigh stood and gathered her books.
“We’ll stay in touch,” Ashleigh said, and she was back to her normal voice again. She wasn’t sure what had come over her. She stood and gathered up her books. “You just take good care of that baby. He—or she—has a very special purpose in life. You’ll see.”
***
As they were leaving school from their last class, Ashleigh and Neesha passed Shannon McNare in the hall. Shannon was talking animatedly to three other juniors, two girls and a boy. She waved her hands around, talking faster as the three of them grew more skeptical. Ashleigh slowed down to listen, and Neesha slowed with her.
“—and then his bones all fitted back together, and it was like it never happened!” Shannon said. “The whole time, Jenny Mittens is keeping everybody away with her hands—”
“How did she do that?” one girl asked.
“She—you had to see it—she made all these big cuts and infections open up all over her hands. I mean, they were opening and closing
like little mouths, and all bloody and black. She told everyone she had the plague. It was so scary and gross!”
“Whatever, Shannon,” one of the junior girls said.
“Shannon!” Ashleigh called out. She circled back to Shannon and hugged the younger girl tight, even pressing her cheek to Shannon’s, as if they were long-time best buddies. The other juniors were impressed now, seeing that Shannon had somehow become one of Ashleigh’s elect, the chosen few. Shannon herself was overwhelmed and delighted.
“What are y’all talking about?” Neesha asked the three juniors.
“Shannon says a bunch of crazy supernatural stuff happened at her farm,” the boy replied.
“Oh, yeah,” Ashleigh said, dropping into her stage whisper and looking around suspiciously. “We were there. It was the craziest I’ve ever seen. I knew Jenny Mittens was into witchcraft, but I didn’t take it seriously, until that day at Shannon’s. Jenny is completely with the devil now. And she brought Seth Barrett over to her side.”
This brought gasps all around. All this, from no less an authority on both God and Seth Barrett than Ashleigh Goodling.
“Shannon,” Ashleigh said. “How are you getting home? Driving?”
“I’m riding with Leslie.” Shannon indicated one of the girls, who smiled at Ashleigh.
“Hi, Leslie.” Ashleigh touched her hand, letting off some energy. “I’m going to need to borrow Shannon today, ‘kay?”
“Oh, sure!” Leslie said.
“Come on, Shannon,” Ashleigh said. “Say bye to your buddies.”
“Bye!” Shannon said, elated as Ashleigh took her hand and pulled her up beside her as they walked.
Ashleigh took a long, critical look at Shannon. The girl had dark auburn hair, pinned back with barrettes, and fresh, enthusiastic green eyes. Ashleigh knew Shannon had the energy of a hummingbird. She was a little too farm girl, with the plaid shirts and the zero makeup, but that could be mended. The aw-shucks eagerness on Shannon’s face was annoying to Ashleigh, but it would be useful. It was nearly impossible to believe Shannon would lie to you. There was some definite potential.
“Shannon,” Ashleigh said. “Have I told you what a great job you’ve done as abstinence coordinator this year? A lot of people signed up and got buddies, more than I expected. You show real leadership. I’m proud of you.”
“Wow!” Shannon beamed at her with that annoying/adorable face. “Thanks, Ashleigh!”
“And we think you’re so cute,” Ashleigh said. “Don’t we, Neesha?”
“The cutest,” Neesha agreed. She tousled Shannon’s hair, and Shannon giggled and blushed a deep red.
They reached the parking lot. Neesha hugged them both good-bye, in front of all the students walking to their cars, announcing publicly that Shannon McNare was now in the club. As she hugged Shannon, Neesha gave Ashleigh a half-smile. To control the story of what happened at the farm with Jenny and Seth, they needed to control Shannon. That had proved incredibly easy.
Ashleigh led Shannon to Ashleigh’s Jeep. Once they were inside, with the doors closed, Ashleigh said, “Shannon, tell me something. I need you to be honest.”
“Okay.” Shannon looked up at her with a serious, earnest look.
“Are you a virgin?”
Shannon gasped. “What? Of course! Why would you even ask that?”
“Never had one in you? Not even at a party? Like a Halloween lock-in party?”
“Oh.” Shannon blushed. “I guess you saw me there. I did make out with these two guys, and they wanted to take my pants off, but I didn’t let them. I kind of wanted them to, a little, but I didn’t let them. I actually ended up hiding alone in a closet most of the night. Wow, I’ve never told anyone about what I did! A lot of people got way crazier than me. Want to hear about them?”
“It’s okay, Shannon,” Ashleigh said. She didn’t believe the girl’s story. Why would this little country brat be so resistant to Ashleigh’s power? “You did the right thing. Will you lift up your shirt so I can see your belly?”
“Uh…”
Ashleigh held Shannon’s hand. “Just for a second.”
“People will think we’re lezzing out.” Shannon cast nervous looks among the students who were still coming out to their cars.
“Please.” Ashleigh pushed more energy as she said it.
Shannon bit her lip. She pulled up her sweater, revealing a very flat, lightly freckled stomach. She didn’t look pregnant. Ashleigh laid her hand across Shannon’s belly and pumped the love-energy hard. There was no extra drain, as far as she could tell, no extra life force sucking down Ashleigh’s energy.
“Ashleigh!” Shannon was giggling her head off, her face the color of tomato sauce. “Now we really look lezzie!” But Shannon touched her fingers to the back of Ashleigh’s hand and caressed it. She leaned back in her chair, spread her knees a little, and gazed at Ashleigh’s face. She lay a tentative hand on Ashleigh’s thigh. Suddenly, she was more serious than giggly.
Ashleigh felt relieved. Shannon wasn’t resistant to Ashleigh’s power. She was just resistant to boys. Perfect.
Ashleigh took her hand back from Shannon and cranked the car. They were one of the last cars to leave the student lot.
“What are we about to go do, Ashleigh?” Shannon whispered.
“We need to talk,” Ashleigh said. “First, you should know I’ve been looking at you for a long time.”
“Really?” Shannon smiled. “Me, too.”
“Next year, I’ll be gone, and we’ll need new leaders for the Crusaders. You’ve worked hard and I know you’re devoted. What do you think about joining Leadership Committee?”
Shannon’s smile fell, but only a little. “Really? Me?”
“Definitely. But listen, and this is top secret: Darcy Metcalf is pregnant.”
“No!” Shannon was mortified. “Not her!”
“Right. So we need someone to jump into a leadership role right away. What do you think?”
“Me, on Leadership Committee with you and Cassie?”
“It would be effective immediately,” Ashleigh said. “Someone has to take Darcy’s place while she focuses on her new purpose in life. Are you up to it, Shannon?”
“Gosh, yes!” Shannon said. “Whatever you want, Ashleigh, I can do it.”
“That’s my girl.”
Shannon turned away to hide her smile.
At the McNare farm, Ashleigh stopped at the field where the tractor had overturned and asked Shannon if they could look at it. Shannon was happy to show her.
They left the car on the paved road and walked up the clear, freshly plowed dirt road leading into the field.
“When the ground dried up,” Shannon said, “Mr. Morton came back and finished repairing the tractor. It was weird. He and Daddy didn’t speak one word to each other. It was so creepy to see him again, after I just about watched him die. Oh, and here’s what else.” Shannon pointed to a particularly gouged-out part of the road. “Jenny Mittens left her car stuck here in the mud, and they had to come back and tow it. I don’t know if they got it working again. That was a whole lot of mud. One time, my uncle did that, his truck got caught in the mud over by Excel, Alabama and he had to stay in a Motel 6 and share a room with this biker guy he knows and then…”
Ashleigh let Shannon chatter until they reached the back corner of the field. With the dirt roads freshly plowed, there wasn’t much evidence of what had happened, just an indentation next to the road, inside the field, where the tractor had lain on its side with Mr. Mittens underneath.
“It’s strange to think about, isn’t it?” Ashleigh said, interrupting Shannon, who had somehow gotten on the topic of how her cousin was into cross-dressing. Shannon looked around.
“Oh, yeah,” Shannon said. “I have bad nightmares about it. You know what else gives me nightmares? Guinea pigs. We had one in our second grade class, with Mrs. Lessing, and his name was Bubba Boy, and he smelled like—”
“You know what gives me nightmares, Shann
on?” Ashleigh turned to face her. “I worry people will hear about what happened, and they’ll think witchcraft is cool and makes you powerful. I’m kind of an expert on witchcraft, you know.”
“Right.” Shannon’s forehead crinkled as she thought this over. “So, we shouldn’t tell people what happened?”
“No, people should know,” Ashleigh said. “As scary as it is, they really should know.” Please, Ashleigh thought, please blabber up and down every room in school for the rest of your life. “But what’s important, Shannon, is that people understand it was evil. Jenny has been into Satan a long time, I mean since she was a kid. Some people are just born evil. Demons disguised as people, really. They get born as people, but they’re evil inside. And Seth has been doing evil with her, but he kept it secret from me. That’s the real reason we broke up.”
“Oh, wow.” Shannon’s eyes had become huge. “I didn’t know that!”
“So, anyway,” Ashleigh said. “Make sure people understand it was evil. And if you can’t remember something, just make up something if you have to. Just remember that Satan was present that day. People have to learn to watch out for Seth and Jenny’s black magic.”
“Okay,” Shannon said. “But I can talk about it, right?”
“Oh, you have to talk about it, Shannon,” Ashleigh said. “We all have to talk about it. It’s the only way we can heal.”
Ashleigh hugged Shannon close, giving her another big boost of love. Shannon kissed her cheek, and Ashleigh tolerated it.
Ashleigh started walking back to her car. When she was several yards away, she turned and said, “Oh, you can walk to your house from here, right?”
“Sure,” Shannon said. “Bye, Ashleigh! Thanks for everything!”
“Bye, honey!” Ashleigh turned away and started towards her car again.
She wore a tight little satisfied smile. Shannon was under control. Darcy was pregnant. And for Seth and Jenny, Ashleigh was planning a sharp little counterattack. Not the kill move, not yet, but definitely the first step.
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