The Witches of Santa Anna ( BKs 1-7 Complete Set)

by Lauren Barnholdt

  We go down the hall together.

  Chapter Three

  Natalia

  “Okay,” I tell Adrianna. “Now just go over there, and ask him.”

  She pulls on her hair and looks across the hall to where Lancaster is standing near his locker with some of his friends from the football team. Cam, thankfully, isn’t around.

  It’s the end of school on Monday, and I’ve kind of been avoiding him all day. Not on purpose. I mean, it wasn’t a conscious choice or anything. I meant to text him this afternoon, I just… I didn’t really know what to say to him. Am I supposed to tell him what Brody said? It’s not like Brody specifically told me not to. But still. It’s confusing.

  “Hello?” Adrianna asks, waving her fingers in front of my face. “Are you listening?”

  “Yes, of course,” I tell her, even though I haven’t been. “But, um, maybe you could repeat that last part?”

  “Well, the short version is that I don’t know what to say to him.”

  “How about ‘Lancaster, will you go to the dance with me?’”

  “I can’t call him Lancaster!”

  “Why not?”

  “You don’t call a guy by his last name when you’re asking him out to the dance.”

  “Well, what’s his first name?”

  She hesitates. “Tony.”

  “Ohmigod,” I say, “You totally didn’t even know his first name!”

  “I did!” she says. “It just took me a second to remember it.” We’re both laughing now. “Seriously, though.” She hugs her books to her chest. “Won’t he think it’s weird that I didn’t plan some big display? It’s tradition.”

  “It’s too late to plan some big display,” I say. Which is what I’ve been telling her ever since we got to school this morning. “The dance is on Friday. Besides, if you planned some big display, then you would probably end up chickening out. And screw tradition, your fabulous enough without some stupid show.”

  “You’re right.” She bites her lip. “Okay, I’m going.”

  “Wait.” I reach into my bag and pull out my bottle of Kate Spade’s Twirl, my favorite perfume of the moment. I spritz it into the air, and Adrianna walks through the cloud.

  “Thanks,” she says. She’s gripping my hand so tight it hurts. “You’ll wait right here, right?”

  “Right.”

  I turn and watch as she starts walking toward Lancaster. She taps him on the shoulder, and I move around a corner so that I can see her but she can’t see me. I don’t want her to think she has an audience, and God forbid Lancaster saw me, he’d probably think she was some loser who needed a chaperone. Not that I’m really chaperoning her, I mean, obviously I’m a few feet away but it’s still ---

  “Ahh!” I yell as someone taps me on the shoulder. I drop my math book on the ground.

  “That’s weird,” Cam says, “I didn’t think you were the type to scare easy. But I’m starting to think I was wrong about that.”

  I bend down to pick up my book. My math homework has come loose from where I stuck it between the pages, and it’s all over the place. I start to gather up the papers. “I’m not the type to scare easy,” I say, “But when someone sneaks up on me--”

  “I wasn’t sneaking up on you,” he says. He’s down on the ground with me now, helping me pick up my papers. We both reach for the same sheet at the same time, and our hands brush against each other. Heat pulses through my body, and I look down quickly, hoping he won’t notice the affect he has on me.

  “So where’ve you been?” he asks. “I texted you last night.”

  “I know,” I say, “Sorry, I was tired and I had all this math homework.” I gesture to all the pages. “I was going to text you this afternoon when I got home.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “I was!”

  “Natalia, please,” he says. “Don’t lie to me.” He hands me the pages he’s holding, and I shove them back in my book. We both stand up, and I’m struck by how tall he is, how built, how amazing it would feel for him to just wrap his arms around my waist and pull me close.

  “Fine,” I say, “I was going to text you back, but… I didn’t know what to say to you, because---“ I take a deep breath and decide to just go for it ---yesterday I had breakfast with Brody.”

  I thought maybe Cam’s mouth would drop, or he’d get really upset, or at least … I don’t know, something. Punch a locker or whatever it is guys do when they get really pissed off. But his face shows no reaction. “And?”

  “And he said they’re witches.”

  “No shit,” he says, “What did he say about his part in it?”

  “He said that he can keep us safe.” It’s a lie, of course. I mean, Brody didn’t really say he could keep Cam safe. In fact, he didn’t really bring Cam up at all except to say that I shouldn’t listen to anything he said.

  “And you believe him?”

  “Kind of,” I say weakly.

  “What did he say about his sister being at Derek’s?”

  “Well, nothing,” I say. “I mean, there was a lot he couldn’t tell me, but – “

  “A lot he couldn’t tell you? What did he say about the butterflies? And about Raine sucking the life out of me?”

  “Cam,” I say, shaking my head at him. “Stop. This is serious, Brody couldn’t –

  he can’t--“ I’m trying to figure out a way to explain it to him, but it sounds ridiculous, even to me.

  “No,” Cam says, cutting me off. “You know what’s fucking serious? That Raine came up to me in the hall earlier, and I liked it. That she’s putting some kind of fucking spell on me, and I have to let her, because if I don’t, someone’s going to get hurt.”

  I nod. “Someone is going to get hurt,” I say, “But Brody, he can protect us, he can – “

  “He can protect us? Are you fucking crazy?”

  “Cam,” I say. But it’s too late. He’s too mad, and there’s no bringing him back.

  “No,” Cam says. “If you think he can protect you, then let him. Let him take care of you.”

  He turns and starts to walk down the hall, and I start to go after him, but before I can, Adrianna’s back, pulling on my arm. “He said yes!” she yells.

  “That’s awesome,” I say, watching as Cam disappears into a crowd of kids near the junior staircase. Adrianna follows my gaze.

  “Forget about him, Natalia,” she says. “You have Brody. Cam’s not – “

  “I know,” I say, forcing myself to smile. “So tell me everything.”

  “Well,” she says, “He was standing there, you know, and so I went up to him and I was like – “

  “You’re going with Lancaster?” a voice asks. Raine. She’s standing behind us, not carrying any books or a bag or anything. She has one hand on her hip, her fingers resting lazily on her slim waist.

  “Yes,” Adrianna says, raising her chin, challenging Raine to say anything. I wonder if she’d be so bold if she knew what Raine was capable of.

  “Great,” Raine says, “So now I guess you two losers are going to be in our limo.”

  “Limo? “ I ask.

  “Yes, Natalia,” she says, looking at me like I’m a child who doesn’t know anything. “We’re taking a limo to homecoming.”

  “Who is?” I ask.

  “Me and Cam, you and Brody, Becca and Aiden, Teri and Rob, and I guess now you—“ she points at Adrianna with one painted nail. “And Lancaster. It’ll pick you up at seven, and you better not be late.”

  She turns and sashays down the hall. “Wow,” Adrianna says, “If I knew we were going to be stuck riding to the dance with her, I wouldn’t have been so excited about Lancaster saying yes.”

  “Yeah,” I say, forcing another smile on my face. But I’m still watching Raine walk down the hall. Something about her is bothering me. Because she had no books?

  Because her nails were painted a color so dark it was almost black? And then it hits me.

  She was wearing the butterfly necklace. The
one that Cam stole out of her locker. The one that Cam is supposed to still have.

  Chapter Four

  Campbell

  When I walk away from Natalia, I’m totally in my head, not even watching where I’m going. And someone bumps into me, bumps me pretty good. Or maybe I bump into them—after all, I’m the one not paying attention.

  I start to open my mouth to apologize when I look up and see who it is.

  Brody grins at me. “Did you hear? All of us in one limo for the dance, bro. It’s gonna be off the chain.”

  I shake my head. “You sound like a shitty deodorant commercial.” Brody’s smile slowly fades. “I’m getting real tired of your attitude, Cam. What’s your problem, huh?

  Because I’m with Natalia and you can’t figure out a way to cock block?”

  “Right.” I bark a laugh at him. “She’s with you. Are you that fucking delusional and insane from roids that you believe that shit? I talk to her, I text her, I hang out with her, kiss her. But she’s with you. Sure.”

  His expression is like stone now, but I can see the redness in his face and a vein pulsating in his forehead. “You better watch your step, Cam. I don’t want to hurt you.

  But the way you’re acting right now…”

  I look around and gesture to the empty hallway. “There’s no one around, Brody.

  But maybe next time I see Natalia we can sit down and you explain why you threatened me to try and get me not to hang out with her, called her a skank. Why your crazy sister who’s supposedly in rehab—”

  “Shut up about my sister,” he says, taking a step forward.

  “Why?” I ask. “I hate to break it to you, Brody. But your sister is hanging out with a scumbag that’s following all of us and taking pictures like a psycho. So, obviously she’s not the most stable chick in the world.”

  “You have no fucking idea what you’re even—“

  “You think he’s screwing her?” I say, for some reason. Then I laugh and nod.

  “Yeah, he probably is.”

  Next thing I know my ears are ringing and I’m staring up at Brody. He’s standing over me with his fists clenched. I taste metal and blood.

  Shit, he actually clocked me.

  “I warned you, asshole,” he says, looking at his hand and grimacing.

  I start to get up but my legs are wobbly. “Even my chin is tougher than your fist,”

  I laugh. “You hit me and break your goddamn hand, how can you ever beat me at anything?” I laugh again. “You can’t. You never will.”

  He stares at me. “You’ve officially cracked up, Cam.”

  “Just get out of here,” I say, wiping the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. “You win, big man.”

  Brody starts to leave. “You’d be better off if you realized things are a lot more complicated than you think.”

  “Thanks for the philosophy lesson, Brody. Maybe we can continue this great talk in the limo this weekend.” I pump my fist and do a Brody imitation. “It’s gonna be off the chain, bro!”

  He turns and walks away, shaking his head as he goes.

  ***

  When I get out to my car a few minutes later, Aiden is there waiting for me. He sees my bloody lip and his eyes grow huge. “What the hell happened to you?”

  “Nothing,” I say, “Brody punched me because I got under his skin.”

  We get in the car and Aiden’s still staring as I turn the ignition and pull out.

  “He punched you?”

  “Yup.”

  “What did you say to make him do that?”

  I give him a look. “What makes you so sure I said anything?”

  Aiden just laughs. “Because I know you.”

  “Well, maybe you should worry less about what I’m saying and more about your own big mouth.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Think about it. You’re a big boy.”

  Aiden doesn’t say anything for awhile. “If this is because I’m still going to the dance with Becca…”

  “How can I trust you when you come up with that idea? All of us in a limo together?”

  “Safety in numbers.”

  “You’re not going, Aiden. You can’t.”

  “Fuck that, you’re not my dad.”

  I glare at him before looking back at the road. I’ve started driving too fast.

  “Maybe if I was your dad you wouldn’t be such a fool. Becca is going to fuck you over and it’s dangerous. Dangerous for you and for me.”

  He stares out the window. “Maybe I don’t care.”

  “Maybe she’s got you under a spell.”

  “I guess that explains why I told her you know she’s a witch,” he says.

  It’s not even shocking. It should be, but it’s not. I lick my lips and still taste blood. Realize that in the span of half an hour I’ve been screwed over by pretty much everyone I care about. I decide not to even dignify his comment with a response.

  He starts talking though, maybe because he feels guilty. “Becca isn’t a bad girl, not like you think,” he says. “And I know you don’t believe me but Becca does like me.

  Maybe she didn’t at first, but she does now. We have a connection.”

  I stifle a laugh of disbelief.

  He keeps going. “And she figured that something was up when I tried to avoid her. So she confronted me in the library today and we had a long talk about everything.

  Dude, she totally cleared it up and it’s not what we thought. They aren’t witches. Okay, maybe they fooled around with like spells and Ouija boards and voodoo, just as fun.

  They tried but Becca said none of it ever worked and they stopped.”

  “And you think she’s telling the truth?”

  “What’s more believable, that they goofed around with stuff and it didn’t work?”

  Aiden asks. “Or that they’re actual witches who have superhuman powers and can drain our energy?”

  I park the car in front of the house and motion for him to get out. “Go. Get the fuck out, traitor.”

  He looks at me with hurt eyes. “I’m telling you the truth, Cam.”

  “Go.”

  He gets out of the car, and I’m out of his driveway before he’s even taken a step.

  Chapter Five

  Natalia

  My mom thinks she’s going to take pictures before the Homecoming Dance. “It will be perfect,” she says, “You and your friends, all lined up in front of the fireplace!”

  I told her no, that under no circumstances were there going to be any pictures (especially not of my “friends”), but when I come downstairs on Friday night, she’s got the digital camera out, snapping away before I can stop her.

  “Mom,” I say calmly. “Please put that away. I told you that there wasn’t going to be any pictures.”

  “I know, but someday you’re going to want to look back on this night and remember it. You look gorgeous, Natalia.” She clutches the camera to her chest in this totally over-the-top dramatic gesture, and for a second, I think she’s going to start crying.

  But then she looks at the preview screen on the camera. “Huh,” she says, frowning. “You blinked.”

  I sigh and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. The limo should be here any minute, and this would so not be a good time to have a panic attack. Although honestly, if there was ever a reason for one, I guess this would be it.

  I catch sight of my reflection in the mirror over our hall table. My hair is half up, half down, silky and shiny from the deep conditioning treatment I used earlier. My dress is still perfect, and the crimson color looks amazing against my skin. I lined my eyes with dramatic and smoky shadow and liner, but my lips are almost nude, which makes my make up look striking and subtle at the same time.

  I look beautiful. Well, as close to beautiful as I’m going to get. But as I stare at my reflection, I can see in my face that something’s wrong. I look drawn, nervous. My mom must see it too, because she comes up behind me,
squeezing my shoulder.

  “You’re going to have a great night,” she says.

  The doorbell rings, and I force a smile onto my face.

  “Let me get it,” my mom says. “You should always keep your date waiting.”

  I hear her opening the door, saying hi to Brody, inviting him in. I wait a few seconds, then walk from the kitchen to meet him. He looks amazing. New haircut.

  Crisp black pants. Silver button-up shirt paired with a silver tie.

  “You look beautiful,” he tells me.

  “Thanks.”

  My mom makes us stand in front of the fireplace while she takes pictures of us.

  “Be safe,” she says when she kisses me.

  We walk outside, and there’s the limo, black and shiny, waiting in the driveway.

  “Everyone’s in there,” Brody says.

  “I’m the last one you picked up?”

  “Yeah.” He squeezes my hand. “It’s going to be fun.”

  “Right.”

  ***

  Cam ignores me when I climb into the limo, not that I expected anything different. He’s been ignoring me all week, ever since our fight in the hall that day. He’s sitting on the other side of the car, on a long plush bench. Raine’s next to him, wearing a short black dress that plunges down to her belly button. Very J-Lo. And way too much for a homecoming dance. But she’s obviously too clueless to know that, or just doesn’t care. Her black butterfly necklace is fastened around her neck, and I shiver.

  “Hey,” Adrianna says, the only one to acknowledge my presence. I say hi back, but there are a few people in between us, and so I can’t really say much more. She looks nervous, sitting next to Lancaster, who’s leaning over and talking to Cam and Raine.

  He’s clutching a sports bottle, probably filled with some kind of alcohol. He better be nice to her.

  Cam’s friend Aiden is next to Brody, followed by Becca, then Teri and some guy (Rob or whatever?) that I recognize from their lunch table.

  Brody puts his arm around me and pulls me close. “You okay?” he whispers into my ear.

  “Yes,” I say, “I’m fine.” My hands are clutching my purse, and I force myself to relax my grip.