by Isobel Bird
“That’s just it,” said Kate. “I don’t know. He asked me out, sort of, and I said no. And I really meant it. But then I find myself thinking about him a lot.”
“Thinking in an I-wish-he’d-kiss-me kind of way?” Annie asked. “Or just an I-think-he’s-sort-of-cute kind of way?”
Kate rested her chin in her hands. “I thought it was the second kind,” she said. “But when he asked me out, a little tiny part of me almost said yes before the bigger part stopped me.” She took a cookie from the plate and bit into it. “What does it mean?” she asked.
“Don’t look at me,” Annie said. “No one has ever asked me out.”
“Come on,” Kate wailed. “You’re the brain around here. You must have some rational way of figuring this out.”
Annie thought for a moment. “Maybe there is a scientific way to approach this,” she said. “Let’s make lists.”
“Lists?” said Kate. “What kind of lists?”
“Pros and cons,” said Annie. “For Scott and Tyler.”
She went into another room and returned with a pad and pen. She wrote Scott’s name at the top and Tyler’s name halfway down the page. Then she drew a line down the center and wrote “pros” on one side and “cons” on the other.
“Now, start thinking,” she said to Kate. “What are the pros of being with Scott?”
“He’s cute,” Kate said instantly, and Annie wrote it down under Scott’s name.
“What else?” she asked.
“He treats me really well,” Kate said, thinking. “He has a car. He looks great in a football uniform.”
“I think that’s covered under cute,” Annie said.
Kate thought of a few more things. Then Annie told her to think of the cons of dating him.
“He’s probably leaving at the end of the summer,” Kate said. “That’s all I can think of.”
“I wish Cooper were here,” Annie said. “She’d come up with a laundry list. But let’s move on to Tyler. Pros.”
“His eyes,” Kate said instantly, then paused.
“He’s Wiccan,” Annie suggested.
“I guess that’s a plus,” Kate said. “Put it down.”
She thought of a few more things to write down about Tyler, and then they moved on to the cons.
“He’s not Scott,” she said immediately.
“That doesn’t count,” Annie said. “It’s like a double negative or something. Think of something else.”
Kate thought, and added a few things to Tyler’s con list. When she was done, Annie showed her the lists.
“Seems to me that all Tyler has over Scott is that he’ll be here come September and he has great eyes,” Annie said. “Is that enough?”
Kate shook her head. “No,” she said. “It isn’t. So why do I keep thinking about him?”
“I can’t help you there,” Annie said. “But science doesn’t lie. Statistically speaking, Scott is ahead by about fifty points.”
“You’re right,” Kate said. “I have a great boyfriend.”
“You don’t sound entirely convinced,” Annie said. “Do you want me to go over the lists again?”
Kate shook her head. “I think I’m just scared,” she said.
“Of Scott’s leaving?” Annie asked.
“More of Scott’s changing, I guess,” Kate answered. “He’s going to be in college and living somewhere new. He’s going to be doing all kinds of exciting things. What if he decides he wants something else—or someone else?”
“Now I get it,” Annie said. “You’re afraid he won’t be satisfied with a girlfriend back home who’s still in high school when he’s going to parties with college girls who would love to go out with the hot new football player.”
“That makes me feel so much better,” Kate said. “Thank you for putting my deepest fears into words.”
“Sorry,” said Annie. “But look at it this way. You were afraid he would never go out with you in the first place, and you were wrong about that. Clearly the boy sees something in you that he likes. Why should that change?”
“Maybe it won’t,” Kate admitted. “Maybe I’m just being ridiculous. I guess maybe I saw Tyler as a fall-back plan in case things with Scott didn’t work out. But you’re right. I shouldn’t worry about it. And who knows—maybe he won’t leave after all.” She glanced at the clock. “I’d better get going too. It’s almost time for dinner.”
“Aunt Sarah and Meg should be home from the library soon too,” Annie said. “Meg will probably have fifteen new books she’ll want to read to me. I’d better get all of these dishes washed up.”
“Thanks for listening to me be stupid,” Kate said.
“Any time,” Annie replied. “Now, go call that boyfriend of yours. He might think you’ve run off with someone else if you don’t talk to him every hour or so.”
Chapter 7
The wind coming off of the ocean made Kate shiver, and she pulled the ends of her sweatshirt’s sleeves over her hands. Sitting on the rock, watching the waves roll in, she thought about the night when she, Cooper, and Annie had done their ritual in the little cove. It had been the ritual that ended the confusion caused by her spells. They had each given up something to the ritual fire that night, and Kate could still see the smoke rising up toward the full moon.
There was no full moon tonight. The weather had turned stormy on Thursday, and it was still gray and windy on Friday evening. Kate had been surprised when Scott suggested that they go to the beach. She thought he would want to see a movie or maybe go out with some of the other football players and their girlfriends. But there they were, sitting side by side on a huge boulder that stretched out into the ocean and was reached by climbing up a series of smaller, steplike rocks. It was Kate’s favorite spot on the beach. Sitting up there made her feel like she was stranded on a deserted island. But she wasn’t alone. Scott was with her. It was just the two of them and miles of ocean and sky. She reached for his hand, and relaxed as his fingers closed around hers.
Ever since her conversation with Annie, Kate had been happier with Scott than ever. Sasha had been right—she was lucky. Scott was a great guy. And she’d decided that she wasn’t going to worry about the future until it happened. She had no way of knowing what might happen a week, a month, or a year from now. All she could do was enjoy the time she and Scott still had. The future would take care of itself.
“It’s so beautiful out here,” she said, leaning her head against Scott.
Scott didn’t say anything in response. When Kate looked at him, he was staring out into the distance.
“Are you okay?” she asked. He’d been quiet ever since he’d picked her up.
“Yeah,” he said. “Just thinking about stuff.”
“That’s never a good sign,” Kate teased, but Scott didn’t laugh.
“Kate, I’ve made a decision,” he said.
Kate looked at the waves. Something in Scott’s voice made her nervous. “About what?” she asked, afraid that she already knew the answer.
“About school,” he said. “I’ve decided to go to New York.”
Kate felt her hands grow damp, and she hoped Scott wouldn’t notice. She waited a minute, composing herself. Trying to sound as normal as possible, she said, “It’s a good school.”
Scott nodded. “I know,” he said. “It has a great program, and the coach has taken the team to the championship three years in a row. I really think it’s where I need to be.”
Kate knew that Scott was right. All along she’d suspected that he would pick New York. But until he’d said it, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted it to not be New York. Now that the choice was made, she wanted to try to be as grown-up about it as she could be.
“There are always holidays,” she said, hoping her voice sounded enthusiastic. “Besides, I’ve always wanted to go to a Broadway show. Now I’ll have two reasons to fly out there.”
Scott let go of her hand and put both his hands in his pockets. “I knew you’d understan
d,” he said.
Kate put her arm around him. “And we still have the whole summer,” she said. “We’ll just have to make enough memories to last you until the first break.”
Scott looked at her and gave a weak smile. “That’s another thing,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a first break.”
“What do you mean?” Kate asked, confused. “Do you have to play right through Christmas?”
Scott sighed. “Man, this is harder than I thought it would be,” he said.
“What is?” Kate asked. “I already said it was okay.”
“That’s just it,” Scott said. “It’s not okay.” He ran his hands through his hair.
“I just don’t think this can go anywhere,” he said. “You can’t come to New York, and I don’t think seeing each other only on holidays is enough.”
“I knew it,” Kate said to herself, forgetting that she was talking out loud. “I knew this would happen. I knew it was too good to be true.”
Ever since she, Cooper, and Annie had done the final ritual, she’d been waiting for things with Scott to fall apart. She wanted to believe that his liking her had nothing to do with the magic. But another part of her had been waiting for the spell to wear off. Now, apparently, it had. She figured it was her punishment for having played around with something she had no business fooling with.
“What do you want me to say?” Scott asked. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too,” said Kate, rubbing her hands together as a chill crept over her. She felt the ring Scott had given her on her finger and took it off.
“Take this back,” she said. “I don’t want it.”
“Keep it,” Scott said. “I want you to have it.”
“But I don’t want it,” Kate said, suddenly angry. “I don’t want anything that reminds me of you.”
She threw the ring at Scott as hard as she could. It hit him in the chest and bounced off. There was a soft click as it struck the rock, and then the ring sailed off into the air. It hung there for a second and then dropped without a sound into the ocean below.
Tears filled Kate’s eyes as she stood up and ran down the rock steps to the beach. Scott got up and ran after her, but she didn’t stop. Her feet slipped in the sand as she ran toward the wooden stairs that led up to the parking area.
“Kate!” Scott called after her, but the wind drowned out the sound of his voice, and the sobs that came from her throat surrounded her like storm clouds.
She reached the steps and ran up them as quickly as she could. When she reached the parking lot she kept running past Scott’s car and toward the bus stop. Luckily, there was a bus pulling in as she ran up. It stopped and opened its doors, and Kate ran on, barely able to find her bus pass in her coat pocket.
She stumbled to a seat and fell into it, burying her face in her hands. She didn’t care who was around her or who saw her crying. She’d never felt so miserable in her entire life. As the bus pulled away from the stop, she caught a glimpse of Scott running beside it, trying to flag it down. For a moment she was afraid that the driver might stop, but he didn’t, and she got away safely.
She didn’t want to go home. She knew her mother would want to know why she was upset, and she didn’t think she could pull herself together in time to fool her. She couldn’t go to Sherrie’s or Jessica’s or Tara’s. They were the last people she wanted to discuss her romantic woes with. As it was, Sherrie would most likely know within the hour anyway. She probably had hidden cameras on the beach.
Kate found herself getting off at the stop near Annie’s house. Lately it seemed she was always going to Annie with her problems. But she felt safe in Annie’s house. Annie’s aunt made Kate feel like part of the family, but she never asked embarrassing questions or pried into the girls’ lives. Kate just hoped that Sasha wasn’t there. But recently she had spent every afternoon volunteering at the Summer House, so probably she wouldn’t have time.
Kate was relieved when Annie opened the door. She took one look at Kate and pulled her inside.
“You look awful,” she said. “What happened? Shouldn’t you be with Scott?”
Kate started crying all over again, unable to tell Annie what was wrong. She just stood there, tears running down her face, until Annie put her arms around her and hugged her. That made her cry even more, but she felt better anyway.
“I think we . . . broke . . . up . . .,” Kate said haltingly as she sobbed in between words.
“Broke up?” Annie said. “Why?”
Kate sniffled, composing herself. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean, not really. He’s going to school in New York.”
Annie handed her a tissue to wipe her eyes with. Then she led Kate into the living room, where Meg was sitting on the couch, reading.
“Are you okay?” Meg asked Kate. “You look sad.”
“I am,” Kate said, trying to smile at the worried little girl.
Annie’s aunt walked in a moment later. “I thought I heard you, Kate,” she said. “Is everything all right?”
“Boy trouble,” Annie explained, and her aunt nodded.
“I’ll leave you two alone, then,” she said. “If anyone wants me, I’ll be in my study doing . . . something.”
Kate laughed despite how she felt. Annie’s aunt always knew when to disappear gracefully.
“You don’t have to go,” she said. “I’m okay.”
“I’ll go anyway,” Sarah said. “If I stay too long I’ll start crying, too, and no one needs that.”
She left the girls alone with Meg, who went back to her book, occasionally casting glances at Kate and frowning.
“I can’t believe you guys broke up,” Annie said. “Everything seemed to be going so well.”
“That’s the thing,” Kate said. “Just last night we were making plans for the weekend. I had no clue this was coming. It’s like he just froze me out while we were sitting there.”
“Maybe he’s just freaked out about the whole school thing,” Annie said.
“But I told him I didn’t mind waiting,” Kate said. “And he said he didn’t mind, either. At least that’s what he said last week.”
“There’s got to be some other reason for it,” Annie said. “I know boys are flaky, but they don’t usually just drop girls they’ve recently given rings to for no reason, do they?”
“I didn’t think so,” said Kate. “But something’s gotten into him.”
“Maybe a bad witch cast a spell on him,” said Meg.
Kate looked over at the little girl. “What?” she asked.
“A bad witch,” Meg repeated. “Like in the fairy stories. See.”
She held up the book she was reading. It was a collection of fairy tales. Meg was looking at a picture of a prince. He was in a castle dungeon, and an old, ugly hag was pointing a finger at him.
“The witch made the prince think she was a beautiful princess,” Meg explained. “She made him fall in love with her. But then he woke up and saw that she was just a bad witch.”
Kate looked at Annie. All along she’d been afraid that it was her spell that was keeping Scott around. Was this another sign that she’d been right?
“Upstairs,” Annie said quickly. “Meg, Kate and I need to do something in my room. You stay here, okay?”
Meg sighed. “Okay,” she said. “But remember what I said about the bad witch.”
The two girls ran up the stairs to Annie’s room, shutting the door behind them.
“Do you think Meg is right?” Kate asked. “I mean, I was thinking the same thing on the bus. Maybe Scott really is just waking up from the spell I put on him. Maybe he never liked me at all.”
“I guess it’s possible,” Annie said. “Weirder things have happened. But it seems strange that it took this long to come to an end.”
“It’s true,” Kate said dejectedly. “I am a bad witch. I’m just like one of those witches in the fairy tales. I enchanted Scott and got him for a while, but now the spell is over and he sees me the way I really am
—old and ugly.” She started to cry again.
“Well, that’s a little dramatic,” Annie said. “You’re hardly old. Or ugly. But the basic principle might still apply.”
“Thanks a lot,” Kate said. “You’re supposed to be making me feel better, not worse.”
“Sorry,” said Annie. “I’m trying. I’m not good at this, you know.”
“Where’s the spell book?” Kate asked. “The one I used in the first place. I want to read that spell again. Maybe it will give me a clue to what happened.”
Annie walked to her bookshelf and started looking for the book. She ran her finger down the spines, stopping where the book was kept. When she turned around, she had a puzzled look on her face.
“That’s weird,” she said. “It’s gone.”
Chapter 8
The weekend was terrible. Kate and Annie had been unable to find the spell book anywhere. On Saturday, Kate had tried to avoid leaving the house as much as possible, but in the afternoon she made the mistake of answering the phone, thinking it might be Scott calling to talk things over. But it had been Sherrie. Somehow she’d found out about the breakup.
“Of course, I wanted to hear it directly from you,” she said. “You know how these stories can get totally twisted around.”
Especially when you tell them, Kate thought. But she knew that it was better for Sherrie to have the real story. If she didn’t, she’d just make up something that was a lot worse than the truth. So she told her friend what had happened.
“I told you not to trust a senior boy,” Sherrie said, and Kate could just imagine her sitting in her room as she said it, shaking her head sadly. “But don’t worry—we’ll find you a new one in no time. I know at least a dozen boys who would be happy to go out with you. Scott will be so jealous he’ll beg you to come back.”
“I don’t want him to beg me to come back,” Kate said.
But when she hung up, she wondered if maybe she did want Scott to want her back. Maybe she did want him to tell her that they’d made a terrible mistake and that he couldn’t imagine living without her. Would that make her feel better about everything? She wasn’t sure, but something about the idea appealed to her.