by Hood, Holly
“Because that will never be true, there’s only one girl I care about.” He stared at me, not saying who that one girl was. I shook my head, the words of Kidd playing again. Slade’s an idiot. He doesn’t think Hope. He just doesn’t think.
“What do you want, Slade?” I asked, shaking my fist at him in frustration.
He didn’t answer. He wasn’t willing to give me what I wanted. And I didn’t know why.
“Then I don’t know what else there is to say,” I told him. “We are still in the same boat. You can’t give me what I want.”
Moonlight
I ran back to the party, pressing my palm against my face to clear the tears and mascara.
I slipped through the dance floor weaved around the table and found a spot against the back wall and took a seat. I was sure I would go unnoticed there. I dabbed at my eyes every couple of seconds trying to keep the tears away, but they were still coming.
As the fifth stranger shot me a sympathetic smile, I had had enough and decided a bathroom break was in order.
I pushed the bathroom door open and took the first stall. I dropped against the wall, biting my hand to stifle the sobs escaping. How many times was he going to crush me? I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. Coming home had turned into the worst mistake I had ever made.
A soft tap echoed against the stall. I quickly straightened up and waited for the culprit to speak.
“Everything alright,” Karsen called. “I know a lot of people take that song literal on their birthday, but this is going too far.”
Karsen shook the door. I unlocked it and dropped down on the toilet.
“You know…it’s my party, and I’ll cry if I want to.” She scanned my somber expression for any hint of a smile. Finally, she dropped down at my level and smoothed my hair.
I sighed.
“I told him it was a bad idea.” Karsen crossed her arms across her pale pink dress. “He insisted he was only going to wish you a happy birthday not make you semi suicidal.”
“You know I envy you,” I told her. She helped clean up my running makeup and listened to my harebrained reasoning.
“Why would you envy me?” She always did this, as if her beauty wasn’t comparable. As if her personality wasn’t something every girl wished they had. Everything came so easy with Karsen. Nothing ever felt worry-free with me.
“Everything you do you do it so well. You meet Kidd, and he falls head over heels for you. You find out he’s a witch, and you handle it impeccably, while I am failing miserably.” I lifted my head allowing her better access to my mouth, so she could apply new gloss.
My entire life I wished I was more like Karsen. She was carefree, and I was guarded. Her family was still together while mine was horribly broken.
Her mother loved her to death and worried about her every move while mine worried about herself and her boyfriend.
“So your first serious relationship failed. It happens to everyone. I thought I was insanely in love plenty of times, its infatuation.” She capped the gloss and sifted through her tiny clutch for blush. “Your first sexual exploration always leaves you thinking the boy who deflowered you is God. You learn quickly that it’s nothing more than one of those crazy cults that live off in the country forcing people to drink Kool-Aid, and you get over it.”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know where you come up with these things.” I stood, ready to return to my party. I was going to try to keep Slade far from my mind.
“Nona wants to cut the cake, so I suggest you hurry. And Mr. Tall, blonde and sexy is still out there celebrating your birthday without you.” Karsen snapped her purse shut and threw her arms around me.
“Thanks, Karsen. I feel a lot better.” I eyed myself in the mirror. You could barely tell I had two or three nervous breakdowns.
“No problem, that’s why I’m your best friend, I’ll always be here for you.” She grabbed my arm stopping me from exiting. “And by the way, if you’re wondering what a guy completely entranced looks like; take a good look at Hutch. He’s totally smitten.”
I scoffed. Sure he was sweet, but did that have to mean he was into me? Maybe this was why I was heartbroken and crying in bathrooms, and Karsen was in love with Kidd because I was completely oblivious to boys.
“Come on matchmaker let’s get some cake before Nona drinks too many martinis.”
Those eyes
I bit at my lip embarrassed all the attention was on me. The happy birthday song finished up, and I held my hair back blowing out my nineteen birthday candles. Everyone cheered and the staff quickly hurried to dish slices of berry cake with lavender frosting from one of the expensive bakeries in Cherry that Nona raved about regularly. She said the bakery, and the gym got the bear share of her money because their cake was so good she had to spend a week at the gym after going there.
Guest quickly took seats and my actual friends: Karsen, Kidd, and Hutch stayed at the table. Kidd and Hutch chatted easily with each other. I loved that about Kidd, he was such an easy-going guy, who could make friends with anyone. I understood why Karsen was so into him. He was truly a genuine guy.
Dad came to stand next to me an empty cake plate in hand, “ready for your gift?”
I looked at him. I wasn’t expecting anything; I really thought he was just prolonging an excuse on why he didn’t have a gift for me. I knew Dad always wanted to do the right thing by us kids, but when you couldn’t financially, there was nothing you could do about that, and I didn’t mind. It wasn’t about gifts.
Suddenly, Hutch was behind me lowering a blindfold around my head. He tied it securely and took me by the shoulders. “You’re going to love this. Your dad already gave us all a peek.” His warm breath tickled my neck. I smiled, excited to see what the big surprise was.
Someone guided me to a seat. I prayed it wasn’t a stripper because that would have been an awkward gift from my father. I kept my legs crossed and planted my hands in my lap waiting patiently.
“Okay Hutch, undo her, so she can see what her amazing father did for her,” Dad told Hutch a thick excitement attached to his words.
Black turned to light and I opened my eyes squealing with excitement. I jumped from my chair and raced for Dad and the Great Dane puppy in his hands. Hutch laughed, standing beside Karsen and Kidd watching me unable to control my excitement.
I grabbed the gray puppy from dad’s arm squeezing him tightly, “his eyes!”
Dad grinned. “You always loved the gray ones with blue eyes, and if it wasn’t for having one horse already I would have bought you one. I figure it gives you a reason to visit all of us more often.”
I smiled at Dad. “Of course I will visit. It doesn’t take a dog to do that. Nevertheless, this is the best gift ever.”
“Oh man, I guess the necklace was a flop after this gorgeous animal,” Hutch joked, running a hand over the puppies head. The puppy wiggled and squirmed licking and biting my hands. Dad looked pleased with his gift and my reaction.
Karsen and Kidd joined all of us.
“So what’s the beast’s name?” Karsen asked.
I rubbed his head my fingers colliding with Hutch's as we both petted the gorgeous animal. I thought for only seconds. “Blue.”
Everyone smiled.
Dad took Blue back and looked over at me. “Now that the party is done and Nona is trashed. Why don’t you kids go out for pizza or whatever it is kids your age do.”
I looked at Karsen and Kidd. Karsen nodded in agreement eager to take off.
“We can find a beach party or eat pizza until we puke it would be fun!” She exclaimed.
I turned to Hutch unsure if hanging out with Kidd was his idea of fun. He grinned.
“It’s your birthday. Whatever you want to do tonight I am at your mercy.” He smiled, throwing an arm around me.
Karsen raised a devious eyebrow. “Did you hear that, Hope. He said he is at your mercy, oh the possibilities.”
Hutch returned the expression. “I’ve been at
her mercy once before, and I rather enjoyed it, if I could only get so lucky again.”
“We should crash the white-tie party down by Henry Park,” Kidd said.
Karsen fell back in step with us; she brushed sand from her dress. “Yeah, it’s some big shindig. I guess the town is trying to raise money for some new church coming to Cherry. I guess they think they can save us all from evil by adding some fancy church.”
Kidd laughed. “Let the bible thumping begin. They will do anything to get rid of Henry Park and Evil kings. I say we check it out.” He looked at all of us. “It could be fun.”
Hutch agreed. “I’m always in for a good time. And besides, we’re all dressed up and nowhere to go.”
Karsen clapped her hands excited. Everyone was looking at me now. White tie meant every stuck up “do gooder” in Cherry would be there. Including the mayor, I weighed the odds of our adventure turning bad and shook my head.
“I’m in,” I said.
The idea of crashing some swanky get together that was against everything I had become didn’t sound so bad. We had a lot more on our side, and after the night I had it sounded like an okay time.
WHITE-TIE AFFAIRS
We all stared at the giant billboard staked in the sand of the fundraiser.
“Light and faith community center,” I said, reading the words out loud. I looked at Karsen and Kidd and then at Hutch. They all were just as amused and confused by it as I was.
“Like they don’t have enough churches already,” Kidd said. He threw his arm around Karsen, and they headed through the crowd. Karsen’s pale pink dress hardly fit in with all the white swimming around her. And Kidd’s black dress pants and dark-green dress shirt had him sticking out like a sore thumb. Nevertheless, neither of them cared as they started dancing to the jazz fluttering around the fundraiser.
Kidd raised Karsen’s hand and planted a kiss across her knuckles. He touched her face adoringly, and they twirled and swirled through the crowd. Immediate eyes connected to them as they danced around oblivious to the onlookers.
Hutch touched the small of my back and leaned down, whispering into my ear. “Do you want to dance?”
I shook my head, my eyes landing on the mayor-Tucker’s father-making his way through the crowd in a white suit tailored made and crisp against the moonlight. My stomach did a flip.
Hutch pulled me close concerned, everything alright?” I kept my eyes glued to Mayor Sinclair.
“Yeah, everything is fine.” I was realizing how bad of an idea this was. We should have never decided on coming to such an event. The idea of running into Tucker’s father and possibly Tucker made me sick to my stomach.
I gripped Hutch’s arm tighter and pulled us through the crowd until we were perfectly nestled between a group of stuffy socialites and a large stone water fountain.
I caught sight of Karsen and Kidd swirling through the crowd, bumping into people as they glided from one end to another. The looks on everyone’s face proved just how unhappy they were with their antics.
“I didn’t know this was your kind of thing,” he said nodding his head at the elegant lighting and white decorations lining every nearby table. Fancy floating candles sparkled on the table tops.
“We were passing by.” I pushed the hair from my eyes allowing him to stare me down. “And no the church scene isn’t my kind of thing.”
Hutch cleared his throat. Tucker turned his attention to Hutch. He extended a hand. However, unpredictably Hutch didn’t accept. Tucker returned to his original stiff pose after swallowing down the rejection and the staring contest between the two of them continued.
“I don’t see any signs that say we aren’t welcome.” Hutch’s eyes flicked from one end of the shin dig to another. He held tight to my arm. “Usually churches welcome everybody. What’s the big deal with this event anyways? I never knew a church to have a grand opening.”
Tucker’s lips pursed, he seemed to be gathering his wits and weighing whether he should speak again. He finally did. “We welcome everybody.”
Hutch nodded. “That’s what I thought. So we shall be on our way then.” He started to make a move to get us away from Tucker, but the crowd was a lot thicker than the last time we hurried through.
This gave Tucker enough time to grab me by the elbow. I pulled away quickly, immediately angry. “Keep your hands off of me.”
Hutch stepped in front of me backing Tucker away from me. Tucker smirked. “Let me rephrase myself. We welcome everybody besides anyone involved in witchcraft.”
The crowd caught on to Tucker’s words, and it seemed all eyes were on us now. My cheeks heated.
Hutch leaned down to get more on Tucker’s level. “What is it? You're trying to say?”
Tucker rolled his eyes. “Witches. I’m saying you’re all a bunch of witches. And Cherry no longer is going to stand for it. So you can turn around and get the hell out of here.”
“Or what,” Hutch said, his fist clenched.
“Or suffer the consequences,” Mayor Sinclair said stepping in. He put a protective arm around his son and stared up at Hutch.
Karsen and Kidd butted through the crowd coming to a stand beside us. Karsen’s cheeks were bright pink from the dancing. I was clear they too knew what was going on.
“You guys sound like a bunch of crazies. There is no such thing as witches.” Karsen giggled nervously, only I knew just how nervous she was. To everyone else it was just a bad case of the giggles. “And who sets up churches to rid their town of witches?”
Kidd let out an uncomfortable laugh. “Ape shit crazies that’s who.”
Karsen grabbed my arm. “Well, we want nothing to do with this. Hope’s grandmother is a major asset in this community. I will be sure to inform her of what is going on here.”
We all started through the crowd, it parted rather smoothly after the word swirled through that we were witches.
Tucker’s voice cut through the night. “Deny it all you want. There were reports of a strange ceremony last summer at the beach. One that should have killed you, few people survive having a knife plunged through their chest. Explain that one, Hope.”
Karsen’s nail dug into my skin. She too was shocked. This was the first time she was hearing of this.
I shook my head and kept walking.
Apparent
Nobody had spoken since we started across the beach into Henry Park.
Kidd pounded on Slade’s door and after a few seconds, the door opened. There he stood, shirtless and looked half asleep. He took a step down and looked everyone over before he spoke a word.
“What the hell are all of you doing here,” Slade asked. I was sure that wasn’t the welcome Kidd was looking for.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on down the beach,” Kidd asked. Karsen stepped closer.
“Or what the hell Tucker meant when he said he witnessed my best friend being stabbed through the chest last summer. And why I don’t know anything about this.” Karsen shot me a disturbed look.
Slade’s eyes drifted to me. Hutch stood behind me pretending to not be a part of our conversation.
I opened my mouth unsure of what was about to come out. “I don’t know how he knows.”
Slade ran a hand through his hair. “But he knows.”
Kidd sighed. “They all know. Or more or less suspect, they built an entire church to rid Cherry of witches. What do you have to say about that?”
Everyone looked at Kidd.
Slade dropped down the steps of the rv and his feet hit the ground with a thud. “What are you so upset about? It’s not something we haven’t heard before.” He shrugged it off.
Kidd was furious. “They never built churches before. They never had actual proof, or what seems like proof seeing there going around saying they saw what happened that night.”
“Will someone explain what the hell is going on?” Karsen snapped.
I was unsure of what to say again. I looked at Slade for help. He looked away.
&n
bsp; “You’re not going to say anything?” I asked him. “I’m just left holding the bag?”
Karsen groaned. “Someone speak!”
“It’s not my secret to spill,” Slade said taking a seat on the steps.
I chewed at my lip. “We will discuss it later.”
“We will discuss it now, or I will go tell your dad.” Karsen threatened.
My blood boiled. I stared her down. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Karsen crossed her arms. “Try me.”
I sighed, giving Slade an evil glare before I explained. “Last summer I was wrapped up in a big mess. It involves Tucker and his dad. And we all thought the best way to deal with them was to take them head on.”
Karsen kept her eyes glued to me.
“I was only hanging out with Tucker, so I could see Slade that night, but things went horribly bad, and I ended up being drugged by Tucker and his dad. Long story short they left me on the beach for dead. And Slade saved me.”
“By plunging a knife in your chest,” Karsen asked.
The door to the rv came open and Audrey pushed Slade out of the way to get down the stairs. He stood up letting her through.
“Slade had a pesky problem by the name of Ezra, his dead witch of a girlfriend; he used Hope in a ritual to rid himself of Ezra, so he could be free to be with whom he wanted.” Audrey explained.
“I didn’t use Hope.” Slade spoke up finally. “It wasn’t like that.”
Audrey laughed bored with the whole conversation, but she went on to fill Karsen in on the rest of it. “You see in order to rid himself of Ezra, he had to sacrifice someone. Hope was sacrificed.”
Karsen raised an eyebrow confused. “But she’s still here.”
Kidd came to stand next to me. “Isn’t it obvious? She’s still here because Slade loves her. When is everyone going to quit pretending that this isn’t the issue? Slade loves Hope and Hope loves Slade. But, Slade is too much of an idiot to deal with it.”