4 Waxing & Waning

by Amanda M. Lee

  When I finally did, I lifted my eyes in surprise as a pair of yellow eyes came barreling down on me. The wolf that jumped out of the tree line wasn’t a regular wolf. They weren’t prevalent in this area. That meant this specific beast was part of the local pack – and he was intent on attacking me.

  “Sonofabitch!” I purposely leaned back, my skis spinning out as I toppled over. My right boot detached from my binding, causing the ski to slide harmlessly down the hill. Cathy had seen me fall, and she was about fifty feet down the hill, watching with wide eyes and frozen features as the wolf advanced on me.

  This wasn’t good – for a number of reasons.

  “I wouldn’t come any closer,” I warned, hoping Cathy couldn’t hear me as I tried to reason with the furry beast.

  The wolf growled in reply.

  “I’m not alone,” I hissed. “And, if you come any closer, I’m going to burn you alive with my magic fingers.”

  The wolf stilled its advance.

  “Yeah, you’ve heard about them, haven’t you? Well, if I can turn two vampires into ash in less than five seconds, what do you think I can do to you, fur ball?”

  The wolf bared its teeth.

  “Who are you anyway?” I asked. “I bet I know you. Why are you hiding?”

  The wolf remained where it was, crouching low, watching me with immovable yellow eyes.

  “Zoe,” Cathy called. “Are you okay?”

  The wolf shifted his head slightly when it heard her voice. “Don’t you even think about it,” I said, keeping my voice low. I moved my gaze to Cathy. “I’m fine. I think it’s just scared.”

  “Is that a … wolf?” Cathy’s face was filled with disbelief.

  “It probably has rabies,” I said. “Ski down and tell the guy at the chair lift that they should get someone with a rifle up here.”

  Cathy nodded, unsure if she should leave me alone. “Are you … ?”

  “Just go,” I said. “I’ll be fine.”

  Cathy reluctantly agreed. Once she was out of sight, I fixed my gaze on the wolf. “Don’t you want to show me your real face?”

  Nothing.

  “Do you want me to fry you with my magic fingers?” I lifted my hand up for emphasis. “I think you should just go.”

  The wolf glanced to the left and right. I was sure there was some sort of internal debate going on in there – although I had no idea what it was.

  “More people will be coming down the hill,” I said. “Do you want to draw a lot of unwanted attention by trying to kill me? Do you want people telling the story of the girl with the magic fingers killing the wolf? And then, of course, there will be the follow-up story about your real-life disappearance. Only a handful of people will ever be able to put the two stories together and come up with the truth.”

  The wolf hunched down.

  “There’s a vampire in these woods somewhere.” I tried one more time. “Even if you manage to kill me – which is doubtful – he’ll rip you from limb to limb before you get out of here.”

  “She’s not lying,” Rafael said, dropping from a nearby tree branch and landing between the wolf and me.

  “Where have you been?” I complained.

  “I’ve been watching to see what our friend here would do,” he said. “You were in no danger. I was close enough to intervene if I had to.”

  “I didn’t say I was in danger,” I grumbled. “I just can’t figure you out sometimes.”

  “And what is confusing you, my dear?”

  “You’re all ‘it’s dangerous, you can’t be alone,’” I said. “And then, when I’m actually in danger, you decide to take a ‘wait-and-see’ approach. You’re just so infuriating.”

  Rafael cocked his head. “Was that your imitation of me?”

  “That’s what you’re worried about? Good grief. Handle the ball of fur.”

  “Where are you going?”

  I popped the binding on my second ski and lifted it up. “I have to go and track down my other ski.”

  “I told you this is an insufferable sport,” Rafael said. “We would be so much better off if you’d just stayed in and watched television like I wanted.”

  “You have the adventurous spirit of an old woman,” I complained, leaning back on the heels of my boots so I could slide down the hill faster. “Oh, try not to kill him. I probably went to high school with him or something.”

  Rafael sighed. “Fine.” He glanced at the wolf. “You can go now.”

  I have no idea what the wolf was thinking, but he slunk off into the adjacent trees without a backwards glance. Rafael joined me when I was halfway down the hill. “Can we be done now?”

  “Done skiing?’

  “Yes.”

  I shrugged. “I guess.”

  “Good. If we get back to the house in time, there’s a movie I want to watch on AMC.”

  “Is it a schmaltzy Christmas movie?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yeah, we’re going to need to stop at the liquor store on the way home,” I said. “If I’m going to be stuck in that house with you for the next week, I’m going to need to be drunk.”

  “You really are charming,” Rafael said, snorting.

  January

  Twenty-Three

  The second semester of my junior year started with a bang. Not a literal one. Although, to be fair, once I hit my first class I kind of wished I had something that would go bang – like a bomb.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  Amy Cooper, my professor for women’s fiction, didn’t understand my complaints. “Do you have a problem with the reading group I’ve assigned you to?”

  Oh boy did I ever. “Yes.”

  “May I ask why?”

  My gaze landed on the girl to my immediate left. Her hair was brown and wild, the curls running rampant around her angular face. She looked just as nervous to see me as I was to see her. I didn’t think the professor would believe me if I told her that the girl was my ex-roommate who’d tried to kill me with a Wiccan spell the previous spring. “We have issues.”

  “What kind of issues?”

  “We used to live together and it didn’t work out,” I said.

  “And that’s your problem with Matilda?” Professor Cooper asked.

  “In a nutshell? Yes.”

  “And what’s your problem with Caitlyn?” Cooper pressed.

  Oh, where to start with that question. What were the odds that the woman currently trying to kill me by fawning all over my werewolf, and the woman who actually tried to kill me almost eight months before would be in the same class with me? This couldn’t be a coincidence.

  “She’s jealous of me,” Caitlyn said. “Her boyfriend dumped her for me.”

  Professor Cooper rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you guys supposed to be adults?”

  “I’m fine being a child,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest obstinately.

  “Well, this is your assigned reading group,” Cooper said. “Either suck it up or drop the class.”

  I considered my options. Finally, I slipped into the open seat next to Matilda, never letting the scowl slip off of my face. Once Professor Cooper left, I glanced over to my former roommate. “I honestly wasn’t sure you were still here.”

  “I’ve been trying to keep a low profile,” Matilda admitted.

  “I bet.”

  “I … I’ve also been hiding from you,” she added.

  Well, I always had admired her honesty. “How are you?”

  “Embarrassed. How are you?”

  “I’m fairly certain I’m in Hell,” I said.

  Matilda glanced over at Caitlyn. “Who is she?”

  “The devil.”

  Caitlyn was watching the two of us from across the circle. There were five other people in our reading group – and each one of them looked uncomfortable with the overt hostility flying about through shared looks and occasional grimaces.

  “Why are you the devil?” Matilda asked Caitlyn, her face neither friendly n
or closed off.

  “She’s just jealous because Aric and I are together now,” Caitlyn said.

  Matilda furrowed her brow. “You’re with Aric? Really?”

  “Why are you so surprised?” Caitlyn asked, studying her manicure. “I’m clearly prettier than her.”

  Matilda shrugged. “That’s probably up for debate, whether you want to admit it or not,” she said. “It doesn’t matter, though. Aric Winters is in love with Zoe.”

  I was surprised by Matilda’s words.

  “He is not,” Caitlyn said. “They’re broken up.”

  Matilda pursed her lips. “They may be broken up, but it’s not because Aric wants them to be. I have a feeling I know why they’re broken up, but that doesn’t mean he wants to be with you.”

  “Well, he is with me,” Caitlyn said.

  “Is it against his will?”

  Caitlyn leaned forward. “Listen, you don’t know anything about my relationship with Aric Winters,” she said. “He’s crazy in love with me.”

  I snorted.

  “Do you have something to say about it?” Caitlyn asked.

  “It’s just funny,” I said. “When I saw you guys before Christmas break, he was yelling at you to go home and telling you that you weren’t a priority.”

  Yeah, I’m bitter. Sue me. I can’t help being catty.

  “He was just worried about you,” Caitlyn spat out. “You keep purposely getting yourself in trouble to try and draw him back in.”

  “That doesn’t sound like Zoe,” Matilda said.

  “No,” I agreed. “Trouble just seems to find me regardless of how I feel about it. I think I may be cursed.”

  “Oh, whatever,” Caitlyn said. “I know what you’re doing. Just know that I know what you’re doing. You’re not fooling anyone.”

  I shot a sarcastic thumbs-up in her direction. “You go girl!”

  Matilda snickered.

  “You know that you purposely got in trouble with the police so he would run to your rescue,” Caitlyn said.

  “Yeah, I knew that you and Aric would be walking down a strange street at the exact same time a girl dropped acid and completely freaked out,” I said. “I surely am some diabolical mastermind.”

  “She dropped acid and freaked out?” Matilda asked. “That sounds uncomfortable.”

  “She thought she was a dolphin,” I said. “She swam the whole way home.”

  “Oh, fun.”

  “Then I’m telling it wrong.”

  “She also thought you were a witch,” Caitlyn sneered. “She said that Zoe shot light out of her hands and disintegrated monsters.”

  Matilda shot me a worried look. “Oh, that is crazy.” Since she’d seen my powers up close and personal in a different setting, I was surprised she dismissed it outright. Maybe she was trying to make amends.

  Professor Cooper appeared at the edge of our group. “I’m going to have to add another member.”

  “Oh, really? The only thing that would make this better is if my high school nemesis transferred here and she was in this class, too,” I deadpanned. “Do you think you can get her here to snap my bra strap?”

  “Well, you’re in luck,” Cooper said. “Your new member is a boy.”

  “There’s a boy in a women’s fiction class?” Matilda asked, clearly confused.

  “He must think it will be an easy way to get lucky,” I said.

  “Exactly.” I glanced up as Scott dragged a chair over and positioned himself on my right. No way.

  “What are you doing in this class?”

  “Picking up women,” Scott said, winking. “I hope.”

  “Who is this?” Matilda asked.

  “Scott,” I said. “He’s been hanging around our parties.”

  “And you’re living with Kelsey and Paris?”

  “And Tally and Kristy – two of the most annoying people I’ve ever met,” I said.

  “I just think you don’t like people,” Matilda said.

  “That’s not true. I like people,” I countered. “I don’t like annoying people. There’s a difference.”

  “You’re annoying,” Caitlyn said. “You must hate yourself.”

  “Go suck on a tampon,” I said.

  Scott smirked. “Am I missing something?”

  “I hate Caitlyn,” I said. “She’s shallow and irritating.”

  “Hey,” Caitlyn said. “You hate that girl, too.” She was pointing at Matilda.

  “Ironically, I like her more than I like you,” I said. “And we have a tortured past. So that should tell you just what kind of a complete and total slutbag you are.”

  “Don’t you call me names,” Caitlyn said. “I’m going to tell Aric you’re calling me names, and he’ll know what kind of person you are.”

  “Go ahead,” I said. “I bet he’ll be shocked to hear that I’m calling you names. It’s just going to blow his mind.”

  “Isn’t that why he fell for you in the first place?” Matilda asked. “I believe he said that it was your sassy mouth he loved best.”

  “He’s a weird guy,” I agreed.

  “I’m sorry you two broke up,” Matilda said. “I can’t help but feel a little responsible.”

  “You’re not,” I said. “You’re responsible for … other things. Aric is responsible for the relationship stuff.”

  “Wait a second, are you trying to pretend that you broke up with him?” Caitlyn looked like she didn’t believe me.

  “No one is talking to you,” I said. “Look in a mirror or something. Maybe it will be like the Medusa legend? If you stare long enough, maybe you’ll turn to stone. You already have the brain of one.”

  “Aren’t we supposed to be putting together a reading list for the semester?” One of the other members of the group finally spoke up.

  “Go nuts,” I said.

  “I think we’re all supposed to do it,” she replied.

  “Oh, suck an egg,” Caitlyn said.

  The girl frowned. I shifted my gaze over to Scott. “Did you really think this was going to get you a date?”

  “When I heard you were taking it, I decided to give it a shot.”

  I shifted in the chair uncomfortably. “What?”

  “I think he’s hitting on you,” Matilda said.

  Yeah, that’s what I thought he was doing, too. “You joined this class because of me?”

  “I didn’t think it could hurt,” Scott said. “I haven’t seen you since you walked the dolphin home before Christmas. I’ve thought about you every day since. I figured I would give it a shot.”

  “I’m … .” What was I? I wasn’t in a relationship. I was kind of in a weird coupling with Rafael, but nothing was official.

  “I’m not asking you out yet,” Scott cautioned. “I’m just telling you that I’m going to do it soon. I want to charm you some more before I do.”

  “Oh, well, thanks for the heads up.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Caitlyn screwed up her face. “What is it with you? Why are all these men just falling all over you? I don’t get it.”

  “It’s my sparkling personality,” I said. “Men can’t stay away from me. It’s like I’m … magic.”

  Matilda pressed her lips together in an attempt to keep from laughing.

  “I think I like your ass,” Scott said. “Don’t get me wrong, I like your personality. You’re funny. You’re a great euchre partner, too. It was your ass I was drawn to first.”

  My cheeks started to burn. “I’m not quite sure what to say to that.”

  “You don’t have to say anything,” Scott said. “I was just trying to be helpful.”

  “You’re a weird guy,” Matilda said. “You’re pretty hot, though.”

  Scott leaned back in his chair, a lazy grin on his face. “Thanks.”

  Caitlyn slapped her knee with her hand. “I don’t like this.”

  “No one cares,” I shot back.

  “How are we all getting along here?” Professor Cooper asked, sid
ling up to our group.

  “Oh, we’re about to start braiding each other’s hair,” I said. “It’s like we were all separated at birth.”

  One of the other girls in the group raised her hand. “I want a different group.”

  A few of the others murmured their assent. Professor Cooper fixed me with a hard look. “I have you to thank for this, don’t I?”

  “You’re going to learn to love me,” I said.

  “Really?” She didn’t look convinced.

  “No,” I said. “You’re going to hate me.” What? I know my limitations.

  Twenty-Four

  “Why are we having another party again?”

  Kelsey and I were sitting on the couch waiting for Paris to return with the keg. It was the first Friday after the Christmas break, and I was still trying to wrap my mind around Tally’s party announcement.

  Kelsey shrugged. “I actually prefer having the parties here. It’s too cold to walk somewhere else.”

  She had a point. Still … . “What if I just wanted to go to bed early and study?”

  “It’s a Friday night.”

  “So?”

  “You’re turning into an old woman.”

  I frowned. Wasn’t that exactly what I accused Rafael of doing? “I am not.”

  “You are, too,” Kelsey said. “You’ve been absolutely no fun this year.”

  “Hey, I’m always fun.”

  “I think you’re depressed,” Kelsey said.

  “I’m not depressed.” Wait, was I? “Why do you think I’m depressed?”

  “I think you miss Aric,” Kelsey said. “I also think you’re … kind of freaked out about the whole magic-hands thing.”

  I pressed a finger to my lips. “We’re not talking about that. What if Kristy and Tally hear you?”

  “The only thing Kristy and Tally hear is the echo in their own heads,” Kelsey said. “If I said you had magic hands in front of them, they would think you’re good at hand jobs or something.”

  She had a point. “Let’s just keep the magic stuff quiet, shall we?”

  Kelsey sighed. “Okay. Will you at least try to have some fun tonight?”

  “Will it get you off my back?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then I’ll be the life of the party.”

  The front door of the house opened and Paris stepped inside.