by Cassandra
Me too, Jessica responded quickly and smiled. Butterflies squirmed in her stomach and her face felt warm. She glanced up from her phone, glad that Frank was watching TV and wasn’t looking her way to note her lovesick expression.
She set the phone down beside her and stared absentmindedly at the TV. Seconds later, she reflected on the terms of the punishment Grandma Ethel had given her.
Garden work for a week.
But what if I finished it all in less than a week?
It was almost Saturday. Since she didn’t have school, what if she simply got up early and worked to finish everything in the garden as quickly as possible? Would her punishment be over early?
Enthralled by the possibility, she picked her phone up excitedly and fired off another text to Kacey. Hold on for a sec. I have an idea.
Jessica threw the phone onto the bed and dashed out of her room to race down the stairs. She was about to turn into the kitchen when she noticed the glow from the TV in the living room.
Unprepared for what she was about to see, she almost gasped and gagged at the same time.
Grandma Ethel and Pastor Norman sat on the couch, way too close to each other—practically cuddling with empty wine glasses on the table before them. When they heard her, they both jumped quickly to separate themselves from one another. They looked as suspicious as ever as they each slid to either end of the couch, the guilt evident on both of their faces.
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, but the image was already burned into her head.
Are you kidding me? Gross! She made sure to avert her gaze when she opened her eyes and stood rigidly on the spot, awkward and unsure what to do. After what she’d seen, she had almost forgotten why she had even come downstairs in the first place.
Finally, she decided to do the only thing she could think to do—pretend that she hadn’t seen anything. It would be easier for all of them that way.
“Grandma,” Jessica said and tried her best to keep her voice light, unassuming, and free of disgust.
“Yes, Jessica. What is it?” Ethel said, her tone slightly clipped.
“I wondered…if I finish the rest of the garden work tomorrow, can my punishment be over?”
Ethel furrowed her brow, although there was still a slightly flustered look in her eyes. “What? I… Yeah, sure. That sounds fair enough.”
Jessica blinked. She hadn’t exactly been prepared for her grandma to be so accommodating. On her way down the stairs, she had been ready to spend at least a few minutes making a case for herself. Although she didn’t want to test her luck, she had a feeling that she had sprung the question on her grandmother at precisely the right time, since she had clearly been a little too preoccupied to put much thought into what her granddaughter had said and requested.
The old lady blinked for a moment. “But no magic,” she added and wagged her index finger.
Darn it, she thought but plastered an agreeable look onto her face, nevertheless. “Yes, of course, I know. No magic. But um…” She faltered and shifted her weight from one leg to the other as she wondered if she should dare to push her luck any further while some of her grandma’s senses seemed to be returning to her.
Ethel stared at her. “But what?” she said impatiently.
On the other edge of the couch, Pastor Norman pretended to be far too invested in the commercials playing on the TV.
Jessica shifted on her feet again and decided she might as well go for broke. “Can some friends come over to help me out?”
The old lady paused for a few seconds before she sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “Oh, I suppose so. Why not? Kids your age could certainly use some good manual labor every now and then. Your generation is too soft, dare I say.”
“Great! Thank you, Grandma.” She turned and rushed back up the stairs before her grandmother had a chance to change her mind.
And before images of Grandma Ethel and Pastor Norman attempting to make-out on the couch like a couple of teenagers could return to her mind.
When she reached her room, Frank was still in the same spot watching Detectives and had hardly even noticed her absence.
She snatched the phone from the bed and paced the room while she happily texted Kacey, eager to let him know what she had accomplished.
If I finish the garden work tomorrow, I won’t be grounded anymore. My grandma said I can have friends’ help. So…wanna come over tomorrow and help me get the garden work over with?
Sure! Awesome! Kacey wrote back. I’ll have to tell my parents it’s community garden work or something. But I’ll be there bright and early!
Great! She replied, laughed, and flopped down onto her bed, her heart simultaneously pattering and feeling a lot lighter than before.
Chapter Twenty-One
The flashes of pink that Jessica saw constantly through her closed eyelids let her know that somewhere, bright lights flickered on and off.
She opened her eyes slowly. Her bedroom door was wide open, although she was certain she had closed it before going to bed.
With a yawn, she tossed the covers back, swung her legs out of bed, and brought her feet to the floor. She stood and stretched for a moment, then headed out of her room.
A sinister laugh drifted down the hallway. She squinted through the flickering lights and thought she saw a tiny shadow bouncing around.
A shadow that looked suspiciously like—
“Frank?”
Jessica tiptoed farther down the hallway, her head tilted curiously as she watched the shadow.
Where was it coming from?
Suddenly, the laughter grew louder and she saw him.
But he wasn’t Frank.
The evil little imp had frightening red eyes, long, pointed teeth, and sharp claws. Without warning, he hurtled toward her. She watched, petrified, as the creature opened its mouth. But, instead of screaming, it rang and its voice sounded oddly like a shrill bell.
“Huh?” she muttered, caught off-guard by the ringing that issued from the creature’s mouth.
“What kind of lunatic could that be at this time of morning and on a Saturday, no less?”
Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in bed, breathing heavily and drenched in cold sweat.
A dream, it had only been a dream.
But the ringing was real. Frank glared at her from the tiny bed in his house. “Are you going to answer that, or what?”
Jessica blinked and understanding finally dawned on her.
The doorbell was ringing.
Visions of the evil imp from her dream came to mind, and somehow, she was certain that she’d actually had a premonition.
The demon imp is ringing the doorbell, she thought. She sprang out of bed, ready for action. No demon had ever rung the doorbell before, but she could only presume that as the cousin of Frank, this was no normal demon. Her familiar had a cocky side, so Jessica didn’t think it was too far of a stretch to assume his cousin might as well, even to the point of shamelessly ringing the doorbell to announce his presence.
It didn’t matter, though, because she was ready for him.
Still in her pajamas, with her hair bunched all over her head, Jessica raced down the stairs, ready to literally make it rain on the imp and send him back to wherever he belonged—be it Hell or the dry place Frank had mentioned. After she’d made a mess with the rain last night, it was time for her to redeem herself.
She could already imagine how impressed her grandma, Pastor Norman, and Chad would be when they found out that she had taken care of the evil imp all by herself in the wee hours of the morning before any of them had even eaten breakfast yet.
And better still, they would be that much closer to getting Roger back.
Jessica forced her sleepiness away as she stormed through the living and dining rooms and stepped cautiously over cats along the way. She focused on water and wanted to recreate the rain spell she’d done the evening before. If it had sent Frank scurrying, she knew it would do the trick on his evil cousin
.
Once she’d unlocked the door, she swung it open with a flourish.
A crack of thunder sounded closely overhead, and rain poured from directly above the door.
“Aaaah, crap!” Kacey cried and ducked in to avoid the sudden rain.
She froze, dumbfounded, and sputtered. “K-Kacey?” she cried, mortified. She stood there in her flannel pajamas and horrific bed-hair and watched her crush get soaked by her rain spell.
“Hey, Jess,” he said, although clearly distracted by his attempt to escape the unexpected rainstorm. “Uh…can I come in?”
“Oh, yeah! Sure.” Jessica stepped hastily aside so he could enter. Although her reaction time clearly ran a little slow, it didn’t take long for her embarrassment to thoroughly seep in. She became unbearably aware that she stood there in silence and looked a complete and utter mess. The only consolation was that he hadn’t noticed that the rain was a result of her having accidentally cast a spell over him.
“Geez—the weather suddenly went crazy,” Kacey said and shook the water out of his hair. “There wasn’t anything in the forecast about rain. I didn’t see a single cloud on my whole drive over here!”
She laughed nervously and ran an awkward hand through her messy hair as if that would somehow help it look less wild. “That’s Mother Nature for you, I guess. She’s crazy sometimes.”
“Yeah, tell me about.” He pulled off his soaked jacket. Now that he was out of the rain, he finally took in her appearance. A flush came over his cheeks. “Oh, um… I guess I should have told you I was on my way over. Sorry about that. It’s only…you never quite gave me a time, so I figured the earlier, the better.”
Jessica folded her arms self-consciously across her chest and curled her toes into the carpet to hide her chipped toenail polish. “Uh…yeah. So—what’s going on?” she asked.
Kacey raised his eyebrows. “Garden work, I thought. Right?”
“Oh!” She slapped her forehead and the fogginess finally lifted from her brain and permitted her to remember that she had been the one to invite Kacey over in the first place. “Right!” she said. And he was right—she hadn’t given him a time. He had said he would be over bright and early, though. It was too bad she hadn’t remembered until now.
He grinned awkwardly. “Not much of a morning person, are you?”
She forced a laugh. “Sorry. It’s just uh… Yeah, I’m still waking up. I forgot for a second.” And when you said bright and early, I didn’t think you meant this early.
He shrugged cheerfully. “I thought if we made an early start, we would finish early and could go bowling this afternoon. Then I could make it back home before my parents suspect that I’m cheating on my punishment.”
Jessica nodded. “Yeah. That sounds like a plan.” She paused and watched as a few of Ethel’s cats curled themselves around his legs.
He bent to pick one of them up, but the cat hissed and leapt out of his arms. “Sorry, little guy,” Kacey said with a chuckle. He looked at Jessica and smirked. “I forgot—I’m soaked. Cats aren’t very fond of water, are they?”
“I’m so sorry. Let me get you a towel,” she said and rushed off to the linen closet to retrieve one. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” He proceeded to dry his face and hair.
“Um… Well, let me get dressed and we can get started. You can have a seat.” She gestured to the couch. “Make yourself at home.” And with that, she hurried up the stairs, eager to get out of his view while she wore her old flannel pajamas with frayed sleeves.
Jessica couldn’t believe her crush had seen her like this. If Sara and Ashley found out, they would never let her hear the end of it. Thank goodness she hadn’t invited them over too.
“Whoa, slow down, girl!” Ethel said when she almost ran into her in the hallway.
“Sorry, Grandma.” She eyed the old lady for a moment and regrettably remembered the position she had caught her and Pastor Norman in on the couch the previous evening. She folded her arms when she recognized that her grandmother looked a little worse for wear. “You’re looking a little hungover there, Grandma. Do you want some runny eggs for breakfast?” she teased.
Ethel fixed her with a dizzy stare and pointed a shaky finger at her. “Now, you watch it there, you,” she warned. “Don’t you push it, or I’ll find you more chores to last the rest of your grounding period. Now—who was that ringing my doorbell at this time of the morning on a Saturday?”
“It’s only Kacey. We’re about to start the garden work,” she said and all traces of teasing immediately left her voice.
“Just Kacey. Yeah, go figure. I should have known a cute boy was involved to get your lazy bones up and out of bed this early on a Saturday morning. It’s way too early for this nonsense,” Ethel muttered as she staggered back to her bedroom and slammed the door.
Without wasting any more time, Jessica hurried to her room and quietly retrieved some clothes so that she wouldn’t wake Frank, who snored once again in his bed. She tipped into the bathroom, where she dressed quickly and brushed her teeth and hair before she took her pajamas back to her room.
She was about to make her way downstairs but paused for a second and eyed the demon cards stacked on the corner of her desk. As she had done with all the others, she’d left the current card at the top of the deck so that she could see when the next demon escaped.
Judging from the card’s state of emptiness, Frank’s creepy cousin was already on the loose.
Great.
Jessica sighed but shook the worry from her mind. She glanced at Frank. He was all of three inches tall, and the same had to be true for his cousin. Considering that she had already killed a couple of imps in her early days as a fledgling witch, she suspected that the evil imp really wouldn’t be much to worry about.
Even if the thing revealed itself to her in the middle of doing garden work with Kacey, she could probably take care of it without him even noticing. Heck, if she merely took a watering pot with her into the yard, that should do the trick.
This reasoning convinced her that the imp was nothing to be worried about, as far as Jessica was concerned. She was much more worried about whether Kacey had heard her grandma’s comment about him being a cute boy having her up and out of bed so early on a Saturday morning.
When she made her way downstairs, she found Kacey seated on the couch with a couple of cats piled in his lap. They had apparently warmed to him considerably now that he was somewhat drier.
“Sorry about the wait,” she said and felt much more confident now that she wasn’t in pajamas and her hair was neatly brushed.
“No problem.” He smiled, removed the cats gently from his lap, and stood. “Actually, I hoped the rain would pass while you were getting dressed, but no such luck.”
You mean way such luck, Jessica thought. She knew that since it had honestly started raining without her help, there was no way that Frank’s cousin would bother them in the yard.
“Do you think we should wait to see if it slows?” he asked.
“Huh? To see if what slows?”
Kacey blinked. “The rain…”
“No!” she said much too quickly and immediately gave an awkward laugh. “I mean…no, we should get to it. If it stops raining, we want to be able to…you know, use the good weather for going out, not doing garden work.”
“I guess you have a point there,” he said after a pause and then smiled.
She nodded. “Right. So um…let me find us some raincoats. We can knock this garden work out and get back inside for a hot cup of tea and be on our way.”
He grinned. “Sounds good to me.”
Jessica searched around Ethel’s coat closet for two raincoats and finally managed to find a solid yellow one and another covered with a flashy flower pattern. She handed him the plain yellow one. “Here. I’ll spare you the fashion disaster.”
Kacey laughed and then bowed in her direction. “Thank you. Greatly appreciated.”
They shrugged into the coats
and made their way outside into the yard.
“How about we pull up any weeds and pick up any trash first,” Jessica yelled over the roar of wind and rain. “Then we can rake up the dead leaves and trim the hedges. After that, we’re done.”
He nodded and glanced around the yard. “It doesn’t sound like much until you realize how huge your grandma’s yard is. Man.” He shook his head. “I have to admit, I thought you were getting off easy with your punishment, but now I see I was wrong. You’ve probably had it worse than all of us!”
“I don’t know. Cleaning basements and attics has to suck too,” Jessica said and stooped to pull up a weed. “And let’s not forget, my mom gave me a punishment as well.”
“Well, look on the bright side—at least it doesn’t rain indoors.”
“Most of the time,” she said under her breath and thought about the disaster she had caused in the living room last night.
“What was that?” Kacey asked.
She shook her head. “Oh, nothing. Just—thanks for helping me out with this. I know it isn’t the most fun activity in the world.”
He looked her way for a moment and smiled. “No, thank you for coming up with a way for us to spend more time together, even if it is doing chores.”
A butterfly drifted through Jessica’s stomach and suddenly, the coldness of the rain didn’t feel so bad anymore.
The two of them worked in silence and moved quickly and efficiently. They made small-talk here and there whenever they were close enough to hear each other over the rain. Despite the damp and the cold, they finished the front yard fairly quickly and moved on to the side of the house.
They had worked out a good way to divide the tasks. She picked up trash and raked leaves, and he pulled weeds and trimmed the hedges.
Once they had finished the side of the house and were ready to move to the backyard, it was time for a much-needed break.
Jessica groaned, her hands cold and her arms tired. “God, I hate working in the back. There’s no protection from the wind back there. No trees or anything to block it.”