Shes such a-a-a WITCH!! (chapters 1,2,3,4)

I never thought i'd leave Louisiana in my whole life but now here I was packing my bags. I looked around the room, taking in every detail; the pale yellow walls, the white curtains that I use to think were ghost when I was younger, the antique white furniture, my embarrassing collection of stuffed animals that I could never bring myself to give away, my bunk bed that only hosted one occupant; the top bunk had my keyboard, television, bean bag chairs, and my mini refridgerator. Everything has been the same since I was five years old, if you opened my closet you'd even find ten containers of my old barbie dolls. Yeah, it was lame but It was my space and it was me. I don't pretned to be any better than what I am, I am the girl who sings loudly and dances around her room like a maniac in her pj's. I walked into my bathroom that was connected to my room. So my bathroom was even dorkier, The walls were blue and had duckies and bubbles everywhere, the curtains on my bathtub was yellow with blue letters that spelled out my name (something my mother had sent to me for my birthday from Maine). And that is where i am doomed to; Maine, with my mother. I had been to Maine a few times to visit my mother and I hated it, it was too different than Louisiana...and their accents...ugh. But I was sure my accent was kinda weird and annoying to them too. I sighed and put my make up into my make up bag, taking my medicine and putting it in there too, I zipped it up and walked back into my room, sitting it on my bed. I walked back into my bathroom and got my straightener and blow dryer, I walked back into my room and put them into my bag. I puffed my cheeks and let out a huge breath, I looked at myself in my dresser mirror. I looked like my dad, I had long, curly, brown hair; though I prefered to straighten it and I dyed my bangs red. My eyes were a pretty emerald green but these belonged to my mother. I had a small and petite nose and thin smooth lips. Yeah I guess you could say I was pretty, people say I am anyways but they also say I am too modest so I can't really say anything, but I still disagree. I looked away from the mirror as I thought of my friends, the second worse part about leaving; leaving Louisianna meant leaving my friends. My crazy, loser friends were the bestest friends you could ever have and telling them goodbye was the second hardest thing I had to do, but we made the best of it, we ate pizza and played games and watched re-runs of the 70's shows (and Samantha's mom made her famous hotfudge brownies). So all and all was fun as hell but it ended too soon and I was about to leave. I zipped up my bag and my two rolling suitcases, and looked at my room one last time. I sighed and put my bag around my shoulders and took my two suitcases off of my bed and pulled them with me down the stairs, my father was waiting for me by the door.



Remember how I said leaving my friends was the second worse part? Well leaving my dad was the first. Yeah, I know, I chose to leave Louisiana to give him a chance at life, but that selfish part of me almost wanted to throw my bags down and chain myself to his leg. My dad was what the women in this town call a great catch, he was hansome, sweet, successful, funny, and only had one downfall. He had a daughter and was a divorcee at thirty five years old . My parents married younge, my mom got pregnant with me when she was sixteen and they were married when she was eighteen and my dad was 20, then they divorced when my mom was twenty and my dad was twenty two. They thought they were in love...till the got out of highschool and had to take care of me, and thats why I have such a sucky look on love. I have never dated anyone my whole life because of them, I couldn't do it because I as scared to go through that pain. I could still see the pain in my fathers eyes when he looked into mine because I knew he was seeing my mother. So thats why I am leaving, to let my dad get back in the dating game and focus more on work. My mom was a nurse and her new boyfriend was a lawyer (I know, ew. I have a feeling we won't get a long.)



He smiled at me as I finally managed my way down the stairs. "Hey kiddo. Ready to go." He said, putting his arm around me in a half-hug.



I frowned. "Truthfully? No. Lets go."



He sighed. "You don't have to go..."



I sighed too. "Yes, I do. Besides, mom wants me too."



He grimaced. "Right."



I looked down. "Lets go, dad."



"How about you drive?"



I looked up at him in suprise. "Me? Drive the truck? Are you kidding?!" He dropped the keys in my hands and we smiled at each other. I ran out the door and he got my bags for me, laughing to himself at my reaction. I looked at my dads huge red Chevy. It was the most beautiful truck in the world, it was my dad's baby. "Oh. My. God. Am I dreaming?"



He laughed. "No."



I got into the truck and felt the grey leather steering wheel. "I can die happy now."



He laughed and got in the passenger side. "You are such a drama queen, pumpkin."



I poked his stomache. "Shut your mouth, porky." I joked with him. Yeah we had dorky names for each other but it was always fun to make fun of each other, my dad was the coolest dad in the world, I couldn't live without him.....but now I had to...to live with my overly-energetic, social butterfly of a mother and her leech of a lawyer boyfriend. I started the truck and I immediately felt the fuzzies in my stomache. I smiled, forgetting all my worried and backed up then turned the wheel slightly till I was facing down the long, dirt road drive way, I switched gears then drove forward. Off my land and onto the street. As I drove through town, I looked around, every place holding a memory. I was going to miss this. I waved at the people in town that waved farewell to me and blew kisses. The people at the diner where I worked was lined up outside the door, some crying and yelling out; "Goodbye!" and "We'll miss you!" and "We love you!"'s. I had to look away to stop from crying myself, my dad put his hand on my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze to comfort me. I took one hand off the wheel to touch his hand and took it away when he did. I drove past the town sign and thats when the tears spilled over, I couldn't escape reality when I was out of my hometown, I was no longer a citizen there...I was a Maine-iac now.



The drive to the airport wasn't near as long enough as I'd hoped it would've been, I almost turned the truck around when I saw it but I couldn't avvoid this, this was best for my dad. I was going to have to go to Maine. Shit. I parked the car where the guy directed me and got out. My dad got out with me and helped me get my luggage. He walked with me into the airport, neither of us wanting to say our goodbyes so we said nothing as my luggage went through the machines and then handed back to me. We walked out to the plane and stopped at the entrance. He took a deep breath and put his hands on my shoulder. "Now don't let them turn you into a Maine-iac."



I laughed. "Never. You can take the girl out of Louisiana but you can't take Louisiana out of the girl."



He winked and kissed my forehead. "Thats right kiddo."



I sighed. "I'm going to miss you dad."



He rolled his eyes. "Come on, pumpkin, I'll be calling you so much that you cell phone will catch on fire."



I smiled. "Lets hope its not at my ear."



We laughed then we were cut off by a voice over the intercom. "All passengers, this is the last call to board the plane." I groaned and looked at my dad with a torchure expression. He pulled me into a hug. "Knock 'em dead, kiddo."



"Literally?"



"No. Be nice."



I scrunched up my face and crossed my arms. He laughed and gave me a little push. "Off you go, pouty face."



"Love you dad."



"Love you too, baby doll."



I sighed and boarded the plane with the line of people. I took my seat and looked out my window at my dad who was waving to me, I gave him a small wave back and blew him a kiss, I grabbed the air as if he was catching a baseball and pressed his hand to his cheek. I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Such a dork." I said. I layed my head back against the grey seats with blue and burgundy specks all over them. I hated flying so I just knocked myself out with some pills. I opened my purse and dug around in it, why did I get such a huge purse I mean good golly I couldn't find shit. "Dammit." I muttered. "Forgot the damn things."I groaned and layed my head back again. A guy was hovering over me and my seat, trying to put his luggage in the compartment above me and his junk was in my face, I had to fight the urge to elbow him. But seriously, it was just plain rude. I wanted out of here. Maybe I could ask him to knock me out with his suitcase and I'd wake up when we were in Maine. Ick. For once I was actually wanting to be in Maine. It didn't seem long till I fell asleep, I had the most beautiful dream; I was out in a field in Louisiana, laying on my back, staring up at the clouds. You've never seen clouds until you see them in Louisiana, it was beautiful.



I groaned as I cold hand started to shake my shoulder. "Ma'am? The plane has landed it is time to exit."



I reluctantly opened my eyes from Louisiana to look at my worse nightmare...Maine. I stood up and started to exit my seat, the lady standing to the side to let me through. She handed me my bags and smiled me a warm smile. "Enjoy your time in Maine, dear."



Yeah right. I thought to myself. I smiled widely. "I'll try."



I got off the plane and looked around for....then I heard her overly peppy squeal and before I knew it I was in her arms. "Oh my baby is finally here! Oh how i've missed you!" She was saying as she kissed my head.



"Can't....breathe.....mom."



"Oh!" She said pulling back and looking me up and down. "Oh my how you have grown. When did my baby get boobs?!"



I blushed as I noticed people looking over. "Uh..."



She smiled and put her arm around me. "Come on, John is waiting out in the car, he has wanted to see you so bad."



I had to fight back a sneer. "Okey doke mom." I followed after her.

We walked outside as mom was chattering about the neighborhood that we lived in and my pink room (ew, pink.) We finally got to the Buick outside. And then I knew I was in hell, because there was the devil himself, leaning against the car and talking on his cell phone and from the way it sounded it was business. He smiled and hung up the phone to turn to me. How could I describe John? Hmm. Well he looked like your all around jackass, He had a superior look in his deep brown eyes. His nose was long (probably because he lies so much. Haha.) and his dirty blonde hair had mousse and hairspray all in it, I bet if I threw a rock at it, it’d just bounce off. His mouth was turned up in a cocky grin and he had a muscular build, probably from working out at the gym. I wondered if he’d ever eaten a cow? Or a pig? He passed me off as a Veg-head. He outstretched his arms, “Hello Natalia.”



I stared at his arms and made no effort to move towards them. “Hello John.” His grin faded from his face and he dropped his arms. I could’ve patted myself on the back for wiping that cocky ass grin off of his face, this made me smile.

“So…um…Lets head home shall we?”

I looked at him. “Shouldn’t you be going back to your apartment, John?”

My mom and John looked at each other. “You didn’t tell her, Angie?”

My mom sighed and looked at me. I braced myself, I didn’t know what was going on but it couldn’t be a good thing. “Hon…” She started. Oh boy. “John and I bought a house…together.”

My eyes got all huge and I had to hold back a scream. “Uh…wow.”

My mom bit her lip and stepped back into John’s arms. “So are you…excited?”

HELL NO! ARE YOU FREAKING CRAZY?! THIS SUCKS!! I was screaming in my head. “Yeah…totally.” I said with a fake smile. They smiled too and got into the front seats. My smile faded as I stood there. “Shit.” I said under my breath and then got into the back seat.



It didn’t feel right in this car…the black leather seats were impossible to sit in, I couldn’t slouch in the seat or I’d slide right off into the floor. Another thing, I couldn’t look out the window and I love to look out the window, but the windows were tinted basically black. I could make out little orbs of orange light from the streetlights. I looked out the front of the car, it wasn’t as badly tinted. I looked at the few stars in the sky and frowned in disappointment. Where were the stars hiding? I’ll tell ya where, Louisiana. There was nothing more beautiful than the night sky in Louisiana. I smiled to myself at the memory of sitting outside on the tree swing, looking up at the stars with my friends. I got lost in my memories and hardly realized that we had made it to the house. There were so many houses! And so close together! Ugh I almost felt claustrophobic. There were some kids my age out on the street. I smiled, possible friends…unless they were stuck up. Like this one kid I knew growing up, the few times I came here, I had met the snottiest girl in the world; Angel White, my nightmare. I smiled as I saw a familiar face next to the driveway, Kayla, my only friend in Maine. The only kid I ever got along with. My cell phone rang and I answered it, the same time Kayla had her cell to her ear. “Hey Kay.” I said instantly. I watched as she had that OMG look.

“How’d you know it was me?” She said sarcastically and put her hand on her hip .



“Oh I’m psychic, duh.” We laughed.



We pulled into the driveway. “Okay I have to go because theres this loser from Louisiana who just pulled up.”



I laughed. “Kick her ass, Kayla.” We laughed again.



“Bye country girl.”



“Bye city girl.” We hung up and the car stopped. I opened the door and got out, before I knew it Kayla had tackled me into a hug. I laughed and hugged her tightly. “Yeah I missed you too.”



She pulled back and looked at me. “Oh my god, you’re hot! And I totally mean that in the friend way, not the gay way.”



I laughed. “Um…thanks? You too, I guess?” I said weirdly. She rolled her eyes and locked arms with me.



“Lets go.” She said, pulling my arm.



I pulled back, “Let me get my stuff inside, I’ll meet you in your house, ‘Kay?”



She sighed. “’Kay.” She let me go and skipped over to her house next door. I sighed, maybe this wouldn’t be absolute hell. I walked over to the car, John and mom was already inside, I opened up the trunk and got my stuff out, I dropped my purse and my perfume bottle rolled out into the street. “Well hot darn it.” I muttered as I chased after it. When I got to it a hand was there and picked it up for me, I blinked and slowly straightened up at the same time as them. I looked up to see a really pretty girl looking at me. She had long black hair and her bangs covered one eye, the ends of her bangs were a light blue. And here eyes..well I could actually only see one eye, was the prettiest color light blue I had ever seen, they were like crystals and her eyeliner made them pop perfectly. I felt a small envy of her looks. I smiled thankfully. “Oh…uh…thank you.” I said as I reached out my hand for it.



She smiled and handed it to me. “No problem.” Her teeth was perfectly white and straight, you didn’t see many teeth like that in Louisiana. “So you must be Natalia Grey? Your mom has been gushing about you for weeks.”



I groaned. “Ugh, kill me! She is the biggest moter mouth! Such a social butter fly! I mean can she not just shut her gob? I don’t even want to be here, and now I am rambling to a complete stranger! Oh my god I must sound like an idiot, feel free to stop me at anytime, you can slap me, if you want to.” I blushed. “



She laughed. “Wow…you always talk this much?”



“Only when I’m nervous..”



“You’re nervous?”



“Well…meeting new people is kinda…bleh…for me. I’m use to knowing everybody. You know, small towns, everybody knows everybody. Its like a law. But here its different because it’s a huge town, this street is so crowded! You don’t see that in Louisiana either!” She was staring at me, fighting a smile as I babbled. I slapped my forehead. “Oh shit, I’m rambling again. I’m sorry, my disability to shut up is the only thing I got from my mother.”



“Naw, its cool.” She looked like she wanted to say something else but was stopping herself so I just nodded awkwardly and put my hand in my back pockets and rocked back and forth from my tip toes to the heels of my feet, I did this when things were awkward. “So uh…you never told me your name.”



“Oh. Yeah. My names Ashley.”



I smiled and held my hand out, she shook it and smiled. “Its nice to meet you.”



She smiled. “Yeah you too.”



“Nat!!” I heard somebody yell, I turned to see Kayla running towards us, she finally got to us and grabbed my arm as she breathed heavily. “There you are, what are you doing over here?”



“I was just talking to-“ I turned to motion to Ashley but she was gone. “Uh…well…she was here. Do you know Ashley?”



She nodded. “Uh…yeah. Why were you talking to her?”



“She was giving me my perfume, it kinda ran away from me.”



“Just watch yourself around her.”



I frowned. “Why? She’s so nice.”



Kayla rolled her eyes. “I bet.”



I looked at her. “She was just being nice to me, Kayla.”



Kayla looked at me. “Are you sure it wasn’t flirting?” My frown deepened, uncomprehendingly.



“Flirting?”



“Oh my god, you are so dense. She’s gay; a total lezbo.”



I shook my head. “No way.”



“Yes.”



“Wow.”



“Yeah, so like I said, watch yourself.”



I scowled at her. “Just because she’s gay doesn’t mean I can’t be friends with her.”



“What if she trys to convert you?”



I rolled my eyes.



“So you don’t have a problem with gay people?”



I shook my head and looked at her apprehensively. “Do you?”



“Only if they don’t try anything with me…”



I laughed. “You’re horrible.”



She shrugged. “There is worse.”

I nodded in agreement. I wondered how my stuck-up mother and her beau would feel about that. I smiled to myself, maybe we could have Ashley over for my homecoming sleepover. I looked at Kayla. “What do you think about inviting her to the sleepover?”



Kayla looked at me as if I had dumbass written on my head. “Uh, did you just miss the discussion we just had? You know, about Ashley being gay?”



I shrugged. “So what?”



Kayla rolled her eyes. “You are too trusting, Nat.”



I looked down. “Not really…”



Kayla looked up at the trees awkwardly. I sighed and looked back up, I was such a downer . Putting Kayla down is like pouring water on a happy cat and the look is so sad that you just have to cuddle with it and feel bad. I hugged her. “Kay you’re my bestest friend, thank you for making Maine worth moving to.”



She smiled and hugged me back. “Anytime.”

“Hey Kayla!” yelled a male voice. We pulled away from each other and looked at the cute boy that was making his way towards us from across the street, Ashley’s house. He was so gorgeous that it was like he’d just stepped out of a magazine. His feathery blonde hair was styled like most guys you see today, swiping across his face just above his eyes; his eyes were a deep entrancing blue. He had a nice tan too, which I didn’t understand because it was so cold; I bet he tans in the tanning bed. Well he stuck out just about as much as I did, I had a wonderful tan because I just loved to layout on a blanked in the middle of the field behind my house, just bathing in the sun. I smiled at the memory of how the warm sun felt on my skin, as if to knock me out of me trance a cold breeze swept over me and I shivered. The gorgeous boy made his way to us. “Hey Kayla, who’s this?”



Kayla smiled. “Hey Jake, this is Natalia Grey.”



Jake looked at me. “Ah you’re the one who everybody on this street had been talking about.” He smiled a big smile at me that showed his straight white teeth; he must be related to Ashley, I bet their mom or dad was a dentist.



I smiled back. “Yeah…I guess I am.”



He laughed. “My names Jake.”



I nodded. “Yeah I caught that.” I twanged and nodded my head towards Kayla.



He tilted his head a bit to the side. “Cute accent, where you from?”



I blushed a bit when he said my accent was cute, which I didn’t get at all, most people from Maine thinks that my accent is annoying (including my mother). “Uh…Louisiana.”



He nodded. “That’s what I thought.”



Kayla looked from his face to mine with a devious smile. “Uh, hey, I’m going to go pack, I’ll catch you later.” My eyes widened at her and I grabbed her arm and gave her a pleading look that said ‘don’t leave me’. She smiled as her eyes turned to something behind me. “Or it can wait.” I looked at her, confused by what she changed her mind for and looked behind me to see another amazingly gorgeous guy coming towards us. He was like a god rather than a model and I instantly knew why Kayla had chosen to stick around. His hair was in the same style as Jake’s just a little longer and his hair was brown. I looked at his eyes, they were the most beautiful blue/green color I had ever seen. He had no shirt on and I had to force myself not to stare at his muscular body, he looked as if he had been running as he stopped beside Jake.



“Hey, you’re Natalia, right?” He asked after looking my from head to toe.



I smiled and nodded. “Last time I checked.”



He laughed. “Nice accent.”



I blushed and he winked at me. Kayla couched and stepped in front of me. “Hey Aiden, how was your run?” She smiled widely and batted her eyelashes. I raised my brows at her, Kayla obviously had a thing for this guy. I bit my lip as to not laugh at her obvious flirting. He ruffled his hair and my heart almost stopped.



“Uh, it was good, I guess. I saw that Neil kid with his broken down car, it was pretty funny.”



Kayla laughed. “That’s his mothers old car. His mom got a new Mercedes and he got that piece of shit Taurus.”



Aiden laughed. “That’s hardly fair.”



I frowned and could’ve smacked them both in the back of the head. They weren’t being very nice. “Who’s Neil?” I asked curiously.



Kayla looked at me. “He’s your other neighbor. He’s cute but he’s like really smart, its intimidating…He kinda just keeps to himself.”



My frown deepened, that didn’t sound right. I’m sure he wanted friends. I want to meet him, maybe I can get him out of his shell, he did sound like a bad guy at all. “Cool.” Was all I said.



Everybody just got quiet. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, one of the other things I did when things got awkward. Jake was the one to break the silence. “OH shit, everybody get down, the neighborhood *Swearing is not allowed, edit your post and this will go away* is coming in her BMW.”

Kayla giggled and followed Aiden and Jake as they dove into the bushes. I raised a brow and looked at them. Jake took my hand and pulled me down into the bushes. I gasped and fell right on top of him, Aiden, and Kayla.

“What in the hell?” I whispered. “Shh.” Aiden said putting his hand over my mouth; My head was in his lap, my butt was in Jake’s and Kayla had my feet. I watched with them as a convertible BMW drove past us, long blonde hair flying behind a girls head like flames being blown sideways by the wind. She had big sunglasses on, the kind I like to call ‘bug eye glasses’. Her lips that were hot pink were puckered in a superior look and that how I knew that the girl I was looking at was the devil herself, Angel White, ignore the irony there. I gasped. “You’ve gotta be *Swearing is not allowed, edit your post and this will go away* kidding me!” I yelled under Aiden’s hand. Aiden chuckled and Jake smiled and looked at me.



“I’m guessing you know her then?” Jake asked, humor in his tone. I nodded and scowled. “Yeah I know her.”



Kayla rolled her eyes. “Angel hates Natalia because Natalia wouldn’t be her friend and ignore me when we were little. So she use to torture us in every way.”



I looked at them and Aiden took his hand off of my mouth when the coast was clear. I sat up and pushed myself off of them and sat cross-legged in front of them. “Please tell me she’s not as much of a *Swearing is not allowed, edit your post and this will go away* as I remember?”



They all exchange a look that was enough to confirm my fear and then they all said in unison. “Much worse.” I groaned. We stood up out of the bushes and brushed ourselves off. “She lives on this street?



They nodded and Aiden said; “She lives in the biggest house beside me, kinda further diagonal from you than I am. I live next to Jake and Ashley.”



I looked at Jake. “You’re Ashley’s brother?”



He nodded. “Uh, yeah. You met her?”



I nodded. “I talked to her when I first got here.”



“Ah.”



“You two don’t look much alike.” I pointed out.



He put his hands in his pocket. “Well we’re twins but she likes to be different and independent so she dyed her hair and her eyes are a little lighter than mine. We aren’t identical but if you look at our faces side by side we look a lot alike.”



I studied his face for a minute then remembered Ashley’s face. “Oh yeah, I can see that now.”



He smiled and I smiled back. Aiden coughed. “So, um, Natalia…Are you going to Witchcaster?”



I looked at him. “That’s the school right?”



Aiden smiled adorably. “Yes.”



I blushed and felt immediately stupid. “Uh yeah I guess. Its not a big school is it?”



Kayla smiled. “Huge.”



I groaned. “Yay,” I said sarcastically, “If I don’t get lost in town , I’ll get lost at school.” They laughed at me and I didn’t join in because I realized how that would more than likely happen to me, with my luck. I was use to a small town and a small school system. I sighed and looked at my feet. They looked at me sympathetically and stopped laughing.



We looked up as we heard a car pull up into my drive way. I frowned. “Who’s that?” I wondered out loud.



Kayla looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “You don’t know?”



I shook my head. “Who is it?”



Kayla looked towards the car. “I think you need to talk to your mom.”



I rolled my eyes. “I think you need to talk to me and tell me who the *Swearing is not allowed, edit your post and this will go away* is in my driveway! Is my mom cheating on John?”



Kayla’s eyes widened and looked at me. “Heavens no! That’s Sarah, John’s daughter.”



I gaped at her. “Sh-what?” They laughed a bit at my word. I wasn’t paying attention to them I was looking at the car that was in my driveway. It was a yellow beetle. I called it a ‘slug bug’ me and my father loved to play that game on the road, one time I hit his leg so hard that it left a huge bruise. Then the door opened and a tall, tanned girl (probably part Hispanic) with long, brown hair got out; I guessed whoever her mother was is where she got her looks because the only thing they had in common was their height and deep brown eyes, but man oh man did she look like a model! She was absolutely gorgeous and by the way she walked, she knew it. “Wow.” I said under my breath. Jake smiled and I happened to catch it, I bet he noticed she was beautiful too. I looked to Aiden for some kind of reaction but he was looking at me, I blushed and looked back to Sarah. “Wait just a damn minute! They didn’t say shit about John having a daughter that lives with us! How old is she?”



Jake answered instead of Kayla. “She’s sixteen.”



“Only a year younger than me…”



That seemed to surprise him. “You’re 17?”



I raised a brow. “Uh, yeah.”



He shook his head as if to shake off the shock. “Wow, you look much older than that.”



I blushed. “Really?”



He smiled. “Yeah.” He stared into my eyes for a longtime and I looked away, the way he was looking at me made me nervous, then I heard a innocent girly voice behind me.



“Hey, you’re Natalia Grey, right?”



I looked behind me towards the girly voice. I sighed, I was getting tired of this question. I wish one person didn’t already know me. “Yeah I am.”



She smiled. “I’m Hailey Fairchild, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She held out her hand for me to shake. I took her hand awkwardly and shook it. I studied her appearance, her appearance sure went with her voice, by golly! She had strawberry blonde hair that was short, about shoulder length and she had bangs that stopped just at her eyebrows, her eyes were light green, almost blue/green. She had small freckles on her cheeks and she was short, her head came to about my shoulder, her face was innocent and kind. I couldn’t help but smile at such a sweet looking girl.

“Its nice to meet you too Hailey.” I twanged.



“Oh. Oh. Let me guess, Louisiana girl?”



I tilted my head a bit. “Yeah, how’d you know?”



She giggled. “Your accent. I have family in Louisiana, lovely place, so warm.”



My smile warmed at her words, I was sure going to get along with this girl. She turned to Jake. “Where’s Ash?”



Jake shrugged. “In the house, I guess?”



I looked at Hailey. “Is she your friend?”



She nodded. “Yep. One of her best…well one of her only, people are so judgmental about gay people.” She clasped her hand over her mouth. “Oops.”



I laughed. “I already I know.”



She laughed. “Oh. Okay then. Well its tuff being her friend because rumors spread about you but I don’t care. I’m not gay and I know it so why should I care what they think?”



I nodded. “I like that.”





She curtsied and I giggled. “Why thank you, Natalia.”



Suddenly an idea occurred to me. “Hey, why don’t you and Ashley come to my homecoming sleepover tonight?”



Hailey smiled. “That’d be great! I’ll go tell Ash. Bye Natalia!”



I smiled and waved farewell to her as she skipped off towards Ashley’s house. Kayla sighed and rolled her eyes. I glared at her.



“Can I come?” Aiden asked with a wink.



I giggled. “It’s a girl sleepover.”



“Can I come?” He repeated.



I rolled my eyes. “Not if I can’t paint your nails and do your makeup.”



His grin faded into a look of horror. I laughed. “Okey dokey then, that’s what I thought.”



He sighed. “You win this time, Louisiana.” He winked. “Catch ya later, ‘kay?”



I nodded. Kayla smiled and twisted her hair. “I sure hope so..” She said suggestively. He ruffled his hair and blushed a bit before he ran off towards his house. I looked at Jake. “You’ve been awfully quiet.” I pointed out. Jake shrugged.



“I was just wondering if you’d like me to help you unpack or anything?”



I smiled and patted his shoulder. “I’m flattered that you offered but my mom and John already has my room set up, all I have is my personal stuff and clothes.”



He nodded. “Cool, cool. But if you ever need anything, I’m your guy.”



I smiled. “I appreciate it.”



He smiled. “I better go get my chores done before my pops gets home. See ya Nat, Kayla.” He turned and stalked off across the street and into his house.

Homecoming Sleepover…

I was chewing on my bottom lip and playing with the end of my hair, a nervous habit, as I stared out the window. I was sitting on the end of my bed as Kayla read her magazine; she was spread out on my orange rug. Oh, so I guess my dad talked to my mom about me hating pink because she painted two walls orange (my favorite color.) Well my room was pretty typical teenager. I had already hung up posters of my favorite bands and celebrities. There was pictures of me and my friends on the top of my book shelf, my hundreds of books already organized on them. The only thing that was really OMG about my room was the big plasma screen TV hanging on my wall in front of my bed. I bet John bought it for me, I wondered why? Maybe he was buttering me up for something…but what? I had a bathroom attached to this room too. It was, to my relief, decorated in orange and white. She had made me orange curtains with my name on it in pink fancy lettering, like the one at my dad’s house. But I guess my room was pretty cool.

“They’re not coming, Nat.”

I threw an orange pillow at her. They had put like a thousand pink and orange throw pillows on my bed, Jeez. The two bigger pillows that I was actually going to sleep on were orange. “They said they were, Kayla! They said they were going to be running late.”

“Hopefully they’re getting some booze.”

I gasped and looked at her. “Kayla Marie! You drink?!”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Your accent shows soooo bad when you’re upset. Its like a major twang.”

I rolled my eyes and fell back into a laying position, absentmindedly fidgeting with my pink satin bed covers. I ran my fingers over the orange part that was a big N in the middle of my bed, again a mother add-on. “I love my accent…its all I have left of home.” I said quietly.

She sat up and looked at me. “This is your home, now.” She said, her tone having a hint of offense to my statement. Well Gaw-lee what does she expect? That one day in Maine would make me forget where my true home is? I sat up too and looked back at her, my anger suddenly rising, it was usually hard to make me lose my temper but I was immediately on the offense.

“This is not my home, Kayla! This is not where I belong!”

Her face scrunched up in anger, Kayla was a pretty girl but she looked plain ugly when she made this face. “Well we’re sorry that we’re not good enough for you, Louisiana.” She lay back down and crossed her arms, turning on her side so that she was no longer looking at me. I sighed and opened my mouth to apologize when there was a knock on my door. Kayla wouldn’t get up because she was still blowing off steam so I got up and walked over to the door and turned the fake crystal-like handle. I opened it to a smiling Hailey who was holding Wal-Mart bags which I was sure was holding junk-food and other stuff. Ashley met my eyes and smiled at me, and I smiled back. Hailey was the first to speak, “I got the goods, now its time to really party.” She laughed then walked past me and sat in one my orange bean bag chair beside my bed.

I gulped. “What kind of goods?”

Ashley walked in and put a hand on my shoulder. “Calm down, you don’t have to drink if you don’t want to.”

I bit my lip and just nodded. She smiled at me, a reassuring smile and I smiled a timid smile back. We walked into my room and closed the door behind us. Kayla instantly grabbed a bag and pulled out a bottle of vodka. “Oh yeah, the good stuff.” She said in a voice that youd expect to hear a couple of burglars talk about a precious jewel they’ve had their eye on to steal. I frowned at her. She whispered something to Hailey and I tilted my head to hear what she was saying better. “You have to excuse Natalia, she’s a virgin; and not only in the drinking terms.” They giggled. I puffed my cheeks in anger then let out a huge huff as I turned out the door. They looked up guiltily and Ashley did something close to a growl. I heard something behind me that sounded like a zip and all was quiet. I kept walking, down the stairs and around the corner, down the hall way to the huge door. I walked outside and sat on the door steps. I sighed and leaned my head on the cold, metal rail as I looked up at the sky. There was a sound of a door closing behind me and I saw somebody sit beside me. I waited for them to say something and I guessed they weren’t so I continued to look up at the few stars. We sat there in silence for a long time before they finally spoke. “I’m sorry about that, Natalia, they don’t know any better. They don’t really think about what they say. Trust me; they’ll apologize when you come back.” Ashley said.

I turned my eyes from the sky to look at her. “I didn’t really appreciate Kayla telling Hailey about my personal life. People aren’t this mean where I’m from, I’m just not use to it. If somebody says they’re your friend, they’re suppose to mean it and act like a friend.” I felt hot tears running down my cheeks and I wiped at them agitatedly.

She sighed. “Please don’t cry…” She said softly. I shook my head as I forced the tears back.

“I’m overreacting. I’m just a big baby.”

She laughed once, without a bit of humor. “Please! If I was you I would’ve thrown something at their big heads.” I laughed and she laughed with me. After a long while we stopped laughing.

“I feel as if my laugh box has exploded in my spleen.” I said, wiping away the tears from laughter. She was wiping at tears too.

“I know what you mean. Man, its felt like forever since I’ve laughed.”

I looked at her. “Why?”

She shrugged as she looked down. “I haven’t had a reason to…”

I frowned. “I’m sorry.”

She smiled. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

I smiled too. “But I’m still sorry. Can I ask why?”

She looked up at me, confused. “Ask why, what?”

“Ask why you don’t smile?”

“Oh. Sure.” She nodded. “Um…Well my father died in prison a few weeks ago.”

I gasped. “Oh. My. God. I’m so sorry.”

She scowled at the ground. “Don’t be. He was in jail for beating me and my mother.”

“I- That’s- Uh-“I blabbered, speechless with the shock. She laughed a bit at me. I finally got my ability to talk back. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”

She nodded. “Its okay. I’m fine…” She paused as if to say something else but stopped.

I put a hand on her shoulder and turned to her. “You can tell me. I promise I won’t tell anybody.” She looked at my hand; her eyes seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. I took my hand off her shoulder and bit my lip. That was a little too weird for me. I had almost forgotten that she was a girl…a gay girl. She sighed and looked down again.

“I’m sorry if I make you uncomfortable.” She whispered.

I looked up defensively. “No. That’s not it. I have no problem with you being…gay.” I had to swallow before saying the word.

She laughed. “Its hard for you to even say the word.”

I shook my head, totally on the offense now. “No! No! That’s not-“She cut me off by holding a finger up to my lips and I immediately shut up.

“Calm down. It’s okay. Let’s go back inside.” She stood up and I grabbed her hand.

“Wait!” She looked down at me with raised eyebrows, her eyes wandering to our hands again with that same sparkle-eyed looked she had before. I let go of her hand and grabbed my knee, the awkwardness back on the surface. “You never told me what you were going to say…”

She sighed. “We’ll talk tonight. When the others are asleep…okay? I don’t want to ruin you reputation by being out here with the neighborhood lesbian too long.”

I sighed and stood up with a huff. “’Like I give a damn about my reputation.” She laughed and I smiled. We walked back into the house and back up to my room.

Ashley grabbed the sleeve of my pajama shirt. “Hold on. Let me make sure they are out of their little mood.” I studied her face; it almost looked like she had forgotten something important that I couldn’t see; like she was hiding something. I had to hold back an annoyed frown; didn’t we just have a discussion about friends being friends? Well friends didn’t hide things. But I stayed back and crossed my arms as she walked into my room and closed the door behind her. I heard a slight swish noise then annoyed chatter, sudden quiet again, then sighs of apology and defeat. Then the door opened up and Ashley smiled at me hugely, a reassuring smile. I raised a brow as I looked behind her at the apologetic smile of Hailey and Kayla. I walked into the room and Kayla and Hailey stood up to hug me and whisper apologies in my ear, Ashley was smiling kind of…like she was proud of herself. I didn’t understand why she was smiling at that but then I figured she had whipped them into shape herself. I smiled at her, she really was a good friend, but I still felt like she was hiding something from me.

The night was normal from then on. We watched scary movies; Kayla almost pissed her pants it was funny as hell. We pigged out on all of the junk food that Hailey had brought (while Kayla and Hailey drank.) I looked at Ashley as she watched them drink, her face almost seemed tortured, like she wanted to drink too. I sighed. “You can drink Ashley, I won’t judge.”

She looked at me. “I don’t really want to though.”

I frowned uncomprehendingly and she just shook her head as if to say ‘just forget it’. I sighed again and just picked orange fuzzies off of my carpet. The excited mood just kinda faded and I was dead bored. Then Kayla stood up and we looked up at her. “Lets invite some guys over.” She slurred. Ashley rolled her eyes and I just looked horrified. Hailey looked more than enthusiastic at the idea of inviting some guys over. Kayla looked at our faces and stopped at mine. “Oh come on Nat, live a little, its just going to be the guys you already know.”

I bit my lip unsurely. Hailey shook my arm. “Oh come on Nat, it’ll be fun!”

I sighed. “Like who?”

Kayla tilted her head and put her pointing finger to her chin in thought, I had to giggle when she did that, she looked like a cute little kid again when she did that. “Totally Aiden, maybe Jake…” Ashley rolled her eyes again, I’m sure I understood that eye roll, why would anybody want their brother invited over by two very drunk teenagers? “Kyle, man he has a hot bod. That’s about it on this street.” I gasped and everybody looked at me.

I cleared my throat and blushed as everybody’s attention turned to me. “Um…you mean…Kyle? As in Kyle White? As in the devil’s brother?”

Kayla nodded. “He’s hot.” She shrugged.

“He use to push us in the mud and throw rocks at us.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “So what? We were kids, Nat. He’s grown up.”

“Only in size, his maturity, I’m sure is the same.” Ashley interjected. I giggled and so did Hailey and Kayla.

“Very true.” Hailey agreed.

“Still, he’s hot and he’s not that bad of a partier.”

“Or a kisser.” Hailey added in with a giggle. Ashley shook her head with her eyes closed as if she couldn’t believe that they showed such obvious teenage girl behavior. I frowned at them, still going through my pros and cons of the idea. “Please Nat?” Hailey and Kayla begged me with those puppy dog eyes.

I groaned. “Fine, but if we get caught I am smashing every bottle of liquor you have here over your heads.” Ashley laughed but looked a little disappointed at my decision, I looked at her apologetically and she waved her hand to indicate that it was fine. I nodded. Kayla was already on her phone calling up all the guys.

I sighed when she hung up and turned to us with a mischievous smile.

“They’re on their way.” She informed us. Hailey clapped her hands together excitedly, Ashley sighed and rolled here eyes, and I bit my lip; terrified. Our eyes went to the window when we heard a loud Thud! And a line of cursing outside. We looked at each other and giggled. I felt the adrenaline rushing through me, I had never snuck guys into my house before. Before I knew it the guys were climbing in the window and I frowned in confusion, how did they get up here? I was on the second floor and I had no trees for them to climb up and I didn’t think John or mom even owned a ladder since they never did anything constructive. Well they did have a painting ladder that they had used to paint my walls that happened to still be in my room when I walked in but now it was outside in the middle of the hallway.





I smiled when I remembered how John had tripped over it coming out of the bathroom, I literally had to bite my tongue so hard not to laugh that it was bleeding (but of course when he was downstairs I laughed my ass off. But Shhhhhh, nobody needs to know that.) Aiden smiled at me as he climbed through the window. “Hey, Nat.” He winked. Ashley stood up and walked over to sit cross-legged on my bed as I sat against my wall, holding my knees. I smiled at him. “Hey Aiden.”

Jake came in after him and smiled at me too. “Ash? What are you doing here?” He asked, eyeing his sister, as if she was the last person he wanted to see at this moment. She smiled smugly. “Natalia invited me.” He nodded then looked at me. “Hey, girl, how are you?”

I smiled the most polite smile. “Just peachy. You?”

He smiled. “Same here.”

Hailey ‘s eyes lit up when another guy pushed himself into the window, doing a flip and landing in a slight crouch on the floor. He stood up with a goofy grin. “Time to par-tay!” You could tell by the way he slurred the words that he was drunk. Hailey smiled up at him. “Hi Kyle.” My smiled faded from my face. Kyle?! Was she crazy?! Kyle! I looked him up and down and my mouth dropped. He was friggin huge! He was like a black bear standing on his hind legs(If the bear also looked like a *Swearing is not allowed, edit your post and this will go away* hot football star). So he was tall and muscular, really muscular, I bet he could pick me up in one hand without any effort; obviously he played sports (football being my guess). His hair was brown and his eyes were blue, he looked like his father; Garth White. And his eyes he got from his mother; Diana White. And he was the brother of the devil herself, Angel White. I couldn’t help but stare, I mean this was the guy that use to throw rocks at me and Kayla and tease us for having ‘cooties’. He always took whatever toy we were playing with outside and he always pushed us in the dirt at the park while his sister clapped and laughed. I scowled at him now that I remembered this and realized that this was that same mean kid and if Angel was still the *Swearing is not allowed, edit your post and this will go away* that she always was then whose to say he hasn’t changed either? Well Grr. Somebody sat closely beside me, drawing my attention away from Kyle, I turned my head to see Aiden smiling at me and studying whatever kind of weird expression I was wearing. I shook myself mentally and smiled at him. “Well Hi there.” I said perkily.

His smile widened. “Hi. Thanks for inviting us.”

I frowned. What? I invited them?! The hell I did! “Uh…yeah…sure.”

He looked down at his hands then back up to me. “So six more days and we go back to school.” His face looked a little worried, like he didn’t like the thought of us going back to school so early.

I nodded. “I’m not sure I’m ready, I may take a few days to myself first.”

He smiled in what almost looked like relief. “Yeah you should, do that, I would.” The others looked at each other, their chat stopping for a moment to listen to mine and Aiden’s conversation and I could feel relief from them too. I looked around at them curiously and they must’ve felt it because the started laughing and joking again and Aiden’s head turned to me again to catch my attention. “So are you still hating Maine?”

I shrugged. “Its so so. I still miss Louisiana…I miss my dad more than anything, really…and the people down at the diner.”

He laughed a bit and I looked up at him questioningly. He caught me confused gaze and stopped laughing but still smiled widely. “You’re a waitress?”

“I was.” I corrected.

His lips set into a hard line as if to stop himself from laughing again. “I just never pictured you as a waitress is all.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh really? What did you picture me as?”

“A pageant queen or a Louisiana model? Something along those lines.”

I blushed. “Yeah, whatever.”

He laughed. “I’m serious.” He bumped my shoulder slightly and we laughed. There was a cough and we looked up to see Jake, my gaze went behind him in time to see Ashley leave the room and my heart at a sharp pain. I hated that she wasn’t having fun and I wasn’t talking to her, I felt really bad. I looked back at Jake and smiled. “Hey Jake. Did you need something?”



Jake shook his head. “Nah I was just wondering if you’d like to play spin the bottle truth or dare with us.” Kayla, Kyle, and Hailey came up behind him and looked at me pleadingly. I looked at Aiden and he gave me a ‘why not’ shrug. I sighed and nodded. “Sure, just let me go get Ashley.”



They nodded though Hailey and Kayla looked disappointed. I stood up (with Aiden and Jake’s help, like I couldn’t manage to do that myself) and walked past them and out my door. “Ashley? Ashley?”

No answer.

I frowned. And walked down my long hallway, why was she not answering me? I looked in every door that was open. John and mom and gone out to a party, they probably got drunk and passed out (good.) And Sarah was spending the night at a friends house. Therefore, nobody was home. I started whispering her name again. “Ashley? Ash?”

Still, nothing.

I gulped and clenched my hands into fist. There was a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. What was I so scared about? I mean maybe she just went home. Well that changed everything, now I was pissed. I straightened up and walked down the stairs, I was so mad. I mean so what if Kayla called her brother to come over? That’s a pretty lame reason to just leave. Ugh, she was about to get the Louisiana fury. I was going throw the biggest *Swearing is not allowed, edit your post and this will go away* fit. I hated when people just left without even saying so. It pissed me off…well, obviously. I was feeling as hot as Louisiana hot sauce.

But when I got to the bottom step that’s when I heard it. It was a whistling sound then a grunt of pain, followed by a THUMP, followed by clashes of breaking glass. I was frozen at the bottom of the stairs. What was going on?

But when I got to the bottom step that’s when I heard it. It was a whistling sound then a grunt of pain, followed by a THUMP, followed by clashes of breaking glass. I was frozen at the bottom of the stairs. What was going on? I took a deep breath and walked down the stairs, another clash and this time a scream. My eyes widened and almost as if my legs were controlling themselves I ran to the livingroom and gasped at what I saw. Ashley, sprawled out on the ground, broken glass everywhere. I looked away from Ashley, trying not to cry. My heart was pounding out of my chest and my breaths were coming out in fast pants as my eyes caught sight of the dark shadow across the room from me...only it wasn't a shadow, it was a cloak, a long black cloak, I followed up the fabric and met the cold blue eyes of what I knew was pure evil. It hissed and darted towards me, I screamed and threw myself out of its way, landing on the floor next to Ashley. The cloaked man was in the kitchen, I picked up Ashley's head. "Ash? Ashley?"

Ashley opened her eyes to look at me the they widened in horror, I stared back into hers trying to see if she was okay when she screamed. "Move Natalia!"

Something hit me in the back and I fell forward onto Ashley. It felt as if electricity was swimming through my veins, burning them as the passed. I screamed out, I heard a whooshing sound behind me and rolled me and Ashley out of the way. I turned, on my knees in front of Ashley to protect her. The dark figure was facing me with a....stick? There was a stick in his hand...but it was black, with an end of a sword...like a...a....a wand? I blinked and almost missed the movement of his hand but with another whoosh, green light started towards me and suddenly it clicked that it was bad. How did I block it, stop it from hitting me and Ashley? How? How? I raised out my hand as if to stop the blow from hitting my face. STOP!! I screamed out in my head and suddenly, out of my raised up hand a blue light hit the greed and retracted the green to the figure. The man grunted and shot backwards into the staircase with a loud CRASH! I heard gasps of surprise from the top of the stairs and looked up to see the others watching me with wide eyes. What had I done? Oh god, oh god, what just happened? My mind couldn't even process what had just happened though I knew exactly how it happened. Aiden cleared his throat. "We need the council." The others nodded in agreement. Council? What Council? What were they taking about? Council? I tuned to look at Ashley. Her expression shocked as she stared at me with big eyes. Okay Why in the hell were they all looking at me like that? It wasn't just shock, it was like.....amazement....I didn't get it.

WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN “SPECIAL”??

They didn’t explain shit to me. I was sitting on the couch, Ashley and Aiden at least sat by me, the others stood up against the wall behind the leather couch in front of the couch I was on and stared at me like I was either a freak or a goddess they didn’t believe existed. They apparently called the so called ‘Council’. Aiden was nice enough to explain that I wasn’t in any trouble but it was important that they talked to me. I frowned as I went over what he said. He was the first to step toward me. “Natalia…stay calm, okay? We are going to have all of this explained but we have to bring some people over to explain it to you…and they are going to ask you a few questions…”

Jake rushed over to Ashley and took her into the kitchen to get her cleaned up. Kayla and Hailey stayed where they were and whispered wile sneaking looks at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. And Kyle was still staring at me dumbfounded (dumb being the keyword there.) I just nodded at Aiden then they all just left me all the couch to go call the council and explain everything, didn’t know why it took all of them but after what just happened, nothing seemed strange to me anymore.


I looked in the corner where the guy in the robe was unconscious…or dead…Oh shit! Had I killed somebody? Is that why the Council was coming here? But wouldn’t that be the cops jobs? My god my head was aching. I put my face in my hands and groaned. I felt Aiden put an arm around me and Ashley patted my back. Then there was a knock at the door. I sat up straight and watched the door as Jake opened it. Seven older people walked into the room. There was four men and three women. I studied the one that stood in the middle. He was tall, grey haired with wise, blue eyes. He looked maybe in his 50’s or so. Something about the way he looked made me think of him having a long beard and a wizards hat. (Sounds a bit like Dumbledore, yeah I know you were picturing him too.) But I could almost see the power radiating off of him, I blinked. I didn’t know whether to shake his hand or bow down at his feet. The others just stood up and bowed their heads in respect and I copied them. I looked at the guy next to him, he was younger, jet black hair and mysterious brown eyes, tall and skinny, probably in his 30’s. The other guy was shorter and a bit more muscley (yeah I know, its not a word) he had red hair and green eyes, he looked in his later 20’s. The women were beautiful. The oldest one is the one I noticed first, just by the way she stood you could see she was powerful and proud (not in a stuck-up way.) She had long wavy brown hair that flowed over her shoulders to her waist, her jade eyes were studying me as I was her and she looked in her 40’s but she was defiantly still beautiful. The other one looked rather mean. She was short, pale, with straight, black hair to about her shoulders and her grey eyes swept over me almost like she thought I was unworthy to even be in their presence, well she can just kiss my ass. This was the Council and I could see why they were so respected, they had to be the most powerful people she had ever seen, and that’s when it clicked, they were not normal…and neither was I.


It was the most beautiful and oldest woman that spoke first, directly to me, in a voice that was husky and mystical that made me think of a very good storyteller. “Natalia, you have just discovered your new powers, it is now that we inform you of what you are, unless you can tell us yourself…?” She suggested, looking at me intently.

I gulped nervously as I looked at the Council again. “Well obviously…I’m not normal.”

The young mean girl snickered, which made me blush in embarrassment. While the obvious leader smiled at me. “Indeed. You are special, Natalia, far more special than we believed. Would you like us to elaborate or do you understand.”

The truth was, I knew the word that I thought semi-explained the whole thing. Something I had never believed was real, something I always felt but never paid any attention to, something I had concluded to after much waiting after the strange event, I didn’t need it spelled out for me…because I knew and still I was reluctant to accept it. “I’m a witch.” I said quietly but surely. They all sighed and nodded in unison, I met the leader’s eyes then I dropped them to my mom’s Persian rug. “But I still don’t understand what you mean…”

He raised his eyebrows. “About what, dear?”

I met his wise, blue eyes. “You said I was far more special than you believed, what makes me so special? I mean you’re all witches right?” I looked past the Council to my friends who nodded, confirming my question; I sighed and met the leader’s eyes again.

He smiled at me, a warm, soft smile. “You aren’t a normal witch.”

Great, so I’m a freak x2. I thought dryly. “What do you mean?” I groaned, why couldn’t they just be straightforward and get to the damn point.

He nodded once. “You see, Natalia, witches use certain instruments to direct their spells…”
“Like wands.” I interrupted, he smiled and nodded to tell me that I was right. I sighed and rested my elbow on my knee, placing my chin on my fist and waiting for him to continue.

“But not just wands, only for our younger witches who have not had much training, but some of the older ones can use your fingers. Only I and the Crone witches can use only their mind to do a spell, which is what I hear you had done against the Black Cloak.” I sat up straight at the last words, Black Cloak, he used it as a title.

“Black Cloak?”

He nodded. “The creature you paralyzed.” So I paralyzed him, not killed him. I thought with a bit of a relief. The leader continued. “Black Cloaks is a…organization…I guess you could call them, they are witches and warlocks who uses the forbidden dark magic, who plan to take over the World of the Witches. They follow a powerful warlock named, Therinus.” I don’t know why but a cringed at the name, along with the others in the room, apart from the leader who seemed unfazed, but throughout the room it was filled with a tension that was overwhelming; a mix of fear, hatred, and shock.

I gulped and broke the silence by speaking nervously. “And why were they here…in my house?”

This time, nobody answered. They all looked away from me and seemed to refuse to answer my question. I looked at them, waiting. “What?” I said after a long time of unnerving silence. I stood up, starting to get frustrated. “Why won’t you answer the question?”

“Later, Natalia, we will explain later…in time. But right now we have other things to attend to, such as brining this Black Cloak to Harlemkin…the witch prison.” He nodded once to me and then turned in a complete whipping circle and he and the other members of the council was gone.

I clenched my teeth together in anger and ran past my friends and up the stairs, fuming. I heard sighs and could almost feel the roll of eyes as the door opened and shut and I was surrounded by the silence of an empty house. I wanted to be alone…kinda...Unfortunately I was left with my own thoughts. I was a witch and nobody had even bothered to tell me, this sent an odd rush of anger through my veins, though I was already flustered with the Council hiding something from me. So now everything was being hidden from me and it was all about me! I slammed my door and collapsed on my bed with an agitated “UGH!” as I slammed my fist into the covers and buried my face into the silky sheets. I went into one of my entirely childish fist were I punched at the bed and kicked my feet and screamed in an angry frenzy. My whole life has been a lie! What else did I not know? Who else was a witch/warlock in my family? Why hadn’t they told me? Why was there a Black Cloak in my house? Why did that guys name scare me so much that I couldn’t even think the damned name itself? Why was I just now figuring this out? Why am I different? WHY AREN’T MY QUESTIONS BEING ANSWERED? I rolled over and looked up at the ceiling, taking deep breaths. It was then that my phone rang and I grabbed it off of my side table and flipped it up and answered with an angry, “What?!”

I heard a whistle and the only voice I’d ever want to hear at a time like this and one that immediately made me calmer and happier and slightly guilty for answering the way I did. “Hey Kiddo, who burnt you with a brander?” My dad said in his Southern accent that I had missed so much that I actually smiled just at the sound of his perfect and natural twang.

“Hey dad, sorry I answered like that…its just-“ And just as I went to tell him everything something caught up in my throat, enabling me from speaking.

“Nat? Nattie? Hun, are you there?”

I blinked and cleared my throat. “Uh yeah, dad. Its just I left the stove on downstairs, I’ll call you back.”

“Ok Hun, I’ll talk to you later.” A pause. “Are you sure everythings okay?”

I smiled softly, my dad was always so worried about me and he always knew when something was wrong but something told me that I had to lie, which I rarely ever did with my dad. “Yeah daddy, I’m fine, just worried about school starting soon, ya know? Being in the new house and all…”

I knew he was smiling on the other end, I could almost picture it, his blue eyes brightening a color and the edges of them crinkling as he pulled his famous grin where that dimple I tease him about shows on his chin against his olive toned skin (like mine). And also it was like I could hear it over the phone and it made me feel a thousand times better to hear the sound of his smile, to know he is happy, knowing I did the right thing. “Okay, kiddo. Love you pumpkin.”

My smile brightened. “Love you too dad.” We hung up and I put my phone against my chest as I sighed. Then the tears sprung to my eyes, a large clump forming it my throat. I missed my dad so much, I hated this place, I wanted my Louisiana small town with my friends and my dad…where everything was normal, where I felt normal. But now I know that I am a witch, my friend type figures are witches, I am under the laws of a Council, and everybody had lied to me about it. The lump seemed to harden and the tears turned angry as I thought about it, but that lump in my throat made me remember something during my conversation with my dad. I had gone to tell him about the whole witch thing, confess all of it, come out about all the crap that had happened today and then I just couldn’t speak. It was like somebody was holding my tongue or stuck their fist down my throat…It wouldn’t let me tell my dad about me being a witch, and I bet it had something to do with that Council and its stupid, lame rules. I groaned and threw one of my pointless throw pillows across the room as soon as the door had opened and it nailed John in the face. I couldn’t help but feel a bit of satisfaction at the coincidence. Literally in your face John!! I had to hold back laughter now as I say up and looked at him as he walked in my room, my mother following behind him almost jumping up and down to get passed him. He moved slightly to the side and my mom rushed forward and wrapped me in her arms. “Oh sweetie, I’m so glad you finally found it out! To not have to hide it anymore!”

I didn’t hug her back and I didn’t respond, that irritation returning. She must have felt my tension because she pulled away to study my angry expression. “Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?” She asked, putting her hands on each of my shoulders.

I shrugged them off and folded my arms at my chest, scooting a little bit away from her. She was in my personal, angry, bubble. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked her dryly, not paying attention to John who had raised a hand, obviously to tell me to ‘watch my tone’ I had half the mind to flip him off. But I was staring into my moms green eyes angrily. She sighed and tucked her straight auburn her behind her ear as she put her hand on my knee, I moved my knee so that it slid off onto my covers. She sighed again and looked down at her hand then back up to meet my eyes.

“Darling, I couldn’t tell you. I was forbidden, it is against the law to tell an unaware witch of her powers. It is up to them to figure it out for themselves, we can’t say a word.”

I scowled. “Law? Law? SCREW THE LAW! I had every right to know!”

She nodded. “I know hunny…but we simply couldn’t or we would have to be punished for it.”

“Like what?”

John, to further my irritation, answered. “They would take her tongue away for 5 months.” I wish I could take your tongue away forever, I though dryly. Hey maybe I can! I thought on a brighter note. I’ll have to remember that. I looked at my mom who was looking at John and nodding then she looked at me.

“Okay, Hun I need to tell you something.”
I braced myself, maybe I was finally getting the answers I needed. I sat up straight and actually wanted to hear what she had to say, but all just to lead to disappointment. “I need you to go the day of school to meet with your Headmistress, Sabina.”

I raised a brow, distracted from my anger by the unfamiliar name. “Who is Sabina?”

“She is a member of the Council and your Headmistress…and she has much to explain to you.”

I sighed. “Fine. You can leave my room now.”

Her mother nodded with fathomable eyes. “Okay, Hun. Get some sleep.” They left my room and turned off my light. I sighed and lay back on my piles of pillows exhaustedly. This has been the longest day of my life and I knew that it was the first of many. Whoo. Can’t wait. I thought sarcastically.

I closed my eyes and almost drifted off to sleep when I heard a loud OOMPH! And a groan from outside. I rubbed my eyes and turned in my bed, planting my feet on the cold floor and walked over to my window, opening it and peering out into the darkness that was dimly lit by the streetlight outside. I had to blink a few times before I registered that there was a guy dangling from the window of the house next door, there was a latter in the bushes that I guess had slipped out from under him when he was climbing in the window. His legs tried to scramble up the wall as he pulled with his, somewhat muscular, arms. I couldn’t help but giggle. His long brown hair kept getting in his eyes and he almost took his hand off the window pane to wipe them away but instead he blew at them agitatedly. He had pale skin and was skinny and he had long legs, telling me he was tall. He seemed to have heard my giggled and slightly turned his body to look at her and he stared at her with wide eyes for a while then he gave a shy smile. “Um. Hi. Could you possibly help me?” I nodded and backed away from my window, running down the stairs and out the door, around the front lawn to the side where he was still dangling. I looked up at the bottom of his shoes with the DC shoe sign on the bottom of them. I giggled again, I couldn’t help it, you’d laugh too if you seen it. I picked up the ladder and placed it close to his feet. His feet seemed to have found the ladder and stood on it safely and climbed in the window, landing with a soft thud in his room. I smiled and ran back into the house and up to my room. When I got to my window the boy was waiting for me at his. We smiled at each other.

“Thanks.” He said with a grin. So he was cute. Not sexy but cute, with his green eyes that were almost blue, his long brown hair that was in a sk8er boi style. His boyish grin, well really his whole face was very boyish, not hard and manly like most of the guys I’ve met so far, but soft and kind, it made me feel comfortable and trusting.

I nodded. “No problem, I needed a good laugh.” I said in a teasing tone.

He nodded with a slightly embarrassed grin, he was even blushing. It made him look a lot cuter. “Yeah. Thanks.”

I laughed. “No problem.”

“My names Neil.” I blinked at the familiar name, where had I heard it before? Oh yeah, they were talking about him earlier. He was the one whose car had broken down and Aiden was laughing at. I frowned at it even more than I had then.

“Natalia. Its great to meet you.” I smiled again. “So why were you sneaking in?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want to run into my parents.”

I raised a brow. “Why?”

“Because I kinda wrecked the car and they would kill me if they saw me coming home without it.”

“What about tomorrow? They’ll notice when they go outside that its no there.” I informed him.

His eyes widened and he frowned. “Damn. I didn’t think about that.”

“I’ll help you fix it and get it here in time tomorrow if you want. We can get up early.”

He smiled and his eyes seemed to glisten at the thought. “That would be great! Thanks Natalia.”

I shrugged. “No problem.”

“See you tomorrow.”

“Bright and early.” I confirmed. We both turned away from our windows and turned off out lights. I walked back over to my bed and folded my blankets back and settled back into my bed. I closed my eyes, then opened them again and set my alarm clock for 7:00 in the morning, then closed them again and instantly went to sleep.

Neil’s A Goofball…But I Like Him.

I was woke up that morning by ‘Chicken Fried’ that morning. I set that as my alarm purposefully to annoy the hell out of John. Mr. Classy didn’t even know what the song meant but he hated it so now it is my new national anthem. I could hear his groan from down the hall and I snickered to myself as I walked over to my walk-in-closet and pulled off my grey tank top and a pair of my faded jeans from their hangers. I put on my white and silver DC’s that mom had bought me. I had never really lived out of the boot and flip-flop and old Adidas department but I happened to really love these shoes. I smile as looked at myself in my full length mirror then I grabbed my black jacket with the brown fuzzy trimmed hood, another gift from my mom. It was a tight to my body, showing that I actually had a figure. Who knew? I grabbed my keys and walked down the stairs. John had revealed to me before the sleepover that him and my mother had bought me a red truck like my dads…only a hell let more beautiful and more expensive. Well as I had said they had been buttering me up…so that I would be less pissed about the fact that they had been hiding a very important fact about my life…like how I was a WITCH! I rolled my eyes in annoyance as I walked out the door.

Neil was waiting outside by our mailboxes that stood side by side. He gave me a crooked grin and waved at me. I couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Are you aware how boyish you look?”

He tilted his head. “Is that a good or bad thing?”

I giggled. “It’s a good thing…I suppose.”

“Oh then we’re happy-doo-dah-day.”

I raised a brow. “Did you seriously just say happy-doo-dah-day?”

He grinned. “Indeed I did.”

I laughed. “You’re a silly boy, Mr. Neil.”

“It happens, Mrs. Natalia.” He mocked.

“Pretty Much.”

We laughed then got in my truck. “So the plan is to drive up there and fix your car then get it back before the parentals wake up, correct?”

He nodded. “Sounds about right.”

I nodded and started the truck, I easily backed out of he driveway and towards town. “So where did it break down at?”

“The old hardware store.”

I bit my lip. “And that is where?”

He laughed. “Want me to drive?”

I grinned at him. “So you can mess up my truck too? No thanks. Just tell me to where to go.”

He sighed and sat back. “Keep going straight on this road and when you get to he end turn left.”

I nodded and took his directions. “So do you um…attend Witchcaster High?”

He looked at her nervously and nodded.

I studied him and after then understood the look. “I know, Neil. I found out yesterday.”

He let out a breath. “Oh.”

I looked at him curiously. “If you’re a warlock how come you didn’t magically fix your car?”

His cheeks had a pink tint to them now and I realize it as a blush. He ruffled his hair then looked at me. “Well…I’m kind of…” He paused to sigh and turn towards to look out the window. “I suck at spell casting.” He mumbled.

My brows pulled down in confusion. “How I that even possible? Its so easy! I cast my first spell to stop a black cloak before I even knew I was a witch!”

He turned his head so quickly I bet his grimace meant he gave himself whiplash. His eyes were wide with amazement. “You did?”

I had to lean to the side because his face was a little too close for comfort. “Well yes…but it not that big of a deal…even though the council thinks it is ju-“

He cut me off. “THE COUNCIL?!?!”

I jumped at his exclamation. “Yes, the council.”

He blinked and sat back again. “Wow you must be really something to get the Council’s attention.”

I frowned. “I’m no different than anybody else, Neil. It never would’ve happened if I wasn’t scared shitless.”

He shook his head. “You must have thought it was amazing that you were a witch.”

I scowled. “No.”

He looked at me with wide eyes again. “No?”

I sighed and took my eyes off of the road to meet his. “Do you have any idea how it feels to figure out that you're not who you thought you were? That your whole life has been a lie?!” I shook my head in frustration and looked back at the road.

He let out a huge breath, like I had knocked the air out of him with my surprise hostility that came with my words. I should’ve known that he wouldn’t understand how upset I was, I shouldn’t have yelled at him like that. As I drowned myself in guilt and regret he said quietly; “No Natalia I wouldn’t…I’ve known what I was since I was three…I kind of turned my aunt into a pit bull because I remember how she looked like one so I imagined her as one and well yeah…But its okay they turned her back.” He looked at me with sympathy. “I’m sorry, Natalia. But you know the probably really wanted to tell you…only they couldn’t because of the law…the Council would have had to punish them.”

I sighed, knowing he was right. “But my father never hide anything from me…” I said quietly.
He sighed. “Natalia, they seriously haven’t told you?”

I frowned at the road. “Tell me what?”

“That your dads a human.”

I slammed on the break and we both went forward, our seatbelts stopped us from hitting the dash and then retracted us back. We both gasped as the air as knocked out of us. Yeah stupid idea. “What?” I gasped as I looked at him with what I was sure was a scary face because he leaned away from me.

“Your only a half-witch. Your dad’s a human…look I cant tell you the whole story. That’s just what I know. This is something you have to take up with your mother.” His hands were up I front of him defensively.

I sighed. “Oh believe me, I will.”

woow.
woow.

thats soo good.

i know lol

lol
thankies

this story is amazing....i love it ...post more!!

thank you and im working on it