Read Blue Moon Online

Authors: Isobel Bird

Blue Moon (9 page)

BOOK: Blue Moon
2.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

the same for her.

But it’s been almost a week,
she thought.
He must have gotten over it by now.
She decided to call

him when she got home and make nice. She really did want him to be at her performance, and she

figured calling would be a nice gesture on her part.

After the film, Kate, Cooper, and Annie said good-bye to Sasha, who lived at the other end of town.

Then the three of them got on the bus and rode back to their neighborhood.

“I’m sorry we sort of had a fight tonight,” Kate said when they were about halfway there.

“It wasn’t a fight,” Annie told her. “It was more like excessive tension, and it’s okay.”

“I really am working on telling her, you know,” Kate said.

“Well, keep trying,” Cooper remarked. “It gets worse the longer you wait.”

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

As the bus reached their stops they got off and went their separate ways. Cooper walked home, said

hello to her parents, and then went to her room. It was time to call T.J. He picked up on the third ring.

“Hey,” Cooper said. “How’s it going?”

“Okay,” T.J. said. He sounded glad to hear from her, which made her feel good.

“I’m sorry about our little blowup the other day,” Cooper told him, sounding like Kate half an hour

earlier.

“It’s okay,” said T.J. “We were just saying what we felt.”

“So, I’d really like you to come to my performance,” Cooper told him. “How about it?”

“I don’t know,” replied T.J.

Cooper felt her heart sink. “What do you mean?” she asked.

“I’m just not sure I want to be there right now,” T.J. told her.

“But I want you there,” Cooper said. “I want you to hear me perform.”

“I know you do,” said T.J. “But I don’t think we can agree on this. Not right now anyway.”

“So you’re never coming to hear me?” Cooper asked angrily.

“I didn’t say that,” T.J. said. “I just said I’m not sure this is the time for me to be there.”

“This is my first big show,” Cooper said. “It means a lot to me. I can’t believe you won’t come.”

T.J. sighed. “Let’s talk about this later,” he said. “It’s late and we both probably need to think things

through some more before we can really talk.”

Cooper wanted to slam the phone down. How could T.J. do this to her, especially after she’d made the

gesture of apologizing? He’d had almost a week to think things through. Why did he need more time?

She felt as if everything she’d ever thought about him had turned out to be wrong. If he couldn’t even

support her in this, how could she count on him for anything else?

“Yeah,” she said before hanging up. “I think I do have some thinking to do. I’ll let you know what I

decide.”

CHAPTER 9

“It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever,” Tyler told Kate as they walked through the museum on

Sunday afternoon. It was a weekend, but the museum wasn’t crowded; there were only a few other

people wandering the halls besides the two of them. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and most

people seemed to have chosen to be out enjoying the nice weather. Even the security guards seemed to

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

have been lulled into a state of sleepiness by the gorgeous day, and they didn’t, as they usually did, eye

Kate and Tyler, waiting for them to touch the paintings or make too much noise.

Kate stopped in front of a portrait of a woman holding a small black-and-white dog. “Well, you’ve been

working a lot with Thatcher and I’ve been working a lot with my mother,” she told her boyfriend. “There

hasn’t been a lot of time for us to do anything.”

“The coven didn’t even do a Lammas ritual this year because everyone has been so busy,” said Tyler.

“We’re going to wait until everyone is back.”

“I totally forgot about Lammas,” said Kate.

Tyler laughed. “A lot of people do,” he said. “It’s a harvest festival, and now that most of us don’t have

to worry about threshing wheat and bringing in the corn we tend to not be as aware of that one as we are

of some of the others. But it’s still important to celebrate it as part of the Wheel of the Year. We’ll just

do it a little later this year than we usually do.”

“When was it?” Kate asked.

“The first of August,” said Tyler.

Kate thought for a moment. “That was last Monday,” she said. “Right after the blue moon. I wonder if

that’s why Annie has been acting so weird. Maybe she was mad that first we couldn’t do the full moon

ritual and then we forgot about Lammas. Not that she mentioned it or anything.”

“Annie’s been acting weird?” asked Tyler.

Kate sighed. “Remember how she ran out of the restaurant the night of Cooper’s reading?”

Tyler nodded. “I thought she was just mad about the Coke thing,” he said.

“That’s what we thought at first, too,” Kate replied. “But it’s gotten stranger. It’s like she’s become this

totally different person. First she slapped Sherrie. Then she got this boyfriend.”

“Annie has a
boyfriend
?” said Tyler, clearly taken aback.

“Yes,” Kate said. “I mean, we’re all happy for her and everything, but it’s just sort of weird that it

happened so suddenly.”

Tyler was chuckling. “Annie has a boyfriend,” he kept repeating. “Imagine that.”

“First Cooper and now Annie,” Tyler said. “I think you started a chain reaction.”

“Well, we’re not exactly sure Cooper and T.J. are still an item,” Kate informed him.

“Why?” asked Tyler. “What happened?”

Kate moved on to another painting—one of a cow standing near a stream—and looked at it for a

moment before answering. “They had a disagreement over just how public Cooper should be about

being involved in the Craft,” she said.

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

“I thought T.J. was okay with her studying Wicca,” said Tyler.

“He is,” Kate answered. “He just thinks she should tone it down when she’s doing public performances

and stuff.”

She waited for Tyler’s response. The truth was that she’d been trying to find a way to bring up the

current subject all day. It was something she needed to discuss with her boyfriend, but she was nervous

about it.

“Tone it down?” Tyler repeated. “How so?”

“Well, Cooper wants to do some pieces about her experiences with Wicca,” Kate explained. “T.J.

doesn’t think she should because she might get negative reactions to them.”

“Well, she probably will,” Tyler said. “But that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t do it. Look at my dad. He

can’t stand anything to do with witchcraft. But my sister and I don’t keep quiet about it just because it

might upset him.”

“Yes, but you and Hannah have a mother who’s a witch,” Kate reminded him. “You grew up with all of

this and you’re used to it. A lot of people aren’t. Cooper has already had some run-ins with people

because she’s talked about this stuff.”

“You’re talking about it like it’s something to be afraid of,” said Tyler. “Or something to be ashamed of.

Yes, there are a lot of people who don’t understand what Wicca is all about, but if we all keep quiet

about it they never
will
understand it.”

Kate wasn’t sure what to say next. She and Tyler had very different perspectives on this issue. So far it

hadn’t really been a big problem, but she’d known for a while that the time was coming when they would

have to discuss it. And that time seemed to be now.

“It’s not that easy for some of us,” she said carefully. “I agree with you that people need to talk about

Wicca before they can understand it. But for some people that’s really hard.”

“You mean like T.J.,” said Tyler. “He’s afraid of what people will think if Cooper is too vocal about the

fact that she’s studying witchcraft. I get that. But it’s not his life. She has to make those decisions for

herself.”

“I wasn’t talking about T.J.,” Kate told him. “I was talking about me.”

Tyler looked at her. “What do you mean?” he asked.

Kate sat down on a bench that was positioned in front of a large abstract painting. Tyler sat next to her,

looking into her face with some concern.

“You know my parents are pretty conservative,” Kate began. “And you know I don’t talk to them about

any of this.”

Tyler shrugged. “Sure,” he said. “I know you have to be a little careful. But that’s different. Cooper’s

parents already know.”

“Right,” said Kate. “But let’s get back to me for a minute. Remember when we did the healing ritual for

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

Aunt Netty and I asked you not to come because I didn’t want to have to explain your being there to my

parents?”

Tyler nodded. “I didn’t like it,” he said. “But I didn’t want to create any tension during the ritual.”

Kate looked at the painting, letting her mind focus on the blobs of blue and yellow paint while she

organized her thoughts. She didn’t want what she had to say to come out wrong.

“After the ritual my parents wanted to know how involved Annie and Cooper are with the group,” Kate

said. She paused again, knowing that Tyler wasn’t going to like what came next. “And I told them that

they were involved but that I didn’t really know anything about it.”

Tyler didn’t say anything, so Kate continued. “They think that Cooper and Annie are into something they

wouldn’t like,” she said. “And they basically told me to be careful when it comes to being friends with

them.”

“And what do Annie and Cooper think about this?” asked Tyler.

“They think I need to tell my parents about being in the study group,” Kate answered.

“So do I,” said Tyler.

“I know you do,” Kate replied. “And I
want
to tell them. But I’m scared to do that. I don’t know what

they’ll say. If they tell me that I can’t go anymore then I’ll lose one of the most important things in my life.

At least this way I still have it.”

“Yes,” said Tyler. “But this way you’re always afraid that they’re going to find out.”

“It’s not just the class,” Kate continued. “It’s you.”

“Me?” Tyler said.

“If they know that you’re a witch do you really think they’re going to want me to see you?” Kate said.

Tyler looked at the floor and didn’t say anything.

“Now you see why it can be a big deal,” said Kate. “Now you understand why I didn’t want you at the

ritual and why I don’t have you come over a lot.”

Tyler looked up. “You mean you’ve
deliberately
been keeping me away from your parents?” he asked.

“I understand about the ritual, but is that why I never come over?”

Kate nodded. “I just don’t need them asking a lot of questions. Especially right now, while they’re

worried about what I might be doing.”

“So what are you saying?” Tyler asked her. “Are you saying you don’t want me coming around?”

“I’m saying I’d appreciate it if you could keep a low profile until I can sort all of this out,” replied Kate.

“How much lower profile can I get?” Tyler said, sounding annoyed. “I almost never come over. I hardly

see you. Do you even tell them that we’re going out together?”

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

“Most of the time,” answered Kate.


Most
of the time?” Tyler repeated.

“Look,” Kate said. “As it is I have to lie to them about where I’m going when I go to class every

Tuesday night. Usually I tell them I’m seeing you. I can’t be seeing you every time I go out, so sometimes

I have to make up stuff.”

“Great,” said Tyler. “That’s just great. You have to lie about going out with me.”

Kate sighed. The conversation wasn’t going at all the way she’d hoped it would. She’d expected Tyler

to understand, even though she knew what she was telling him was difficult to hear. He’d always been so

supportive of her. But now he was acting like a typical guy, and she was shocked.

“I’m not exactly lying about you,” she said, trying again. “I just can’t tell them everything. Not while

they’re breathing down my neck about Cooper and Annie.”

“So when
are
you going to tell them?” Tyler asked her.

Kate looked into his eyes. “I don’t know,” she said. “I have to think about it.”

“You can think about it all you want to,” Tyler said. “But eventually you’re just going to have to sit down

and tell them that you’re studying Wicca and your boyfriend is a witch.”

He was speaking rather loudly, and at the words “Wicca” and “witch” several people turned around to

look at them. Kate noticed a security guard look over toward the bench.

“Could you keep it down a little?” she asked.

“Oh, so now you’re afraid of what people in the
museum
think?” said Tyler. “You don’t even know

them!”

Kate looked at him, hurt. “I don’t get it,” she said. “I’m trying to tell you how I feel about this.”

“No,” Tyler said. “You’re making excuses about how you feel. Kate, I know what your family is like. I

know that Wicca is something they’ll have a hard time with. But do you think you’re the only one who

has ever had to worry about telling people something they don’t want to hear?”

“You and Cooper just don’t get it,” Kate responded. “It’s not always that simple.”

Tyler took her hand and held it tightly. “I don’t want to fight about this,” he said. “But I think we have to

have this out. What are you going to do, Kate? Are you going to wait until the perfect time? When will

that be? When you’re in college? When you’re twenty-one? When you’re not living with them anymore?

There’s never going to be a perfect time.”

“But there
will
be a time when things aren’t so stressful,” Kate answered. “My mother is worried about

the wedding and my aunt, and—”

“There’s always going to be something she’s worried about,” Tyler said. “Always. And as long as you

use those things as excuses you will never tell her about yourself. Or about us.”

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

“She knows about us,” Kate said weakly.

Tyler shook his head. “Not really,” he said. “What do your parents know about me? They know that I

go to a different school and that I don’t play team sports. That’s about it. What did they know about

Scott?”

Kate didn’t answer for a moment. She knew what Tyler was getting at. And it was true—her parents

had
known a lot more about her old boyfriend than they did about Tyler. He’d often come over for

dinner, and they’d even met his parents a few times. Tyler had only been over for dinner once, and she’d

never even mentioned Rowan to them. In fact, when Tyler and his family came up in conversation she

usually managed to change the subject as quickly as possible.

“I get what you’re saying,” Kate said softly. “And I know it hurts you that I haven’t told my parents

everything. But you know I love you.”

“I know you do,” said Tyler. “And I love you, too. But I feel like what we have here can’t really go

anywhere as long as you keep hiding it from your family. And it’s not just about us.”

“What do you mean?” Kate asked.

“You can’t fully develop as a witch if you have to hide what you’re doing,” he said. “There’s always

going to be a part of you that isn’t involved in what you’re studying or doing. Look at what’s happening

right now—you’re having to put all the pressure on your friends because you’re afraid of telling your

parents that you really are involved just as much as they are. All of us have to be on the lookout because

of you.”

“Are you telling me that if I don’t tell them I should quit studying Wicca?” Kate asked.

Tyler shook his head. “No, that’s not what I’m saying,” he replied. “But I’m saying that you have to take

a good look at how effective what you’re learning can be if you always have this pressure of being afraid

BOOK: Blue Moon
2.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson
Simply Amazing by Hadley Raydeen
The Intern by Brooke Cumberland
Sweet Cry of Pleasure by Marie Medina
The Writer by D.W. Ulsterman