Hurricane (The Charmed) (3 page)

“Saturday evening work?”

“Yep. Sounds good.” He stood to leave. “Lyla, will you walk out to the car with me? I have a paper from class I forgot to give you.”

“Uh, sure.” Lyla knew there wasn’t any paper. This could only mean one thing, Chase. Lyla found it interesting this little problem hadn’t come up tonight. They walked out in silence. Mr. M came to his car, reached in and pulled a paper out. Lyla looked down at Mr. M’s words on the paper. Invisibility Charm.

Lyla crinkled her brow and looked up in confusion.

Mr. M pointed at the page. “I’m hoping you can see if there was maybe a part you missed?”

Lyla looked at the page. “No. It’s exactly like the one I said.”

Mr. M took the page, folded it and placed it in his pocket. “I was afraid you would say that.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Lyla, do you know the exact time of your birth?”

“No. I keep asking but they change the subject.”

“It would be helpful to know.”

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“I have a hunch about something but I’m not sure about it yet.”

“You’ll tell me when you know?”

“You will be the first to know, meanwhile, get that time.” He opened the door to his car and got in.

Lyla stared down the road at Mr. M’s car, getting smaller and smaller as it drove away. If her parents had any inkling something was wrong they would be out of there fast.

She composed herself and walked back into the house.

O
ver the next few weeks Lyla dodged any hallway Chase was in. She worked hard on her invisibility charm, but the minute she even glanced his way he would sense her and look. Thankfully, confusion would set in and he’d look away.

The charm, unfortunately, was the least of her worries. Through no fault of her own, Lyla was becoming drawn to Chase. She couldn’t help it. In trying to avoid him, she was forced to think about his whereabouts. Every girl at the school noticed Chase, why should she be any different? Except it was. Chase didn’t notice any of the other girls. He only noticed her, an invisible presence walking through the halls.

The last few weeks were difficult. She didn’t really get how her teachers knew to grade her papers, let alone give her homework. She guessed that whatever mojo Mr. M was working was doing its job. Chase daily looked her way when walking into the school. It was especially difficult since he had come into full power mode. They were drawn to each other in a way Lyla had never felt before. It was hard to watch him struggle. A part of her wanted to ease his confusion. For the past couple of days, Lyla noticed Chase a bit agitated. It was hard to watch because he was what you call the quintessential high school cool jock. Easy going, everyone liked him, always had good grades, drove the coolest car, never lost his temper and had that gorgeous straight teeth bright white smile.

It was October thirty-first. Lyla had been meeting Mr. M every weekend since his first visit and she felt strong and prepared, although her parents still couldn’t give her the exact time of her birth. She knew Mr. M wanted her to have it so she wasn’t taken by surprise. Lyla would just have to be cautious all day.

As a present to herself, Lyla sat on the bench and waited for Chase to arrive. It didn’t take long; he pulled up five minutes later. He parked his gorgeous car and slowly walked toward the school. Lyla felt like a freak. Now she was officially stalking him. But today more than any other felt right for her to be here, sitting on the bench, watching. What happened next had Lyla’s heart beat so hard it almost burst out of her chest.

As Lyla was sitting, twirling a lock of her long blonde hair with her finger, Chase walked right up and sat down on the bench. Lyla let go of her hair and held her breath.

Chase sat, looking out toward the parking lot, confusion marring his beautiful features. He ran a hand through his hair and stood. Looked at where Lyla was sitting and walked back to the parking lot.

Lyla exhaled heavily. That was a close one. She stood and ran into the hallway to first period. Within minutes Chase walked in, he scanned the room but couldn’t place the unease.

Lyla looked outside. A massive storm was forming. It was still hurricane season and the news said today would be a bumpy one. After twenty minutes in class, a voice came over the loud speaker: “Attention students. In a calm and orderly fashion, please exit your classroom and proceed to the gym. I repeat. In a calm and orderly fashion, proceed to the gym.”

Ms. Waters looked outside and then back at the class. “Might be a tornado.”

Crap
. She thought. Lyla stood with everyone and proceeded out the door, trying to keep a distance away from the other kids but someone pushed her from behind and she flew into the back of a tall boy. The boy reached around his body and steadied the intruder, Lyla. He kept a hand on her and turned around. Lyla’s charm faded away, she was completely visible now and Chase was looking straight at her.

“Hi.” Chase stood with one hand still on her shoulder.

“Hello.” Lyla breathed.

Chase started to smile when someone pushed into him, breaking their connection and turning Chase’s head away.

Lyla spoke the charm and jumped into the crowd, instantly regretting it. She looked back to see Chase looking around confused, and looking for her. The crowd surged pushing both Lyla and Chase out of the hall into the open. Neither one could help but move with the rest of the crowd toward the gym.

Once there, Lyla quickly moved under the bleachers to hide and compose her emotions. She placed a hand on her stomach. The charm kept slipping off she could feel it flicker in and out. Is this what Mr. M meant about emotional distress? She thought. What if she didn’t get her powers today? What if she couldn’t get the charm back? Lyla turned to her right, there was Chase. He approached her cautiously but tripped on a bar and fell partially into her. He was so close she could feel his breath on her skin. Without thinking, Lyla leaned over and kissed him. She thought he would move away but instead he molded into her body pressing hers against him. His right hand moved up into her hair as he deepened the kiss.

Lyla should have felt mortified, she should have pulled away embarrassed but she couldn’t. Lyla had been lonely for years and being around Chase, in his arms felt comforting.

A noise over the loud speakers stole their moment away. “Attention students! It is time to head back to class! Proceed to class!”

Chase pulled back reluctantly and looked down at Lyla. His breathing was a bit shallow, his light green eyes were searching her face for any recognition but there wasn’t any. She felt familiar, like the presence he kept feeling. He had never seen her before and they were under dusty bleachers kissing.

“What’s your name?” He let go of her slowly, not wanting to break the connection but realizing he could quite possibly make her run and never see her again. He searched her gray eyes for an answer.

Lyla looked down and back up. She began to walk out of the underside, but stopped and turned toward Chase. Damn it, she thought, she was tired of not having friends or more importantly, boyfriends.

“Lyla. My name’s Lyla.” She walked into the crowd leaving Chase to stare after her.

Lyla moved quickly through the crowd, her charm not working at all anymore. A group of boys noticing her for the first time stood in her way just outside of the gym.

“Hey, are you new?” An unnaturally tall boy with a basketball jersey over a t-shirt was looking down at her smiling.

“Um, no.” Lyla tried to go around them but they kept blocking her way. Lyla didn’t think they were dangerous but didn’t like the forward nature of them.

“You’re pretty. We’ve never seen you before, just tell us your name.” Jersey Boy said.

With so many kids walking back to class, nobody saw what was going on. Another boy, this one shorter came up behind her and basically blocked her in. She was trapped, emotional and unable to recall the vanishing spell.

“Guys break it up, she’s with me.” Chase was moving the short kid aside like a twig. The kid stepped away and kept going moving into the crowd.

Jersey Boy smiled at Chase, put his hands up and said, “Chase, man, sorry. Didn’t know she was your girl. Come on guys.” He motioned for the other boys to follow him.

Chase put his hand in hers and walked with her to the other end of campus where he knew an empty classroom would be. He did an unlocking charm and it opened, holding the door for her.

Lyla went into the dark room and turned around to face Chase who was leaning against the teacher’s desk at the front of the room.

Chase spoke first. “So, you’re a witch who managed to sneak into town unnoticed.” He looked at her, worry in his features. “Until now.”

Lyla began fidgeting with her bag slung over her shoulder. Chase noticed her uneasiness and walked slowly over to her, closing the distance between them.

“Lyla.”

Lyla looked up into his light green eyes.

He placed a hand gently on her cheek. “You can trust me.” He was searching her face, trying to memorize it. From her dark gray eyes to the pale blonde of her hair to her smooth white skin that said she wasn’t from here. He stopped when he looked at her mouth. The full, pouty, slightly pink lips were there and he wanted to kiss them again.

Lyla looked into Chase’s eyes and saw trust. She was so lonely for someone to talk to it hurt. She found herself speaking without realizing what she was doing. “I had to. My parents won’t tell me why and until they do, I’m under the radar.”

“How long have you been ‘under the radar’?” Chase’s face creased with worry.

“My whole life, I’ve never stayed anywhere longer than six months.”

Chase felt pain, her pain. She was a stranger to him but every emotion that radiated off her body he felt. He would have to approach any subject cautiously.

“Does anyone in town know you’re here?”

“Mr. McCown. Apparently he’s a family friend my parents went to college with.”

“Does he know why your parents make you cloak?”

“No. He’s just as upset as I am.” She looked down again.

Chase didn’t like it when she looked away from him, so he gently tipped her face up to meet his eyes.

“Lyla, you can trust me. I’ll keep your secret.”

The realization of what she’d done hit her like a ton of bricks. Her parents forbade her to tell anyone. She had to fix this. Lyla took a step back, breaking their connection. “I can’t. I can’t do this.”

“Lyla, yes you can. You keep this secret bottled up and you’ll go mad. Who’s there for you?”

“I don’t know why I kissed you. I’m sorry.” She started to leave when Chase grabbed her hand to stop her.

“Don’t go, please. Forget the kiss, forget you told me. We have some kind of connection. Don’t you feel it?”

“Yes. But if my parents find out, we’ll leave immediately. I don’t want to run anymore.”

“Then don’t, starting right now.”

Lyla slipped her hand out of his and walked out the classroom. Chase watched her go. It felt like a piece of him left with her.

Chase waited a beat and then walked out of the classroom. He looked down the deserted hallway but Lyla was nowhere to be seen. He cursed his luck at scaring her away and headed to Mr. M’s class. He knocked on the door.

Mr. M opened the door and was surprised to see Chase standing there. “Chase? What’s wrong?”

“May I talk with you for a minute?”

Mr. M felt Chase’s frustration and opened the door wider for him to enter. “It’s my free period. Come on back.” They walked to the back of the room and Chase sat in a chair while Mr. M shut the door.

He sat in his desk chair and turned to look at Chase. “What’s got you troubled?”

“I want to know about Lyla.”

Mr. M, had picked up his coffee but it never reached his lips. “How do you know her?”

“I just kissed her.” Chase stared at Mr. M waiting for a response.

Mr. M raised his left eyebrow and paused, choosing his words carefully. “Before I tell you anything, why don’t you explain how you met her and found yourself lip locked.”

Chase sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Mr. M was like a father to him so he began his story.

“From the beginning of school I kept feeling a something, a presence maybe? I thought it was my eighteenth birthday approaching but it didn’t explain why I felt somebody around me when nobody was there. I would look toward the place where I thought someone was standing only to see no one. I started to get disoriented, like a spell would flicker over me. A little like when Jaden used to hit me with a stunning spell when we were nine.”

Mr. M had a fondness for that memory but couldn’t laugh about it. This was too serious a problem. “So what happened today to turn the tide?”

“During the tornado drill, someone pushed her into me.”

“Pushed her into you? Like they knew she was there and did it on purpose?”

“No. More like the crowd was too rowdy and she was pushed. In any case, her charm fell away and I saw her for the first time.”

Mr. M waited but didn’t get anything more from Chase. “That still doesn’t explain how you were kissing her.”