Rebirth: The Awakening Of A Witch (3 page)

Two matching bedside tables were resting right below each window, one on each side of the bed.
A five-drawer wooden chest was directly across the bed,
leaning against the wall, and
carrying a
n
array of picture frames and
two
small-potted plants
on top of it
.
A walnut-colored standing mirror was
exactly
beside it.
My sturdy, wooden study table was
located
a few feet from the right side of
my
bed
with
a swivel chair
situa
ted on the space below
the table
.
My small walk-in closet was directly across my study table, a few feet from the left side of my bed. Right
beside it was my own bathroom.

I felt proud of this room, but I’m particularly proud of the art piece
that was securely plastered
on
the wall
directly behind my bed
, just above its headboard
.
It was a wood carving of a unique tree. I painted it in a
collage
of dark blue and lime green, making it look like it’s made of marble instead of wood.
I didn’t know what
kind of tree
it was
when I made it
, but I loved
each
of its
intricate detail
s
. The inspiration just came to me in a dream.

Taking my eyes off the piece of art, I turned
to
look
at
my bedroom door.
There
.
R
ight be
side
it
w
ere
the ankle boots I was looking for.
I
immediat
ely grabbed
them
and
put
them
on, going to the
standing mirror
to give myself
a chance
to check on my appearance.

People ha
ve
always found me pretty.
It’s probably
because I remind them of my mom, and
Celine
Matthews was beyond pretty. She was gorgeous.
Even so,
the truth is, I don’t see myself as pretty. All I see is a girl with
waist-length,
dark
-
brown hair, side swept bangs, and slim built.
I scanned my face, and I was immediately staring back at my own reflection. I have to say that my eyes were my best feature, because they were the same
color
as my mom’s, but hers were a shade lighter than the deep blue
-
green orbs that were
gazing back at me.
All my life I’ve never met anyone with the same eye color as ours
.

I gave a small nod, pleased again at my Nana’s choice of
stylish clothes
. I swear she’s even better at picking out clothes than I was. I hurriedly grabbed my bag from the study table and was rummaging through its contents for my phone
, checking for messages
. By the time I got to the dining area, Anne and Nick were
already halfway through
their slices of my birthday cake.

I glanced at them both and smiled.
The three of us were a weird clique. I mean, in normal high schools, a jock, a nerd, and an average girl would never be friends with each other. We got past that, though. We never really believed in the
classic
hierarchy that involved high school.

Nick
is your average
popular guy
—
good looks, great body, friendly, smart, and is a football player
.
You wouldn’t expect golden boy to be part of the AV club, thou
gh
.
B
ut he is. Nick didn’t care what people think. He loves being behind the camera and in c
ommand
of the sound and video systems at school events
as much as he loves the adrenaline rush he gets in the middle
of a game
on
a football field.

Unli
ke Nick, Anne
fits the
mental
description of nerd to a tee—
straight-
A student,
and
absolute
S
cience
and Math genius.
If you didn’t know her, you would think she’s
just one of those
average girl
s
, but she has th
ese
dark-rimmed glasses always resting on her n
ose, giving the nerd aura away.
She
has a
n
enthusiasm
for poetry
and is currently the president of the
school’s Literary Club.

Me, I’m just an average girl who has a passion for art. Like Nick and Anne, ranks don’t bother me at all. I feel
that
they’re just bothersome
,
and I wouldn’t want to do anything with them.
I was relatively friendly to everyone at school
.
Maybe that’
s the reason
why
they treated me the same way
.
Likewise, i
t was probably the
exact
reason why Nick and Anne have always been my best friends since the ninth grade.
We just didn’t give a damn about brands and categories.

I sat on my seat at the dining table and
had Nana happily serve me plates of food.
After finishing up, we all made our way to school, fully satisfied with Nana’s home
-
cooked meal
…
as
always.
The whole day seemed to blur past me
.
E
verything happened as usual. Except for a few birthday greetings from friends who knew of my birthday, nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Before I knew it, it
was already three in the afternoon, and school was done for the day. I waved my friends goodbye, making them promise to head to La Bella’s
this evening
for
a
small birthday
dinner
.
As for me
, I was now on my way to make a quick stop at Terence Hill Cemetery.
It was a short, five
-
block walk
from the school
, and
i
t
took me
less than ten minutes
to get there
.

I loved visiting my parents. Somehow I felt that each vi
sit brought me closer to them.
I tried making this a ritual, visiting them once or twice a week
for the past four years
.
Most of the time I would talk to them for hours, but there were times when I just visit their grave to give them flowers,
promising to spend more time with them the next time I came over.
I knew they were sad every time I made a
quick
visit, but I also knew that they
would
underst
an
d.
If it wasn’t for school work and social responsibilities, I would’ve visit
ed
them every single day, but they wouldn’t want that
from me
. They would’ve wanted me to go on with my life as normal as I possibly can.
So I’m doing just that.

In the end, I spent an hour talking to them.
When I turned towards the direction of the cemetery’s entrance
,
about to start my walk home,
I felt a distinct presence around me. I don’t know why I felt th
is
way, but strangely enough, I wasn’t
even a bit alarmed
by it
.
I somehow f
elt comforted and secured by the aura. I was now carefully contemplating
the idea of my parents being here
with me
,
literally
watching me.
I turned
around
to glance at their headstone and smiled.
Once again, I started trekking the walk home.
I still felt that unusual presence until I was a short distance
away from
the cemetery’s vicinity.

I arrived home approximately twenty minutes later.
I still had time to relax a bit so I headed to the kitchen where I knew Nana would be. We spent time talking about my plans this evening. I
invited
her
to come with us
for the nth time
. I’m sure my friends wouldn’
t mind since they all loved her,
but she dismissed me with a flick of her hand, ordering me to have fun.

Time was ticking slowly
s
o
I
decided to take a long bath
before
get
ting
ready for dinner. I was happy with what I chose for tonight
. I wore
a dark blue, short-sleeved tunic with
white,
miniature
tribal prints
scattered at the hem and neckline
.
It
was fitted around the bust area and hung loosely all the way down to my derriere,
covering my butt. I
sported
black leggings
under it
and
have
my four
-inch, light brown ankle boots
on
.
I decided to curl my hair a little and let it
drop to
my back.
I debated whether to put make
-
up on and decided to apply
dark-colored
eye shadow and
red
lip
stick
.

Nick picked me up a few minutes later, and we headed to La Bella
’s
r
estaurant
together.
It was a small Italian restaurant in Ratt
ford Cliffs, famous for its warm and welcoming ambience.
By the time we arrived, Anne, Jessica, and Sandra were already waiting for us. A small banner
with
the words “Happy 18
th
,
Skylar
Matthews!
”
written in black ink was taped to
the
wall
behind our table
.
I smiled at the sweet gesture and hugged everyone at the table, saying my thanks as I gave each one of them a peck on the cheek.

Like Anne, Sandra Anderson, a petite girl with shoulder length blonde hair, was a straight
-
A student.
However
, she was a timid girl, not at all like Anne
, who was animated almost all
the time. Jessica Carter, on the otherhand, was like Nick in some way. She was
one of the cheerleader
s
in our school and was
popular
with the guys.
She
had that long blonde hair and
sapphire
eyes that boys would die for.
Again, the sight of us five
,
sitting and enjoying each other’s company in a single table was unusual.

The entire evening
was pleasant. We were already deciding on what to order for dessert when
I suddenly felt that odd presence again.
This time, though, it was growing stronger as if it was slowly coming towards me. Just then the door
of
the restaurant opened. I couldn’t help turning my head to that direction. In came two people. A
tall
and lean
guy
with long, dark
-
brown hair entered, followed by a
slightly shorter,
blonde
-
haired girl.
The guy looked like he was about my age, and I don’t know why, but he looks really familiar. He seemed to scan the room like he was looking for something.