Spellbound (Spellbringers Book 1) (2 page)

After school, I stowed my
books in my locker and trudged outside to the football field for
cheerleading practice. I tried to participate in as many
extracurricular activities as possible because my mother said it
would look good on college applications. In addition to activities
and sports, I also kept my grades up and did volunteer work, all
the things I was assured would help me get a scholarship to a good
school. My mother could probably afford to pay my tuition, but it
would be tough. As she constantly reminded me,
money doesn’t grow on trees
. She
loved clichés and used them liberally.

It was the only thing liberal about
her. My mother was strict. To the casual outsider, it might seem
like I had everything I wanted, and for the most part, that was
true. I didn’t lack for anything. I had a car, a cell phone, nice
clothes—and a list of chores a mile long. I had church work, bible
study, and family obligations too. While my friends partied
non-stop on the weekends, I had to earn my freedom. I had to ask
before I made plans. I had to earn the keys to my car and the money
for the gas to drive it.

My friends felt sorry for me because I
had such an overzealous mother watching over me. My boyfriend,
Robert, complained about her on a regular basis. He wanted a
girlfriend he could stay out late with. A girlfriend who didn’t
have to call her mama every two hours. Sometimes I feared he’d
break up with me. Sometimes I hoped he would.

Becky, our cheerleading captain, was
already outside standing by the bleachers. Girls milled around,
whining about the ninety-five degree heat, drinking from plastic
water bottles, and swiping at ribbons of sweat slithering down bare
necks and midriffs.

“I texted you a million times,” Becky
complained.

“Sorry. You know how Mr. Mills is. I
didn’t want to lose my phone.”

“Jace is in my Geography
class.”

“Cool.”

“Isn’t he hot?” she asked sitting down
on the grass and reaching out to grasp her ankle with both
hands.

“He’s cute.” I sat down next to her
and began my stretches.

“He’s more than cute. Do you think he
knows I’m interested?”

I bit back a laugh. “Girl,
I think
everyone
knows you’re interested.”

“Whatever. I need to make sure he
knows I’m available before one of these other girls snatches him
up.” She shot a nasty look at our fellow cheerleaders as if they
were already plotting to steal her man.

“Ask him out,” I said.

“I don’t ask guys out.
They ask
me
out.”
She stood up and motioned for the other girls to line
up.

During warm-ups, a tall, dark figure
at the edge of the field caught my eye. Jace cut across the empty
field behind the school, presumably on his way home. Why didn’t he
have a car? Maybe he hadn’t turned sixteen yet. Or maybe he didn’t
have his license. He probably wouldn’t have to walk home for long.
In no time, he’d have girls clamoring to give him rides home. Of
course, if Becky had anything to do with it, Jace wouldn’t talk to
any other girls but her. Jealousy simmered under my burning skin,
making the heat more uncomfortable than it already was. Why did I
care about how Jace got home from school, or who he chose for a
girlfriend? It was none of my business.

Another dark figure appeared at the
tree line of the woods bordering the field and seemed to skirt
along the edge. Dizziness assaulted me as I watched him, and I
staggered, almost falling over. I blinked to clear my vision. When
I peered into the woods again, the dark figure had disappeared. My
eyes were playing tricks on me. It had been happening a lot lately,
probably a result of the extreme heat. Another wave of dizziness
passed over me and I missed a step in the routine we were
practicing.

“Rachel, you okay?” Coach Patrice
asked. “Girls, let’s take a break and hydrate. Everyone needs to
bring a water bottle to practice. I don’t want anyone passing
out.”

I sat down on the bleachers and took a
huge swig from my water bottle. Squinting into the distance, I
could barely see Jace. Another person trudged across the field, but
it wasn’t the same dark, hulking figure I’d seen before. This
person was smaller, shorter, and had a mop of brunette hair. Alisa.
I’d seen her walk that way last school year. Always
alone.

I felt sorry for Alisa. Becky always
tormented her cousin for no reason at all. The rivalry started in
middle school, but in all honesty, Becky had never been nice to
her. I couldn’t remember why Becky decided to hate Alisa—it might
have been a dispute over a crush.

Then again, I couldn’t remember when
it had been decided I was Becky’s best friend. It was certainly not
a conscious decision on my part. Becky chose her best friends based
on convenience, and though I’d been declared her Bestie today, she
might choose someone else tomorrow. There had been a time in ninth
grade when it was an honor to be Becky’s best friend, but, for me,
most of the glamour had departed long ago. Being Becky’s best
friend meant fetching bottled water, listening to her rants, and
lending her a favorite garment or purse she might never
return.

At Coach Patrice’s summons, I stood up
and followed the other girls back to the field. My gaze searched
the field for Jace, but I couldn’t see him anymore. A fleeting
feeling of disappointment washed over me. I wanted to see him one
last time. But it was for the best. Jace was a distraction and even
though he probably didn’t know it, he practically belonged to
Becky. He’d been claimed.

Chapter
Three

Alisa

The temperatures during the first week
of school reached record highs and the walk home on Friday was
beyond miserable. I’d been too apathetic to take my driver’s test.
Consequently, I was practically the only junior at Cooper High who
was forced to either take the bus or hoof it. I cut through the
field behind school to get home faster.

I noticed two figures just ahead of me
and nearly turned back. I’d seen Jace walking this way a few times,
but he was usually alone. Since I had no social skills to speak of,
I usually hung back, skulking along the edges of the woods,
avoiding contact. There were a couple of times I’d been tempted to
increase my gait, to catch up with him and start a conversation,
but I’d never actually worked up the courage to do so.

So, who was Jace with? It wasn’t
anyone I recognized. I slowed my stride, reluctant to draw
attention to myself. Most of my fellow classmates despised me, and
since the feeling was mutual, I tried to avoid contact with them
whenever possible. For a moment, I considered turning back and
taking a different route, but decided against it. The cheerleaders
were practicing outside and the last thing I wanted to do was draw
Becky’s attention.

I trudged forward, still trying to
identify the person Jace was walking with. The guy next to Jace was
a few inches taller and had a very muscular physique. Maybe he was
a football player, but if so, why was he walking with Jace instead
of practicing with his team? The guy pushed Jace. Jace shoved back.
Books fell from Jace’s arms into the grass as the two guys
scuffled.

The bigger guy chuckled and shouted,
“Wimp.”

I’d been paying such close attention
to Jace, I’d unconsciously increased my speed and was close enough
to see the other guy’s face. He looked a lot like Jace. Maybe he
was an older brother or a cousin.

The two guys hadn’t noticed me yet, so
I ducked into the woods, hoping the thick brush would conceal me.
The large guy turned when my backpack hit the ground at my feet,
but after a few seconds of staring into the woods, he focused his
attention on Jace once again.

“Dad went to the hardware store. When
he gets back, he has a project for us.” Okay, so the big guy must
be Jace’s brother.

“Oh, joy.”

“He wants to finish the training room
before I leave.”

“You know how much I love training,”
Jace replied, leaning over to pick up his books.

“You might not like
training, but you sure do
need
it. Seriously. You suck.”

“Oh, yeah? Watch this.”

The books hit the ground. Jace
abruptly disappeared from where he’d been standing and reappeared
behind his brother. I blinked and staggered back a step, nearly
tripping over my backpack.

“You idiot,” the older brother said,
turning and grabbing Jace’s upper arm. “Anyone could have seen
you.”

“But no one did,” Jace said, jerking
away. He retrieved his books and started to walk again.

His brother followed him. “Dad’s gonna
be pissed when he finds out about this.”

“You don’t have to tell
him.”

I couldn’t hear anything
else because by the time the older guy spoke again they were too
far away from me. I emerged from the woods, shaken. I could have
used the heat and my own exhaustion to explain away what I saw, but
something obviously happened—Jace’s older brother was furious about
it. But what
did
happen? It looked like Jace disappeared. No. That was
impossible. Wasn’t it?

On trembling legs, I renewed my trek
home. For the first time ever, I wished I’d taken the bus. Then I
could have avoided seeing what I saw, if in fact I saw anything at
all. I still hadn’t ruled out the idea of hallucinations brought on
by the heat.

When I reached my house and the glory
of air conditioning, I stripped off my sweaty clothes, again
wondering about what I thought I saw. It was bizarre.
Unexplainable. Impossible. Probably a figment of my very overactive
imagination, a result of reading too many fantasy novels. I’d
always wanted to be a writer and was constantly composing stories
in my mind. Maybe this was a case of my storytelling gone awry.
Yep. That’s what it was.

As I changed into fresh clothes and ran a
brush through my hair, I began to weave a new tale. I daydreamed
about Jace asking me out, our eventual engagement, marriage,
children…A ridiculous fantasy, but it helped pass the time. Jace
would never choose me over Becky. But then again, he’d managed to
resist her so far.

Jace wasn’t the only person who’d resisted my
cousin. I could only hope he would be able to hold out longer than
the last guy. Back in middle school, Becky and I both liked the
same boy, but when he expressed interest in me instead of her, she
retaliated by spreading vicious rumors about me. Too shy to fight
back, I remained silent while the whole school turned against me.
Long after the boy moved away, long after Becky fell in love with
someone else, the repercussions of that ill-fated crush continued
to haunt me. I thought about Jace and how I might be willing to go
through the whole love-triangle drama all over again on the
off-chance that he might return my interest.

While all the other girls my age moved
forward into their teenage years, buying the latest fashions,
perfecting makeup techniques, and highlighting their hair, I sat at
home reading. I never giggled with girlfriends while doing
manicures and makeovers. I looked the same way I did in middle
school. My long, brown hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail. I
wore jeans and baggy t-shirts or hoodies to hide the extra ten or
twenty pounds that plagued my short frame. I didn’t wear a trace of
makeup and I never painted my nails. It was no wonder I was the odd
girl out. In my current state, I’d never attract Jace or any other
guy.

Maybe it was time to face reality. My
best bet was to muddle through high school, go to college out of
state, and move as far from Oaktree as possible. There was nothing
for me in Oaktree—no friends, no future, and certainly no tall,
dark, handsome stranger who would fall hopelessly in love with me.
That sort of thing only happened in romance novels.

***

I overslept Monday morning and was
running late. I usually listened to music while getting ready for
school, but today, I had the pleasure of getting ready to the angry
sounds of my mother shouting up the stairs.

“Alisa, you’re going to be
late.”

“Yes, I know. I’m coming.”

I threw my hair up into a messy bun,
jammed a pair of flip-flops on my feet, grabbed my backpack, and
ran down the stairs. I was halfway to school before I realized I
was probably going to have the single most embarrassing day of my
entire life.

It was bad enough that my hair was
still damp, and that each one of my toes were painted a different
color because of my weekend attempt at finding out whether or not I
was suited to warm or cool colors. No. The real tragedy was the
fact that, instead of grabbing my faded pink t-shirt with the retro
throwback to a favorite cartoon character of yore, I grabbed the
pink shirt my mom had picked out for me over the summer—the one
that said “Too Cute” across the front in sparkly pink paint. It was
a shirt I never wore in public. In fact, I only wore it around the
house a few times to show my mom I appreciated her gift.

Unfortunately, it was the same shirt
Cathy Delinios had worn for pictures last year, the same shirt
Becky made fun of, the same shirt the whole school had been making
fun of by the end of that day. Yep, and that was the shirt I was
wearing right now. Oh, yeah. I was so dead.