That Witch! (6 page)

After drying off and spraying on so much body spray she could barely breathe before dressing, Brynn dried and styled her hair, then put on a little makeup. Nothing over the top, just enough to put a lock on the whole cute factor Brynn was aiming for. A dusting of pink over the eyes. Pink on the lips. A soft pink on the cheeks. Good grief, she looked like a big pink cotton ball.

Shoulders rounding, she let out a sigh. Brynn really needed Laura there to tell her she looked fine, but she wouldn’t have dared to let Laura see her getting all dolled up for a study session with Cassidy Rivers. No doubt, that would be the nail in the proverbial coffin of their dying friendship. Yes. Dying. Laura never bailed first thing on a Saturday morning. They always…
always
had breakfast together, then usually went to the mall or the movies or the local skatepark or something. But not this morning.

Guess Laura didn’t want to hang around for the “I’ll catch up with you later because I would rather hang out with our biggest enemy” speech.

Brynn tore out of the bathroom and started down the hallway, not watching where she was going. She would’ve collided with her mother had Mommy Dearest not reached out to grab Brynn’s arms before the two of them fell like bowling pins after a perfect strike.

“Where are you going in such a hurry?” her mother asked.

“I, um… I… class project with Cassidy Rivers.”

“Cassidy Rivers?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“All dressed up like that?” Her mother settled her hands on her hips and gave Brynn one straight-through-the-soul stare down. It was her third-degree interrogation stance, the way she looked every time she wanted to break Brynn down.

“Well, we, um… might go to the mall or something.”

“Brynn Michaels.”

“What, Mom?” Brynn crossed her arms over her chest.

“What’s really going on?”

“That’s the truth.”

“Then I’m sure you won’t mind me calling Mrs. Rivers.”

“Mom!”

“Brynn.”

“Please don’t embarrass me.”

Awkward silence filled the narrow hallway, turning the air almost smothering. Brynn had the urge to fidget as her mother kept her weighty stare focused on Brynn, but she didn’t move. No need to make her mother more suspicious.

“Fine,” her mom finally said. “But I expect you to be home by seven for dinner.”

“What if we get started on the project?”

“Then I expect a call from you, and you’d better be at Cassidy’s house when you call.”

“Fine,” Brynn said in a huff. “When have I ever lied about where I’m going?”

“Never, and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Brynn turned her head and rolled her eyes as her mom walked past her and continued down the hallway. She understood her mother’s suspicion, she really did. But Brynn really was as honest as the day was long. She’d never lied to her mom, not over anything important. Brynn also never hung out with the likes of Cassidy Rivers and her clique of vapid, popular, spoiled little rich kids. It made sense for her mom to question their relationship now.

Relationship.
There was that word again.

“I’
M
WALKING
over so I should be there in a bit.” That was the last thing Cassidy heard Brynn say before hanging up the phone. The moment she tossed her iPhone onto her bed after ending the call, she went into frantic crazy mode.

Her room was perfectly clean as it always was, everything neat and in its place. But she wanted to hide all the superficial crap she was usually so proud of—like all her cheer trophies and the beauty pageant awards adorning her walls, dating back to when she was a little over two years old. Suddenly, everything in her room seemed like a lie. One big lie that Brynn would see right past. Or worse, she would buy into it all like everyone else did and wouldn’t care to see the person beneath all the sparkling tiaras and golden pom-pom trophies.

Cassidy knew Brynn lived in the same neighborhood, but from their conversation, she’d learned Brynn’s house was just around the corner and down the block. If she was walking, then that didn’t give Cassidy much time to redesign her entire bedroom, so she put priority in the way she looked. Earlier, she had opted for a baby-blue Hollister T-shirt and some jean shorts. Now the brand name embroidered in big, white letters across her chest bothered her. Jeez, she looked like a billboard.

Bolting over to her large, walk-in closet, she quickly tossed the doors open and flicked the light on, gaze darting over to the racks and racks of tops all neatly organized by designer or brand, and in order by color. She shed the Hollister shirt then threw it across the closet and into her hamper. It wasn’t dirty, but she didn’t have the time to hang it back up on its corresponding hanger. A quick glance at her watch told her that her time was rapidly running out, and she huffed out a frustrated breath. Everything had a label. Everything was designer. Everything had a brand name.

Ugh!
In all her years, she never would have thought finding something to dress
down
in would be so difficult. But she wanted to do this for Brynn. Basing her thoughts on the possibility the girl might be uncomfortable with brand names or designer clothing, she wanted to make her feel as comfortable as possible.

Finally, she found a white Victoria’s Secret T-shirt that just had the word “Pink” across the front with little pink rhinestones. It made her smile as she pulled it on, since Brynn’s hair was the same soft shade of pink.

When she traded her Armani Exchange jean shorts for a pair of True Religion jeans with a few tears across the front of the thighs, she felt a bit better. The jeans looked good on her. They were something she’d bought for a party once and ended up never wearing them because her friends had all decided to go in dresses instead. Lord knows why she left them forgotten in her closet, but she thanked everything in the clouds for having found them now. They had the same rocker feel Brynn exuded so easily.

One last time, she stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror inside her closet.
Yes, Brynn should be okay with this,
she thought, smoothing a hand down the front of the shirt.

The doorbell rang just as she exited her closet. She slammed the doors shut and darted down the stairs as if someone had lit a fire in those rocker jeans of hers.

Luckily, her mom had been okay with leaving her at home. Well, she’d complained about it at first, but Cassidy had dramatically explained that if she didn’t work on this project, she would fail her class and it would drastically impact her final grade, thus ruining her chances to get into a good college and potentially creating a snowball effect that would have Cassidy living at home with her seventeen cats. Her mom understood and went to the mall with Nana without her. That actually gave Cassidy most of the day alone with Brynn, since her grandmother tried on no less than ten pairs of sandals at the Birkenstock store, fourteen bras at Macy’s, and usually stopped to eat at least twice. Nana was a sucker for those freshly baked cookies and the bourbon chicken at the food court.

Standing in front of the door, she released a deep, meditative breath as she clasped her hand around the elaborately scrolled handle. For the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she was so nervous, but she was.

Here we go….

The door opened to reveal Brynn, standing on the front porch with the California sunshine highlighting the pink shades of her hair. Her bow-shaped lips were tinted with a light pink gloss, and her eyes were accented with the softest, palest pink shadow. Her outfit was considerably less gothic than her usual garb. The short skirt she wore revealed a patch of flawless, creamy skin between the hem and the tops of her knee-high socks, and the Mary Jane shoes she had chosen really tied her ensemble together. She looked almost innocent, bathed in sunlight and dressed in such a schoolgirl-type getup.

Beautiful,
Cassidy almost blurted out loud.

Catching herself, she opened the door a bit wider, smiled, and said, “Hey, Brynn. Come in.” She suddenly felt a bit underdressed in comparison to Brynn’s perfectly put-together outfit. Well, the tables sure had turned quickly, hadn’t they? It was normally Cassidy who was over accessorized and done up head to toe.

Funny, that.

“Thanks,” Brynn said softly, hugging herself as she eased by. Cassidy caught a whiff of jasmine in the breeze. That girl smelled so freakin’ good. Cassidy had just begun to lose herself in the scent when the sound of Brynn’s voice pulled her back. “Mom wants me home by seven… unless we get caught up in the project.”

“That’s okay,” she replied, closing and locking the door behind her. “Are you hungry? Wanna eat something first? Thirsty or something?” Cassidy Rivers, Suzy Homemaker extraordinaire. Not quite, since she really didn’t know how to cook much, but she could play hostess. Pointing to the kitchen, she kept the smile plastered on her face. Not that she could wipe it away if she tried.

“I, um… I could use something to drink, I guess.”

Cassidy sprung into action. “Come this way,” she said before leading Brynn past the living room just off to the side of the airy, sunlit kitchen. “We have water, juices, most types of diet sodas, and almond milk.”

“Diet Coke is cool, if you got it.”

“Yep, sure do.” Cassidy quickly fished a Diet Coke from the fridge and handed it to Brynn, trying not to enjoy the way Brynn’s fingers brushed against hers for the briefest of moments in the exchange.

“Thank you,” Brynn nearly whispered, as if she had lost her voice or something. Her cheeks turned a rosier red.

“So I was thinking—” Cassidy cleared her throat, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. “—we could work in my room, since there’s an iPod hook up for the stereo system and a table we can spread all our stuff out on….”

“That’s—”

“Um, if that’s cool with you,” she quickly added, cutting off Brynn’s words.

“Your bedroom is fine.”

“Great, follow me. It’s right up the stairs, and there’s a bathroom in my room if you need to go or whatever.” Eww. Why had she just said that? How utterly freaky. The day was seemingly full of surprises. Hoping Brynn wouldn’t think she was trying to perv on her while she peed or something, she turned on her heels and headed up the stairs to her room with the heat of a blush burning her cheeks and Brynn in tow.

Once inside her preppy, typical A-list bedroom, she felt her cheeks burn even hotter. This was the part she had almost feared. Having Brynn take one look at the decor in her room and automatically label her as something she really was not. The moment of truth, it seemed, had arrived. “Um… so this is my room.”

“God, you really are a beauty queen,” Brynn mumbled, wide eyes scoping the bedroom.

“Those are actually kinda old,” Cassidy explained, feeling the temperature rising in her cheeks. “I was ten the last time I was in a pageant.”

“I, um… didn’t mean anything by it. I just—”

“Don’t judge me for it, ’kay?”

“I wasn’t, I….” Brynn sighed, lowering her crystal-blue stare. She was obviously chewing on the inside of her cheek, and Cassidy almost kicked herself for making Brynn feel the way she obviously did. “I just didn’t know you were actually a beauty queen. I mean, we’ve made jokes about it. I just didn’t know it was true.”

“You make jokes about me being a beauty queen?” Cassidy asked, unsure if she should be mad or if that was actually kind of funny.

“Well, I, um… we….” Brynn bit down on her bottom lip, brows furrowed as she frowned. “Yeah, we do… or did. I mean, I won’t joke anymore. It was just—”

“Whatever, it is what it is.” Cassidy dismissively waffled her hand in the air.

“I’m really sorry, Cassidy. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Hey, at least you’re not kissing my ass like everyone else. Whatevs.”

Cassidy watched closely as Brynn set her backpack down on the floor, then reached in to fish out a book or something. The way Brynn knelt down, her skirt rose high up her thighs. Obviously, Brynn wasn’t used to wearing outfits like that, and had Cassidy not been so mesmerized by so much of Brynn’s skin showing, she might’ve laughed.

“So, I brought my notes from class,” Brynn said as she returned to her feet. Cassidy quickly looked away so she wouldn’t get caught ogling Brynn’s goodies. “I think our first book has to be a classic novel by a California native.”

“How about John Steinbeck? He’s a classic, California-born author.” With her breathing returning to normal after Brynn’s unintentional indecent exposure, she walked over to the bookcase taking up nearly half the side of one of her walls. “I think I have some of his stuff here, if you haven’t read—”

“
Of Mice and Men
is my fave!” Brynn blurted—eyes widened, lips curling into a smile so huge it made her entire face glow. “Can we do that one?”

“Sure, we can do that. I was gonna suggest either that or
Grapes of Wrath
. You like Steinbeck, huh?” It was clear she did. Brynn was all but beaming at the mention of the author, and her enthusiasm was a tad contagious. It elicited a soft, half-cocked smile from Cassidy.