The Trouble With Spells (21 page)

“I understand from
several of the eyewitnesses you may have felt somewhat provoked in this
incident.”

I gave him a half
shrug.

“Do you care to
elaborate?”

“Nope,” I replied,
wishing he would just hurry and get on with the punishing part of this speech.

“Well, under the
circumstances since you threw the only punch and did cause significant bodily
harm to Miss Fontane, I’m going to have to suspend you for three days. I need
to advise you also, pending a visit with Miss Fontane and her parents, a legal
complaint may be filed against you.”

“I understand.” I
wondered how bad this whole thing might actually get.

“In that case you
need to go get your things and wait in my secretary’s office. I’ll be calling
your parents to come pick you up.”

“I have my scooter
here today. I can drive myself,” I explained, wanting to delay the call to my
parents as long as possible.

“School policy
says a parent has to come get you. Sorry.” He opened the door to his office and
waited for me step out. “Miss Fontane,” he called, beckoning to Shelly.

She stood and
began walking toward me. “Sucker,” she whispered as we passed each other.

I ignored her and
continued back on to the locker hall to get my things. Vance was there, waiting
for me in the empty hall. I could see he’d scrubbed his face clean since it no
longer had Shelly’s lipstick smeared all over it.

“I’m sorry.” He
leaned up against the locker next to mine. “You okay?”

“Just peachy,” I
said, throwing a few things into my bag before slamming the door closed.

Vance grabbed me
by the shoulders, turning me to face him.

“You know there’s nothing
going on there, right? I mean between me and Shelly.” He stared into my eyes,
and I saw the honesty radiating from them.

“She isn’t going
to stop, you know?” I pushed past him to walk down the hallway. “She made it
pretty clear, now that she’s had a taste she wants more.”

He quickly caught
up to me, grabbing my arm and spinning me around.

“I could care less
what she wants.” He placed his hands on both sides of my face. “I’m bound to
you, and only you.” His eyes searched mine and he gently kissed me.

“Go back to class,
Mr. Mangum,” Mrs. Bloomfield’s shrill voice cut through the moment. “Miss
Mullins, follow me please.”

Vance’s hands
dropped to his sides. “I’ll see you after school,” he whispered, sounding
frustrated, but not wanting to rock the boat anymore. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” I
said and turned away to follow Mrs. Bloomfield back to her office.

Both of my parents
came to the school to pick me up. After a brief visit with the principal, Mom
drove me home in the car while Dad rode on my scooter behind us.

I normally
would’ve laughed my head off at the image of my dad on a green moped with a
purple flowered helmet on his head, but under the circumstances, no one was
laughing. In fact, no one said anything until we were all settled in the living
room.

“So what
happened?” my mom asked me, looking mildly worried.

 I began
explaining the events, which had been leading up to this over the past few
weeks, and what had caused my reaction today.

“Well, I will say
I can understand why you did what you did,” my dad began, stroking his chin in
thought. “However, it does give me some concerns over your control issues. You’re
a witch, Portia, and as a witch you should always be in control. Bad things can
happen when you rule totally from emotion.”

“I understand.” I
knew what I’d done was wrong, and I wasn’t arguing that fact. “So what’s my
punishment?”

“No punishment,”
Mom said, with a shake of her head. “Just do your best to repair things with
Shelly.”

I nodded, thinking
making up with Shelly would probably be near to impossible, but I would try.

“Well, is there
any work you need me to do?” I asked glancing at both of them while I stood. “Looks
like I’m going to be here for the next three days.”

“No. Just the
usual picking up,” Mom replied.

“Sounds good. I’ll
be in my room if you need me.”

“Don’t forget
about our plans for this evening,” my dad called after me. “Unless you don’t
want to go now.”

“No. I still want
to.” I headed up the stairs. I needed to do something, anything to get out of
my own head for a while.

Jinx was waiting
to pounce on me the minute I entered my room. I threw my belongings on my desk
and plopped myself onto the bed, letting her nuzzle my face to her heart’s
content.

“I was a bad girl
today,” I mumbled while I stroked her soft white fur.

Her replied meow
sounded like a denial. “Well, you’re kind of biased.” I laughed.

I rolled her over
and tickled her belly. She purred loudly, batting at my hand playfully with her
paws, and trying to nip at me with her teeth.

“I love you,
Jinx,” I said, scooping her up and cuddling her. “You’re a good little kitty.”

She licked my nose
before she jumped out of my arms, back onto the bed. I flopped over onto my
pillow and closed my eyes.

“Get some rest,” I
heard Vance’s voice whisper softly in my mind. “I’ll be there at lunch.”

“All right.” My
heart ached with his physical absence.

“Love you.”

“Love you more,” I
replied.

“Not possible,” he
returned with a chuckle.

“Do your
schoolwork!” I chastened.

“Okay.” His
laughter faded from my head.

I didn’t know I
had fallen asleep until I felt Vance’s soft kiss on my forehead.

“Hey, sleepyhead.”

I opened my eyes
to his smiling face.

“Hi,” I said,
stretching. “Is it lunch time already?”

“Yep. You were out
like a light.” He laughed. “I couldn’t even hear your dreams when I’d try to
check in on you.”

“This morning was
a little bit emotional for me,” I said with a slight pout.

“That’s completely
understandable. By the way, great right hook.” He grinned. “And it didn’t even
have any magic in it!”

“Yeah, well I
guess my baser instincts took over.”

“I’m glad you’re
on my side!” He laughed. “I’ve never had girls fist fight over me before. Well,
unless you count that time that…” his voice trailed off, and he glanced over at
me. “Never mind. We’ll save that story for another day.”

I gave him a small
forced grin before I sobered up again.

“The next three
days will be miserable without you here,” I complained, pulling him down next
to me.

“Don’t worry,” he
said, wrapping his arms around me. “I’ll be here every minute I can, and the
rest of the time I’ll only be a thought away.”

“I know. But it
still won’t be the same.”

There was a soft
knock on the door, and my mom walked in holding a plate with two sandwiches. She
had a bag of chips and two cold sodas in her other arm.

“I thought you two
could use some lunch.” She set the items down on the dresser.

“Thanks, Mom. You’re
the best.”

“By the way, the
school called while you were sleeping. Shelly and her family said they won’t be
pressing any charges,” she told us as she left the room.

“Well, that’s a
relief,” I said, turning to Vance. “The nurse said she thought Shelly’s nose
was broken.”

“It is,” Vance
replied with an assured air.

“How do you know?”

“I have my ways.” He
held his hands over my head and wiggling his fingers while making a mysterious
looking face and crazy eyes at me.

 I started laughing
out loud, and he started tickling me.

“Stop!” I gasped
after several seconds of his assault. “You need to eat, or you’ll be late to go
back to school.”

“Oh, all right.”
He moved away, picking up one of the sandwiches off the plate
,
and
offered the other to me.

“Seriously,
though, can you use your magic to diagnose people’s injuries?” I asked.

“I can if I touch
them. I held Shelly back after she charged at you, right before the teachers
broke it up.”

“Interesting.” I
carefully chewed a bite of my sandwich. “Can all witches and warlock’s do
that?”

“Not all. It’s a
special gift exclusive to healer witches.”

“So you’re a
healer witch … um, warlock?”

“Yes.”

“Can you heal
yourself if you get sick?”

“No. A healer
witch besides me would have to do that.”

“Why?”

“Because my powers
could be affected by my illness, depending on what it type it was.”

“Oh.” I pondered
this for a moment. “So how does one find out if they’re a healer witch?”

“When they have
the opportunity to heal someone and it works.” He reached for the bag of chips.

 “Who did you
heal?” I asked out of curiosity.

“My mom.” His eyes
got a faraway look in them. “She accidentally cut her hand on a knife while
doing dishes. I saw all the blood, ran over to place my hands on her cut and it
healed.”

“How old were
you?”

“Five. It was my
first manifestation of my power,” he said, looking at me.

“Wow. No wonder
everyone’s impressed with you. How’d you even know what to do?”

He shrugged
nonchalantly. “Just instinct, I guess.”

“Can I ask you
something else?”

“Sure. Ask away.” He
took a big swig of his soda.

“What’s your mom’s
name?”

He sat there for a
moment before signaling me to be quiet by placing a finger over his lips.

“Krista Leah
Mangum,” his voice whispered very softly in my mind.

“And your dad’s?”

This time he shook
his head.

“Not here. Not now.
It isn’t safe,” he said out loud, and when I looked discouraged he added, “It’s
more of a precaution really, Portia. We’re just trying to keep anything he
might be doing to track us at bay.”

“Sorry,” I
mumbled, looking down at my half-eaten sandwich, worried I’d crossed a line
with him.

He hooked his
finger under my chin and lifted it to meet his gaze. “You never have to be
sorry around me. Not for any reason.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead.

“Vance! You’re
going to be late if you don’t leave now!” my mom’s voice interrupted, calling
from downstairs.

“I’ll be back
after school,” he promised, standing to leave.

“All right. I
think I’ll go spend the rest of the afternoon with my grandma at the store,
though.” I replied, getting up to give him a hug goodbye.

“Okay. I guess
I’ll meet you there then.”

He ended our hug
with a kiss, then he was off, running down the stairs. I followed him outside
just so I could watch him drive away.

“He’s a good kid,”
my mom said from behind my back.

“Yes, he is.”

“He cares a lot
about you. I find that unusual in a young man of his age.”

“Vance is
exceptional,” I stated.

“You’ll be
careful, won’t you?” Mom asked. “I know he’s eighteen already and he’s an
adult, but you’re still only sixteen. If he hadn’t been on the run and gotten
behind in school, he’d have been graduated and long gone by this time. It
worries me he may be ready to move on with a part of his life you’re not ready
for.”

I turned back
toward her when he was out of sight.

“Mom, I’m not
trying to be disrespectful, but I would happily go wherever, and do whatever,
Vance wanted me to.”

“That’s what I’m
afraid of,” she said seriously. “You could end up on the run with him, out
there alone and unprotected.” She looked me over. “Or even pregnant.”

I gave a half
laugh. “Is that what this is really about? Sex?”

“Are you sleeping
with him?” she asked me point blank.

“Yes, Mother, I am.
Every night. Emphasis on the sleep.” I folded my arms over my chest. “And just
for the record, I personally would love to be doing a whole lot more than that,
but Vance has some other goals that are important to him. I’m doing my best to
help him honor those.”

“You two are
playing with fire, you know, spending so much time together,” she said, but I
could see the apparent relief on her features.

“I know we are,
and I’m not going to lie. It’s been hard, Mom.” I raked a hand through my hair,
needing to talk to someone and feeling thankful my mom and I had always shared
a close bond. “I almost feel obsessed with him at times. The whole view of the
world changes for me when I’m with him. I love him a lot, and I want to be with
him in every way possible,” I replied honestly. “But I also realize it’s not
time for some things yet, so please know I’m not rushing into anything I’m not
ready for.”

She smiled softly
at me, lifting her hand to my face. “You’re growing up so fast,” she said. “Where
did the time go?”

“I don’t know,” I
replied, giving her a hug. “But no matter how old I am, I’ll always be your
little girl.”

“Thank you for
trying to be responsible,” she whispered into my ear, and I laughed out loud.

“You do remember I
just got suspended for three days for beating up my best friend, right?”

“You know what I
mean!” She joined in with my laugh, giving a playful spanking to my rear end. “Do
you have any homework? I need to run to the store real quick.”

“No, I don’t, but
do you care if I go over to Grandma’s store for the rest of the afternoon?” I
asked her.

“Not at all. She’d
probably enjoy your help.”

I followed her
into the kitchen, watching while she gathered her purse and the grocery list.

“I’ll be back by
four so we can go to Flagstaff,” I said, walking her to the garage.

“Okay. Do you want
me to give you a ride to Milly’s?”

“I’ll take my
scooter.”

“All right,
sweetheart. See you later then,” she said and got into the car.

I went into the
house, grabbed my coat and headed back to the garage. I thought better of it
after a second, deciding instead to walk. I had a lot of pent-up energy and
felt I could use the air right now. A brisk jaunt down the road seemed just the
thing to clear my head and help me work out some of my emotions concerning
Shelly. I wasn’t alone in my thoughts for long though.