The Witch Is Back (7 page)

He was my first crush. My first date. My first kiss.

He was my first . . . everything.

The problem was, I wasn't his only.

After a while, Kent began to pull away, claiming he was too busy to hang out. I finally confronted him one day at school and that's when he'd dropped the bombshell.

“I sort of have a girlfriend now,” Kent said, not at all ashamed to tell me this.

Boom
.

“We had some fun, but we never said we were exclusive.”

Boom
.

“When Mindy found out I was seeing other people, she decided she was ready to commit. She said she couldn't stand the thought of me being with all those other girls.”

Girls? As in, more than just me?

Boom.

“Look, I love her. You understand, right?”

Kaboom.

I didn't understand though. I didn't understand how he could date several girls at once, make me think he liked me and only me, and then ditch me for someone else. My heart felt like it had been obliterated, and being the witch I am, I'd instantly searched for a spell that would make him choose me instead. Because as douchey as Kent had been to me, I still liked him.

Unfortunately, love is about the only thing that witches can't mess with. I might have the power to persuade people to do what I want and create fire out of thin air, but I can't make a boy like me. It was infuriating and made me feel completely helpless for the first time in my life.

When I'd confessed to my girlfriends what had happened, they hadn't seemed all that surprised. In fact, they told me that it was a typical boy thing to do. That guys often did this as they searched for the “right” girl. After I finally stopped crying, I came to a decision that changed everything.

I would never again date a high-school boy.

The experience had made me too vulnerable and I didn't like feeling out of control. It was much safer to concentrate on other things, like my magic, cheerleading, school, and friends, than risk having my heart broken.

And then Asher had come along and my world changed once again.

Only, choosing to date Asher was more like two magnets being pulled together by an invisible force. We were a perfect match. And while I tried to stick to my old no-dating rules, I eventually gave in, telling myself it would be different because he was a witch, and not a typical high-school guy. He was special.

So, although I hadn't exactly
enjoyed
hearing that Kent had found another girl whom he wanted to date more than me, I never felt that sense of jealousy toward her. Probably because she went to a different school and I never actually met her in person. Besides, Kent and I had lasted a whopping three weeks—a lifetime at fifteen, but chump change compared to my relationship with Asher.

Given all of that, this whole jealousy thing was new to me. And I had no idea how to handle it. I so didn't want to be
that
girl. The one who screamed at her beau because he said Jessica Alba was hot. I had more self-esteem than that. And more faith in our relationship. But it was like something was taking over my brain and making me feel crazy and emotional and . . . insecure.

It was like
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
, only the monster was in the form of a tall blonde who'd probably once had her legs wrapped around my boyfriend. . . .

And suddenly I was back to hating her.

Colette lifted her arm up to her face and checked her funky plastic watch, pulling me out of my thoughts. “First class starts in fifteen,” she announced, sitting up abruptly and then swinging her legs over the side of her bed. I watched as it drifted back down toward the floor.

Looking over at Abby, I could see that she'd pulled another book out of thin air and was already reading.

The girl sure likes her books, doesn't she?

“You coming?” I asked her.

“Gonna read for a few more minutes, but I'll be down for class,” she answered, her attention fully on the story she was reading.

“Okay,” I said, wondering if I'd be able to pry her away from her books long enough to get to know her.

I copied Colette and swung my legs over the side of the bed and let them hang in the air. As if I'd pulled on a lever, the bed began to lower to the floor until my feet were touching the ground.

“So cool,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief before getting ready for our session.

I'd never much minded walking into situations where I didn't know anyone. Not just because I was a natural influencer, but because I wasn't exactly shy.

Call me crazy, but I feel like powerful people have a duty to use their positions in the public eye for good, not evil. Like the saying goes, you catch more bees with honey.

Besides, history had pretty much proven that what you put out there comes back to you, tenfold. Take a look at Marie Antoinette for instance. Great dresser, but she was selfish and focused on spending money frivolously rather than helping the hungry or lessening the rising deficit in France. In the end, it didn't matter how great she looked or that she was royalty—her subjects were unhappy with the way she treated them and she paid the price for it.

With her head.

And I wasn't about to lose mine because I treated people badly. I recognized that I'd been blessed. With numerous talents like my ability to throw multiple back handsprings in a row or argue just about any topic. I'd also hit the genealogical jackpot. Being a direct descendent of one of the most powerful witches of all time had left me with magical gifts most others didn't have.

It was with this mindset that I walked into our first session at Brighton, pumped to learn and ready to rock every challenge they threw my way. I was even looking forward to making new friends. Since graduating from Astor High in May, my relationships with my old friends had grown strained. I'd heard that this often happened to people after they graduated and moved on to separate colleges, but I hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

Plans to spend our last summer together had disintegrated as I learned about Brighton. And then Sofia headed off to cheer camp, while Bethany and Trish flitted to Europe for the quintessential post-high-school backpacking trip. So, I found myself without my trendy trio for the first summer in forever.

I was friendless.

And apparently overly dramatic. But what was a girl without her friends? Nothing. The Cleri sort of filled the hole left by my old social circle, but even with them it was an odd relationship. I'd been their leader. Still was, if you considered the meetings I regularly held to make sure the Parrishables stayed gone. They still looked to me to guide them and that made for an unequal balance of power between us. We were friendly, but I wasn't sure we were “friends.”

Expanding my friendship circle was exactly what I needed. Especially since I felt like there was no one I could really talk to about this ex-girlfriend thing. And I was in serious need of a sounding board. Luckily, Colette had turned out to be much cooler than I'd expected and I felt like I was already making progress with her.

“Hey guys!” I said, walking across the grass behind the cabin to meet up with the Cleri members who had already sat down within the mini amphitheater.

So far only Jasmine, Jinx, and Sascha had shown up. Like a weird Three Musketeers. Sascha was chatting excitedly as Jinx attempted to get a word in here and there, and Jasmine rested back against the edge of a stage, looking bored. Or angry. Or annoyed. I still couldn't tell any of them apart.

“This is Colette,” I said, gesturing for her to come closer. She joined me, twisting the bottom of her shirt absently. But instead of looking down at the ground, intimidated by the group in front of her, she locked eyes with each of the girls and gave them genuine smiles. “She's rooming with Abby and me.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sascha said, sliding her butt off the edge of the stage and coming forward to shake Colette's hand. Jinx followed suit, but when I looked at Jasmine hoping she'd at least try to be friendly, she just nodded her head and said, “What's up?”

“So good to meet you guys!” Colette said.

Jasmine took in Colette's outfit and stared at her blankly. “What's your deal?” she asked finally.

If Colette was offended, she didn't let on. Instead she just stood there, and answered as if she were asked the question all the time.

“Well, what do you want to know?” she asked genially.

“What's with the outfit?” Jasmine asked back.

This was the sort of thing I'd been afraid of. The rest of us were used to Jasmine's blunt nature, but to strangers, her attitude could be misconstrued as hostility.

“Jasmine!” I scolded and then turned to Colette apologetically.

But she didn't bat an eye. “My aunt Betsey gave it to me. She always sends me her latest creations,” she said. Jasmine's comment hadn't bothered her one bit.

“Is this your first time at Brighton?” Sascha asked, changing the conversation to safer subjects. “We're all newbies.”

“Nah,” Colette said. “I've been coming here since I was, like, eight, I guess? So, like, nine years give or take a summer?”

“Is the rest of your coven here, too?” I asked, looking around for any sign of them.

“I was the only one invited this year,” she answered with a shrug. “There've been others from my group in the past, but they've all graduated. Or are too young and inexperienced to make the cut. So, it's just me for now.”

Even though Colette seemed perfectly fine to be here by herself, I had to imagine it was incredibly lonely. I made a vow to include her as much as possible.

“What's it like here?” Sascha asked, like she wanted Colette to spill Brighton's biggest secrets. I, myself, was curious to hear what she thought of the witches' intensive, too. So far, it hadn't been what I'd expected. On several different levels.

“Brighton is
unreal
. The teachers are all really smart and always come up with the best lessons each year. They're some of the most influential witches alive, you know? And they take time out of each of their summers to come here and teach
us
. It's pretty wild when you think about it. I mean, these are the witches that are changing the face of the magicking world. We couldn't be taught by more talented people.”

Well at least I was going to be in good company. I'd never really paid much attention to what was going on in terms of current events in the witching world, since I figured it had little to do with my life personally. So I probably wouldn't recognize any of the elders for the strides they'd made in the paranormal world. But still, it was cool to find out that our teachers were so celebrated.

If you wanted to be the best, you had to learn from the best.

Other kids began to show up then and the area we were in started to get more crowded. I heard a loud-pitched laugh and turned to see Brooklyn and her posse sauntering our way. Still looking perfectly put together, the blond bombshell once again commanded everyone's attention. I forced myself to turn back to Colette and the others.

“How about the other twitches?” I asked her, hoping it sounded nonchalant despite the timing. “Everyone else cool?”

Colette followed my gaze over to Brooklyn and a shadow crossed over her naturally happy face. “Most of them,” she said, fighting to keep her pep up. “Every group has its rulers.”

“And Brighton's are?”

“Isn't it obvious? Brooklyn and her bestie, Eve,” Colette said matter-of-factly.

“Eve's the brunette with her nose in the air, right?” Jasmine asked, unimpressed.

“How'd you know that?” I asked her when Colette nodded.

“Their room is right next to ours,” Jinx said. “It's just the two of them.”

Brooklyn and Eve had gotten a double room. It figured. The fact deepened my dislike for them both.

“We ran into them earlier. They walk around like there are cameras following them. The Brooklyn girl introduced herself, but Eve acted like we didn't exist,” Jasmine said. “Can't say I'm a fan.”

“Brooklyn seemed okay, though,” Sascha said, practically salivating. She was the only one of our group who gave any importance to popularity and pop culture. She'd been a supporter of mine from the beginning, the only one who acknowledged my place in the social hierarchy. Now that I'd taken on more responsibility in the Cleri, the novelty of my life had sort of worn off for her, I think.

Sascha couldn't resist a chance to glom on to the glamorous, so I wasn't totally surprised she was impressed with Brooklyn and Eve. But would she side with me if she knew that Brooklyn had dated Asher? Or was popularity by association more important to her?

“She's fine,” Colette admitted. “But Eve . . . she's like, Mormo.”

“She's Mormon?” Jasmine asked. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“No,
Mormo
. The demon witch who devours hearts so she can retain her youth,” Colette said. When the rest of us still had no clue what she was talking about, she giggled in response. “
You
know . . . she was the Queen of the Ghouls and chief consort of Hecate, the Greek goddess of the underworld and witchcraft. Mormo.”

“Read some pretty freaky fairy tales growing up, did you?” Jasmine asked and went back to scrutinizing the incoming beauty barrage.

“There are demons now, too?” Jinx whispered to me. I took a look at her and shook my head, noting that she'd gone white at the mention of the otherworldly beings. Poor girl didn't need another thing keeping her up at night. She had real-life darkness doing that already.

“I can't believe Asher's here at Brighton, too!” I heard Eve say, much more loudly than was needed considering Brooklyn and the other girls were walking right next to each other. “Was there still a spark when you saw each other?”