Dead Is a Battlefield (9 page)

“You wouldn’t want him to get sick or anything,” I said.

“Oh, you’re right. Aunt Circe wouldn’t want anyone to get sick on her show,” Selena said. “Thanks, Jessica.”

After she moved on to serve the rest of the audience, I turned to Dominic. “I didn’t know you were allergic to mushrooms,” I said.

“You caught me,” he said.

“You’re a good liar,” I said. I wasn’t sure that was a trait to look for in a potential boyfriend.

“I’m not a good liar,” Dominic said. “Ask Raven.”

She nodded. “He usually turns red and gets all twitchy. Like that,” she said, pointing at Dominic’s tomato-red face.

“So why did you lie?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to hurt her feelings,” he said.

I tried not to let it show, but I was annoyed. I should be happy that he was sensitive enough to think of Selena’s feelings, but I wanted him to care about me, not her.

I turned my attention back to the stage. Circe was finally getting ready to prepare the soup. “I’m making a delicious potato leek soup today,” she announced.

“Brooke, where is my food processor? Brooke, you stupid girl,” she said, loud enough for the audience to hear.

When she saw that the audience was staring at her with stunned disbelief, she changed her tone. “Brooke, please bring me the food processor, will you?”

The harried assistant ran onstage with a large food processor. “The leeks, dear girl,” Circe said, gritting her teeth.

Circe watched Brooke as she chopped the leeks and potatoes. Then Circe put the items in the food processor, poured a healthy portion of cream into the mix, and hit the button.

The utensil whirled and whirled and a strange green fog formed. The noise grew so loud that I clapped my hands over my ears, and then the top of the lid exploded and a food tornado formed over the blender.

“Is this part of the show?” Raven whispered.

“I don’t think so,” I said.

The funnel cloud grew darker and gained speed. It grew larger and larger until it loomed over the transfixed audience.

“I think we should get out of here,” Dominic said. He took my hand and pulled me up. “When that thing blows, it’s going to be a mess.”

We inched our way to the aisle, and the funnel cloud stopped spinning. Potatoes, leeks, and cream rained down upon everyone in the room. Pellets of food hit with the force of hail.

There were chunks of potato and dairy product in my hair.

“I need a shower,” I said.

“I need about twelve showers,” Raven replied.

“This is an outrage!” someone shouted. “What kind of cooking show is this?”

Circe looked like she was ready to explode, just like the potato leek soup.

“Brooke,” Circe’s voice rang out loud and clear. “You fool, what are you waiting for? Clean this mess up now!”

Staff members handed out towels and apologies, but it wasn’t enough to get anyone to stay. As the audience filtered out, an older gentleman yelled, “You’ll be hearing from my attorney.”

Raven bent over and shook the gunk out of her hair. “Well, that was a disaster,” she said cheerfully.

It was, but I wondered why it had happened. Potato funnel clouds didn’t happen every day, which meant magic had been used. The only two witches I knew were Selena and Circe, and I couldn’t think of any reason they’d want to ruin the performance.

Someone was sabotaging Circe’s new cooking show, but why?

After we left, Raven said, “I just got a text from Aunt Katrina. She’s at Slim’s. She wants to stop for ice cream.”

Dominic looked to me. “Do you want to come along, Jess?”

I nodded. “Ice cream sounds good.”

“Then ice cream it is,” Dominic said.

Nurse Phillips wasn’t nearly as intimidating when she was out of the naughty nurse outfit that she wore onstage, along with a variety of outrageous wigs and dramatic makeup.

She sat across from me in a vintage Cabbage Patch T-shirt and jeans. I could see a resemblance to Dominic. They had the same blond hair and up tilted eyes.

“You two look alike,” I commented.

“I’m assuming you aren’t talking about me,” Raven said. Raven was small, with dark hair.

“You all have the same-shaped eyes,” I said. “But Nurse Phillips and Dom really look alike. Same hair, same high cheekbones, same—”

Dominic cut me off. “Raven looks like my dad.” He abruptly got up from the table and went to the jukebox. The set of his shoulders told me he wanted to be left alone.

I stared after him, astonished. “What did I say?”

“Dominic resembles his mother,” Nurse Phillips said gently. “My sister.”

I was still lost, but he came back before I had the chance to ask any more questions. “Sorry,” he said. “Just needed a minute.”

We finished our ice cream and then called it a night. Raven got a ride with her aunt, and Dominic drove me home. He didn’t say anything on the way back to my house.

I cleared my throat. “How do you like living in Nightshade so far?” I asked politely. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how to talk to him.

“It’s definitely growing on me,” he said. “At first I didn’t want to leave my friends, but it wasn’t like I had any choice.”

“It must be tough to lose both of your parents,” I said. “How long ago did your mom die?”

“My mom has been gone for three years,” he said. “Look, it’s not something I like to talk about. Can we change the subject?”

“Of course,” I said. I felt like an idiot for bringing it up. I get five seconds alone with him, and instead of flirting, I bring up the most depressing topic possible.

Neither of us said another word until we reached my house. “Thanks for the ride,” I said, my hand already on the door. He probably couldn’t wait to get away from me. “I’m sorry I asked so many dumb questions.”

He reached for my hand. “Jessica, wait a minute.”

“I’ve got to go,” I replied. “It’s past my curfew.”

“Look, I’m sorry if I was a jerk, but the subject of my mom is off-limits,” he said. “It’s too painful to talk about, okay?”

“Okay,” I said. “I understand, but I’ve got to go.”

It was true. I could see my dad’s silhouette in the window.

But after I went inside, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was up to going out with a boy who had so many secrets.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Side Effects May Vary
had another gig at the Black Opal and Raven had asked me to go with her. The place was packed. There were a lot of girls in the audience. A lot of
cute
girls.

Nurse Phillips wore a bright pink wig, six-inch platform shoes, and a white plastic dress.

“Your aunt is amazing,” I told Raven as I watched Nurse Phillips strum her guitar.

Dominic’s outfit was a little more low-key than his aunt’s. Tight black jeans and an orange T-shirt that made his eyes look even bluer. When he came onstage, the squeals from the girls were nearly deafening. He saw us in the front row and gave a little wave before he started the first song.

A strange look crossed his face and then he went glassy-eyed.

“He’s doing it again,” Raven said under her breath.

Dominic usually focused on the audience, but his gaze was centered somewhere above their heads, at a distant point on some imaginary horizon. He looked seriously zoned out. I swear I saw his eyes go back in his head, just for a second.

And then he started to sing. I didn’t recognize the song, but Raven identified it for me. “Oh, no. He’s singing ‘Love Potion Number Nine.’”

“What do you think it means?” I asked.

“Maybe Dominic will talk to you about it. It seems like you two have become close lately.”

“Does that bother you?” I wanted to know because Raven was supposed to have my back in the event of a big fight and I didn’t want her mad at me.

“Of course not,” she said. “I want him to be happy. It’s just that . . .” She didn’t finish her sentence. “He’s been acting weird lately.”

Dominic had been acting weird. I knew girls blamed other girls all the time, but something wasn’t right with him. He claimed to not remember going out with Selena in the first place. Dominic was a star in Nightshade. He could have any girl he wanted. Sometimes it was clear to me that he’d chosen Selena, but other times, I felt that he really might like me. Either I was completely wrong about him and he was playing us, or there was something fishy going on.

I turned my attention back to the stage. The band was struggling to keep up with him. The crowd didn’t seem to notice, but I’d overheard their band practice enough to know that the song wasn’t on the set list. When the song ended, the crowd let out a roar of approval.

Dominic could do no wrong with his fans, but his band mates were another matter. As soon as the song ended, Nurse Phillips announced a short break. Before she’d even finished, Vinnie had stalked offstage.

Katrina went up to Dominic and put a comforting arm on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off and made his own stormy exit.

“I’ll be right back,” I told Raven. “I’m going to go talk to him.”

I found him outside, sitting on a low wall behind the back door.

“I don’t know why it happens!” he burst out when he saw me. “So don’t bug me about it.”

“I wasn’t going to bug you,” I said. “I was going to see if I could help, but you obviously don’t want my help.” I turned around and started to march off.

“Wait, Jessica,” he said, but I kept moving. “Please?” he added.

I stopped and faced him. “I don’t need a jerk in my life,” I said. “I thought you were different.”

“I apologize,” he said. “I’m upset and I took it out on you.”

“Apology accepted,” I replied. “But this moody rock-star stuff that may work with other girls doesn’t work with me. I’m trying to be your friend.”

“I know,” he said, and took my hand.

I tried to ignore the way my heartbeat accelerated. “So you don’t have any idea why it happens?” I asked.

“None,” he said. “It’s driving the other band members crazy, and I don’t blame them.”

“Do the songs mean something to you?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t think so. It’s only happened a few times, but that’s too often as far as Jeff’s concerned. He didn’t want me in the band even before this started to happen.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“I’m just a kid, at least according to him,” Dominic replied. “Aunt Katrina convinced him to give me a chance, and now this.”

“Did it ever happen before you moved to Nightshade?”

He shook his head. “The first time it happened was a few weeks ago. Out of nowhere, I started to sing ‘Ant Music.’”

“‘Ant Music’? By Adam and the Ants?” I asked.

He raised his eyebrows. “You know that song?”

“My brother, Sean, dressed like Adam Ant for an ’eighties night dance once,” I explained.

“Well, we don’t do covers of Adam and the Ants,” he said flatly. “And the night we met—let’s just say ‘Crazy for You’ isn’t in the band’s repertoire.”

“Is that why you were such a . . .” My voice trailed off. No sense in kicking him when he was down.

“Jerk?” He finished my sentence. “Yep. I was freaked out and I took it out on you. Sorry.”

“Nightshade does bring out the strange in people,” I said. “Look, I think you should talk to the band and let them know you’re not trying to—”

“Be an egomaniacal pain in the butt?” he finished for me. “I can do that.”

“And that we’re trying to figure it out,” I said. “Maybe they could learn a few more songs.”

He nodded. “It’s better than anything I’ve come up with on my own.”

We walked back to the club. There wasn’t much else I could say to him. The band finished their performance without any more random songs, but I could tell Jeff Cool wasn’t cool about it.

***

At lunch the next day, I grabbed my tray and looked for someone to sit with. Eva was already at a table with Shannon and the rest of Edgar’s Lovelies.

To their left, Dominic sat by himself. He was wearing a Nightshade High hooded sweatshirt, with the hood up. He was obviously avoiding his fans. His whole body screamed, “Leave me alone.”

I spotted Raven and Andy and went to sit with them instead.

“Avoiding my brother?” Raven asked.

I shrugged. “He seems to want to be alone.”

“You should go talk to him,” Raven said softly.

I glanced back at him. “I’ll be right back,” I said.

I went to Dominic’s table and sat next to him. “Is this seat taken?”

“I thought you might be avoiding me,” he said.

“Why would I avoid you?”

“Because I’m a freak,” he said.

“You’re not a freak,” I replied. “You’re just . . . different.”

“Yeah, and we both know how well different goes over in high school.”

“Nightshade High isn’t like most high schools,” I told him.

“What do you mean?”

I hesitated. I didn’t want to sound like a complete loon, but maybe it could help him. “The city of Nightshade is home to several paranormals,” I finally said.

“You mean witches and vampires and stuff?” he asked. “I know.”

“You know?” I repeated.

“Aunt Katrina told us all about it before we came to live with her,” he said. “She wanted us to be prepared.”

“I’m not sure there is a way to prepare for living in Nightshade,” I told him. “But I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m glad I’m here, too,” he said. “Especially now that I’ve met you.”

We smiled at each other, for once in perfect harmony.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I’d joined the high school
show choir at Eva’s behest, the only elective that would fit with soccer. And even though I was only a freshman, Mom was already encouraging me to join clubs in order to look good on my college applications.

We didn’t have a very good choir. It wasn’t that we couldn’t carry a tune or anything, but we just hadn’t had enough practice. Or even enough members. Our choral director, Ms. Clare, had a reputation for being moody, and she expected perfection from every single member. Not that she got it, from me, at least.

Ms. Clare had dark brown hair that she parted in the middle and then tortured in to a high bun at the back of her neck. She always wore smocklike tops with a pattern of music notes. Or when she got dressed up, a severe black suit and a
SING OUT LOUD
brooch pinned to the collar.