Family Magic (20 page)

Alison dropped into the chair next to me. She
took a cookie from the tin. She turned it over and over in her hand
for so long it went way past uncomfortable into wretched.

“How did you know?” She blurted. I almost
choked on my milk and had to struggle not to cough.

“About what?” I asked when I was able.

“About me,” she whispered.

I was still in the dark. “I don’t know what
you mean.”

“You offered to talk to me about it,” she
said. Her voice was so strained I could feel the pain in it.

Okay, this I hadn’t been expecting.

“Um, all right,” I said.

Alison set the untouched cookie on the table
and folded her hands in her lap. Her fingers fidgeted together as
she spoke.

“You’re right about me,” she said. “That I
treat people the way I do because of what my life is like. I’m
sorry, by the way,” she tried an apologetic look. “Really. I was so
mean to you. I’ve been so mean to everyone, I’m surprised any of
them will even talk to me.”

Either she was a really great actress, I mean
Oscar worthy, or she was seeing the error of her nasty ways and I
brought it on. Despite the fact she was my mortal enemy only
moments before, at least in my eyes, the new trust I was working on
stretched out and enveloped Alison as well.

“Apology accepted,” I said.

She almost beamed at me.

“Thanks, Syd,” she said, and it seemed like
she meant it.

“So, what was it?” I asked. Now that the
danger was really past, I couldn't help being curious.

“That made me a bitch?” She laughed with a
bitter tone hard to miss.

“Sorry,” I said. She shook her head.

“It’s okay,” she tossed her perfect blonde
hair back from her beautiful face. “I know it. Knew it when I was
doing it. It seemed... like the only thing I did well, you
know?”

“I doubt that’s true,” I said. “Not often a
junior gets elected head of the cheer squad over a senior.”

“Only if you humiliate the rest of them into
giving you what you want,” she said, wincing a little.

“Guess that would do it,” I answered.

We both laughed.

“Sometimes I worry... if I don’t make people
like me...”

“They won’t like you at all,” I finished for
her.

“Yeah,” she whispered. A tear traced down her
cheek. She wiped at it. I didn’t say anything. “I guess I always
made people be my friend instead of trying to just be me and see if
they wanted to.”

“It’s never too late,” I said.

Her laugh was harsh. “Yeah, right. Like
anyone is going to want to hang out with me anymore. They asked me
to leave the cheer squad.”

Ouch. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not,” she lifted her chin. “My mom was
pretty mad, but only because no daughter of hers can ever be
unpopular. My dad patted my head on his way out to another
meeting.”

“They don’t get it,” I shook my head.

“Tell me about it.” She toyed with the cookie
on the table.

“They have this big plan for us from, like,
birth,” I said, “and if we show even one little bit of
individuality, they freak and push harder.”

“I didn’t know you were living with my
parents,” she laughed.

“Oh, you have no idea what I live with,” I
rolled my eyes.

“So how do you do it?” She stared at me now
with expectation. I don’t know if she sought ‘The Answer’ or an
answer. I felt responsible, but also really proud of her.

“Honestly,” I said, “if it hadn’t been for
you, I wouldn’t have found out how to stop being a sheep. So I
should be thanking you.”

She made a face. “Come on, Syd,” she said. “I
tortured you and made the whole school torture you too.”

“And pushed me into standing up for myself
instead of just taking it like I used to.” I meant what I said.
Because of Alison Morgan, I started to pull my life together and
find out who I really was. And like myself, for a change.

“You’re welcome,” she grinned, dimples
flashing.

“So now what?” I asked her.

“I don’t know,” Alison admitted. “I don’t
even know how to act anymore. I’m feeling a little lost, here. But
I have to tell you, for some reason I feel a whole lot better now
that I’m not juggling a bunch of people all the time. Weird, I
thought being alone would be scary, but it’s okay.”

She seemed so lost, so fragile and delicate.
I reached out to her out of pure empathy.

“I’m a little low on friends myself, lately,”
I said.

Hope lit her eyes. “Seriously? You would be
my friend after everything I did?”

I shrugged. “What’s the worst that could
happen? I figure it only gets better from here. Besides, if you
ever backslide, at least I know I can kick your butt.”

She laughed and I laughed with her.

“I’ll consider myself warned. Syd,” she said.
“About Brad...”

“He asked me out, Alison.” I wanted to be up
front.

She seemed relieved and let out a long
breath. “Good.”

“You’re not mad?”

She shook her head. “Are you kidding? I’ve
known Brad since kindergarten. He’s more like a brother to me than
anything. It was my mother’s idea that I date him. Captain of the
football team and all that. He’s a great guy, Syd,” she said.
“Don’t break his heart, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

Mom chose exactly then to enter the
kitchen.

“Syd, honey,” she set one hand on my
shoulder, smiling at Alison. “Who’s your friend?”

As I introduced them I realized Mom
eavesdropped on our conversation. She knew exactly who Alison was.
Or rather, had been.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Hayle,” Alison’s
cheeks flushed rosy. I figured she knew Mom was in on the whole
mess and didn’t blame her for blushing. “I have to go, Syd.”

“Please, don’t run on my behalf,” Mom
said.

Alison’s blush faded as she smiled, the
warmth of it lighting her eyes. She could be quite sweet when she
wasn’t being nasty.

“My mother is expecting me, ma’am,” she said.
“But maybe I could come back? To study sometime?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Alison was at the door when she turned
back.

“Thanks, Syd,” she said. “See ya.”

I turned to my mother as Alison disappeared
through the back door. I was met with a huge hug.

“That was a wonderful thing you did for that
young woman,” Mom said.

Maybe. But I had the feeling I did a great
thing for myself, too.

Alison Morgan was going to be my friend.
Imagine that.

***

This was fantastic. All of a sudden I
actually had a friend. Me. Or, at least, the beginnings of one.
Things were definitely looking up. I practically bounded up the
stairs to my room, almost knocking over my sister on the top
step.

When she saw me grinning, she smiled back. I
hugged her impulsively, my good mood just too much to keep to
myself.

Naturally, Meira took full advantage.

“I love you, Syd.” She beamed up at me, amber
eyes glowing.

“I love you too, Meems.”

“No, I really love you.” She clasped her
little hands in front of her chest and spun in a circle. “Really,
really.”

How obvious was she? It made me laugh.

“Okay,” I said, “what do you want?

“Ice cream!” She bounced on her toes,
clapping and giggling.

I hesitated one moment before remembering the
coast was clear. Since I didn’t have to worry about being picked on
anymore, the prospect of visiting the local hangout didn’t seem so
daunting.

Inside of ten minutes, I settled into a booth
across from her while she shivered in delighted anticipation.

“I want every flavor,” she said.

Mom would kill me if I brought her home hyped
up on sugar, but for some reason her little demon body loved ice
cream and I hated to say no. So, I waffled. “We’ll see.”

As we perused our menu and Meira drooled over
her choices, I glanced around, surprised at how many of my
classmates went to Johnny’s. I suppose I shouldn’t have been,
especially since it was one of the only places to grab a burger in
town. No brand names for Wilding Springs. Johnny’s felt like an
old-fashioned fifties place with red vinyl and chrome everywhere,
down to the fully functional jukebox in the back of the dining
room.

Meira finally settled on chocolate, vanilla
and bubble gum while I rolled my eyes at her and ordered a hot
fudge sundae. The cute twenty-something waitress in her checkered
gingham poodle skirt winked at my sister and went off to fetch our
order while we settled back to watch the world walk by our
window.

As we did, I noticed a familiar face. With
some surprise, I watched as Page left her table and came over. She
made her way home to the ‘in’ crowd, it seemed. She already had her
cheer uniform back on.

She smiled at me, even shared it with
Meira.

“Syd,” she said, “you’ll never guess
what?”

“You’re back in,” I said.

“Thanks to you.” She was almost beside
herself with delight. “Now that Alison is out, they let me back on
the squad. Isn’t that great?”

I tried to be happy for her. “Sure, Page.
How’s Simon?”

Her face crumbled a bit before her perfect
mask came back.

“They’ll be fine without
me,” she said. “Besides, I’m on cheer squad again! It’s
so
worth it.”

I tried not to think about Page selling her
soul for a set of pompoms and gave her the benefit of the doubt.
After all, without Alison leading the pack, maybe things really had
changed.

“Anyway,” she made a face, “I didn’t mean to
bother you this long. I wanted to say thanks and give you this.”
She handed me a black and orange card with a pumpkin on it. “It’s
an invitation. To a Halloween party. You’re invited.”

She said it like I was special. Whoopee.

“Thanks, Page,” I said.

“You have to come,” she gushed. “Everyone
will be there. Even Brad.” She said his name like it was a fishing
lure.

Okay, so I took the bait.

“Really?” I said. “When is it?”

“Tomorrow night,” she said. “I know, I know,
short notice. Sorry. Oh, and costumes only, so come as your
favorite... whatever!”

This Page was so different from the one I
first met. The old Page lurked dark and bitter. This one was so
perky I felt overwhelmed.

“Okay, thanks,” I said.

“It’s at Suzanne’s house, seven o’clock,
don’t be late. Gotta go, bye, Syd!”

Page practically skipped away. I glanced at
the invitation and over at the table. Suzanne smiled at me,
pleasant enough. Maybe I scared her into being nice. A costume
party, though... I hadn’t dressed up for Halloween for years for
obvious reasons. When you lived Halloween, who needed to pretend?
Still, the chance to see Brad outside of school a whole day before
our planned date was almost too much to pass up.

The girls rose and left as a pack, Page
waving at me as they exited en masse. I waved back. How surreal. I
continued to watch them as they crossed the street. When they
passed the stop sign, I saw the dog sitting there, watching me

“What the…” I breathed, frowning.

“Syd,” Meira said around her hot fudge
sundae.

“Yeah, Meems,” I said, still distracted by
the sight of the black dog. What was he doing here? What did he
want from me? I briefly considered reaching out to him but knew it
wasn’t in the rules. Still, he was just a dog, wasn’t he?

“Are you going to go?” Meira licked some
excess chocolate from her spoon, eyes curious.

“Go where, Meems?” I turned away from the
dog, confused and disoriented. I needed to tell his owners it
wasn’t safe to let him run around like that.

She rolled her eyes. “The par-tay.” She spun
the word out like the point of her ice cream.

Right. I examined the invitation in my
hand.

“I haven’t decided,” I answered. “It’s a
costume party.”

Her little cheeks turned pink from the cold
ice cream. “I love costume parties. Can I come?”

I grinned at her. “Sorry, big kids only.” I
glanced out the window. The dog was gone. Somehow, though, I wasn’t
feeling any better about it.

Meira made a face, her cheeks getting redder.
I stuffed the invitation in my front pocket as I watched her,
concern growing to fear.

“No fair,” she said, blue eyes flashing
amber. “You always get to have more fun than me.”

I leaned forward and gripped her hand as two
tiny horns peeked out of her black curls. Her skin reverted to her
natural red hue.

“Meira,” I hissed at her. “Your
disguise.”

She looked up at me, confused, and down at
her hands. She let out a little shriek, her face screwing up in
despair. I glanced around. No one noticed yet. There was still time
for Meira to get herself under control.

No such luck.

“Syd!” She said. “It won’t come back!”

Now we were attracting interest. I had to get
her out of there, but I had no idea what to do. All I had were my
own shields but when I tried in desperation to wrap them around
Meira she just squealed like I hurt her.

I was trying to come up with something else
when Quaid appeared beside us.

“Let’s go,” he hissed, tossing money on the
table. He bundled Meira up against him, keeping her shielded from
the people in the diner, hurrying her to the door and outside onto
the street.

I waved at the waitress, pointed at the money
and followed.

Outside, Meira struggled not to cry but was
still startlingly herself. One kid, who happened to be walking by,
grinned.

“Cool costume,” he said.

Meira ran.

“Meira!” I called after her. Before I could
follow her, though, Quaid caught my bare arm. He spun me around to
face him. I felt a huge jolt of energy exchange, a connection
between the two of us taking my breath away and freezing us both.
My anger and fear drained away as the connection tightened before
easing into something warm and wonderful.