Family Magic (9 page)

She yawned again. “’Night, Syd. Love
you.”

I stroked her cheek and watched her breathing
settle. In a short time, she was fast asleep. If only I could be so
lucky.

I closed my eyes and willed the most eventful
day of my life to finally end. I heard a soft step at the door and
felt my mother’s presence. I faked sleep, not wanting to get into
anything with her in the state I was in. She hesitated at the door
before entering. I felt her come to the side of the bed, smelled
her perfume as her power settled like a warm blanket around us. She
softly kissed first Meira and, after a moment’s pause, me. Her lips
were soft and warm and her breath sweet with wine.

“I love you,” she whispered. And then, she
was gone.

I almost sat up but I didn’t want to wake
Meira. I bit back a wave of sadness and squeezed my eyes shut
against threatening tears. The little girl Meira had awakened in me
wanted to run after my Mommy and have her hold me forever. I
struggled, knowing those days were gone and I ended them, not Mom.
If she had her choice, I know we would still be very close. The
fact I chose to cut myself off from her was something I either had
to live with or do something about. I knew my mother would welcome
me back into the fold with open arms, no questions asked. Exactly
how much was I willing to give up, to compromise? Could I really
find a way we could both be happy with the consequences?

I felt a heavy weight land on the end of the
bed and a fat, warm cat body made its way up between my sister and
I to settle in the small valley between us. I opened my eyes and
looked into Sass’s golden ones. He curled up, face next to mine,
tail brushing my chin.

“Don’t get any ideas,” he said. “I was
cold.”

I laughed and kissed him on the head.

“Thanks, Sassafras,” I whispered.

“Anytime,” he winked one amber eye in his cat
way. He settled, chin on his paws.

I’m not sure if it was the comfort of two
extra bodies or total emotional exhaustion but I had no trouble
falling asleep.

***

Despite the endless promises I made, the next
day while prepping for school I found myself yet again a slave to
trend setting and lip-gloss. So much for the new and improved Syd
who didn’t take crap from anyone. In fact, by the time I hit the
front steps, I was a nervous wreck. How much damage had I done? If
they thought I was a freak before, what was I classified as a
target now?

Unfortunately, yes. Might as well have had a
bull's-eye painted on my chest. From the moment I set foot in the
front lobby of Wilding Springs High, I opened myself to the
bombardment of Alison’s revenge. Not just Alison, either, from the
looks I took from the general population. I was in it deep and even
those who might have felt some sympathy gave me a wide berth. They
knew a sinking ship when they saw one. Nobody wanted to get sucked
in when the vortex of Alison decided my doom was at hand.

Still, they started small, bless them,
softened me up a bit, eased me into it. Nothing overt, at least not
at first. If I was doing the bullying the whole dissection of
self-esteem would have been way more messy. I would never give the
sucker a chance to see what was coming. Hit them with both barrels
right away. But then again, I wasn’t an expert in emotional and
psychological torture like Alison and the ‘Fem Bots’. They were far
more subtle, insidious, breaking down the spirit and will of their
chosen prey, chipping away at all self-esteem with their French
manicures and evil hearts.

The people who think witches are dangerous
were never bullied in high school.

So, like clockwork, the subtle, nasty stuff
started it off. At least I was expecting it. Not wanting it, hoping
I could avoid it, but otherwise knowing in my soul it was
inevitable.

It began with the ‘innocent’ bump knocking my
trendy bag into a puddle of spilled chocolate milk that just
happened to be there. I managed to get to a bathroom and get most
of it out before it stained. Of course, the milk already had time
to turn rancid, naturally. Fresh stuff wouldn’t do. So, stinky
purse it was, then.

I was vaguely surprised to make it to my
locker with only minor tripping and secretive name-calling
incidents. Surely they would attempt something else in the three
minutes it took me to get to homeroom? I needn’t have worried. They
thought of everything.

Someone scrawled ‘bitch’ across my locker
door with black marker. I suffered glares from the people with
lockers around me. Goody, Syd’s making more friends.

I took a deep breath and chose to ignore it.
I think it’s probably one of the bravest things I have ever
done.

I tried to put it in perspective. After all,
someone went to all the time and trouble to decorate my locker
door. Wow, that took talent. And, hey, I was part of something
normal, wasn’t I? Amazing I could cheer myself up at a time like
this.

But more was to come, oh yes.

My homeroom teacher, Ms. Fiat, was not amused
by the use of vocabulary displayed on my locker door, and made me
go to the office to tell the vice-principal what happened. Which
meant I ended up cleaning the door of my locker myself because the
janitor refused to do it. Even better, I missed a test in English I
had to make up on my own time.

This was getting old fast.

Imagine my absolute misery when I returned to
class in time to find out Quaid Moromond was in my homeroom.

Oh, the day just went better and better. I
struggled to ignore the burning sensation on the back of my head as
his smirk wore a hole through me. When I stood up at the end of
period bell, I caught his eye. He smiled at me in a dark and nasty
way.

“Syd.” It wasn’t fair his voice made me
shiver with the richness of it now that I’d decided he wasn’t
getting anywhere near me.

“Quaid.” I think I managed the right tone.
That’s it. Keep it impersonal.

His grin widened while the dark of his eyes
stayed flat and cool. “Nice school you have here.” Those words felt
like a weapon. Did he know already what an outcast I was? How could
he? Panic overtook me even as my demon inhaled his scent and
decided she liked what she smelled.

Traitor.

“You can have it.” My voice wavered a bit as
I struggled to control her and my concern about how much he knew.
I’m not sure why it bothered me since I figured if he didn’t know
he’d be finding out soon enough. Still.

Quaid rolled his shoulders in a shrug, the
leather of his black jacket creaking. “We’ll see,” he said,
sounding bored as he looked around. “Nothing’s caught my attention
so far.”

He was a total and complete ass. My body
vibrated with the need to slap him while my demon hummed and
purred, reaching tendrils of herself around my trembling shields. I
stepped back quickly, out of physical reach, hating that she had so
much control over me.

“Maybe you’ll be moving on soon, then.” I
made it pretty clear my opinion on the matter just from the glare I
gave him.

“Maybe. I’ll see you, Syd.” He had the nerve
to offer a little wave and a wink as he brushed past me out the
door.

I snarled at my demon to shut up and stop
whining when he disappeared into the crowd. Like I wanted anything
to do with the arrogant creep. I had no idea what the demon side of
me saw in him and had no desire to find out.

I slumped through second period in misery,
simply ignoring the hail of spit balls from the back of the room,
knowing they were added fun, not on Alison’s sophisticated lineup
of plans for my personal embarrassment. No, this was simply the
football team adding their own particular brand of Neanderthal
entertainment.

A quick trip to the bathroom after class for
some rapid brushing eliminated the offending projectiles. I tried
to ignore the stares and unfriendly giggles from the other girls in
the room and bent to replace my brush in my bag, only to discover
it missing. I checked around, feeling a little desperate when I
found it gone. The bathroom emptied, innocent kids running for
cover as they sensed the horror to come. I turned in time to see
one of Alison’s cronies smiling at me. Her eyes flickered to a
stall as she left me all alone in the bathroom. I went to the
doorway and cringed before looking inside.

I wished I hadn’t. The entire contents of my
bag were in the toilet. My lip-gloss tube floated gallantly to the
surface while most of the rest of my belongings soaked up water and
sank like rocks to the bottom of the bowl.

Oh, well. At least no one used it first.
Anything to give this a silver lining.

I was running out of pep talks, though.

It took me the better part of lunch to
retrieve and dry my stuff, at least the stuff I wanted to salvage.
Most of it ended up in the trash with the added moisture of my
silent tears for good measure. I was glad I was alone in the
bathroom. I would have hated it if it got back to Alison she
managed to make me cry so early in the game.

The last thing I fished out was a picture of
Meira, one of my favorites. That pissed me off. The anger from the
day before started to emerge again. I shoved it away immediately. I
was already in enough trouble. There was no way I’d willingly bring
down any more crap on myself by being stupid enough to think I
could stand against Alison when she really wanted me to suffer.

I retrieved my lunch from my locker and
retreated to a quiet corner to eat it with the five minutes I had
left. I curled up on a wide windowsill in a quiet part of the
school and tried not to cry some more. I started to nibble at my
peanut butter and jelly sandwich, feeling the most alone I ever
had, finally tossing the majority of it in the trash. No use eating
something that tasted like defeat.

When the bell rang, I squared my shoulders
and went to class. I would take my punishment and get my life back
to normal.

But what if this is just
the beginning?
I froze in mid-step,
forcing a couple of people walking behind me to go around and give
me odd glances. I gulped, averting my eyes, panic gripping me. I
hated when that little voice reared its ugly head. This was not
going to continue. This was Alison Morgan wanting her pound of
flesh, nothing more. As long as I behaved and took my knocks, it
would dry up and go away.

Only I had a sinking feeling the little voice
was right.

Chemistry was a nightmare. I stuttered
through a presentation as Alison watched me. Worst of all, Quaid
did too. I had it hard enough dealing with the real world. Why did
my other life have to get involved all of a sudden? I managed to
glare back at him before taking my seat. I saw Alison notice. She
had a look of interest on her face that made me nervous and after
class I saw why. She chatted up Quaid. The two seemed to be hitting
it off quite nicely.

Probably plotting against
me
, I thought. When they laughed and
glanced my way, I knew my paranoia was justified.

By the end of the day I was
a quivering wreck. The small insults kept coming, from a trip here
sending me sprawling and tearing my new jeans, to a horrid little
note being passed to me from an anonymous author telling me what
everyone thought of me, to getting sent to the principal’s
office
again
for
passing notes. Not to mention the gagging noises and hocking of
lugies following me everywhere. I couldn’t win and knew without a
doubt if it kept up much longer I would personally do something
coven-related to make us move.

Finally the endless day ended. I grabbed my
remaining belongings from my locker, not willing to leave anything
behind. I turned into the crowd to run home and hide under my
comforter. Tomorrow was going to be a sick day if I had to make
myself ill.

Didn’t I do it again? Ran
right smack into Brad. I almost had a heart attack.
Set up
! My little voice
screamed as I scanned the crowd for Alison. What diabolical scheme
was this? I backed away from him, feeling like I’d just dropped out
of the fire into the burning pit of hell. Brad stepped forward,
concern on his face, the half-smile in greeting fading
fast.

“Syd?” He reached out one hand. “Are you
okay?”

I risked another glance around the crowd for
the bitch queen. Still no Alison. Despite her absence, I knew the
kids in the hallway watched and listened with every fiber in their
being.

“Yeah, thanks,” I ducked my head and tried to
dodge him. He wasn’t having any. Brad stopped me by grabbing my
arm, not hard. The touch alone was enough to make me halt and look
up.

“I seem to keep running into you,” he said,
trying to make a joke of it. “I’m really sorry.”

I blinked, feeling like someone hit me hard.
He was sorry? Brad Peters was blaming himself for my inexcusable
clumsiness? Seriously? I allowed myself to soften and believe it.
After a heartbeat, I toughened up.

Definitely a trap.

“Stop being nice,” I snapped, tired and upset
and frustrated after my long day in a very long week, and it was
only Tuesday. “I know Alison put you up to this, so you can stop. I
get it, consider me punished.”

Brad shook his head, confused. Could it be
true he had no idea? No one could be that out of touch. The hallway
itself vibrated with tension from me and the other kids in the
know.

But nope. He really was clueless. Imagine
that.

“I don’t know what Alison told you, Syd,”
Brad said, “but she didn’t put me up to anything. I wanted to
apologize for yesterday.”

“You shouldn’t be talking
to me,” I told him, despite wanting more than anything for him
to
keep
talking
to me. Brad Peters was - talking - to - me.