Shifter Magick (6 page)

“You wouldn’t lie to me about this would you?” he asked her.

“Never.” She promised him.

His jaw tightened like he didn’t believe her suddenly but he turned around and headed back to campus. She started to get out of the car and was surprised when he didn’t offer to help her this time. Instead he tossed his IPod in her lap.

“What’s this?” She asked.

“A reaso
n to check on you.
You’ll have to give it back sometime or it’ll be stealing.”
He held out his hand and she placed hers in his. The warmth seeped through her. He took out his pen and wrote his phone number on the back of her hand. “Call me.” He smiled at her.

Kera didn’t laugh. Nothing about the situation was very funny, but she didn’t argue. He would have is IPod back Monday. “Thanks for the coffee.” She said before she exited his car and pulled out her bags.

“See you later.” He promised her.

Kera watched him pull out of the parking lot before she ran upstairs to her dorm room and locked herself inside.
For the first time in five years Kera had a really hard time being alone. She was confused and panicked. Inside she felt like she had actually witnessed a tragedy but she had to remember that it was just a dream.

Or a psychotic break. Oh God! What if she was crazy? She couldn’t do that to her dad. He didn’t deserve to lose his wife and gain a psycho daughter. She had to cover this up somehow.

Rebecca might have an idea. Kera paced the room thinking of different things she could say. Maybe epilepsy. She could say that she had a seizure triggered by the headlights. She usually didn’t
go out at night and that was why she stayed in the library.

That would work.
While she waited she plugged his number into her phone and continued to think.

Could she recover from this and still get to hang out with Maddox in the future? She wondered what Rebecca could offer. Probably nothing but she needed help.

Footsteps sounded in the hall and Kera opened the door before Rebecca had a chance to put her key in the lock.

“Wow mom.” Rebecca laughed. “Sorry I’m late.”

Kera laughed politely. “Are you about to pass out?” She asked. The irony of the question hit Kera immediately after she said it.

Rebecca squinted at the light and stumbled a little on her way to her bed. “That was the plan.” She tipped forward and fell face first onto her bed.

Kera sat down on her bed and fidgeted with her fingers and then with the stitching on her comforter.

“What?” Rebecca asked.

“I passed out on my date.” Kera said. “Anyone you know ever come back from that?”

Rebecca sat up and Kera could almost see the room spin for her.

“I’m sorry, you’re drunk and probably….”

“No.” Rebecca held up her hand until she got her bearings. “Who did you go on a date with?”

Oops. Kera really didn’t want to talk about Maddox. She really just wanted an answer to someone else’s situation. Not her own. “No one really.”

Rebecca started to lose her interest immediately.

“Maddox.” Kera said to rein her roommate back in. “I went out with Maddox.”

R
ebecca froze. “Maddox Howell?” S
he screeched
then winced. “What’s he like?” S
he whispered a bit quieter.

Kera felt emotions begin to overwhelm her at the thought of what he was like. He was considerate and funny. He was
drop dead gorgeous and not into kidnapping she thought hysterically. Why her brain thought that up she didn’t know. “Wonderful.” Kera told her roommate. “But I made a complete fool out of myself with my… epilepsy.” She lied.

Rebecca gasped. “Oh no.” S
he pouted. “You fell asleep during dinner?”

“I had a seizure in the car.” Kera said but had the nagging feeling Rebecca was thinking narcolepsy. Either would work she guessed.

“That sucks.” Rebecca said sympathetically. “So you asked him out?”

Kera shook her head. “No he asked me.” Rebecca had every rig
ht to be shocked on that fact. S
he was. “So any ideas on how to smooth it over?”

Rebecca scrunched her forehead in thought. “He missed a lot of school after his accident. Maddox used to be the most popular guy at my high school but after he wrecked that stupid Mustang he changed. Some people think he hit his head and forgot everyone but he actually started making really good grades. I can’t think of one person who has gone out with Maddox Howell since.” She frowned. “Sorry Kera but you’re in strange territory.”

Kera gulped. “His accident.” She whispered. “What happened?” Flashes of the dream she had in his car ran through her head.

“Half the school showed up when the dug his car off the mountain. It’s surprising he lived.” Rebecca said.

Shock ran through Kera’s body. “Mountain.” She repeated.

“Yeah.” Rebecca rubbed at her eye and smeared black mascara around her face. “He’s been fixing that Mustang ever since. It probably cost more to do that than to buy a new one.”

Kera found herself nodding. “Will you show me where?”

Rebecca eyed her warily. “It’s four in the morning.” She complained. “You can’t be serious.”

Kera laughed, half crazed by her internal thoughts. “No of course not. But sometime later?”

Rebecca grunted and crossed her arms over her eyes. “Could you turn of the light?”

Kera did. She had a feeling the dream she had was something more than just active imagination. Yes
,
Maddox told her he had been in an accident
,
but there was no way she could have known it was on the mountain. “So you’ll show me?” Kera pressed.

“Yeah. Goodnight.” Rebecca mumbled.

When Kera finally fell asleep she dre
amt about car accidents. She ble
nded her mother’s and Maddox’s together in one tragedy after another. She woke up panting in the early morning and decided she needed to work off the extra energy. So she went for a run and explored the mountains. The fresh air did her good.

The week past in a blur. Kera bolted from class Monday because she still wasn’t ready to face Maddox. She felt like she would find closure when Rebecca finally had time to show her the mountain where his accident occurred.

She spent her time in the public library instead of on campus in case Maddox tried to look for her. She met the librarian Mrs.
Dolton
and began her research into sociopathic disorder.
She had four
weeks left and really wanted most of it done before Julie made her schedule a time to sit and work on it together. The library
had a great section on old medical books. Some of them were published years after the disorder was first introduced but the debates were fascinating. Kera found it a good distraction.

She copied enough data to use as references for a thesis rather than just a presentation for one semester.

Her father told her all sorts of things he found from looking through the house. He spent an hour a night going through closets and pictures. Kera listened to the stories with a growing ache in her chest. She was lonely.

Friday night Tori caught Kera off guard. “Look who it is.” She taunted. “You couldn’t go with me to lunch with Nick and Andrew but you could go have coffee with Maddox?”

Kera sighed and glared at her roommate.

“What?” Rebecca asked innocently. “I didn’t know it was a secret.”

Kera shook her head and grabbed her bag. “I’m going to the library.” She announced.

“You owe it to me to go with us tonight.” Tori moved in front of the door to block Kera’s escape.

Kera wanted to tell her she didn’t owe her anything but she went for the more logical approach. “Why on earth would you want me to go with you?” she asked. “You don’t even like me.”

Tori shrugged but didn’t deny it. “Andrew asked me to invite you.”

Kera groaned. Not again. “What is his deal?”

“Beats me.” Tori crossed her arms over her chest. “So come and find out.”

“No.”

Rebecca took up the cause. “Please Kera.” She begged. “Just this once?”

Kera returned a quick smile at Rebecca, not wanting her roommate to be angry with her. “I can’t.”
S
he tried to insinuate that
she might pass out like she told Rebecca she did with Maddox. Rebecca nodded and Tori moved out of the way with an angry glair.

Saturday, Kera went for a run and spent the morning in the public library. When she returned to her room, Rebecca was sitting on her bed in pink sweats and fuzzy slippers.
It reminded her of the first day after seeing Maddox.
There were cords coming from her ears and her IPod rested against the seam of her open book.

“Having fun?” Kera asked sarcastically.

Rebecca rolled her eyes and shut her book. “A blast.” She grumbled. “Where have you been?”

Kera paused for a moment wondering what could have happened. “I’ve been at the library.” She said.

Rebecca sighed. “About last night…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kera cut her off. “Do you want to get out of here for a little while?”

Rebecca looked at her for a moment then smiled. “Yeah.” She jumped up and started going through her clothes. “What did you have in mind?”

Kera knew it was going to burst her bubble. “I was hoping you would take me up the mountain and show me where they fished out Maddox’s car.”

Rebecca groaned. “I should have known.”

“Please.” Kera found herself begging. She was desperate. She had to know if there was any other explanation to her dream other than her being crazy. She didn’t feel crazy. Crazy things happened but she couldn’t accept that she was losing it. Not yet.

“I was wondering when you would bring this up again.” Rebecca turned around and clapped her hands. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Thank you.” Kera exclaimed.

“Promise me this is the last thing you will ask me to do regarding Maddox.” Rebecca eyed her warily. “I don’t want to hear another word about any of this again.”

Kera shook her head. “I’m sorry.” She wondered what caused her roommate to be so upset. “What happened?” She had been excited to talk about Maddox before. Had she found something?

“You don’t know what it’s like Kera.” Rebecca said. “Tori is coming at me from one side talking about Nick and how much she loves him, then she falls all over Andrew because she thinks that’s what Nick would want her to do. She has probably slept with both of them and they still treat her like shit. I can’t tell her any of this because it would break her heart and she would lash out at me.”

Kera didn’t know how to help. “This will be the last thing.” She promised.

“Good.
”
Rebecca smiled then put on some flip flops. “I don’t want to spend a whole lot of time out there. Just a quick glance around.”

“Yeah.” Kera confirmed. “That’s all I need.”
She
led the way to her jeep and noticed Rebecca looking around the parking lot. She walked quickly and got in the jeep as soon as it was unlocked. Kera kept from laughing. She could just imagine Tori showing up and going hysterical over Rebecca’s comfortable clothes. It was probably exactly what Rebecca was thinking at this point.

“Do you want to go out with me tonight?” Rebecca asked as she put on her seatbelt.

“Another party?” Kera groaned. What was the deal with everyone and these parties?

“Come on.” Rebecca whined. “I need a change of company. Tori just sits there talking and speculating about Nick all night while she watches him from across the room.”

Kera started the engine and found herself wanting to help R
ebecca. “I’ll think about it.” S
he said. Really she would try to find another place for them to go. “Now where am I going?”

Rebecca gave her directions as she gossiped about what happened at these parties that she wanted Kera to attend. So far all she could talk about was Tori and her infatuation with Nick. “I sit there and drink away my boredom. Last night was awful. Tori went off to talk with Andrew and came back pissed off. She said he was mad she didn’t bring you with us.”

“
He gives me the creeps.” Kera said.

“Well regardless, Tori ragged on me for agreeing with you.” Rebecca said. “I haven’t told her about your disease.”

“It’s a disorder.” Kera corrected her on a groan. “I’m not
contagious either.”

Rebecca shrugged. “Well Andrew is a hot head and isn’t used to being rejected
.” She continued. “Turn here.” S
he pointed to a dirt road.

Kera drove slowly and kept her eyes peeled for anything familiar. “Does Andrew do this to a lot of girls?”

“I don’t know that anyone has ever turned him down before.” Rebecca mumbled. “I wish someone found me that interesting. You should feel lucky Kera. Both Maddox and Andrew have shown interest in you.”