The Council, A Witch's Memory (4 page)

I smiled. The graduation I had was the best I could ask for, considering the circumstances. “Henry, thank you.”

He winked, taking a long drink from the milkshake. “You’re welcome.”

The food had come and we were almost finished eating when I spied someone approaching our booth. “You are the talk of the town Mr. Langley.”

Henry rolled his eyes. “Perfect, what’s wrong now?”

My best friend, Pepper Peterson, slid in the booth next to me and stole my fries. “The usual. You’re going to get a speeding ticket or crash that hotrod you drive. And I’m quoting old Mr. Murphy here.”

“Anything else we should have a warning about?” I asked, giving her the rest of my fries since I was starting to get full.

“Oh, well there are a couple things,” Pepper said. “I heard Mrs. Murphy was telling everyone that you and Henry were on the outs because he missed graduation.”

Henry and I shook our heads.

“What else?” he asked.

“I won’t name names, but I have an idea of who might have done it.” Pepper raised her eyebrows in my direction. “Someone put geese in the high school gym.”

“Great. This is not what we need.”

“Here’s the thing though, the security camera outside the gym didn’t pick up anyone breaking in.” She laughed. “The doors opened and closed by themselves.”

Henry coughed, nearly spitting out a gulp of soda. He stared at Pepper, face taught with shock.

“You okay?” Pepper raised her eyebrows.

He nodded. “Oh, fine…I’m fine. Just, you know, it went down the wrong, um, pipe.”

I eyed him, knowing there was more to it, but let it slide since Pepper was sitting next to me.

“Hey, did I tell you I’m leaving early?” Pepper asked, hopping on the next subject.

“No,” She was going to spend five days with her mother in Georgia. They hardly saw each other, which was Pepper’s decision. She moved to Capeside to live with her father a few years before I came to live with my foster parents.

“Instead of leaving tomorrow, I’m leaving today, in six hours actually.” She huffed, irritation lacing her tone. “This sucks, and I’m going to have to dress like a proper young lady.”

Pepper and her mother were from different planets, maybe different galaxies.

Her mother, Lin Hong, was very conservative, and the rules Pepper had to follow when she was little went something like—be seen, not heard, and dress like your grandmother.

Mrs. Hong didn’t like that her daughter had a mind of her own and an artsy wardrobe. She didn’t like her ex-husband, Pepper’s father, either.

In fact, I wondered if Mrs. Hong liked anything, even her second husband.

The few times I’ve met her, I got the impression she tolerated everyone to their faces, and then cursed them when they weren’t around to hear.

She barely tolerated Pepper’s fashion choices.

Today, Pepper wore a black mini skirt, hot pink fishnets with silver flats, and a red vest she made into a halter-top. Her hair was a stick strait, shoulder length espresso brown, her natural color. The blue streak running down the front left side was not.

Henry’s phone rang, and he glanced at the screen. “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.”

Once he was out of the diner, leaning against his car, looking hotter than anyone had a right to, Pepper waved her hand in front of my face. “Hello!”

“What?” I tore my eyes from the window.

She glanced out at Henry, smirking. “If you wore one of my outfits Henry would be helpless.”

She was an artist when it came to clothing. Not a wannabe rock star or a partier like her mother thought. Apparently Pepper’s mother said dressing so colorfully would lead to uninhibited contact with a member of the male species (sex), and poor morals. I’ve yet to find Pepper hitting the sack with random guys or participating in underage drinking because of her fuchsia tights or lime green jeans. Her mother was wrong. But, like I said before, they lived on different planets. Earth and Planet Hong.

I raised my eyebrows. “No offense, but you’re the only one capable of pulling your outfits off.”

“Just give me a chance, please!” She clasped her hands and pouted. “I need to broaden my repertoire as a designer, and toning it down won’t be hard. And I already have your measurements.”

I shrugged, fishing my berry lip-gloss from my bag. “I’ve got a white dress, it’s kind of plain, and I’m not sure what you could do with it.” I swiped the gloss on and smacked my lips. “This is only for experimentation. I may not get a chance to wear it.”

Her gaze lit up with enthusiasm and she borrowed my gloss. “You’ll wear it. Henry likes to take you places, and your birthday is in a few days.”

Working part-time at the bookstore with Pepper wasn’t exactly lucrative, so my presents to Henry on any holiday or birthday were the homemade variety.

He, on the other hand, had money to burn. Henry’s gifts to me were store bought, and he was really good at picking them out. For my last birthday he bought me the cutest pair of beaded sandals. He paid attention to what I liked. From what Pepper told me, most guys weren’t so perceptive unless they had feelings for the girl.

Which was absolutely ridiculous. Henry’s feelings for me were strictly platonic.

“One day you’ll go off with him and never come back,” Pepper said.

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Am I?” she wondered, her almond shaped eyes narrowing. “I don’t think so.”

“Henry doesn’t like me as anything more than a friend,” I reiterated, feeling a little sad.

“Are you positive?”

I considered her. My friendship with Henry obviously wasn’t the conventional type. The term friendship didn’t fit what Henry and I shared.

“I don’t know.” I was truly confused. If he did like me, why didn’t he do anything about it?

“He’s one of those concerned, protective types, right?”

I got a sinking feeling. “Where are you going with this, Pepper?”

“You could pull the damsel in distress routine.”

“No, way.” Since when have I ever been the type to play the weakling?

“Pretend to twist an ankle. Oh, you could faint!”

“Sorry, you’re barking up the wrong tree.” Way wrong. I bet I’d actually twist something trying to make it look real.

“Why?”

“I’m not that kind of girl.” The look I gave her wiped the smile off her face. “Never underestimate Henry. He will find out because I can’t act worth crap.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes.” Henry was very observant and too often knew things no one else should. I have yet to figure out how gets his information or figures people out.

“I always thought he was a little spooky, in a mysterious, but noble way.” Pepper said, eating the rest of my fries.

“Noble?”

“He’s English. He’s got that aristocratic vibe.”

“You do have a point there.”

She frowned. “So, no damsel routine?”

“Pepper, if you knew him half as well as I, you wouldn’t dream of pulling a stunt like that. He’s not like other guys.”

“Okay, we’ll just have to think of another way to get his attention.” She dragged me out of the booth and laid her hands on my shoulders. “I’m going to ask you to do something for me, and I want you to keep an open mind. This is very serious.”

“Sure.”

She took a deep breath, glancing out the window to make sure Henry was still on his phone, “I want you to pretend you have a huge crush on Henry.”

That wasn’t going to be hard. “All right.”

“You are confident enough to walk right up to him and tell him how you feel.”

“I am?”

“Yep.” She spun me around and gave me a push. I was staring at a cardboard cutout of Elvis. “Pretend this is Henry.”

I’d never been the kind of girl to walk up to someone and speak my mind blatantly. Doing it with a piece of cardboard was even weirder.

“What would you say?” Pepper asked.

“Thank you, thank you very much?”

“Be serious.”

I turned back to her. “Nothing.”

“You won’t say anything at all?”

“Thanks for trying to help me, but there is another part you’re forgetting about.” I lowered my voice as a woman walked by. “What if I told him how I felt and he didn’t feel the same way?”

“Ouch.”

“I risk everything, including our friendship, if I tell Henry I have feelings for him.”

Technically, we were pretending. But the idea that Henry could reject me made me feel sick. The possibility existed that we’d never be friends again. It would be strange and uncomfortable, heartbreaking, knowing he knew how I felt and didn’t return my feelings.

“You look a little pale.” Pepper fanned me with a menu. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I’m going to have to come to terms with this sooner or later. I might as well do it now.”

“Do what? Profess your undying love?” she mimicked Henry’s wink. “Cuz honey, you just need to spill the freaking beans.”

I rolled my eyes as we sat back in the booth and looked out the window. Henry was still on his phone, now pacing beside the Mustang. He had his back to me. I couldn’t see his expression, but his posture was tense.

I groaned, “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out. Things are going to stay exactly how they are until I have a plan or something.”

She slouched and thumped her forehead against the table. “Why do I even bother?”

When Henry came back, I hugged Pepper goodbye, wishing her luck, and hoped that her mother wasn’t too crazy while she visited her.

I tried to pay for my half of the bill. Henry protested, then compromised and let me leave the tip. Which was kind of normal, except I could tell my paying irritated him more than usual, leaving me even more confused about our friendship that wasn’t quite a regular friendship, but wasn’t a relationship either.

Feeling that things couldn’t get anymore complicated or confusing, at least in my head, I followed Henry to the Mustang and we headed for Lake Cape.

Chapter 5

When I was younger I was terrified of being submerged in water. Even bathtubs scared me. I could only take showers. The strange thing was that I didn’t know why. No one knew why. After a lot persuasion on Henry’s part, and his promise to not let my hand go, I got in the water at the lake with him.

At first it was only ankle deep. I had a serious fear of drowning and I made sure my feet were firmly planted. But I gradually went deeper.

It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. Henry taught me how to swim and float. Eventually I took to the water like a fish. That was years ago. Now I came to the lake on a regular basis, although I never swam alone.

I always had a swimsuit on me or in my bag during the summer. The only activities on hot days, aside from hanging out at the diner, were going up to the lake or to the movies. Except the theater showed only three movies at a time. Variety was limited.

Capeside was a one-traffic-light-town with nothing to do.

I could care less either way; I didn’t plan on staying here forever. I really wanted to travel. Ever since I first saw a picture of the Eiffel Tower, I knew I would go to Paris one day. Maybe even live there. Something about the country called to me.

The language was beautiful, like music to my ears. When I went to college I decided to major in French. Then I could take advantage of the study abroad program.

I went to the restroom and slipped into my simple black suit. I never liked bikinis since I burned easily. It didn’t take long for me to look like a curly redheaded lobster. I made sure to slather on extra sunscreen to prevent this.

I left my things in the Mustang and made my way down a stone path to the lake.

It wasn’t crowded today. There were a few children playing on the shore of the other side of the lake. A man was walking his dog.

Most of the people I knew, but didn’t really hang out with, had driven to the coast for a mini vacation. They were celebrating the end of the school year. And although I’d been invited, I didn’t want to go. I’d miss seeing Henry.

The path ended and I found Henry standing next to the rope swing. He was talking to a couple people from town. He looked pretty relaxed. Not tense like he had been earlier when we were at the diner.

“Hey,” I said.

Henry smiled back at me. The sun reflected off the lake and lit up his tan skin. His sandy hair looked almost copper from the light.

“Hey, Venna.” Christy, a girl we went to school with, was wrapped in her beach towel, dripping wet with lake water. She was nice, but very quite. Wasn’t one to socialize either. A few times Pepper and I tried to get her to go shopping with us, but she always had an excuse.

“Excited for your senior year?” I smiled. She was a grade below us.

Christy lifted her shoulders and wrung out her long blonde hair. “I guess.”

Henry shook his head and headed for the rope swing. “It’s hot. I’m getting in the water.”

I wondered what they had been talking about before I walked up and eyed Christy. She was sweet, very shy, and she looked like she’d bolt if you glanced at her wrong. “How’s your mom?”