Poppy
came back after rehabilitating with the counselors for a week. She seemed mellow
for a few days, but was soon back to ordering us around and warning us about
the struggles we would soon face with exams. We collectively rolled our eyes at
her, but always eavesdropped when she had other casters over for study groups.
The
rest of us had fallen into a fairly predictable routine. We went to classes,
came back to the house to make dinner together, and then spent the evenings
studying in the common areas. All right, maybe September kept to the fringes of
our merry band and was either in the farthest corner of the living room or out
of the house altogether in the evening, but still. Oh, and Angelica spent a lot
of time making fun of the rest of us for reading so much while she threatened
to break every lamp in the house with her soccer ball. And Echo had so many
other girls over for dinner that I was actually starting to learn some of my
classmates’ names. Even Nicola often disappeared to write by herself. But any
kind of routine was a huge relief to my anxiety so I honestly didn’t mind being
left to work on my own from time to time.
My
morning meetings with Natalie were also going well. She had already started
training me in advanced casting techniques, and even said she had a good lead
on getting a meeting with Antonia Rivers. I hadn’t told the other girls why I
was up so early on Mondays and Thursday. They probably assumed I was studying;
in a way I was, so I didn’t disabuse anyone of the notion.
Life
at WCH was just about as perfect as I could wish it.
The
first week of October, Professor Mayfield announced our midterm in Blessings. I
heard the panicked scratch of pens behind me and raised my hand.
“Yes,
sweetie?” Professor Mayfield was not inclined to call anyone by their first
name, but I assumed she was addressing me as everyone else was too busy taking
notes to have raised their own hands.
“What
form will the exam take?” I asked.
Professor
Mayfield smiled. “We want to ease you lovely ladies into the exam process,” she
said. “So this will be a two part test.” Groans echoed throughout the room.
Professor Mayfield raised her voice. “You will create a good luck charm in your
own time, and write me an essay on its effects. And next Tuesday in class, you
will all be required to construct an altar to the goddess of your choosing…
Supplies will be provided.”
It
was such a beautifully sunny day when we left Professor Mayfield’s classroom
that we elected to eat lunch outside. We sat around Serilda Shepard’s statue
with a picnic of turkey sandwiches and crisp fall apples, and tried to decide
what each of us would do to pass our first exam.
“Do
you think it would be too obvious if I chose my goddess based on the good luck
charm I use?” I mused, watching the puffy clouds in the sky slowly change
shape.
Angelica
swiped my uneaten apple and took a large bite out of it before I could protest.
“Pretty sure la vampira expects you
to do something like that,” she said – although it took me a second to
interpret her words around the mouthful of fruit.
“Oh,
don’t call her that,” Echo said. “Professor Mayfield is so nice, she doesn’t
deserve to be called names.” She giggled. “Even if she does look like a
vampire.”
“Do
you think I look like a vampire?”
Nicola said. She was turning her head back in forth, examining herself in the
reflection of one of Echo’s compacts.
“You’re
pale enough for one,” I said.
“I
hear white girl goth is in their year,” Angelica said with a laugh.
“Guess
we’ll never fit in,” I remarked, and Angelica laughed harder.
“I
hate it when you two talk like this.” Echo frowned and Nicola nodded her
agreement – though she was still examining her porcelain hue for flaws in the
mirror.
“You’ve
never been a brown girl living in New England,” I pointed out.
“Hey,
it’s not just New England,” Angelica said. “You think I like being a walking,
talking Puerto Rican stereotype in northern New Jersey?”
“But
you’re not a stereotype!” Echo’s
voice grew higher with her frustration. “And neither is Dana. We’re witches;
we’re not supposed to judge people on appearances.”
“It’s
not just appearances, Echo,” I said with a sigh. But I let it go. Beautiful,
blonde, and fair-skinned – she would never understand. I smiled at her to let
her know it was all right. She twisted her mouth and looked away from me.
“I
wish I hadn’t brought it up,” Nicola said in a small voice.
“Not
your fault,” Angelica said brusquely. She stood up and hefted the half-eaten
apple in her hand. “Do you guys think I could get Serena Welch from here?”
I
shaded my gaze with a hand and looked over to see Serena surrounded by her
usual gaggle on the lawn in front of the Cauldron. As usual, September was
sitting with them.
“Don’t,”
I said. “You’ll hurt someone.”
“Yeah.”
Angelica flopped back onto the grass. We munched in silence for awhile. Nicola
put Echo’s mirror away and pulled out her phone. I glanced at her.
“You’re
not still trying that on campus, are you?”
Nicola
shrugged and squinted at the little screen. “I’m waiting to hear from someone…”
Her voice trailed off in a highly suspicious way, and the rest of us were
immediately on alert.
“Who’s
that?” Angelica said as casually as she could. Echo and I locked eyes and tried
not to smile.
“A
friend from home,” Nicola said quietly. She pocketed the phone and bit her lip.
“But you’re right, Dana. It’s no use trying to get it to work around here.”
“We
could go into town,” Echo offered. “It should work down there.”
“I
need to pick up some stuff from the craft store anyway,” I said. “For our
Blessings project.”
“Let’s
do it!” Angelica leapt to her feet.
Nicola
tried to tell us it wasn’t that important, but we shushed her and made plans to
leave as soon as our afternoon Speaking class was over.
Speaking
dragged on even slower than normal. Although we’d been at school for a month
now, I still couldn’t seem to summon any enthusiasm for the nuances of learning
to communicate with animals and plants. Echo loved it, of course. And she had
quickly become Professor Carmichael’s favorite student. She was picked for
every demonstration and all of her homework assignments were held up as
examples to the rest of us. I had a sinking feeling that it would be almost
impossible to steal the number one spot in the class away from her… I’d have to
ask Natalie how important Speaking credentials were to the SIW staff.
Finally
Professor Carmichael dismissed us, and I joined the others in filing out of the
greenhouses. The sun was already low on the horizon, a sure sign of the season
to come. I shivered and wished I’d worn a heavier sweater.
Nicola
nudged my elbow. “Look behind you,” she whispered.
I
glanced back quickly. My eyes widened. “Why is September talking to Echo? Do
you think we should go back there?”
Nicola
shrugged, but still looked concerned. I couldn’t blame her. Although September
had been willingly hanging around us more often, she rarely contributed to
conversations. Angelica was convinced that she was spying on us for the upper
classmen. I still thought that she really wanted to be included, but didn’t
know how to back down from her prideful remarks weeks ago. Singling out Echo
seemed like a strange move; I couldn’t fathom the motivation behind it.
We
slowed down and let a few girls from Hare House pass us. I strained to hear
what September could be saying, but it was useless. After a minute, Echo
skipped up to join us. She linked her arm through Nicola’s and grinned.
“So
who is it that you’re waiting to hear from?” she asked, poking Nicola in the
stomach.
Nicola’s
cheeks colored pink. “I told you, a friend from home.”
“Just
a friend or a friend-friend?” Echo
persisted.
“Hey,
Echo,” I interrupted, both to save Nicola more embarrassment and to alleviate
my own curiosity. “What did September want?”
“Oh!”
Surprise made Echo ineloquent. “She, uh… Well, the thing is… I’m not really
supposed to say.” She looked at the ground.
“It’s
okay,” Nicola said softly. “We shouldn’t have asked.”
I
felt equal measures of guilt and gratitude as Nicola took a share of the blame
for my blunder.
“Look,
there’s Angelica,” I said, spying our friend talking to some other girls in our
front yard. “Let’s grab her and get going before the sun actually sets.”
We
dropped our book bags in the front parlor and scrambled about for jackets and
gloves. September passed us as we were all chattering excitedly about what we
were going to do in town. An odd expression crossed her face before she turned
away to head up the stairs. Somehow I wasn’t surprised when Nicola’s soft voice
drifted up to her.
“Hi,
September. Do you want to come with us?”
She
paused with one foot on the stairs, and looked back at us. For a moment, I
imagined what she must see: a cluster of girls staring up at her, their
friendship already sealed tight, written in the way they stood close to each
other, this one wearing that one’s hat, another one with her arms looped
through companions on either side… I recalled how intimidating I found groups
of girls like this in my hometown.
I
stepped forward and offered September my most encouraging smile. “Please come?
We’re going to buy supplies for our midterm projects.”
“And
check out the local boys,” Echo added with a giggle. Angelica pretended to gag.
September
turned toward us. “Yes, well…” She glanced at me quickly before settling her
gaze on Nicola. “I suppose I do need some things for Blessings.”
“Well,
grab your coat then!” Angelica said. “Let’s get this party going.”
It
was a strange atmosphere surrounding our group as we walked down the hill
together. We talked, but it was mostly stilted small talk about classes and
September did not join in. I could feel the other girls making an effort to
draw her in, and wished she would just throw them a bone. Even Angelica had
toned down her usual bantering for the occasion. I was waiting for her to make
some accusatory comment about September hanging around with Serena, but it
never came.
We
left the row of student housing and crossed over to the Meadow. September hung
back for a second looking confused.
“Aren’t
we going to take one of the vans?” she said.
“And
have to wait for an older girl to drive us?” Angelica shook her head. “Nuh uh.
There’s a path down here goes straight to downtown. You’re okay with a little
walking aren’t you?
September
glanced down at her shoes with a sigh. “It’s not muddy, is it?” she asked.
I
laughed, but quickly stopped when no one else joined me. “But you’re wearing
boots,” I said, wondering what on earth was wrong with everyone.
“They
aren’t galoshes, Dana,” Echo pointed out. “They’re beautiful,” she told
September. “Tory Burch, right?”
“Yes,”
she said with a little smile for Echo. “I’m sure they’ll survive. And if not…”
She waved her hand in a careless gesture. “I have others.”
I
marveled at September’s attitude as much as Echo’s knowledge of designer
fashion. Perhaps it wasn’t so strange that the former had singled out the
latter…
We
set off down the trail toward town. It was a little more than a mile, but
September didn’t complain. I loved the walk, and was glad that we’d decided to
go to town tonight. We’d only been a couple of times, usually to buy groceries
for Angelica’s amazing cooking or hang out at the coffee shop scoping the
locals. It felt good to be out walking under the pine trees at dusk now that
fall was here. A cool breeze brushed by and frogs sang their last songs down in
the drying creek that ran along the iron fence surrounding WCH.
The
other girls were quiet, and I hoped they were opening themselves to Listen to
the woods as I was. I never felt more alive. And it was suddenly wonderful to
be a group of five instead of four. September’s presence was like the found
piece of our incomplete puzzle.
“Have
any of you thought about joining a coven?” September broke the silence. I
stared at her in shock. It was as though she had been following my thoughts and
taken them to their logical conclusion.
“Sure,”
I said, trying to be casual. “Doesn’t every witch think about it?”
“Not
me,” Angelica scoffed. “I wouldn’t want to have to depend on others for power.”
“That’s
not how it works,” Echo said. She reached up and flicked Angelica’s ear.
“Covens share power. It’s the only way to weave the most powerful enchantments
and cast the most complicated spells.”
“It
would be nice to have other people to help you too,” Nicola said. She looked
wistful.
“And
a lot of covens live together,” I added. “Like we do.”
September
nodded. “I’ve been wondering if the administration puts us into houses based on
our compatibility as witches,” she said. “Rather than if we’d make it as
friends.”
We
were all silent for a moment. And then Angelica and Echo both started talking
at once.
“Look,
if you’d rather not be here, why’d you even come?”
“I
think witches in covens must be
friends, don’t you?”
The
awkward silence descended again, and held until we emerged from the pine trees.
There was a gap in the iron fence here. We filed through it one by one and came
out into a clearing behind Holyoak’s sole drugstore, a family owned business
called Packard’s Place. They’d kept
the old soda counter inside and now used it as local gift shop display. I’d
already sent Kara a postcard featuring the town’s main street as it had
appeared in 1950. She’d gone bananas over it.
“Where
should we go first?” Echo ventured when none of us moved forward to lead.
“The
craft store,” I said, trying to be decisive. The others nodded, and I led the
way down the street.
Five
girls from WCH walking down Holyoak’s main street wasn’t exactly an odd sight,
but it did seem to make most of the locals nervous. I saw a mother and her
child walking toward us make a swift detour across the street and heaved a
sigh. I spied Angelica’s feral grin and put out a hand to stop her before she
could mutter some spell to scare the woman further.
“We
can’t cause too much trouble or they’ll never let us come down here anymore,” I
said.
She
stuck her tongue out at me, but managed to keep her magic to herself.
I
bought some blue and gold thread for my Blessings project. Echo examined my
things while we were standing at the checkout together.
“Protection
charm?” she asked.
“How’d
you know?” I was genuinely impressed by her deduction. She shrugged her
shoulders.
“It
was pretty obvious from our conversation earlier that you were going to link
your charm and your altar. And I figured you were going to choose a
non-European goddess, so… Blue and gold thread and stones the color of lapis
lazuli. I think you’re going to stitch a table runner with a charm for the
mixing of health potions and use it on an altar to Ixchel. Am I right?”
My
jaw dropped. “You saw my notes,” I said. It was the only explanation.
“Did
you take any notes about it?” she said, paying for her own things. “I assumed
you hadn’t decided until right before we left to come here.”
She
was right. I didn’t have any notes. I had been thinking about choosing Ostara
or Freya as a rebellion against the more typical goddesses chosen this time of
year, but after Angelica and I had touched on the subject of race I’d decided I
needed to educate the other girls on other cultures.
“But…
how?” I stammered. I glanced through her things, but I had no idea what she was
going to do.
Echo
shrugged and smiled at me. “I just pay attention, I guess,” she said. She took
her shopping bag and went to join the other girls out front. Flabbergasted, I
followed.
Nicola
was busy scrolling through a backlog of text messages on her phone. Angelica
was reading them over her shoulder and trying to pretend she wasn’t.
“Did
you hear from your friend?” Echo asked with a wink.
Nicola
glanced up at her. “Yes, but…” she trailed off into an unintelligible murmur
and stared hard at her phone.
“He’s
coming here,” September told us. Echo’s face lit up.
“I
knew it!” she cried. “Your tattoo artist is your boyfriend, right? And you’ve
been trying to arrange a secret rendezvous to see each other because the school
won’t let boys on campus… Oh, that’s so romantic!”
Nicola’s
fierce blush said it all. I stared at Echo.
“Are
you psychic or something?”
She
laughed and waved me off. “Don’t be silly, Dana. There’s no such thing.”
“When’s
he coming?” I asked Nicola.
“He’s
already here,” Angelica said in a strangely harsh voice. She turned away from
us and looked down the street. “Working at some place called Ink and Stones.”
Nicola
nodded. “I didn’t know,” she said defensively although none of us were accusing
her of anything. “He told me he might look for work out here, but I didn’t
think… Here in town…” She pointed in the direction Angelica was looking. “It’s
the only tattoo parlor in Holyoak.”
“Well,
let’s go!” Echo’s enthusiasm knew no bounds. She seized Nicola’s hand and
practically dragged her down the street. The rest of us followed more slowly.
“Hey,
Chanterelle.”
Angelica
glared at September. “Call me Angelica,” she muttered.
“Angelica,” September said in a sweet
tone. “I bet you wouldn’t get tattoo.”
“Like
hell.” Angelica’s mouth twisted. “I just don’t have a good idea for one.”
September
smirked. “Yeah right. I bet you faint at the sight of a needle.”
I
wanted to tell September to stop goading Angelica as I could not see a good
outcome to this conversation. But I couldn’t quite bring myself to break
whatever fragile peace had been built up between us. I sped up to join Echo and
Nicola instead.
“Good
gods,” I whispered. “I think Angelica is going to insist on getting a tattoo
while we’re there.”
“Really?
That would be so…” Nicola’s excitement faded when she saw Echo and me staring
at her. “Um. Well, I think it would
be pretty… cool. I guess.”
“Why
does she want a tattoo?” Echo said.
“September
bet her she wouldn’t do it,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “Pretty sure Angelica
would literally jump off a bridge if someone said she wouldn’t.”
Echo
laughed, but then looked terribly serious. “She shouldn’t rush into something
like that! What if she gets something she regrets?”
“No
way!” Nicola said with a heat I hadn’t imagined she had in her. “It doesn’t
matter what she chooses. If Jason does it, it will be too beautiful to ever
regret.”
“Ohhh,
Jason is his name?” Echo immediately grabbed Nicola’s arm. “What’s he like?
Does he have a brother?”
Nicola
shook her head. We walked the rest of the way to Ink and Stones with Echo prattling
on about boys she’d been friends with in high school and how they had all
wanted to date her. She hadn’t dated any of them of course, she told us with a
toss of her hair, but it had been amusing to watch them compete for a chance. I
smiled, although the fact that I was so awkward and shy boys would never
compete over me made me a bit sad.
“Um,
can we stop here for a minute?” Nicola said although she had already come to a
halt in the middle of the sidewalk. We stared up at the swinging wooden sign
over the storefront. Ink and Stones,
it read in a gothic-looking script, of
Holyoak.
“Do
you mind if I go in alone?” Nicola asked us. She was staring down at her Mary
Janes, too embarrassed to meet our eyes.
“Go
on then,” Angelica told her. ‘We’ll be right here.”
“That
was nice of you,” Echo said, once Nicola had disappeared through the door under
the sign.
“What
do you mean?” Angelica glanced over us, and then muttered darkly, “You’re
imagining things.”
Echo
just smiled at her. The rest of us wisely said nothing. Angelica made an
irritated noise and bent down to untie and retie her sneakers.
September
had leaned against the building and taken a small leather journal out of her
purse. She wrote carefully in it using small, precise handwriting. I tried to
watch her as discreetly as possible, fascinated with thoughts of her
motivations for coming with us this evening. But after a moment, September
sighed and closed her notebook.
“What
is it, Bolete?” she said, perfectly arching one eyebrow.
Flustered,
I knew that I couldn’t lie to her. “I was just wondering why you decided to
come with us,” I said as quietly as I could so the other two might not hear us.
September
remained cool, although her apparent exasperation turned to amusement. “Why do
you care about my reasons? Aren’t you happy enough I’ve joined the fold?” She
arched the other eyebrow just to prove she could.
I
could not figure out how to talk to this girl without one of us getting angry.
“Why do you have to be so difficult?” I hissed. “I was just asking.”
September
crossed her arms. “Just because you ask doesn’t mean you deserve an answer,”
she replied with a sniff.
“Ugh!”
I threw my arms up and turned away from her. Why was she so difficult?
Thankfully,
Nicola chose that moment to return. She practically danced out of the store and
onto the sidewalk. She was holding hands with a lanky guy who looked about our
age. He certainly seemed like Nicola’s type. He wore all black clothing
dripping with metal rings and fastenings. His bleach-blond hair rose above his
head in a mohawk to rival Dean Dobronravov’s. And he had more piercings in
evidence than Nicola! I tried not to stare outright.
“Everyone,
this is Jason. Jason this is…” She giggled. Nicola
giggled. “Everyone,” she said with a sweep of her hand.
We
all stared at him as though he was a statue come to life. Finally he raised his
hand in a wave at us.
“Hey,”
he said in an unexpectedly deep voice. “Nice to meet friends of Nic’s.”
Echo
sprang forward. “I’m Echo!” she announced. When he went to shake her hand, she
pulled him into a hug instead. He looked a little startled, but otherwise took
it in stride. Nicola was grinning at all of us like a child with a new toy.
“Come
on,” she said. “Let’s go inside. Jason can show you his latest creation.”
We
followed them in, and I noticed that Jason didn’t drop Nicola’s hand until they
reached his workstation and she dropped it in order to pick up his sketchpad.
“Look,
see!” she said, trying to show us everything at once. “I told you he was
brilliant.”
Jason’s
sketches were good, I had to admit. I wasn’t much for even the idea of tattoos,
but I could see that his talent was impossible to deny. Nicola unbuttoned her
jacket and tossed it over a chair. She turned around and pulled down her bra
strap.
“Silly
that I didn’t show any of you before,” she breathed. She tapped her left
shoulder, and we crowded in close to look at the colorful tattoo of a whale
leaping over her skin. Aside from the psychedelic color palette, it looked
almost real.
“Jason
designed and inked it,” she told us proudly. We all made appreciative murmurs,
although I thought Angelica’s sounded a bit insincere.
For
his part, Jason rubbed the back of his head and put his sketchbook away. “It’s
all I’ve ever done,” he said. “Guess I should be good at it by now.”
“Aw…”
Echo looked like she might burst. “You’re so modest! They’re wonderful. I wish
I was brave enough to get a tattoo.”
“Yeah,”
September said. “Like Angelica, right?” She jabbed her thumb toward our
companion. Angelica went beet-red.
“Right,”
she said, and she hitched up her sleeve. “What do you think?”
Jason
wrinkled his brow and stared at Angelica’s not unremarkable bicep. “Very nice?”
he offered. I tried not to laugh. This boy seemed like a good match for kind,
sweet Nicola.
Angelica
ground her teeth together. “I mean, what kind of tattoo do you think I should
get?”
Jason
shrugged. “I think that’s up to you. You can look through the books if you
want.” He pointed toward the massive binders on the counter toward the front of
the store.
Nicola
made a face and gathered us all into a circle. “Look, girls,” she said quietly.
“Angelica doesn’t have to do this now. And, I mean…” She blushed. “I’d like to
spend some time with him alone if I could.”
I
nodded. “Why don’t we go get dinner and we’ll pick you up on our way back,” I
suggested. I wouldn’t say Angelica looked relieved, but her shoulders did sag a
bit as she pushed her sleeve back down. September hid whatever she was thinking
as Echo flew over to give Jason a farewell hug. The rest of us waved goodbye
and set out for the local diner.
“He
seems really sweet,” Echo said with a dreamy smile. “Nic is so lucky.”
“If
you say so,” Angelica grumbled. I caught September’s eye and held it. After a
second, she smiled at me, and suddenly I stopped doubting her. She might have a
strange sense of humor, but if she was ready to try to be friends then so was
I.
“We
can talk about our midterms over dinner!” I said.
“Oh,
Dana…” Angelica groaned. “Don’t you ever think about anything other than
schoolwork?”
“No,”
I said with a laugh. “No, I don’t.”
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