Pure Magic (Ballad of the Seer, Book One)

Chapter 2 - The End of Summer

In spite of Dianna's threats, her brother was alive and well the following day. Jonny was already in the backseat when the Mini Cooper pulled up in front of Lily's house. Lily wondered whose choice that had been. Since Lily couldn't hear Dianna's thoughts, she only got Jonny's side of the story. Dianna was not painted in a good light.

Lily barely had time to close the car door before Dianna hit the gas. She clipped the curb as she pulled onto the main road, causing Lily to bump her elbow against the door. There was a thud in the backseat. Jonny let out a loud, angry expletive, followed by a very unflattering name for his sister. She returned with a harsher insult for him.

When Dianna parked at Lake Cornelia, Lily released her white-knuckle grip on the door handle. She blew out the breath that she'd been holding. Lily tried to open her door. It didn't move an inch before banging against the large SUV beside them. Dianna had wedged the car into a space no car should go. There was no room to get out.

Jonny stood in the backseat and hopped over the door. Lily climbed over into Dianna's seat to get out, doing a crab walk between the cars.

Lily shouldered her tote bag, following Dianna down the narrow dirt trail. It snaked through the forest, across the small wooden gangway that provided passage over a run-off ditch. Finally, the trees thinned to reveal the picturesque lake. Lily pulled her aviators out of her bag and put them on. The shore was packed with students from her high school.

Jack was hard to miss, in orange board shorts, standing shirtless in the center of a small crowd. He relayed some exciting event to them. From his hand gestures, it had something to do with football—almost all his stories were about football, so it was a safe bet.

"I'm going to go find a drink." Dianna said. "I assume you'll be with Golden Boy."

"I just want to say hi. We left things kind of weird."

Dianna tilted her sunglasses forward to show her hazel eyes. "I'm so very shocked."

While Dianna traipsed down the beach, Lily headed toward Jack. Three scantily-clad girls surrounded him, closer than necessary, engrossed in his tale. Lily didn't recognize them, so she assumed that they must attend one of the schools in the neighboring towns. Those kids always showed up at these huge parties, because there was never a shortage of alcohol or food, and there was often a serious lack of parental supervision.

Lily stayed at the back of the crowd, while Jack reached the thrilling climax of his story. "We were all tied, just seconds left on the clock. I pulled back like I was going to throw it to Eric. At the last second, I took it up the middle. No one knew what was happening and then, TOUCHDOWN!" He threw his arms up in the air like a referee. "We won the game and the rest is history."

The girls around Jack clapped and bounced around in an obvious ploy for his attention. It looked like they were about to burst out of their tops, which Lily supposed was the point of bikinis like that.

Lily pushed through the crowd of beer-guzzling jocks, groping their girlfriends, who wore little more than suntan lotion. She froze in her tracks as one of the groupies grabbed Jack's face and pressed her lips to his. Lily's jaw dropped open when the girl thrusted her tongue into his mouth.

Lily spun around and stalked away. She clutched her hands into fists so tight her nails dug into her skin.

That's when she felt that strange pull in her chest again. The subtle tugging was hard to ignore. Everything in her body wanted her to submit and follow. So, she did.

The tree line was as far as Lily made it before a hand grabbed her arm and spun her around. It was Jack. He must've seen her run away. When she saw his face, the anger rushed back, breaking the trance. She gritted her teeth and slapped him across the face. A red handprint formed on his left cheek.