Witch in Hiding (#1 in the Witches Trilogy) (EDITING)

Four: The Whole Gang's Here

"Vinni, Vinni, get up, you're going to be late!" Someone throws off my blanket. "Vinni!"

Groggy, slightly stunned, I roll out of bed. My mother looks disapprovingly down at me. "What time did you sleep last night?"

I blink. I don't even remember falling asleep. It takes me a while to remember why— "Mom, you took me and Vera to the zoo, right?"

She stuffs clothes into my arms. "Yes. Go! If you're not down in five minutes I'm eating your breakfast."

I speed through my morning routine and hurtle downstairs in time to save my waffles. "Was there ever a snake?"

Her hand stops halfway through passing the maple syrup. It hangs there, a resounding sign, imminent guilt. I pluck it from her hand. "Mom. Snake."

"Why?" She says warily. But I think she knows why.

"Did I kill it?"

"A snake died the day you were there," she corrects. "Correlation and causation, Vinni."

"Mom, I dreamed—I remembered killing that snake. Something weird is going on. Something that's just starting. I saw Jess float, I saw Esther turn a drawing real, I saw myself killing a snake without even touching it. I don't know what's going on." To my shock, angry tears prick my eyes. I'm tired, I'm confused, I'm frustrated. It bursts. "Mom!"

Her hand flies to her mouth."All right. All right." She breathes heavily. "Go to school. By the end of the day I promise you'll know what you want to know."

It's not much, but it's better than anything previously. Not a more time, not a next time, but something definite, a deadline I can count. End of the day.

*

Free period. Jess can't avoid me. I drag her out of class and fold my arms. "Okay, freaky floating girl. What are you?"

She rolls her eyes. "A witch. Ha ha. Hang me."

I don't hear the end. "Are you serious?"

She looks at me, realises I'm not joking, and stops smiling. "No," she says curiously, "but you are, aren't you?"

"I—no." Too much TV: can't let people know my (pathetic) secret identity. "Pfft. Don't be ridiculous."

"Mi ridiculous su ridiculous." Jess rolls her eyes again and holds up one hand. It turns translucent. "I'm a ghost. But it's not what you think. I'm not any more dead than you." She frowns. "Okay, I was once. But I'm really not now."

"I knew it!" Ghost ghost ghost ghost. I never stopped to think that meant dead.

"And what about you, witch girl? What can you do?"

"Uh... lift teacups."

She waves her hand dismissively. "Telekinesis, duh." She says telekinesis like she says sandwich or sneakers. "I'm talking about your other stuff."

It occurs to me that Jess knows more about me than I do. It's a sucky feeling. "I... killed a snake once."

Nothing. "But with what?"

"I don't know."

Jess' brow furrows and she gazes at me. "You don't know... anything, do you?"

I'm almost embarrassed to shake my head. My instinct is to do the cool-girl thing, roll my eyes, say "of course I do" and make up something. But this isn't the latest TV show, it's a magical world, and it's Jess. So I shake my head. Her expression softens. "No wonder," she murmurs.

I think of Esther. "It's not just you, is it?"

"No." She slings one arm around me. "We all know, Vin. Why do you think Mel and Van brought it up yesterday?"