The Promise (Book 1, The Coven Series)

Chapter Two

"You owe me a new pair of shoes Makayla Joyce Martin," I told her the next day as I pulled books out of my locker.

"Shoes?" she asked quietly, wincing as the guy beside her slammed his locker shut.

Hangovers are a bitch. Served her right.

"You barfed all over my new shoes," I accused, slamming my own locker. "Then I had to haul your ass home."

Her eyes widened. "Your Mary Janes? Shit, CJ, I'm sorry."

"I will accept your apology in the form of a new pair of those same shoes."

"They clearanced those out at Target already!" she whined. "How am I supposed to find that exact pair?"

"You're a resourceful girl," I told her sweetly. "You'll figure it out."

She sighed. "How did you get us home anyway? I gave Jess my car."

"We walked with you puking every five minutes."

"What would I do without you?"

"God only knows," I muttered as I adjusted the jacket of my school uniform. It wasn't so bad as far as uniforms went. The colors were nice—red, black, and silver. We could even wear jeans as long as we either wore the school jacket or one of the shirts with the school's insignia, some sort of Celtic symbol. I knew it had something to do with our town's heritage, but I'd never really bothered to look into what it stood for. It just looked like interwoven lattice work to me.

Kay pulled books out of her own locker. "You know, CJ..." She stopped and gasped. Her shades came off and she gave me a once over. "Oh my God! Who is he?"

"Who?" I asked with feigned innocence.

"Don't who me, CJ! Your hair doesn't have a strand out of place, your makeup is perfect, and you're wearing your damn-my-ass-looks-fine skinny jeans. Spill! Who is he?"

I had taken a little extra time this morning with my appearance in hopes Mr. Melt In Your Mouth Gorgeous would be at school. I'd been scoping the halls since we got here, but no such luck.

"You didn't have to get all dressed up for me." Jeff Parker, his cornflower blue eyes sparkling with laughter, wrapped an arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek as he rolled up to us. I tried to shrug his arm off, but he held on with a death grip and a smile. The boy didn't know when to give up.

"Details, CJ, I want details." Kay wagged a finger at me.

No, she didn't. She'd die of embarrassment. I smiled wickedly at her. If I didn't love her, I'd so totally embarrass her right now after she'd ruined my shoes last night.

Her eyes widened at my smile. She knew something was up.

"So are you coming tonight?" Jeff saved me from being bombarded with more questions.

"Definitely not," I told him. Why was everyone suddenly so interested in my coming to the Hall? I got pestered a lot to come, but it had gotten worse in the last few weeks. It seemed like the entire town had asked me to come at one point or another in the last couple of days. Why couldn't everyone just respect my beliefs the way I did theirs?

"You totally should come," Kay smoothed her ebony hair. A freshman bumped into her and she glared her best Queen Bitch stare at the kid. Face pale and eyes wide, the poor girl mumbled something like an apology and ran for the nearest exit.

"You know I don't believe in any of that nonsense, Kay." I rolled my eyes. Sometimes I wondered why she couldn't be nicer. That wasn't Kay, though. She was "The Shit" and she knew it.