Escaping the Enchantment

Chapter Four

10:17am
Amesville
Georgina High

Something strange was happening to me. I knew it and my body clearly did too. It was acting strange, I was acting strange. Not only had my thoughts been invaded by him, my dreams had been plagued by him as well. Without further analysis and investigation, one might pass this off as a simple little crush, but this was far from it. This was complete and utter infatuation.

However, that's not all. This morning, I woke up once again from a dream about him. It was nearly the same as the first one, but this time, he pulled me closer and suddenly we weren't in the pool but rather, in a forest that looked completely magical. The leaves shone a healthy green under the sun, the trees swayed gently from the breeze and they opened up into what looked like a kingdom from a fairytale book. Well, without the castle, of course, just the breathtaking view.

But that's not at all what intrigued me. It was his presence behind me. His scent had filled my nose, but I couldn't remember what it smelt like exactly. It was intoxicating, it brought me to a high that I never knew existed. He trailed the tip of his nose along the the length of my neck and I shivered. I remember asking him what he was doing, but that was when he stopped and faded away, bringing me to a startled wake once again.

Whilst I was combing my wet hair after my shower, this morning, that's when I spotted the bruise. I was confused and worried. At first I assumed it was a rash, but it was a bump and looked more like a large hickey or something of the sort. I wasn't sure if the bruise and the dream were connected, it certainly seemed plausible, but that would make no sense if you thought rationally about it. You know, because there's a fine line between dreams and reality.

"Kira!"

That was Regina. She looked like she was expecting an answer from me, I snapped out my thoughts and stared at her in question, grinning sheepishly. I hadn't been paying attention to anything they were saying and I had assumed they wouldn't notice but I guess I was wrong.

"Can you make it to the party tonight?" asked one of them who's name I didn't even know.

Today, right after my last lesson before break, Regina dragged me away to the cafeteria, from my class, mind you, and sat me down with two of her friends. She seemed extra excited about something, but I didn't know what until I got there. The two girls before us, I hadn't been introduced to them, I believe, but if I had, I had forgotten them.

"Um...I need to check with my mum," I replied quickly.

Considering how laid-back she was now, she'd probably be alright with it, but I didn't want to give them a straight answer. I'm not completely sure why I'd answered at all, though, Everyone knew than any normal seventeen year old knew how to sneak out of the house and had done it at least once. Well, almost everyone. But either way, don't get me wrong, I love a good party here and there but this place still makes me sceptical and well, I don't want to go.

"Oh, Kira, please come!" Regina begged me, her blue eyes widening and a pout overtaking her lips, "You can just sneak out if she's against parties. I'll even drive you. Just come, please!"

She looked so darn cute I couldn't bring myself to say no. I wasn't sure why she was so adamant on having me come, though. We'd only known each other for a day and we weren't that close.

"Yeah, Kira, you should come. You're new here, if you come, you'll meet tons of new people and besides the whole school is coming," added the other girl whose name I still couldn't remember.

"Yeah, Kira. The whole school."

I was about to say no but then a light bulb went on in my head, "Like everyone?" I confirmed.

The other girl who'd been sort of on the quiet side nodded, "Josh will be there, so expect his squad there too. The cheerleaders are all coming and nearly all the seniors and juniors. I heard even the Storm twins are coming."

An involuntary smile crept ip onto my lips, but it was gone as soon as it came when I heard Regina mock puke. She added to the dramatic moment an exaggerated eye roll then she shoved some lettuce from her green salad into her mouth and chewed rather forcefully.

Why did she hate the Storm twins so much?

Looking at all of them now, they seemed a bit awkward and the girl who'd mention the Storm Twins was munching on her fries quietly, head down, cheeks ablaze. I looked at all of them and I couldn't understand what was going on.

"Anyone mind explaining to me why we can't talk about the Storm Twins?" I finally asked, unable to handle the weirdness anymore.

Regina snapped her head towards me, her eyes a lighter shade of blue, lighter than normal, brighter even.

"Don't talk about them!" she hissed out.

For a split second, I was tongue-tied, unable to speak despite how much I wanted to ask more questions. I couldn't. It was as if my lips had been sown shut. So, instead, I simply nodded.

The tension at the table had grown so much you could cut through it. Thankfully though, a few moments later, the bell rang and faster than I could say the word 'finally', Regina was off, followed by the other one. Now, only the quiet girl and I remained.

She looked up at me then grabbed her stuff, but before scrambling off she whispered, "Room 205, two-thirty."

With that, I was left at the table, confused and alone.

Great!