Life's A Witch

Chapter Three

"And you don't think that what Bridget Bishop went through matters?" she asked, her voice raising an octave.

"Of course it matters," I answered, thinking about the dream I'd had the night before, and the feeling of the rope around Bridget's neck. I swallowed hard to clear the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat. "But that was then and this is now. And news flash: we're alive now. I believe in living my life to the fullest instead of focusing on the maybes and the what-ifs."

My mom paused and looked at me suspiciously.

"You've been dreaming about her again, haven't you?" she asked me. "That's not good, Hadley."

"Geez, Mom! Get out of my head!" I growled, and started to stomp out of the room in frustration. I was halfway to the door before I whirled around on my red heels and stared hard at her, feeling slightly unhinged. "If you guys want to live in fear, be my guest. But don't drag me down with you. As far as I'm concerned, you guys are just as crazy as the Parrishables were."

I heard my mom gasp at the words, but I was already turning and heading out the door.

I was having a really great dream. A great dream about a boy. No, not a boy; he was an almost-man. I think he was in college or something. But those details didn't really matter. What mattered was that he was hot. Way hotter than that kid in those Twilight movies (and my dream guy was definitely not a vampire; although I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have stopped him if he'd tried to bite me). And he was into me, too.

In the dream, my dark-haired hottie was walking through a crowd of people, his eyes trained on me. I could tell he wanted me by the fact that he wasn't even looking at any of the other girls he was passing by. At one point, he even walked by Trish, and I could see the disappointment on her face as he ignored her. Not that I was happy that she felt bad . . . it's just nice when your dream crush actually goes for you instead of your friends.

So, Dreamy McYummykins was making his way toward me, and even though in the back of my mind I knew he was a stranger, I was oddly drawn to him. I also knew with absolute certainty that he was going to kiss me.

And I was going to let him.

I lightly licked my lips in anticipation and prepared for him to take me in his arms and . . .

"Hadley, let's get to it," he said, placing his hands firmly on my arm.

"Huh?" I asked, confused. I'd been ready to kiss the guy, but a line like that was the last thing I'd expected to come out of his mouth.

Then he started to shake me, lightly at first, and more firmly when I didn't do what he said.

"Had, it's time," he said again, though the voice sounded farther away from me now.

My eyes fluttered open and suddenly I was no longer looking at my hot, young man-boy.

Nope, I was looking straight into the eyes of . . . my dad.

"Hey, little girl, it's time to get up," he whispered to me in the darkened room. "If we want to get that workout in before I have to leave, we need to start in fifteen. You still want to go?"

Shaking the image of my nighttime rendezvous out of my head, I pulled myself up so I was resting on my elbows. "No, yeah, I'll get up. Just give me a few minutes?"

I watched as my dad padded out of my room, leaving the door open as he left. There was just enough of a glow from the night-light in the hallway for me to see the workout clothes I'd laid out on my chair the night before. I crawled to the foot of my bed and retrieved them, looking back at the clock as I pulled on my sports bra, a pair of shorts, and my sneakers.