The Coven

Equinox: Chapter 21

Detention was miserable, the librarian was miserable, Pepper was miserable to work with and the weather outside was promising to keep up with the rest of the world. Lilly had been in the library for almost two hours after her final exam re shelving and reorganizing the books she and Pepper knocked over during their scuffle earlier in the week.

The whole school, even outside the covens, were talking about the fight. Pepper, who had been a student since freshman year was well liked, well known, and well respected among students and staff where Lilly was the new girl, still, that people recognized but there wasn't anything special about her that made her stand out.

Stupid Pepper and her stupid dread locks.

Sitting down beside a pile of books Lilly started organizing them on the floor in front of her, turning her head to look outside at what was once a lovely, sunny day. It was the end of December now and everyone, mostly everyone, had left the school the previous night or that morning as a snow storm that was suppose to pass by them seemed to do a double take and moved back.

The now grey sky looked angry and Lilly could even hear the wind howling as it passed over the school. "Miss. Neace." The nasty librarian said, popping up beside her, "Professor Tate advised me to let you go home for the Holiday, apparently the weather is going to become unmanageable."

Without a seconds hesitation Lilly was off the ground with her backpack swung over her shoulders. She ran through the halls out to the garage and tossed the bag in the backseat. She was going to have to drive like a maniac to get off the winding, narrow, hilly and scarcely travelled roads that lead from the school to the freeway almost two hours away, once she was on the freeway it was bumpy, icy and snowy driving all the way to Boston, but manageable.

"Do you actually think that you can get through the woods in that?" Lilly froze. Why? Why, why, out of everyone in the school did he have to be the one to find her? Turning around she saw a very amused looking Mason standing beside her, his own backpack swung over his shoulder ready to go home. "Do you have winter tires?"

"Yes." Not on the car but she did have some in a storage unit in Boston...

He nodded his head, though she knew he knew she was lying. Mason was good with cars and mechanics, all he had to do was look at her tires to see there were no winter tires. "And do you have four wheel drive?"

She rolled her eyes, "Clearly my 90's Mercedes convertible has four wheel drive." She threw up her arms in frustration, "What do you want, Mason?"

He nodded his head towards the open garage door, outside the snow was falling heavily making it almost a white out condition. "You're not going to make it to the freeway in that car. My truck on the other hand will."

"And you're rubbing it in that I'm stuck here for who knows how long?"

He shook his head, "No Lilly, I'm offering you a ride home."

A bit flustered at the offer she quickly regained herself and narrowed her eyes at the boy who never did anything unless it benefitted him in some way. "You would drive me to Boston?"

He nodded his head, "I just said that." Lilly thought for a moment about what this meant. One she was going to have to be in a car with Mason for a few long, painful and awkward hours. Two it meant leaving her car at the school over the three week break. And three, again spending all that time with Mason one of them was going to end up killing the other. "You car will be fine, and I will be nice I promise." It was as though he had read her thoughts...

Not seeing anything else to do she agreed and followed Mason to his truck. "This is new?" She asked climbing into the passenger seat, a lot different than the old Chevy he had in the summer, "What happened to your car?"