Spells and Sorcery

Chapter One

"C'mon you...son of a..." I mumbled, swirling the lock around. I'd nearly gotten it when someone bumped into my hand with their foot, knocking the dial out of alignment.

I glared at the offending leg. Callista was one of those girls who exuded confidence. Smart, athletic, and usually always with friends, or her boyfriend, Joel. He was in some of my advanced classes, and he was on the football team in the fall, the soccer team in the winter, and the baseball team in the spring. They were all right, except that when they started making kissy-faces at each other, they forgot that other people needed to get into their lockers.

"Can you please...?" I asked, shoving their feet as they bumped into me again.

I saw the eye roll from Callista and ignored it. I didn't have time to get into it with her. With a grunt, I pulled on my too-heavy backpack and hurried out the front doors of the school into the sweltering fall afternoon. My sister wasn't above leaving me if she got to her car before I did. But I spotted Marie's cherry red convertible and breathed a sigh of relief that I wouldn't have to walk home.

I had no earthly idea how Marie convinced our aunt to buy her something so absurd and unnecessary, especially since Marie and Jeanie fought like cats and dogs. Then again, Marie was so used to getting her way, I wouldn't have been surprised if she'd flashed her smile to a car salesman and he'd handed over the keys.

I didn't have to wait long before Marie walked out the front doors of the school, her best friend Charity by her side. Blonde, flawless skin, long tanned legs thanks to the nearby beach, together, they were a picture of teenaged beauty. But, I frowned, if Marie was giving Charity a ride, we'd spend an extra half an hour at Charity's house so Marie could flirt with Charity's brother. And that meant me stuck in the car until Marie decided to drive me home.

I tried not to look too upset when they approached the car. That would only give Marie cannon fodder.

"And I swear, I don't remember anything about his mother," Marie said. "Do you?"

"Was she even in the play?" Charity asked. "God, Shakespeare is so boring."

"Right?" Marie gave me a once-over but said nothing to acknowledge my presence. That, at least, was preferable. I climbed into the backseat and pulled out my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird to start reading the assigned chapters, more to drown out their conversation than to get a head start on homework.

Our little town was small, so it only took Marie five minutes to reach our neighborhood, and another minute to swerve through it until we reached Charity's house.

When Charity left the car, Marie finally turned around and said, "Walk home."

I glowered at her. "Marie, that's not fair."

"I'm sorry, I don't care."

Growling and muttering about how I was going to tell Jeanie about this, I stuffed my book back into my backpack and scooted out of the backseat, slamming the door shut behind me.

"Watch it!" Marie said.

"Maybe you can get your new boyfriend to fix it." I glanced at the car next to hers with a parking sticker of the local community college. "What, so you've worked your way through all the high school boys?"

Instead of retorting, a smug smile grew on her face. "You think you're so smart, don't you? Let's see how smart you are after tonight."

I was halfway to a comment about her latest test grade when I realized what she'd said. "What do you mean, after tonight?"

Marie feigned innocence. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe there's actually something I know that you don't. Maybe you aren't as smart as you think, little genius."