The Circle

The Circle - Chapter Eight

Eight:

April had been looking forward to Halloween for days and at last it was here and luckily, quicker than anticipated. She had finalised her costume after being chained to a sewing machine for what seemed like forever and was more than surprised when it ended up looking brilliant. Even if she was dressed as a pumpkin. She chuckled to herself as she stood in the hall way on Green Way, applying the last of her lip stick and waiting for Jinx and Alex to retrieve her.

Josh was ready to go trick-or-treating with his friends, his Beetle Juice costume fitting perfectly and suiting him down to the ground. He was a miniature version of the real thing. He couldn't wait to stuff his face with sweets and was anxious to get going.

"Trick or treat!" Josh yelled spookily, holding his arms out in front of him like a zombie.

"Yes, alright, alright," Serena wrapped herself in a scarf, coat and gloves and checked that Gavin had the camera so she could get some snap shots of Josh before she dropped him off on Northernden Road. "So you're going to a party on Lakeside Boulevard April? Maybe Gavin knows them," she chatted casually before the trio departed. She couldn't let the night's goings-on ruin her perfect family act.

"I heard about Loretta Antonio's rave, hence why I'm not home tonight," Gavin smiled in April's direction. "It'll be an all-nighter I reckon."

"Yeah hopefully, I could do with a good night out, I've been so stressed out recently," April probed for any reaction from Gavin.

"Well they say that A levels are even harder than degrees these days, but you shouldn't have a nervous breakdown over them. Just try your best, it's all you can do," Gavin purposely ignored April's comment. He knew full-well why she had been stressed and it wasn't school that was for sure.

But suddenly Gavin Johnson started to wonder... Surely she couldn't know about him? As far as he was concerned, she knew nothing about herself so surely she couldn't know about him too? He needed to keep a closer eye out, especially now Serena was having their baby. He couldn't let anything go wrong. Everything was set up and ready for action.

"Gavin's right April, you can only try your hardest and that's all that counts. So are you ready to go Beetle Juice?"

Josh nodded his head slowly. He'd been looking forward to Halloween for ages and now Gavin had to get in on the action. Typical.

"You got it kiddo!" Gavin replied in his usual enthusiastic tone. "Just remember April, these house parties can sometimes get out of hand so if you have any problems, you know where I am."

April blatantly ignored him and as she waved them off she felt a sinking in her stomach. He just wasn't letting on but surely he had to know something? This whole ordeal was becoming more and more impossible but on the upside, she felt slightly reassured after Clarinda helped her with her powers.

Unfortunately Clarinda didn't know any spells of The Aurora but then again, everything was kept so well hidden that she had come to discover she might never find out. Two weeks had passed and her powers had grown increasingly and she hated to admit it, but she was rapidly becoming confident. She had trained with Clarinda almost every day and had managed to complete the 'Encanto' chapter of Clarinda's 'Encanto Prudence Peony' spell book. Although her powers had developed and she was now at the third stage of her Transition (the 'Cylindashia' stage which involved accidentally making things invisible, which was becoming a problem when it came to her homework) she had experienced no Grayshia dreams and seen nothing of Caleb.

A thunderous knocking snapped April from her reverie as she heard the muffled sounds of Alex and Jinx.

"Let us in Pumpkin!"