I was back to sitting alone during school, that weird sense of cheer was gone and I was pissed. It felt strange to be so mad that I was back to being lonely during lunch. Three weeks of it had been enough before meeting Adam, but the separation felt wrong like I should have none where he was and when he didn't show up once again, I felt...left.
I needed to get over myself. The teacher stopped me as I passed him after the bell rung.
"Miss Bane?"
I gave a friendly smile to the students who passed as I stopped and turned to the desk. "Yes, Sir?"
"Did you and Mister Hopkins finish your project before he left?" He asked, shuffling papers into a folder, and lining his pens into their spots beside a notebook.
"No, we got most of it done." I noticed that KJ wasn't in class either, I glanced away to his seat and then back to the teacher. "I can get it finished and have it done in time."
He frowned, the fine lines fit his frown lines and I guessed that was what happened when you were a high school teacher. "I'll give you the full grade for your work, with understanding that your partner left."
"Thank you so much." I began to turn but stopped. "Do you know where Adam went?"
"His dad called the school and said he wouldn't be in school for a week or so, family business."
"Oh," I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and thanked him again for his understanding of the piece and headed out of the classroom. I found Nathan in the cafeteria, sitting slightly away from the rest of the mathletes. I eyed him curiously.
"Whats up Nate?" I asked, sitting in the now free spot across from him.
His eyes were luminous. "What do you mean?"
I sipped apple juice out of the tiny bendy straw. "You aren't sitting close to your class." I gestured to the other kids who were a few feet away from him.
"It's not worth it."
"What?" I dropped the straw.
"We have more important things to focus on than this school," there was something bitter in the way he spoke, something angry. "We shouldn't really be here."
I stayed silent. Desperately trying to figure out what had happened. Nathan had always agreed that school was for the best, that hiding completely wasn't an answer. That we deserved a sense of normality. My silence finally drew his gaze from its focusing point on the table in front of him.
"What happened?" I asked, reaching for his hand.
"I saw hunters earlier this morning. They were in Times Square." He breathed deeply. "They were talking about the presence of witches, the way that nature responded to us let them know it was clear we're here."
I blinked."They know we're here." He nodded before I continued. "They don't know where though."
He let out a choked laugh. "It's only a matter of time. They were talking about how their leader would know which coven is here."
"We still have an advantage."
"But for how long?" He squeezed my hand. "You have my vote for war." He whispered.
"Are you sure?" The shrill bell rung behind me, and students jumped out of the seats, metal scraping against the concrete floor, the stormcloud eyes across from me shifted around my face.
"We have to fight."
"Do you know what Patty wants to do?" I asked realizing that she wasn't at the table with us.
Nathan shook his head. "No, she is afraid of everything right now, she didn't come to school today as you may have noticed." I hadn't noticed, I should have since she had not been in the car with us this morning.
"You should talk to her. See what she wants, this isn't just us, this is everyone's future."
➳
The buzzing of my phone drew me out of the spellbook that I had been searching for an answer on finding the location of hunters, hoping to give us an even better fighting chance by finding where they were. A book that had been telling me about how covens had come together in the past to help each other. The thought stuck in the back of my head. I picked up the phone and frowned at Adam's name.
Sry I left so suddenly.
I went back to reading. Nathan had been right, we had more important things to do than these normal things we wanted. Nathan was off convincing Patricia of his decision, and I was left to my own devices. I let the message sit unanswered for a few moments before I answered. I hadn't even placed my phone back down when it vibrated.
Its fine, I got the project finished.
I hadn't even placed my phone back down when it vibrated.
Good.
I didn't respond. I had other things to focus on.
➳
Most teens on Friday nights probably had plans. Right? I knew that Nathan and Patricia had gone to the movies with a group of kids from school, and I knew that usually, I would have gone with them. Instead, I stayed in the dimly lit apartment, finding a movie on TV that was in black and white and the bad guy was a man with an exposed brain, which gave me a headache just looking at him. I carried an unpopped bag of microwave popcorn into the living room with me, jumping over the backside of the couch and sinking into the creaking cushions, feelings the springs crunch under me. I crossed my legs and played the movie, a startled scream, a flash of light and then a dramatic zoom in brought a smile to my face. I held the popcorn on both hands, sucking in a deep breath and focusing on the weird, grey blood on the screen. Energy pulsed in my gut and unravel through my veins, filling my limbs with a tingle of power. I summoned fire, the butter in the popcorn bag sizzled under the heat. In seconds the smell of butter filled the room and the last of the cracks and snaps sounded.
Delicious. Being a witch had its perks.
Opening the bag I scarfed down a large handful and picked up my phone. I had several texts one from Nathan inviting me to the movie. And then Adam's. Including a new one:
Is Rosemary your real name
I smiled. Glad that he was no longer just bugging me about answering him. Deciding that a few days of ignoring was enough, I replied.
Is not attending urs? Seems like the school thinks so.
Instead of a text, my phone began ringing in my butter covered hand. "Yes, Adam?" I picked up the phone.
His voice sent a strange feeling through me, even though the phone muffled it and made the line flood with static. "Do I sense bitterness in you?"
I watched the screen again. The woman screamed and drove a pair of scissors into the exposed brain. Barf. "Never."
"Bullshit." He near growled. "Are you busy tonight."
"Yes." I watched the man pull scissors out of his brain, laughing. "Extremely."
"What if I offered milkshakes?" He said before muttering something to someone with him.
"Still busy. I'm watching a movie."
"Uh Huh." He didn't sound convinced. "Well. I guess I'll see you on Monday?"
I was silent for a moment. In the morning we were going to the coven, deciding the future. Figuring out what could possibly the end of me being normal. If we went to war there was no going back to the way things were. "Maybe."
"Okay then. See you then."
"See ya." I hung up and went back to the gruesome movie. I did want to see Adam on Monday. But I had responsibilities that demanded full attention. Responsibilities that were more important than the strange mystery that was Adam Hopkins.