Lucas

i'm not much for explaining my writings... but i just wanna say about this one - it's pretty amatuer and a bit cheesy, but i hope you all enjoy it anyway...

 

Chapter 1

 

            This had to be one of the worst weeks of my life. Although, at the same time, it was also one of the best. There was only one way I could think of that would make it any better, but also about one million ways in which it could get worse. It’s a strange feeling: a week being the best and worst you’ve ever had all at the same time. I had lost the person I knew the most, my best friend in the entire world. And I had gained a new, more intimate friend, whom it seems I’ve known for so long.  It also seemed as if I was suddenly the most coveted girl in school.

            I’d told myself so many times that I was done with magic, done with all the spells. I was quitting, cold-turkey-style. Magic had only gotten me into trouble. It never made things better as it was meant to; it always made everything worse. Although, I guess that’s what I deserve, right? I didn’t obey the number one mega rule of Wicca: “Every action shall return itself threefold.”

           

            My name’s Fiona Katheryn Wellings, but my friends (and select few who think they’re my friends) call me Fi (Fē). I’ve always been deeply fascinated in Wicca. My mother is Wiccan. My father left her the day he found out that she had been teaching me her practices. You see, before I was brought into this world, they had made an agreement that I was not to know about my mother’s religious practices. My mother thought it wasn’t right to keep it from me, so she started teaching me about it when I was seven.  She believes I’m a natural.

            I’ve been practicing magic for many years now. It isn’t what the stereotypes claim it is. You don’t always physically see magic working. Most magic is basically worshiping the gods of our religion (many people who practice magic follow various different religions), casting spells that are more like spiritual whishes, and meditating. However, there is the occasional occurrence of spells working or changing things, but that usually only happens to the really talented and powerful people.  Of course, because I was young when I started actually using magic, I used it to cast spells on people. My mother always told me that I could make anything happen if only I believed. Well, believe I did, and I cast spells, spells, and more spells, until I was spell-less. I would cast hexes on the people I disliked, love spells on the boys I did like, and truth spells on my friends because I had always had trouble trusting people. It was immature, of course, but I was a child and didn’t know any better. I was told to believe it worked, so I did. I was so excited the day one of my spells really did work. That was the day I learned the “Big Mega One.” It was somewhat of a bad experience and I don’t like to get into the details, but I’ll just say that I didn’t tell any lies for a very long time.

 

            I don’t know who Lucas is- or was- but ever since the day I started going to the cemetery, I’ve felt drawn to his headstone. In Clayville, the headstones in the cemetery don’t show just the last name of the person buried there; they show the full name of the unfortunate soul that lies beneath as well as the birth and death dates. Well, unlike all the other headstones in the cemetery, Lucas’ headstone just says ‘Lucas’ in what looks like ancient script. It doesn’t say anything like “A loving brother and father” or “Damn his soul to Hell.”  It doesn’t even say the birth or death dates.  It just says ‘Lucas’.

            I’ve always been drawn to cemeteries and creepy or haunted places. I’m not sure why, but they’ve always sparked my interest. The town I live in is a small, right-side-of-the-tracks sort of place. There’s only one cemetery in the whole district, and it is my habitual home. I spend most of my free time there. I draw, write, do my homework, and sometimes just stare at the sky sitting under the giant headstone of Lucas at the back of the cemetery. The skies in Clayville are very interesting. No one ever really notices them. They’re beautiful though. They remind me of the fairytale picture books my mother used to read to me; the purples and pinks and oranges and yellows and reds of the beautiful skies painted in behind the castles and caves. It fascinated me, just as many things in my childhood had, how the sky never seemed to get cloudy or dark in Clayville. Even at night, there seemed to be a silvery-blue shimmer dancing through the town.

 

            I know a lot about vampires and harpies and other sorts of demons. My aunt, Chloe, is convinced they are real. I’ve thought about the possibility of Lucas being a vampire many times while sitting at the foot of his stone. It is actually a very plausible incurrence. After all, Rhode Island was the vampire capital of the U.S. But then I had to clue in the fact that Clayville never had a cloudy day. So, how could a vampire survive in the sun? He couldn’t possibly be a vampire.

 

Chapter 2

 

            I have a huge crush on three boys. Two of them are seniors, and the other one is a junior. My best friend, Scott, doesn’t like it when I talk about boys, especially ones I like. You see, Scott has a crush on me, but he thinks I don’t know. I’m afraid that if I say anything, he will think that I like him, but the truth is, I just think of him as a good friend. And I wouldn’t want anything to ruin the relationship we have now.

            We’ve known each other for ever. We live across the street from each other and have been through everything together: bad breakups (with other people), family issues, etc. We’d even taken baths together as little kids. He usually spent afternoons at the cemetery with me. We always did our homework together. Or rather, Scott did the homework and I just copied it because I was too lazy to do it myself. He knows me better than my own mother.   

           

            Scott didn’t come with me to the cemetery today. We had a fight yesterday because I had told him that I wasn’t going to cast any more spells, but I did. I couldn’t resist. Rob, amazing Rob, the junior I had a mega crush on, out of no where, came up to me during study period the other day and started talking to me. He spoke as if we were old friends.  

            Rob was the first boy I ever liked at Clayville High. I had cast so many spells for him to fall in love with me, that I was afraid I was literally invisible to him (it’s happened before, only not to me). But, wow, when he came over and sat down across from me in my corner in the cafeteria, my heart practically skipped a beat. Luckily I had never had trouble when it came to talking to boys, especially ones I liked. So we talked, though I don’t remember much of what was said because the entire time I was trying to figure out why he was talking to me. Then it occurred to me that my spells had finally worked.

            I went through the rest of the day in a daze. When I got home, I unpacked all my spell making materials, and set up my altar again, and I cast three spells. The first spell was for Andrew to fall in love with me. The second spell was for Graig to fall in love with me. The third spell was that I could know who Lucas was. I didn’t even think about what things I should cast spells on, for all I was thinking about was my interest in four boys.

            Andrew and Graig are the two hottest seniors at Clayville High. However, they were nothing compared to Rob. Some people argue that Rob isn’t attractive, but once you see him smile, you’re in love. I never understood how he kept his teeth that perfectly white all the time. Of course, it wasn’t just about how white his teeth were. He had the most gorgeous smile a boy could possibly have. I could never think of anyone as beautiful as or more beautiful than Rob.

             

            As I sat under Lucas’ stone today doing my homework, it struck me that I hadn’t thought about “The Big Mega One” (the number one rule of witchcraft, as I preferred to call it). I knew something either really good, or something terribly bad would come of this. It would most likely be bad, but either way, the final result would not be good. I tried to imagine what could possibly happen, but nothing came to mind. 

            I looked down and realized I had put my book down. I also noticed that the wind had started to blow some of my papers away. They weren’t going very far, but I still had to go chasing them around. There were only a few left to catch, when suddenly this boy handed me a bunch. I had never seen him before, and in a town this small, you knew everyone.

            Once I had all my papers back, I looked up at the boy who had helped me in retrieving them. He had shiny, straight, almost black hair that hung just below his eyes, his mesmerizing, green eyes. His eyes weren’t normal either. They were so green and almost hypnotizing that they couldn’t be normal. His face was very structured and defined, with high cheek bones and a soft nose and full lips. He looked like a super-model. He wore a fairly loose, dark blue T-Shirt displaying the name and logo of the band Blind Melon, and blue jeans with Vans sneakers. He was tall, at least a foot taller than I was. 

            “Thanks,” I said, after staring a hole through his head for a few minutes. He had been staring right back at me, and seemed a bit startled when I finally spoke.

            “Oh, uh… No problem,” he replied. His voice was beautiful, too. When he spoke, it sounded almost as if he were singing. Something about it made me think of his eyes. I glanced back at those amazing emeralds. He was still looking right into my eyes.

            Before I could say anything else, he turned around and walked off. He was moving pretty fast, too. I thought it rude to call after him when I didn’t even know him, so I went back to my spot under Lucas’ stone, and started reading. After a couple of pages, I started to wonder what that boy had been doing here, in the cemetery, alone. It was strange to see someone else wandering around the Clayville Cemetery. No one ever came here other than Scott and me. I figured I’d never see him again, so I let the thought float off into space and went back to reading.

            It wasn’t long before I started thinking about the boy again. He was gorgeous; there was no doubt about that. He was even better looking than Rob, which is hard to believe. I couldn’t stop thinking about him. Something about the look in his eyes and the fact that he had been in the cemetery, triggered a memory of some sort of strange feeling in the back of my head. I couldn’t pin-point what it was, though. I also couldn’t stop thinking about the way he had been looking at me. It was almost… predatorily, as if he was claiming me. At the thought of that, I packed up and went home early. I may be intrigued by scary places, but I still get the spooks.

            I lay awake all night, thinking about it. I couldn’t sleep until I figured out what that feeling or memory was. If I let myself fall into sleep, I would forget it, and it seemed important to me. I tried and tried to pull that feeling from the back of my head, but it wouldn’t budge. It was like a single person trying to move a three ton boulder; it was practically impossible.

 

Chapter 3

 

            The next day at school, I slept through most of my classes. I had no energy to focus on the day’s events. Scott avoided me as much as possible, trying, his way, to teach me a lesson about casting selfish and naïve spells, for he knew, just as well as I, the number one rule of witchcraft. Even though he may have been mad at me, he still cared. This was his way of showing it. And I have to admit, I actually like the fact that he cares, because most people don’t.

             At school, I am not the most popular girl around. Of course, I have my share of friends, but I don’t like to be surrounded by tons of people all the time. Plus, my friends and I aren’t considered part of the cool crowd. We’re the rebels, as the popular kids like to say. My friends know about my mother being Wiccan and that I practice it too. They don’t have a problem with it, but we have to be careful about discussing it; the school doesn’t like it. The teachers and administrators at Clayville High still believe Wicca to be a satanic religion, even though it’s not. They are the type of people who hear the word ‘Wicca’ and automatically think “WHITCH!”, and ready a stone in their hand, about to aim and fire.

            My mother is always making comments and remarks about the amount of friends I have. She thinks I’m a loner or something. When she was at Clayville High, she was the most popular person there, and it was all because of the house she lived in. All the popular kids at Clayville High, now, hate me for the house I live in. They assume that I am a rich snob. My mother never bought our house; she’s never made a payment of any kind on it. My great-grandfather bought it, and it has just happened that every generation of my family has decided to live there. It’s a family heirloom, if you will.

            I live in a moderate sized house that sits smack between two huge mansions. Put next to any other house in town, and mine would look enormous, but the mansions make my house look puny. I’ve lived in that house my entire life, and I have never met my neighbors, who have supposedly been living there since before my grandmother took over the house seventy years ago. However, not once in my entire life have I seen any signs of life in either. One of the mansions is an old gothic-style building made completely of stone with gargoyles hanging slyly over the eaves. The other mansion is much more modern, like one you would see on the coast of Newport. It is all white with beautiful red, yellow, and orange flowers running the length of the gardens.

            I live in my moderate home setting with my mother. It’s not all that bad living in a fair sized house with only my mother and me. There’s enough room that I can get away from my mom when I need some alone time, and not be found until I’ve had plenty of that alone time. I have an older brother, but he moved out two years ago, when he turned eighteen. He couldn’t wait to get away, and, to tell the truth, I can’t either, but I can’t just up and leave my own mother all alone. Not only that, but I am expected to carry on the family tradition and live in the house after mother is gone. My brother was lucky he got away.

 

Chapter 4

 

            I’m a sophomore at Clayville High, and unlike most of the other sophomores, I hate the school. I don’t hate the students, but I hate the school itself and the teachers that inhabit the hallways three quarters of the day. None of them seem to care about anything other than homework and detention. 

            I was supposed to have History fifth period, but thanks to lazy substitute teachers, I was allowed to have a free period instead of my worst class. Sixth period was my phys. ed. class, and I really didn’t feel like going, so I skipped both, and went straight to my favorite spot in the whole wide world. Because of the lack of my best friend, I unfortunately had to do my own homework for once. I found it surprisingly easy, and realized that I had finished it within a half hour. I really didn’t have anything else to do, so I pulled out the sketch book that I always carried with me, and started drawing. 

            At first, I didn’t know what I was drawing, but after a few minutes, I realized that my doodle looked exactly like the boy I had seen here, in the cemetery just the other day.  My thoughts drifted off, and I again found myself thinking of him; of his eyes, and that look. The feeling I had when I ran into him suddenly came back to me, but stronger this time. I still couldn’t figure out what the feeling was, but it was there, and it was stronger. 

            “What are you drawing?” a beautiful voice came from behind me.

            I realized I was staring off into space, and somewhat jumped as I snapped out of my trance-like state. I think I may have startled the person, as I looked up into emerald green, hypnotic eyes. It was him.

            “Oh, well… I really don’t know,” I said, “I sort of got side tracked.”

            “If I’m not mistaken, I’d say it looks like me,” he replied with a smile, “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

            “Shouldn’t you?” I shot back.

            “I’m home-schooled,” he stated, obviously not taking in my harsh tone.

            “That sounds pretty cool. I hate school. I’m skipping PE right now,” I said.

            “Is this where you come when you skip school? I mean, I saw you here the other day, doing your homework… or catching it,” he laughed.

            “Funny. I come here whenever I can. It’s my spot, kind of.”

            “Hmm.  Is your name Lucas?  You know, it’s not every day you find a girl who likes to hang out in cemeteries.”

            It took me a moment to realize what his question meant. I decided to ignore it anyway. I was not in a humorous mood today. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

            “It means exactly what it says. I’m sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Luke,” he said, sticking out his hand for me to shake.

            “Fiona,” I said, not taking the offer, and instead, crossing my arms.

            Something about this conversation seemed very awkward, but at the same time familiar.

            “That’s a beautiful name, Fiona,” he said, “I like it. It fits you.”

            “Thanks. So you’re new in town, huh?”

            “Sort of.”

            “What do you mean, ‘Sort of’?”

            “I noticed there’s not much to do around here.”

            “Uh… Nope. People like me; we don’t need to have anything to do. If I’m bored, I come here. Most of the time I just sit and think, but sometimes my friend Scott comes with me, and we talk for hours. But he hasn’t come with me for a while. You see, he’s mad at me.” I didn’t understand why I was being so open with this complete stranger standing in front of me.

            “Why?”

            “Well, it’s a long story, a very long story actually.”

            “I’ve got all the time in the world.”

            “But I don’t. I have to get home. It’s getting dark.”

            “Are you afraid of the dark, Fiona?”

            “No, but my mom is afraid of me being a part of it,” I said, laughing, as I started to walk away.

            “Well, I guess you can tell me tomorrow,” he called.

            I turned and gave him a puzzled look. He just smiled and said, “Good night, Fiona,” before I shook my head and walked away. He was so alluring and attractive, that I just couldn’t wait until I the next time I would see him again.

            I walked home slowly, trying to imagine what might happen tomorrow when I see him. I took the long way, through the woods. Every step I took seemed to bring more darkness with it, but I wasn’t really paying attention to the time, or to where I was going. At one point, I looked up to find myself at the abandoned stone mill, which told me I had walked about three miles in the wrong direction. I had to concentrate to get my bearings, but I managed to turn myself around and head in the general direction of my house.

            I made it home just in time to have my mother give me a lecture about wandering around town alone at night. Now, I always thought that my town was safe, and it really is. Any stranger walking around is bound to be noticed in this tiny little place I call home. And here’s my mother telling me that some stranger could be lurking around in some alleyway, looking for trouble. I don’t think this town even has any alleys. My mom just loves to over-exaggerate everything.

            After surviving yet another of her meaningless lectures, I headed upstairs to my room. It was not until after I tightly shut the door and threw my bag on my bed, that the feeling from yesterday rose again, and stronger than ever. I suddenly realized what made it seem so familiar, and cursed at myself for not having noticed it when it was shoved in my face earlier this afternoon. It was the same feeling I had gotten the first day I went to the cemetery and found Lucas’ headstone. I felt so stupid for not realizing the connection between the cemetery and the boy I met yesterday. He said his name was Luke; shoved the answer right under my nose. Go ahead, say it. I know what you’re thinking. I’m jumping to conclusions, right? Well, I don’t think so. I really think he may be a vampire, resurrected from his grave. Though, I still can’t explain how I keep seeing him in daylight.  I will have to take some time to think about that one.

            I did think about it… for a few minutes, but gave up after scanning my memory of every vampire legend I had ever heard, not finding anything that came close to explaining his presence in sunlight. It was bugging me that I couldn’t figure it out. More so, that I couldn’t even come up with some totally bogus story to make it sound like it made sense, for that was one of the things I did best. I grabbed the first CD my hand touched and slammed it into the player on my bedside table. I lay down on my bed with my sketchbook open in front of me. It was open to the page that contained the doodle of Luke. I just stared at it as I let the music of Incubus pulse through my veins and calm my mind. 

            Whenever I get frustrated or downright mad I put one of my favorite CDs on and let it cleanse my mind of anything that may be bothering me. I’ll lie on my bed for hours, staring at the wall or the ceiling or a drawing in my sketchbook, and let the music take over. So I lay now on my bed, staring at that doodle until finally I fell asleep at about ten. 

            Either my mother never called me down for dinner, or I was so absorbed in my meditation that I didn’t hear her because I fell asleep on empty. It’s strange that whenever I fall asleep without having eaten dinner, I have the strangest dreams. I dreamt that I was walking home through the forest, and I came upon the old stone mill. I looked up to find a light in the highest window, and was, for some unexplainable reason, strongly compelled to know why the light was there. I walked around to the opposite side of the mill where I knew I would find the door. It was cracked open and looked all too inviting for the curious mind. I had not noticed until now that the forest was completely black, except for about a ten-foot radius of bright light surrounding me. I looked up, thinking that the light was coming from above, but could not find anything other than blackness. I looked down and discovered that my hands… no, my entire body was glowing. I was the light source. It was coming from somewhere inside me. Now that I was aware of its presence, I could feel it as well as see it. It felt like a small burst of heat inside my chest. I continued to walk toward the door of the mill, finding that the encircling light was moving with me. As I moved, the feeling changed. It became an explosion of heat all throughout my body. It was not painful, but comforting.

            I climbed the spiraling stairs to the top floor, and found a silhouetted door at the end of a very long hallway. It seemed to take an eternity to reach the door that led to the lit room. As soon as I came within an arm’s length of the door, it flew back, revealing a blindingly bright room. The light seemed to be coming from a fireplace in the west wall. I walked into the room and saw Luke standing in front of the fireplace. As I looked at it now, there was a small ball of pure light floating in the center of the fireplace. Luke turned and looked at me as I walked toward him. He squinted as he gazed directly at me, as though the light that was coming from inside me was too bright. He smiled hesitantly, but did not move from where he was standing. I smiled in return, and walked over to stand next to him. 

            He was staring at the floating ball of light now. I looked at it too. As I watched, it began to change. First, it started shifting in shape, distorting as if something were squeezing it. Then, it started darting around frantically, like a puppy playing a game of fetch. Though it remained within the confines of the fireplace, it seemed to be growing. As it grew, it became brighter and brighter. It became so bright that I had to look down, and when I did, I noticed that the light that had been streaming from somewhere inside me, was slowly fading along with the feeling of heat. I started to feel cold as the light escaped my body. I tried to look up, again, at the ball of light, and as I did, it suddenly exploded and disappeared. I felt light headed now that all the heat had escaped me. The now dark room started spinning and became darker as I began to fall towards the floor. Before I hit it, I was caught by a pair of strong arms. I looked up to see Luke, now glowing. Then, everything went black. 

            I opened my eyes to find my face pressed up against my open sketchbook. It was still on the page containing the doodle of Luke. I sat up and saw sunlight filtering through the curtains. The clock sitting next to my bed read seven-forty-five a.m. Friday, finally. I thought it would never come. My stomach growled, and I remembered that I hadn’t eaten since lunch time yesterday. I got up and stumbled into the kitchen to get my breakfast.    

 

Chapter 5

 

            Apparently I looked as though I had just crawled out of a hole in the ground, because my mom gave me one of those looks and asked if I slept well when I walked by her and her steaming cup of coffee, which I picked up and took a few long sips. Ah, refreshing! 

            “What?” I asked, because I knew she wasn’t telling me something. She looked like she was desperately attempting to hold back hysterical laughter, and I knew it had something to do with my physical appearance.

            “Uh… You’ve got a little something on your face,” she replied, snickering. 

Oh, great… I knew it. I got charcoal all over my face from that stupid doodle, I thought as I headed toward the bathroom to clean it off.

            Well, at least she was happy that I got to school on time, for once. Not like it would do me any good. I hardly paid attention on a regular basis, and lately it has seemed as though my mind was on a very long vacation, for I was paying less attention than I normally would.

            Scott must have been glad too, or he thought that I had finally gotten my act together, because the second I walked in the door, he was at my side jabbering on and on about everything he hadn’t told me in the last few days. I always knew that he hated the silent treatment, even when he was the one giving it. I normally tried to behave myself and not get into trouble, so he wouldn’t bother. But in the past few weeks, I’ve found it difficult to go against my own will and behave. 

           

            I convinced Scott to skip last period with me, so we could go to the cemetery and catch up on each others lives. As we were walking, Scott babbled on and on about the past few days. He must have noticed that I wasn’t exactly listening; he probably asked a question that I failed to answer. He stopped abruptly and turned to look at me with questioning eyes.

            “Did you hear about the new family in town?” It was the only thing I could come up with.  Plus, he is going to find out about Luke sooner or later, and it will be better if I tell him before they meet.

            “There’s a new family in town? When did you hear this?”

            “Just yesterday. I met the son here at the graveyard. He’s our age. They’ve been living here for a few months, but he’s home schooled so he doesn’t really know anyone yet.” 

            “I haven’t seen anyone new around town,” he mused.

            “Yeah, I hadn’t noticed them until I met him, but I don’t see them much. I guess they spend a lot of time at home. He mentioned something about getting settled in.”

            “It takes months to get settled in?” he asked skeptically.

            “Well, maybe they have a really big house and a ton of stuff to unpack. Or some of their stuff may have been shipped late and they’re waiting for it to come and don’t want to miss the delivery.”

            “Why does it matter what happened? I just think it’s a little weird that they haven’t been trying to socialize and meet other people in town.”

            “They could be shy, or they’re not people persons… Wait, if you say ‘people person’ for the singular, wouldn’t you say ‘people people’ for the plural?”

            “Good question.” I can tell he doesn’t want to carry on with Luke, but I need to at least inform him of Luke’s name before they have a chance to meet.

            “Aren’t you wondering what his name is?”

            “Who?”

            “Luke! Aren’t you wondering what his name is?”

            “Well, not anymore… Hey, why didn’t you ask him why you haven’t seen him around town?”

            “Well, I’ve only talked to him twice, and I didn’t think of it when I was talking to him. Plus, I figured he probably did go out and I just didn’t see him, seeing as I spend most of my time either here or at school.”

            “Good point. I guess I shouldn’t think it weird, then, that I haven’t seen him around, seeing as I spend most of my time with you.”

            “Exactly! See it’s not like he hides out in the dark all the time. For all we know, he may be out and about right now.”

            “Who?” a familiar, melodious voice sang out from behind me. Why does he always have to sneak up behind me?

            “Oh, hi Luke.”

            “You must be Scott. Fiona mentioned you yesterday.” Luke seemed fairly enthusiastic about meeting Scott. “I take it you two aren’t fighting anymore.”

            Scott glared at me before he answered, “And you must be Luke. She hasn’t stopped talking about you all day.” He can already tell that I like Luke, and now he’s going to try his best to embarrass me, without being too obvious of course.

            “Really.” It wasn’t a question. He raised his eyebrows in false surprise, as though he already knew all about it.

            “So what brings you to this neck of the woods?” Scott asked accusingly, as though no one is allowed in the cemetery except the two of us.

            “Well, Fiona told me she would be here, and I thought, maybe I had made a new friend. So, I came here to hang out and get to know her better. I wasn’t expecting to make another new friend. Fiona had mentioned that you two were having a fight, which I believe she was going to tell me about today because we ran out of time yesterday,” Luke explained, completely unfazed by Scott’s rudeness.

            However, I had been fazed by how rude Scott was being, and was caught completely off guard when Luke mentioned the fight. I had no idea what to say. Scott was staring at me, waiting to see what I would say about it, while Luke was waiting patiently for me to explain. 

            “Uh, well, like I told you yesterday, it’s a really long story. It’s pretty boring. I don’t think you would want to hear it.” Thankfully Scott wouldn’t pry to see how much I was prepared to tell Luke about my personal life. He knew that I didn’t want people to know about my little problem. Luke on the other hand wanted to know all about it, and he wasn’t very shy about it.

            “I’m sure it can’t be that boring. You seem like such an interesting girl, Fiona.”

            He was challenging Scott. The entire time he was talking to me, he was watching Scott to see how he would react. He must have picked up on Scott’s attitude after all.

            “Uh, Fiona, I have to get going soon. It’s almost five-thirty. My mom will have dinner ready any minute. Are you gonna eat at my house tonight?” 

            “Oh, it’s that late already. Sorry, my mom wanted me to get some of my chores done, so I think I’ll eat at my house. Thanks, though.” I felt bad for saying no. I felt like I was ditching him, and I was afraid he would think that, too.

            “That’s okay, Fi. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” Before I could say goodbye, Scott ran off toward his house. Now, I felt really bad because I think I hurt his feelings. However, that ended quickly as I remembered that Luke was still standing next to me, waiting for me to explain.

            “I—,” I started to say, but Luke cut me off.

            “Shall I walk you home? I assume that you need to get home as well,” he said as though he had read my mind.

            “Uh, sure.”

            “Sorry for prying earlier. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

            “Oh, no. You didn’t make me uncomfortable. I just didn’t know what to say while Scott was there. He might have gotten angry. I didn’t want to say anything in front of him.”

            “Oh. Would you still like to tell me, then?”

            “Okay, so, it all started when this really cute kid at school came up to me during my study period. Well, I guess I should tell you, first, that I’m Wiccan. I had been casting a bunch of spells, hoping he would notice me, and when he came up to me, I thought they had finally worked. I had promised Scott I would cut down on the spells, or at least the ones that had to do with influencing other people, because apparently I have a bit of a problem with it. So, anyway, that afternoon, I went home and cast a whole bunch of spells, and he found out. And, well, I guess you can figure the rest out.”

            We were approaching the private road that my house, along with the two gigantic mansions, are on. We must have been walking very slowly. I hadn’t thought I would be able to get that entire story out in such short a time. Luke seemed to be pondering something as we walked.

            “Hmm. That’s quite a story. Just for clarification, what is Wiccan?”

            Laughing, I said, “Wicca. It’s my religion. I practice ‘witchcraft,’ as most people like to call it.”

            “That’s really cool. How long have you been Wiccan?”

            “My mom started teaching me when I was seven. It’s really interesting… Well, this is my place,” I said, a bit sheepishly.

            “Wow. It’s a really nice house. It’s so big.”

            “Ha. You can’t seriously think that with these two huge mansions on either side.”

            “No, really. It is really big. Compared to the mansions, it’s not, but compared to any other house in this town, it’s huge.”

            “Yeah, I know. It doesn’t seem like it though.”

            “I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Maybe Scott won’t have to run off so soon.”

            I had to laugh at that. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

            “Goodnight, Fiona.”

            I turned around to say good night, but he was already gone. 

            The house was extremely quiet when I walked in. I went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water, and my mother was sitting at the breakfast bar, apparently waiting for me. 

            “Where have you been?”  She asked in a solemn tone.

            “At the cemetery with Scott. Where else do I ever go?” Oops. That came out a little too sarcastic.

            “You know I don’t like you going there… Speaking of what I don’t like, we need to have a little chat.”

            Oh great. I could tell she was angry, though she didn’t sound it.

            “The principal called this afternoon. He said you’ve been skipping classes. This is serious, Fiona. I don’t like to hear that you’ve been misbehaving. I hate to do it, but you’re grounded until further notice. You can only leave the house for school. You’re not allowed to talk to your friend, what’s-his-name—.”

            “Scott, mom. His name’s Scott.”

            “I don’t care. Don’t interrupt me. I’m very disappointed in you, Fiona. You’re not allowed to talk on the phone, or go on the internet unless it’s for school work. I expect you to be home by three every afternoon. And you’re not going out on weekends. Do you understand me?”

            “Yes, mother.”

            “Get rid of that attitude, missy. Now, go to your room!”

            “Gladly.”

            I grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookies, turned around, and practically ran upstairs. I wonder if she even realized that I spend most of my time, when I’m actually home, in my room. I love my room and wasn’t very offended when I got sent there as a punishment. I wasn’t going to come out of my room unless absolutely necessary. I really didn’t want to listen to her anymore. I jabbed the play button on my stereo, and turned the volume up to the point that I knew she could hear it downstairs. I lay on my bed and ate cookies and read a book about vampires until I was too tired to hold up my head.

Author's Note

please excuse grammatical errors...
this is a work in progress... i seem to be stuck on Chapter 6... ideas would be very helpful!!