Twisted Magic (29 page)

I stopped
singing,
and the two of us broke into
laughter,
“that
was
nice, just l
old times.”

Dad agreed. “I need to remember the finer things in life. Like my kids and the fact that I am
alive
.”

I
laid
my head against Dad’s arm. “
Ain’t
that the truth? I don’t think I will ever understand people’s
fascination
with love.” I sighed.

“Sure you will. When you’re in
it’s a
wonderful thing, w
hen you’re out of
its brutal
.”

“Would you do it again?” I asked him. Would he want to fall in love and have his heart broken
again?

Dad nodded. “I’d do it in a heartbeat. There was a time when your mother was the best thing that ever happened to me
,
Hope.” He kissed my cheek. “You should call her sometime.”

“I don’t want to call her,” I said. “She’s supposed to want to call
me. I'm
her daughter.”

“She thinks you hate her. I know your mother better than anyone, when she thinks she messed up
it's
easier for her to run then to stand up to her failure.”

“And I don’t like that about her.”

“You don’t have to, but that doesn’t change the way things are or who she is to you. What she is supposed to mean to you.” Dad squeezed my arm.
“This guy, Slade, why the change?”

I looked away. I never talked about boys with Dad. “We just aren’t compatible. I care
too
much,
and he cares
too
little.” That was our relationship in a nutshell. “I don’t know what he is
thinking
. And he doesn’t care.”

Dad scrubbed his chin. “
Is that it?”

Of
course,
it wasn’t. I sighed. “I saw him kissing someone else. After telling me there was nothing going on between them.” I brushed my hair from my shoulder. “Like I said he doesn’t show that he cares. I don’t think he does anymore at all, if he ever did even.”

“I know it hurts, and probably has you thinking about yourself as a person. But it has nothing to do with you.
These
are
Slade’s own personal issues not yours. Don’t hate him, but don’t let him treat you badly either, Hope.” Dad stood up. “Just let it
go. Everything
happens for a reason.”

I followed him back inside. “What if
there are
more reasons
than
usual
?” Like magic and witches, things my dad would never believe if I told him.

Dad searched my eyes for more of an explanation confused by my statement. “Well, I don’t know what that is if you don’t tell me.
Even so,
even
with reasons that doesn’t
give any guy a right to treat my daughter badly.”

I rolled my eyes and smirked at Dad.
“Your bias.”

“That I
am, but
I’m your
father. I
am supposed to be. I’m not
supposed
to root for your misery. I’
ve had enough of my own.
I don’t want that for you. What about this other
guy, t
he
tall one?”

I scrunched my nose. Was he trying to be a matchmaker?

“He seemed nice. No tattoos, he was wearing other colors besides black.”

“Dad,
it’s
called
style
and preference. Slade likes black there is nothing wrong with that.” I started toward the hallway and stopped. “And as for Hutch, he is a very nice boy, probably
too
nice for his own good.” I could imagine I would end up hurting him somehow. Someone as nice and caring as Hutch it was bound to happen.

We said goodnight to each
other,
and I slipped under the covers while dad snuck another drink that he thought I didn’t know about. I listened carefully to the sound of his door opening and closing. The squeak of his bed and the low hum of his television, I turned over and fell asleep.

Birthdays, the one day a year I tend to forget.
I was
not like most
girls. I
didn’t
get excited. I
didn’t
even care that much about growing older.

As I towel
ed my hair and ca
me back in my
room,
there
was
a
pale pink envelope addressed to me sitting on my pillow. I picked it up and sighed. It was my Mother’s attempt at contacting me.

I slipped it on the top shelf of my closet and shut it away. I didn’t want to see it. Someone’s artistic ability wishing me a happy birthday wasn’t the same as hearing her say it herself. I wasn’t going to be shocked if she didn’t call on my birthday. She never called.

And out my bedroom I went down the hall. The smell of maple syrup tickled my nose and teased my stomach. When I rounded the
corner,
I jumped out of my skin.

Karsen, Kidd, Nona, Dad and
Elliot
and Easton all were decked out in
polka-
dot party
hats and had those really annoying noise makers.

“Happy birthday,”
e
veryone said in sync, smiles on each of their faces.

Nona kissed the top of my head, hurriedly making me sit and
placed
a stack of French toast in front of me with a side of cantaloupe.

“We all wanted to be the first ones to wish you happy birthday,” Karsen said nudging Kidd. He worked a small box out of his pocket and set it in front of me. “It’s from Kidd and
I
.”

I lifted the black lid and pulled out the silver necklace. “It’s beautiful.” I fingered
the small
musical note dangling at the end along with half a heart. Looking at
Karsen,
she immediately flashed me the other half of the silver charm. “Thanks
,
you guys.”

Nona was
next. She
pushed my plate out of the way and dropped a larger gift on the table. The flashy silver paper danced against the table. I pulled at the red bow and quickly dove into it. Nona always
gave the best gifts.

“A laptop,” I smiled, kissing Nona on the cheek thankful for my gift. It was just the gift I needed now that I was away at college. And I knew Dad couldn’t afford to fork the money out for one. “Thanks, Nona.”

Elliot and Easton both stood up and set a gift bag on the table. I eyed them suspiciously. “Since when do you guys give me gifts?” Dad smiled from the
doorway. He
sipped his coffee watching me pluck purple tissue paper one after the other from the bag.

“Love spell body spray,” I said with a grin. “You guys remembered.”

Elliot
rolled his eyes. “It’s all the house smells like anymore. We thought you might need a refill. There’s lotion in there too.”

“Thanks guy,” I said, sitting back in my chair. Nona pushed my plate in front of me again.

I quickly started to eat what I could. I didn’t have much of an appetite. The one person that was supposed to be out of my mind was heavily on it.

Karsen slid over a seat. “How have things been?”

That was all it took. A sudden rush of tears escaped me. I
didn't talk
to Karsen about my Slade sighting. She didn’t know I saw the kiss.

“
Sweetpea
is everything alright?” Nona asked alarmed by
the
tears and sob
s
that were shaking my body. She wasn’t one for
sadness;
she lived in a world of joy all day long. Dad came to stand beside me, his hand clamping down on my shoulder.

“If
it’s
because I didn’t give you a present…” he teased
,
trying to get me in a better mood.

I wiped at my eyes and forced a small smile. “I’m not worried about a present, Dad.” Everyone stared at me carefully. They all acted like it was the strangest thing they had ever seen—except for Kidd. He looked troubled. He rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from my
tears,
and this didn’t sit well with me.

“I did get you a present, but I am saving it for later.” Dad kissed my forehead. “Why don’t we clear out and let Hope talk to Karsen.
”
I shook my head in a panic.

“No, I want to talk to Kidd.”

Karsen raised an eyebrow but followed everyone out of the room.
It wouldn’t take her long to understand why I was emotional or why I wanted to speak to Kidd out of everyone.

Kidd fiddled with the black bracelet on his wrist waiting for me to say something.

“I know I shouldn’t be missing him, but I am.” I sniffled. “I thought it was going to be easy to forget him.”

Kidd ran a black fingernail across his lip. “It’s never easy.”

It wasn’t easy, but that wasn’t what I was looking for. I wanted the truth.

“How long has he
been fooling around with Audrey?
” I wiped at my eyes, a new batch of tears welling up. “I don’t know if you know this, but I saw them at the festival. He was kissing her. So you don’t have to cover for him.”

Kidd shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

I slammed a hand down on the table. “Just be honest.”

A silence fell between us. And Kidd caught my
gaze;
he pursed his lips and finally said something. “It’s been weeks. Before you got back from school, Audrey’s been hanging around for some time.”

The
stomach-churning
reaction
slowly rose in my stomach. My hands went hot then
cold,
and I felt like I wasn’t there anymore. Kidd went to
stand,
but I stopped him by grabbing his arm.

“Why did he sleep with me again? Why didn’t he just break things off between us? We talked the entire time I was gone
,
every day
. He could have just let it
be,
and I would
have slowly learned to do without him. I came back excited for
more;
he said he couldn’t wait to see
me.” M
y heart ached, like a hot ember searing away my insides.

“Because he’s Slade, he doesn’t think.” Kidd stood up. “He’s an idiot. And if there is anything else you want to know talk to him. I don’t want to be a part of this. He’s a really big
idiot,
and he
doesn’t
think, Hope.” Kidd emphasized the last part shooting me a bothered look and took off out the door like his pants were on fire. His anger
lingered
in the room as he left, he didn’t want to talk about it. He was as angry as I was it seemed, but why?

I watched him head across the beach.

“Everything
okay,”
Karsen asked
,
coming to stand beside me. She followed my gaze. “Why is he leaving?”

“I asked him about
Slade,
and he stormed out.” I shrugged
,
turning to Karsen. She looked into my eyes. Her
own
filled with
unease
“I told him I saw Slade kissing Audrey. And I asked how long it had been going on. Maybe it wasn’t my place to ask Kidd, but I wanted to know.”

Karsen didn’t speak. She shook her head
,
listening to me explain.

“He said it’s been going on before I even
got
back
.” I let out
an
overwhelmed
laugh. Karsen pulled me to her and wrapped her arms around me.

“You don’t need him.” She smoothed my hair. “I’m so sorry you had to find this out on your birthday.”

I shrugged. “It’s just a birthday. I have been miserable for days. And there is something else I need to tell you, Karsen.”

Karsen was confused. She raised an eyebrow. I pulled her out the
door,
and we started walking toward the water where we would have privacy.

The sand and shells poked at my bare feet. I knew it was now or never. I needed to share my secret with someone. So I didn’t feel alone in my chaos.

We sat down near the water.

I looked at Karsen and let out
an
anxious sigh. “After you went home last summer something happened to me.”