Crushed (24 page)

“You’ll see,” Brittany said in a singsong voice.

Gina began to walk from table to table, insulting everyone. She was digging a deep hold with her sharp tongue, a hole she wasn’t going to be able to escape. Jake followed close, trying to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen to him. In fact, she insulted him, too.

“Popularity elevator,” Brittany said and chuckled, “going down?”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Kristen said.

“I didn’t do it for you. That girl took advantage of me when I was cursed by Morgan, and she used me against my own sister. She had to pay.”

Cyndi pleaded, “Don’t do anything to Jake, at least. Leave him alone.”

“Are you kidding me? After what he did to you, he’s lucky to be breathing. I’ll get him tomorrow.”

“No. Please don’t.”

Brittany asked, “Are you still—”

“No. I just think—”

“You’re right. Gina will make him suffer enough with her—”

“Totally,” Cyndi said.

Zach shook his head. “I’m getting dizzy.”

“Welcome to my world,” Kristen said with a laugh.

The twins walked off to talk to friends, and Kristen remembered her purpose for being in the lunchroom with Zach at her side. It was time for her to give up a part of herself in order to save the best parts of her life. She hoped Brittany didn’t figure out what Zach was doing in time to hit him with a binding spell or something worse. Brittany wouldn’t hesitate, wouldn’t wait for answers before attacking.

Kristen and Zach stood in the open doorway without talking or moving. This was it. No turning back now. She squeezed his hand for reassurance they were doing the right thing. In a few minutes, it would be over. He had told her what to expect, but hearing it and experiencing it were two different things. The unknown scared her more than she wanted to admit.

One look into Zach’s blue eyes, and she knew everything was going to work out. The two of them would take care of each other, love each other. They had the rest of their lives to figure out how to live as normal people. Maybe she wouldn’t become a tough executive, but she’d do something. Maybe she would find something she enjoyed doing.

“Are you sure?” he asked for the millionth time.

“
Yes
.”

He shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “I feel like I’m screwing up your life just to save my own butt. We should find another way to keep me out of prison. There has to be another way. We can ask the council or go to your grandmother.”

Kristen sighed. “You are so stubborn. We’ve been over this and over this. I want to do it, okay? Look, if you can’t bring yourself to say the words, I can ask Cyndi. It’s no problem. I’m sure she’ll be willing once I explain the circumstances.”

“No. I’ll do it. I just, I want a guarantee that you aren’t going to regret it later. I don’t want you to hate me in ten years.”

Folding her arms over her chest, she glared up at him and asked, “Am I the same person I was when school started this year?”

“No.”

“Am I a strong, independent, capable person?”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to love me any less when I don’t have power?”

“No.”

She threw her hands into the air. “Then I don’t see the problem. The council will send you to prison if we don’t do this today. They’ll have hunters tracking us down. I am not going to sit back and let the love of my life be taken away from me.”

His lips twitched and an amused light entered his eyes. “Am I the love of your life?”

“Yes, jerk.” She playfully punched him in the gut. “Now, get out there and do it, or I’ll call Cyndi over here.”

Zach walked to the center of the lunchroom and gracefully leaped onto one of the center tables. Every eye turned his way. An excited buzz hummed through the crowd of kids as they waited for him to make his announcement. More than one student got their cell phone ready to start texting the news, whatever it turned out to be.

He raised his hand and pointed at Kristen. Reluctant, he took his time in forming the words. Pain and sadness filled his eyes, but he tried to smile while performing the horrible task.

She swallowed before taking a deep breath and holding it.

Zach said, “Kristen Noah is a…”

Brittany and Cyndi were standing off to the side, talking to friends. When Zach had jumped up on the table, their eyes simultaneously widened. Brittany dashed forward. She was going to hit him with a spell. Kristen clenched her hands into fists and prayed Zach would hurry.

“…witch.”

“
No!
” Brittany screamed.

The invisible spell hit Kristen in the chest, knocking the breath out of her body. She grabbed onto the metal doorframe to keep from falling over. The color left her face in a chilling rush, and her legs turned to gelatin and refused to hold her up anymore. Panicking, she grabbed onto the wall harder as gravity tried to take her down.

Zach leaped off the table. He was beside her in an instant. His arms wrapped around her, holding her up, while his warm mouth pressed against the side of her face. He whispered, “You’re okay. You’ll only feel drained for a few minutes. It’s okay. Everything is fine. I’ve got you.”

Brittany charged at them like an angry bull. One of the girls hanging out with her in the small group yelled after her, “Hey, it’s not like he called her the
B
word or anything. Lighten up.”

“I’ll kill you,” Brittany stage-whispered.

“No, you won’t.” Kristen put a hand on her sister’s arm, hoping to make her understand. She spoke in a soft voice because yelling wasn’t going to help. “I told him to do it.”

“
What?
Why? Are you stupid or just drunk?”

Cyndi joined them with a puzzled look on her face. “What just happened?”

“I’ll tell you what happened.” Brittany jerked a thumb in Kristen’s direction. “Our idiot sister has given up her powers to be with tall, dark, and scary.”

“That is
so
romantic.”

“Only you would think so. It’s stupid is what it is.”

Kristen explained as fast as possible about the hearing in front of the witches’ council, the threat of prison, and her feelings about losing her powers. She ended with, “Be happy for me. Zach and I love each other, and he’s super supportive. He’s decided to join me at whatever college I want to go to, and we’re going to have a great life together.”

Cyndi asked, “Are you still planning to get a business degree and work for Dad?”

Kristen shrugged. “Actually, Zach pointed out that I don’t have to decide my whole life right now. There’s plenty of time to make those kinds of decisions. I’ll get a degree in something, maybe even business. I don’t know. I’m thinking that I want to try some different things and see where my heart tells me to go. Hopefully I’ll find a dream to chase, something challenging.”

After Brittany blasted Kristen with how stupid she’d become, the girl stalked off, but Cyndi shrugged and said, “I understand why you did it, and Brittany will come around. She’s just had a bad day.”

No longer dizzy and weak, Kristen found she could stand on her own feet again without assistance. She pulled away from Zach, but he kept a hand on her back to keep her steady just in case. A new warmth filled her from head to toe as she realized Zach Bevian loved her.

Looking smug, Cyndi wiggled back and forth in an impromptu dance as she admitted, “I told her I wasn’t going to dress like her anymore and blew her mind. She doesn’t get it, but I had to stop dressing like her at some point. Like I told her, if we’re wearing the same clothes when we’re forty, it will confuse the kids, or husbands, and that could be embarrassing.”

Cyndi looked from Kristen to Zach and then back again. She asked, “Are you sure you can handle life without your powers?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Kristen laughed. “I’m fine. Besides, if I need some magical help, I can always call you. Right?”

“That’s what sisters are for.”

Kristen and Cyndi shared a hug before the other girl returned to her friends.

Zach wrapped his arms around Kristen, holding her tightly as they walked back to the parking lot. They had made plans earlier. First, they would go to his house. He wanted to get rid of everything that reminded him of Morgan-his-familiar while holding onto mementoes of Morgan-his-sister. Kristen was going to help him sort through the stuff while he told her about his sister, the one she hadn’t had a chance to meet.

Then, they were going to go to her house. She was going to introduce Zach to her father. Kristen wasn’t worried because her dad would see how much Zach cared about her. Plus, it didn’t hurt that Grandma Noah had said she would vouch for him.

Finally, they were going to make a list of things they both wanted to try, new things they could explore together. Kristen knew that whether her future was in business, charity work, or a life of travel with her rich boyfriend, it was going to be an exciting rollercoaster ride, and she couldn’t wait to get started.

First of all, a shout out to the ladies at Clean Teen. Rebecca Gober, Courtney Nuckels, and Marya Heiman. They each have their own specialty and do it in such a way that it looks easy to the rest of us. Also, Cynthia Shepp, Melanie Newton, and Chelsea Brimer had a part in making this book what it is.

Secondly, my beta readers. They got to read it first, comment on what worked and what didn’t, and it wouldn’t be the great book it is without them. Shirley Poe, Stacie Schott, and Amber Scott.

If I forgot to name anyone, please forgive me, and let me know so I can include you in a future book.

If you ask Kasi Blake how old she was when she started writing, she will probably say twelve. That’s when she wrote her first short story. But it started long before then. Her first characters were invisible friends she played with as a child. In the third grade she wrote a one-page story about a mummy for an assignment, and the teacher read it to the class. Even though she was embarrassed, the other kids laughed in all the right places, and she realized she could affect other people through her writing. She loves to get lost in emotional stories, crying and laughing with the characters, so she thinks it’s the most amazing thing in the world to be able to do this for other people.

Kasi is a hardcore Supernatural fanatic and practically has the shows memorized line for line. If you want to see her freak out, tell her you’ve never watched an episode. Then be prepared to listen to a long list of reasons why you should. In her spare time, when she’s not reading or writing, she does nail art, engages in day-long shopping trips with friends, and takes care of her many animals.

Originally from California, she resides in the Midwest on a farm with cows, chickens, ducks, a dog, and two cats.