Dark Realms (33 page)

“Uh, Kendra…”

“Math class!” I called back as I bolted out
of the classroom.

When I stepped into the bathroom, I grabbed
some paper towels and turned on the faucet, to dampen them. As I
raised my head to look in the mirror, my jaw dropped.

“Oh, my God,” I whispered, staring at my
sister’s reflection.

~~~

I was still trying to compose myself when
the door opened and another girl walked into the bathroom. I looked
up and recognized her from the bus.

“Hey, Kala,” she said, reaching into her
purse. She took out a tube of lipstick and put some on her
lips.

I raised my hand and touched my face.

“Kala, you okay?”

Oh, God, she really thinks I’m Kala.

Our eyes met in the mirror. “Uh, yeah. I’m
fine.”

“You just looked a little pale there for a
second,” she said.

“I’m fine,” I said, staring back into the
mirror. There was no way that I could tell her who I really was;
she’d never believe me.

The girl fluffed her hair and then turned to
leave when she gasped in horror. “Oh, my God! Watch where you’re
walking, someone left a pair of underwear on the floor!”

When I looked down, I wanted to die of
shame. The panties I’d been wearing had slid right off, and I
hadn’t even noticed.

“Oh, wow,” I mumbled, my
face bright red. I stepped away from them. “I can’t believe that
someone just
left
them here. Gross, huh?”

“Yeah,” she said, scowling. “Very gross.
Look, I’ll catch you later.”

“Yeah, later,” I mumbled, picking the
panties up as soon as she left the bathroom. I quickly tossed the
underwear into the garbage can and then turned back to my
reflection, still unable to believe what I was seeing.

“Kendra?” called Tyler, knocking softly on
the door.

“I’ll be out in a minute!” I called.

He opened the door.

My jaw dropped. “Tyler!
What in the heck are you doing? This is the
girl’s
bathroom.”

He took off his sunglasses and stepped
inside. “Right now, everyone thinks it’s closed for repairs.”

I took a deep breath and turned to face him.
“Well, the potion worked.”

He stared at me hard for a few seconds and
then nodded. “It appears that way.”

I turned back towards my reflection, still
shocked that the thin person in the mirror wasn’t Kala, but me.
Funny thing was, I had mixed emotions.

“Uh, that dress is going to slide off soon
if we don’t do something about it.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I need to go home and
change. Can you get me out of the school unnoticed?”

“You’re still asking me questions like that
after everything you’ve seen?” he answered with a sly grin.

I licked my lips. “I guess I’m still trying
to figure out if this is a dream.”

He sighed. “It’s not. Sorry.”

I nodded.

“So, um, you don’t seem very happy about
losing the weight,” he said, coming up behind me. “Isn’t this what
you wanted?”

“Yeah, but…”

He grabbed my hand and pulled me around, so
that we were facing each other. “Kendra, you were perfectly fine
before you took that potion. So you weren’t a size two, who gives a
crap?”

“Everyone –”

“Not me,” he blurted, his cheeks turning
slightly pink. “I didn’t care. I thought you were pretty enough
before.”

This time, as his eyes burned into mine, my
pulse went on overdrive, and I felt an overwhelming desire to press
my lips to his.

“Are you doing something to me?” I
whispered, as his vanilla scent washed over me.

“Like what?” he whispered back, his face
moving closer.

“Making me want to… kiss you?” I
squeaked.

He touched my cheek with his fingertips and
I could barely breathe. “No. I’m not. Not this time.”

I still wasn’t sure if I believed him.
“Could you… close your eyes for a second?”

His eyes twinkled in amusement but he did
what I asked.

And nothing changed.

The butterflies were still whirling around
in my stomach as if they were desperate to escape and I wanted
nothing more than for him to like me the same way I liked him. I
swallowed hard, staring at his lips, wondering what it would be
like to kiss them.

“Kendra?”

My cheeks warmed. “Uh, okay. I guess this is
all me,” I admitted.

He opened his eyes.
“It’s
both
of
us,” he whispered, pulling me into his arms.

I closed my eyes and waited, hoping that he
was about to do what it looked like he was about to do.

“Can I kiss you?” he murmured.

Please…

“Yes.”

His lips were warm and
soft as they pressed against mine. I slid my arms around his neck
and pulled him closer, deepening our first kiss, which
had
to be the most
amazing in the history of Bayport. It was sweeter than I could have
ever imagined and I never wanted it to end.

“We have to go,” he whispered, pulling away
after a few more seconds. “Although, I never thought I’d enjoy
being in the girl’s bathroom this much.”

I blushed.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the
door.

“How are we going to be able to skip the
rest of the day without getting caught?” I asked.

“You forget who you’re talking to,” he said,
smiling smugly. “I’ll handle that part.”

~~~

The halls were clear when we left the
bathroom. Just when I thought we were in the clear, someone stopped
us near the front exit.

“Excuse me?” snapped Ms. Johnson, one of the
hall monitors. As usual, she looked very bitter about her career
choice. “Where are you two going?”

Tyler removed his glasses and smiled. “We’re
going away. You can forget about seeing us.”

The woman looked like a zombie. She nodded
and walked away.

“Okay, how do you do that?” as we walked out
the door.

He shrugged. “It’s a gift.”

“I guess,” I said, laughing. “Is that why
you’re always wearing those sunglasses?”

“Partly, but the truth is that people are
always staring at my eyes even when I’m not trying to do anything;
it’s a little unsettling.”

“Well, your eyes are intense. But in a good
way.”

He smiled.

“So, Tyler, have you always had this
‘gift’?”

“I have,” he replied. “I’m an
Enchanter.”

I laughed. “What’s an ‘Enchanter’? It sounds
like something from a Disney Movie.”

“It’s hard to explain. Let’s just say I can
manipulate people or things for special purposes.”

I swallowed. “So, is that like magic?”

“In all honesty, yes, I do dabble in the art
of magic.”

“Oh.”

He smiled wickedly. “Does that make you
nervous?”

“No, for some insane reason, I feel really
safe with you. It’s just still hard for me to believe in
magic.”

He raised his arms in the air. “Magic is all
around you, Kendra. When you open up your mind you will discover
things far beyond your own imagination.”

“Okay, Merlin,” I answered, smiling wryly.
“I’m starting to get the point.”

A sudden screech of tires startled us
both.

“Oh crap,” mumbled Tyler, staring at the
dark blue Volvo. “Here comes my mom. She doesn’t look happy.”

Chapter Thirteen

“What in the devil is going on?” asked
Rebecca, as we slid into the backseat of her car.

“Um, let’s just say Kendra took the potion
we sold her, lost a little too much weight, and therefore, we had
to leave.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” she
said, glancing back at him with a scowl.

He sighed and rubbed his
forehead. “Well, dear mother, what
are
you talking about?”

“Do you not recall how I warned you to stay
low? I specifically told you not to perform any kind of magic. That
includes, ahem, ‘Persuasion’. I heard from the grapevine that
you’ve been using it quite a bit at school.”

I wondered who the grapevine was but was too
timid to ask.

He shrugged “Well, it needed to be done.
Someone was hurting Kendra’s feelings.”

“I’m certainly proud of you for defending
Kendra’s honor. I just don’t think it’s very safe to be using your
powers, especially right now.”

Tyler didn’t say anything, although I was
dying to ask why it wasn’t safe.

Rebecca changed the subject. “So,” she said,
smiling back at me. “You lost a little weight. Feel lighter on your
toes?”

I snorted. “Actually, I feel as if this is
all a dream.”

She laughed. “Wait until we tell you the
rest. You’re going to feel like you’re on another planet.”

I folded my arms under my
chest, which was also smaller, unfortunately. “Okay, you are
both
really freaking me
out.”

“Don’t worry,” said Rebecca. “It may seem
freaky, but somehow, I know you can handle it.”

I was glad she had faith in me, because I
wasn’t so sure of anything anymore.

~~~

Rebecca reopened the store and I followed
Tyler into the back storage room again. For some reason the entire
room seemed much more ominous than before.

“My mother wanted to explain everything to
you, but I talked her into allowing me. She’s not always very
subtle, and truthfully, I’m better at these things.”

“Forget being subtle, Tyler, just explain
away,” I said.

He pointed to my dress. “Are you sure you
don’t want to slip into something more… comfortable?”

I was definitely drowning in the dress.

I raised my arms. “I don’t have anything to
wear. Here or at home.”

“Good thing you have a twin sister
then.”

“Won’t help me at this moment,” I said,
pulling up one of my straps.

I thought about Kala, she was going to freak
out. We were now more identical than ever before and I still wasn’t
sure how I felt about it.

“Wait, I have a better idea,” said Tyler,
removing his sunglasses. He furrowed his eyebrows and concentrated
on my dress.

Within a few seconds, a shimmering light
began to radiate from my dress and I watched in awe as it began to
slowly shrink, until it hugged my body like a glove.

“Um, can you take it out, just a little?” I
gasped. It was so tight; I thought it was going to rip with every
breath I took.

His cheeks turned pink. “Sorry. My bad.”

The dress loosened up a bit and I suddenly
realized that he’d wanted it a little tighter.

I smiled wryly. “I guess you’re not
complaining about my new figure either.”

Tyler’s face turned serious. “You looked
good before, Kendra. In fact, I think you’re perfect at any weight.
I thought I made myself clear on how I felt earlier.”

I thought about our kiss and my heart felt
like it was growing out of my chest.

I liked this Enchanter.

I liked him a lot.

And he didn’t even have to put a spell on
me.

Chapter Fourteen

“Um, so what is it that you wanted to show
me?” I asked, clearing my throat. The electricity in the air
between us and was intense.

“Oh, that’s right,” he said, putting on his
sunglasses.

I pointed. “You don’t have to wear those all
the time, do you?”

He removed the sunglasses and folded them.
“Sorry, I guess it’s a habit.”

“I just think it’s probably good for your
eyes to take them off now and then. You know, rest your peepers a
little bit.”

Okay, so that sounded kind of lame. The
truth was, I really just wanted to see his dazzling eyes.

He smiled. “Well, I never really considered
‘resting my peepers’, unless I’m going to bed at night. But I’ll
take your advice.”

I nodded. “It must be difficult to see
indoors when you’re wearing them anyway.”

“Actually, I can see much better than the
average person. In fact, I can see things others can’t.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Oh? You
can’t see through clothing, can you?”

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’d like to know if you can
see…”

“What you’re wearing underneath?” he asked
with a wicked grin.

Then I remembered in horror that I wasn’t
wearing my panties and I quickly lowered my hands over my pelvis.
He noticed this right away and raised his eyebrows.

“Tell me,” I demanded, my cheeks
burning.

“Fine, I can’t tell what you’re wearing
under your clothing.”

I released a sigh of relief.

“Unless, I try really hard,” he said and
then threw his head back and laughed when he saw my horrified
expression.

I marched over and swatted him on the
shoulder. “You are so… bad!”

“Ouch!” he laughed, again. “You wanted to
know.”

“Are you two okay back here?” murmured
Rebecca, peeking through the door.

“Yes,” said Tyler. “I was just going to find
the picture.”

Picture?

“Okay. I’ll be out here if you need me,” she
said, walking away.

“I’ll be right back,” said
Tyler, walking toward the back of the warehouse. “Don’t
touch
anything
…
please.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you warned me
yesterday.”

I sat down on a metal chair and looked
around the cluttered room, eyeing the boxes now with a new respect.
Who knew what kind of magic was hidden in all of this
cardboard?

“Okay,” said Tyler. He was holding a
five-by-seven picture frame but I couldn’t see the picture. “I have
something to show you and it’s quite possible that you’ve seen it
before. However, something tells me you haven’t.”