Moon White: Color Me Enchanted with Bonus Content (16 page)

I
FEEL A SENSE OF EXCITEMENT AND HOPE AS
I
DRIVE BACK TO
W
ESTPORT
. A
ND
I’ve barely driven a mile before a plan begins to present itself to me, starting with a way to get a personal item from Liz. I remember how she likes to leave some spare dance things in a locker at the dance studio. “Just in case I forget to bring my bag to school,” she told me once. “Then I don’t have to drive all the way home to get it.” So I drive to town, park behind the studio, then go up the stairs and over to the short row of lockers that are set up near the bathrooms.

I can hear Sienna playing piano and Naomi calling out positions as I try to remember which locker Liz uses. I asked her once why she didn’t bring a padlock for it, and she just laughed. “Who’d want my sweaty leotard and these old toe shoes?” I guess I know who. I just hope they’re still here. To my relief, I find her bag in the second locker I check. I quietly unzip the bag to see her faded pink toe shoes right on top. One of the ribbons looks like it’s already pretty loose, so I give it a hard jerk and it pops right off. Then I put everything back as it was before and, pocketing the ribbon, head back to my car.

Then I go home and prepare to finish the spell. I’m not sure what to use for the other bag. I’m thinking something inconspicuous, just in case I don’t retrieve it in time and she finds it. I finally
settle on a brown lunch sack. Hopefully it’ll just look like trash. Then I put it together and go through the steps that Jane told me and, after repeating the words and burning the card, I call Liz and tell her I need to talk. “I know I’ve been acting pretty juvenile,” I tell her. “I guess it might help if we talked about it.”

“Yes,” she says eagerly. “I agree totally. I’m so glad you called. It’s really been bugging me.”

So I suggest that she meet me at the jetty. My plan is that I’ll have to get into her car so that we can talk out of the wind. Once I’m in her car, I’ll somehow slip the bag underneath the seat. I don’t know how I’ll retrieve it later, but I guess I don’t need to worry about that yet.

“Why the jetty?” she asks.

“Well, I need to drive over to North Bay for Augustine,” I lie. “The jetty’s on the way for me, plus it’s not far from your house. Is that a problem?”

“No.”

“I’ll be there in about ten minutes,” I say.

“Okay.”

I start feeling nervous after we hang up. Maybe this is crazy. Maybe I shouldn’t be messing with something I don’t totally understand. But I keep telling myself what Jane said about how it’s okay to stop someone from harming you. Isn’t that just what I’m doing?

I don’t see Liz’s car in the jetty parking lot, but this gives me time to get my wits together. Also, I slip the brown bag inside my coat, on the right side, hoping that somehow I’ll be able to discreetly slip it under the seat. I get out of my car now, leaning against the door on the driver’s side for some protection against the wind that’s whipping through here.

By the time Liz gets here, I really am cold from standing in the
wind. I wait for her to get out of her car, then walk over and meet her halfway. We both just stand there for a couple of seconds and then, just like magic, she asks if I want to sit inside her car to talk.

I nod. “Yeah, it’s pretty cold out here. I think it’s about to rain.”

I go straight to the passenger side and am actually inside before she is. As she’s opening her door, I slip the bag beneath my seat. I can hear my heart pounding, afraid that she might’ve noticed, that she might ask what I was doing, and what would I say? But she just sits down, then turns in her seat to look at me.

“I’m really sorry, Heather,” she says before I can say anything.

I sort of shrug. “Well, I just thought you should know that what you did really hurt me. A lot.”

“I know that Hudson and I should’ve handled it differently,” she says. “But everything happened so fast. And I just wasn’t thinking.”

“I’ll say.”

“But, like Hudson told me this week, you guys had only gone out a couple of times. It’s not like it was really serious.”

“It was still wrong,” I tell her. “I thought you were my friend, Liz.”

“I am your friend.”

I stare at her for a moment, thinking about how she’s been my object of hatred this past week. “How can you even say that?” I ask.

“Because I want us to still be friends,” she says. “I mean, we have ballet, and I’m friends with your friends. You need to get over this — ”

“
I
need to get over this?” I say loudly. “You go behind my back, you steal my boyfriend, and you tell me that
I
need to get over this?”

She doesn’t say anything now, just looks down at her lap.

“Seriously, Liz. What did I do to deserve this?”

“I didn’t do it to hurt you, Heather. It just happened. What do you want me to do now? Should I break up with Hudson?”

I consider this, saying nothing.

“It’s not like it would change anything. He said he didn’t want to get back together with you anyway.”

“He said that?” I study her for a moment. I think she’s lying.

“Something to that effect.”

“Well, that’s not what Porter told me.”

She sighs and just shakes her head. “Can’t you see that you need to move on, Heather?”

This girl has a lot of nerve telling
me
to move on. She’s the one who moved in on my space, moved to my town, moved in on my boyfriend and my friends. She’s moved into my spot in ballet, and her parents even want to move in on a lake that I don’t want to see destroyed. How dare she tell me to move on?

“The only thing I need to move on from is you!” I snap as I reach for the door handle. Then I swing open the door and leap out of her car, run over to mine, and ignoring her pleas to come back, I get in and drive away so fast that my tires spit gravel behind me.

My heart is really pounding as I continue to speed down the highway. I feel as if I just committed a crime, although I know that’s ridiculous. So I tell myself to calm down, to just breathe, and I attempt to center myself. I go directly home and straight up to the attic, where I then perform some cleansing rituals and a few other techniques that I hope will keep me on track. I have to admit that what I just did is unsettling. And because I respect and appreciate the power I have, I really don’t want to abuse it. I hope I haven’t. But the truth is, I feel very uneasy. Worse than that, I feel afraid.

By Tuesday of next week, nothing out of the ordinary has
happened. Liz has not been struck by lightning (which is actually a relief), but neither has she, as far as I can see, experienced an ounce of discomfort. And in ballet, she dances more beautifully than ever, like a pro. Whereas I’m so distracted over all this silly hocus pocus that I forget some easy steps and fumble about and pretty much wish I hadn’t even come today. I purposely came late, hoping that by some chance Liz’s car would be unlocked and I could sneak the bag out and go bury it later. But no such luck. I wonder if it’s still there. What if she found it? And what if she knows that I’m the one responsible?

I can sense Sienna looking at me when class ends, almost as if she’d like to talk to me privately. Does she suspect that I’ve done something? Should I tell her? Or would that simply complicate everything? Perhaps the spell will be more effective if kept secret. I wish I knew Jane’s phone number so I could call and ask. As it is, I don’t even know her last name.

By Thursday, my stomach is seriously bothering me. I almost wonder if I could be getting an ulcer. Even more frustrating is that I still can’t see that Liz’s life has been impacted by all the effort I put into that stupid potion. Maybe the thing doesn’t work until after it’s buried. If anything, Liz seems happier than ever. She and Hudson are still together. She’s still hanging with my old friends. And, like insult to injury, she and Lucy actually appear to be hitting it off, which I think is so weird. I mean, those girls are total opposites — how can they even stand each other? I start to wonder if maybe they’re doing it just to get to me. And then I realize how paranoid that sounds. Even so, I skip ballet. My excuse is my stomachache, although I don’t admit to Augustine or Dad that I didn’t go. I don’t really think it’s their business. The only reason I don’t quit altogether is because of what Sienna told me — that my mom doesn’t want me to quit.
And I believe that’s true.

By Friday, I’m starting to think that maybe I’m going crazy. I mean literally, flipping-out, lock-this-girl-up crazy. This paranoia thing seems very real. It’s like the whole world is plotting against me. I think I see kids talking about me, pointing at me, laughing at me. It seems like my teachers are picking on me. It’s like nothing is as it should be. Then, as I’m driving home from school, I remember the Rule of Three and I’m afraid that the evil I tried to invoke onto Liz is being turned on me — times three. And I am freaked.

But I try to block out all this negativity as I pack my things for this weekend’s seminar. And I tell myself that this is going to be a turning point for me. Things are going to change. I’m going to discover how to really use the power, the magic — but only in good ways. I’ve learned my lesson. And after this weekend, my life is going to improve drastically. To be honest, it doesn’t seem like it could get much worse anyway. I gently shoo Oliver from my room. The last thing I need is for him to get trapped in there while I’m gone. One time he broke several of my fairy figurines trying to escape out the window.

“You all ready to go?” asks Augustine when I come downstairs with my stuff.

“Yeah.”

“I wrote down the number of the place,” she says. “I got it off the brochure. Just in case your cell phone doesn’t work and I need to reach you. The location sounds a little isolated.”

“But interesting,” I point out. “I’ve always wanted to see the inside of that lighthouse as well as the keeper’s house. It looks so mysterious from the road.”

“I heard that it’s haunted,” she says with a sly smile. “Sounds like fun.”

I nod. “Yeah, I hope so.”

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you, sweetie?”

“No,” I say quickly. “Of course not. I think I’m just tired.”

“Well, maybe this weekend will refresh you.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Your dad called just a few minutes ago. He was just getting into Portland, said the traffic is horrible.”

“Guess he should be glad he doesn’t live there.”

She nods. “He said he missed you this morning and to tell you to have a good time this weekend and to bring him home some eye of newt.”

“Yeah, right.” I glance at the clock. “Well, I guess I’ll head out. They have registration, then dinner.”

Augustine gives me a big hug. “Have fun, okay? Make it a really good weekend.”

I force a smile. “I will. And thanks for getting Dad on board with it and everything.” Then I tell her good-bye and head out to my car. But as I drive up the coast, I really am having second thoughts. I mean, what makes me think I can do this? And what if everyone else is really accomplished and I’m like “Heather, the Teenaged Witch”? I actually used to like that Sabrina show, back when I was like thirteen. Now I just think it’s dumb. Still, I don’t want people thinking I’m dumb too.

I do some centering exercises as I drive. About halfway there, I pull over to write some things down in my Book of Shadows. Some things that I think are fairly profound and encouraging. And by the time I turn at the lighthouse, I’m feeling just slightly empowered, and I’m thinking maybe I can do this after all.

“Hello, Heather,” says Willow when I go into the main building. “Welcome.”

“This is such a cool place to have this,” I tell her as I set my bag on a chair.

“It’s very special.” Then she hands me a paper. “This is the list of the classes and workshops. You’re early enough that you can pretty much take your pick.”

“Sienna McKay?” I say as I glance over the paper.

“Yes,” says Willow. “I haven’t actually met her, but she was recommended to me by an associate. He told me that her powers as a clairvoyant are impressive.”

“Is she from Westport?” I ask hopefully.

“Yes, I believe that’s right.”

“I think I know her,” I say. “She plays piano for my dance teacher.”

“Good. Maybe you’ll want to sign up for her séance class tomorrow. It’s considered advanced, but I think you can handle it.”

So I do sign up for that as well as some that sound more basic. Then I hand it back to Willow. “Does that look okay?” I ask.

“Very good,” she says as she glances over the paper. “Here’s your room number and key. You’ll be rooming with a young woman from Vancouver. Her name is Caroline, but she hasn’t arrived yet. And there are refreshments in the parlor. Dinner is at seven.”

I thank her, then set off to find my room. It turns out to be on the third floor, which I’m guessing was once the attic. It reminds me of my secret space at home. I pick the twin bed closest to the dormer window and put my things into the old oak dresser next to it. Hopefully Caroline won’t mind. I catch a glimpse of myself in the slightly cloudy mirror and realize that I look pretty much like a high schooler. Okay, that’s what I am, but I don’t need to advertise this fact. So I remove my T-shirt and replace it with my black turtleneck sweater, then I pull my hair back and put it in a twisted bun. I slip
in some silver hoop earrings and stand up straight, and I think I should be able to at least pass for being in college.

Then I sit in the straight-backed chair by the window and look out. The view from up here is amazing. And although it was overcast earlier today, the clouds all seem to have blown away now, and I can see the ocean stretching out in layers of blues that eventually blend into the sky. I decide to use this quiet time to write in my Book of Shadows, describing the feeling of this house, this room, the view, and pondering over the spirits who may still be dwelling here. I get some goose bumps on my arms as I consider the possibilities, but it’s not like I’m really scared. More just intrigued.

“Hello,” says a female voice with a tap on the door. “I’m Caroline, your roommate.”