The Hex Breaker's Eyes (23 page)

Today’s my
first day back. I know there are rumors about me. Everyone in town
knows that Sydney’s mom was shot by a police officer, that I was
locked a padded room, that Sydney vanished without a trace after
the fight at her house.

That was in the
news too. After I smashed that little clay pot, it exploded with
enough force that the police thought there must have been some kind
of bomb. They never found any trace of explosives, but what else
could they conclude? I had been hospitalized, along with Helen, and
the other two women were taken to the emergency room but left
before being treated. They’ve not been found. Sydney gave a
statement to the police officers, and was taken to the station.
Then somebody left her alone, and she vanished. Supposedly a camera
at a back door caught her walking out alone, and just running into
the night.

I come back to
my locker, and find Ryan, Tam, and Marlene have all gotten there
before me. There’s a big paper heart taped to my door, signed with
lots of students’ messages to me. They’ve even stuck bows and
streamers to my locker door and a big sign that says “Welcome
Back.”

I give everyone
hugs and read all the little notes. Even Dina managed to write
something nice for me. I have to bend the big paper heart just to
open my locker and get the books for my first class, and the
prospect of making up an entire month of school sinks in when I see
the long-neglected binders on my shelf. Closing the door, I see
Ryan and Tam settle into a comfortable pose in each other’s’ arms
as we talk about what I’ve missed in some of our classes.

“So you two?” I
ask.

“Us two,” Ryan
says.

“We’ll see,”
Tam says. “I mean, it better not take a hospital stay to make him
skip practice next basketball season.” He grins and gives her a
kiss.

We do our best
to settle into the old routine. School, classes, the same old same
old. Despite the welcoming heart on my locker, the old poisonous
opinions are still around. I hear a few whispers, some of the
students whisper “psycho” as they pass me in the halls. Often it’s
the same people who used to call me crazy because of my mother,
acting like they were right all along because I turned out to be
just as crazy as they taunted me for all those years ago. Part of
me still wants to shrink into a little ball and cry when Ashley
Horton passes me on the stairs and whispers “Like mother like
daughter,” but I won’t let them see me crack.

In French
class, sitting next to Tam again, we endure the whispers of people
who think I tried to murder Tam until Mme. St. Pierre begins her
lesson with a small welcome back.

The French
class is in the back of the top floor of the school, looking out
over the highway that runs alongside our little town. Even in the
morning, it’s steady with cars and trucks, people going skiing or
commuting to the big city for work. I let my mind wander a bit,
listening to a French lesson that involves words I should have
learned a month ago so I’m completely lost as to what any of it
means.

As one car
passes, I can see a red glow from the passenger side, a red aura
shining right through the roof and side of the car. A minute and
dozens of cars later, I see an SUV going the other way that has a
big purple glow shining from its passenger side.

Before then end
of class, I see another car pass with a hex on the driver.

“What is it?”
Tam asks.

The bell must
have rung already. Everyone else is standing up and filing through
the door, but I was lost in thought looking at the highway. It
occurs to me that for there to be several websites dedicated to
hexes, there must be a number of people all around the world who
know about this stuff. And that means there a number of people
around the world casting hexes, drinking potions, and getting up to
other kinds of magical trouble. They’re still out there, those
strangers from the internet, along with Sydney and the two coven
witches.

“Something got
you spooked?” Tam asks, waking me from my daydream.

I stand up,
turn my back to the window and we walk away.

“No,” I say,
“not anymore.”

Thanks for reading!

If you enjoyed The Hex
Breaker’s Eyes, check out the rest of the Hex Breaker series:

When the
students of Laurier High start going crazy from love spells, they
need Mindee to save them, or else they’ll end up killing each other
in a jealous rage. But she’s too busy being in “love” with a
handsome young artist to even notice the danger...

When a team of
invisible criminals go on a crime spree, Mindee discovers a
shocking connection to her own family that could threaten the free
will of every soul on Earth. And one of those invisible criminals
has followed Mindee to university, and knows where she lives...

S. D. Tennant lives in
Ontario, Canada and has a dog named Jake.

Connect with the author
on Twitter @ShaunTennant4