The Trouble With Spells (10 page)

I couldn’t help
smiling at the memory. “That was our first kiss,” I said, a little dreamily
,
as I thought back to it.

“Apparently it was
pretty hot. Girls were swooning just from watching it.”

“Yeah, and I
imagine a few of them hate me for it too,” I said, suddenly feeling a spark of
jealousy at all of them who had a thing for Vance. “I know several of them had
set their sights on Vance a long time ago.”

“So how did all
this get started?” Shelly asked, digging for more details.

My mind scrambled
to make a coherent answer since I knew I couldn’t tell her the whole truth. I
told her he’d come by and asked me to go for a ride with him after my party. He’d
helped me sneak out and had taken me on a moonlit drive to Oak Creek Canyon. Of
course, I edited all the magic parts that occurred. I told her he came by my
Grandma’s on Sunday to see me also, leaving out that it had been for a ritual
to induct me into the magical coven my family happened to be the leaders of. This
was all becoming a bit bizarre.

“I can’t believe
it!” she crooned, completely unaware of my omissions. “Vance Mangum! You
realize you’ve just landed the hottest guy in school, don’t you? Now we both
have boyfriends!”

“Yes, boyfriends
who are basically polar opposites of each other,” I reminded her. Somehow I
just couldn’t imagine Vance being too big on the double dating scene.

“We’ll make it
work out somehow,” Shelly said, her optimist personality coming right to the
surface.

“Portia!” my mom’s
voice floated up the stairs. “Dinner’s ready.”

“Be right down,” I
shouted back.

“I guess I’d
better go too,” Shelly said, and she hopped off the bed. “My mom and dad should
be on their way home from Phoenix right now. They were supposed to fly in from
their trip to Italy this afternoon.”

“I’m glad you came
by to visit, even if it was only for a minute.” I got up and gave her a hug.

“So, I’ll pick you
up in the morning then?”

“About that,” I
replied, “I got my license today.”

“You did?” she
squealed in delight, before looking puzzled at me. “Why don’t you seem excited?
You’ve been talking about this for months.”

“Follow me.” I
walked out the door, heading down the stairs toward the garage.

“I’m showing Shelly
my present,” I called out to my mom, who was in the dining room as I passed the
kitchen.

“Did they get you
a car?” Shelly whispered excitedly while tugging on my sleeve.

We stepped into
the dark garage, and I waited for the door to close fully before I flipped on
the light switch.

“Tada,” I said
flatly, gesturing with my arm over to my new ride.

Shelly’s smile
faded a little as her eyes perused the neon green scooter. Then she burst out
laughing. She walked over to it and fingered the wire basket, laughing so hard
she nearly doubled over.

“It’s great!” she
choked out as the tears ran down her face. “I can’t wait to see you drive it to
school tomorrow.”

“Uh huh.” I folded
my arms across my chest and tapped my foot against the concrete. “Are you
finished yet?”

She held up one
finger. “Just give me a minute,” she said, trying to calm herself down.

At that moment my
mom came out the door into the garage.

“Portia,” she said.
“I forgot to give you this the other day in all the excitement.” She handed me
a purple helmet with bright little green daisies all over it, smiling happily
at me.

“Oh. Thanks, Mom,”
I replied, knowing my shame was now complete.

Shelly was
positively flushed from trying to hold back the laughter. She managed to keep
it in until my mom walked back into the house, before she fell into a nearby
lawn chair and howled.

I helped my mom
clean up after dinner and went back up to my room to do my homework I’d been
procrastinating on. I’d just finished my English assignment when my cell phone
started buzzing. I reached out and absently answered it, knowing it would be
Shelly since she was the only one who ever called me.

“Hey, Shell,” I
said with a sigh. “What’s up?”

“I’m going to have
to try a whole lot harder if you’re starting to confuse me with a girl,” a
sexy, baritone voice spoke into my ear. “I’m starting to doubt my kissing
skills. Perhaps I need a tutor?”

I couldn’t hold
back my laughter. “You so don’t need a tutor, trust me,” I replied, wondering
if he could hear the increase in tempo my heart was currently pounding out into
my ears.

“So you’re
speaking from experience then?” Vance asked. “Or am I to assume you’re just
guessing at my level of skill.”

“I’m speaking from
experience, of course,” I replied, and he grew quiet for several seconds.

“I’m not sure how
I feel about that,” he said finally. “Just how many boys have you kissed before
me?”

“How many girls
have you kissed, Vance?” I responded, answering his question with a question.

“Point taken,” he
said, chuckling after a moment.

“Yeah, that’s what
I thought.” I continued to goad him. “You don’t get that good without a lot of
practice.”

“So you’re saying
you’ve kissed lots of guys then, because I think I felt the earth move when you
kissed me back.”

“Whatever!” I
said, deciding it was time to move on to safer subjects. “How’d you get my
phone number?”

“I have my ways.”

“Are you going to
share those ways with me?” I asked after I realized he wasn’t going to
continue.

“Nope.” He
laughed.

“Hmm, a secretive
stalker. Maybe I should reconsider going out with you. It might not be safe.” I
regretted my teasing words the instant they left my mouth, considering the
things in his life I knew he was worried about.

There was a moment
of silence that seemed like an eternity before he spoke again.

“You’d probably be
wise to reconsider,” he said softly. “And I got your number from your grandma.”

“I’m sorry, Vance.
I was just kidding, and I spoke without thinking.” I was terrified I’d offended
him. “There’s nothing for me to reconsider either. I’m right where I want to
be,” I added.

“No harm, no
foul,” he said smoothly. “So, what’re you up to tonight?”

“Homework.” I gave
a miserable sigh. “Do you want to come rescue me?”

“I’d love to, but
I happen to be up to my eyeballs in the same stuff myself. If I have to research
anything more about the fall of Rome, I may actually fall myself.” He laughed
and I joined him.

“So was there a
specific reason you called?” I asked. “Did you need something?”

“Yes. I needed to
hear your voice.”

My heart melted
into a puddle instantly and was replaced with the giddy knowledge that he
missed me.

“Too sappy?” he
asked when I didn’t reply.

“What? No! I mean…
I mean, I miss you too.” I laughed nervously. “You just caught me off-guard. That
was really sweet, and unexpected.”

“I’m going to have
to work on my game then, if it’s unexpected.” He chuckled. “Apparently, I need
to try a little harder to let you know exactly how I feel.”

“What do you
mean?” I asked, feeling nervous butterflies in my stomach at his teasing words.

“I mean if I didn’t
think your dad would shoot me, I’d drop everything I was doing right now and
come over there. Then I would pound on your door until you opened it up and let
me kiss you senseless.”

My breath caught
in my throat. “My dad’s not home tonight,” I whispered, and I closed my eyes,
trying to imagine the picture he’d just painted.

“Hey, Portia, can
you hang on for a sec? I’ll be right back.”

“Sure,” I said,
wondering what he was up to now.

I waited for
several moments and when he didn’t come back right away I started working on my
math problems. After I’d done about five problems, I glanced over at the clock,
wondering what had happened to him. He’d been gone for several minutes.

A thought suddenly
struck me, and I jumped up off the bed.

He wouldn’t, would
he? I glanced in the mirror, running my fingers through my hair and rubbed at
some mascara smudged under my eyelashes. That was when I heard a motorcycle
engine roaring down the street, and laughter started bubbling up from my chest.

He had!

I bounded down the
stairs and over to the front door, flinging it open just in time to catch him
lifting his hand to knock.

He grinned,
dragging me out onto the step and into his arms, while reaching behind me to
pull the door shut.

“Hey, baby,” he
said, stepping forward and pressing me against the door.

“Hey,” I replied
breathlessly, grinning up at him.

He dropped his
lips to mine, kissing me hotly. His hands ran up into my hair and held my head
tightly to his.

I couldn’t even
move, my knees were shaking so badly. I could feel his kiss like it was running
through my whole body, sending little sparks everywhere. I lifted my hands to
grip his shoulders, trying to balance myself.

He seemed to sense
my need and moved one of his arms around my waist, pulling our bodies into full
contact with one another.

I started to slip
my arms up around his neck when suddenly he broke the kiss, stepping away.

“I think that’s
enough kissing for tonight,” he said, backing slowly away from me.

“Really?” I asked,
unable to contain the disappointment that wove through my voice, and he laughed
lifting his finger to shake it back and forth at me.

“Now, now. We’ll
have none of that tonight!” he scolded.

“None of what?” I
asked, completely confused, watching him as he continued to back away toward
his bike.

“No more looking
so… kissable!” He grinned and turned to straddle his motorcycle. “Go finish
your homework!” he added, not leaving me time to reply before he jump-started
the loud engine
.

He backed out of
my driveway, his eyes never leaving me until he turned and zoomed away.

I watched him
drive all the way down the street, and then stumbled back into the house,
trying to collect my senses.

“Who was at the
door, Portia?” my mom called out to me.

“It was Vance,” I
answered back, continuing toward the stairs.

“What did he
want?”

Me,
I
thought, and a huge smile spread across my face wondering how she would react
if I actually said that.

“He was taking a
quick break from his homework and dropped by to say hey,” I answered
truthfully.

“Well, that was
nice of him,” she called back.

“Yes it was.” I
lifted my fingers to brush my kiss-swollen lips before adding under my breath,
“You have no idea how nice.”

I showed up at
school very early the next morning, trying to avoid the most amount of my fellow
students as possible. I parked at the farthest, most secluded end of the
parking lot, and I was just undoing the chinstrap on my helmet when Vance
roared into the space next to me. I was mortified.

“Nice wheels,” he
said, with a nod toward the scooter.

“Ha, ha. Very funny.”
I ripped the helmet from my head, hanging it by the strap on the handlebar.

“I’m serious,”
Vance said, getting off his motorcycle. He sauntered over to pick up my
backpack out of the wire basket. He slung it over his shoulder. “You make
anything you wear look good.”

He snaked an arm
around my waist and pulled me to him. We were soon having a repeat of the kiss
he’d given me last night. Only this time, I succeeded in wrapping my arms
around his neck and pulling him closer to me—really kissing him back.

I couldn’t even
begin to describe the feeling this gave me. Heat went streaking through my
veins, racing through my body, and it was as if the entire world melted away
and this was what I was meant to do.

Vance pulled away
abruptly, his breathing a little bit ragged.

“Wow,” was all he
said, but he stared at me hotly.

I didn’t say
anything. I was too busy trying to breathe.

“I’m beginning to
think kissing you might be dangerous,” he finally added seriously, his gaze
focused on my mouth.

“I think maybe
you’re right.” I felt a little dazed at all the emotions rushing through me.

Vance grabbed my
hand, and we started slowly walking toward the school, not wanting to rush our
time together.

“So your dreams
have been better the last few nights,” he stated casually, and I could see he
was determined to change the subject.

“What? How do you
know that?” I asked, surprised.

“You haven’t
called to me in your sleep anymore,” he replied, as if having me call to him in
my sleep was totally normal.

“I dreamed you
came to wake me one night,” I told him.

“I know, and I
did.”

“But I woke up and
you weren’t there,” I replied, trying to understand what he was saying.

“I didn’t come to
you physically. I came to you mentally,” he explained.

“You were really
there?” I asked, astonished.

“In a sense.” He
shrugged, nonchalantly.

I sighed. “I have
a lot to learn.”

He chuckled
slightly. “Yes, you do. But I keep telling you there’s something special
between you and me. I’ve never experienced a bond like this before. So it’s
okay if you feel a little confused. This is all new to me too.” He opened the
door to the school, and we walked into the hall.

We went to my
locker first and deposited my backpack
,
after drawing out the books I
needed. Then I followed him to his. We didn’t speak much since there were other
students and teachers roaming the halls, all giving us stares.

“Walk with me,” he
said, quietly.

I followed him to
a small, out of the way corner. He guided me into it, while shielding me from
view with his back.