Spellbound - Cara Lynn Shultz [85]
She launched into another coughing fit—and was starting to look a little pale—so I took that as my cue to leave and let her get some rest, even though I desperately wanted to stay and soak up as much witch information as I could. It felt like one mystical thing after another was hitting me.
By the time I got home, school was out, and my voice mail was full of urgent calls from Ashley, Jenn and Cisco. I’d barely changed out of my uniform into a T-shirt and track pants when the phone rang again.
“Phone, now,” I demanded, opening my palm and trying to summon it from my nightstand. Shocker—it didn’t move an inch.
“You’re a witch, not a Jedi, Emma,” I chastised myself, picking my phone off the bed. I checked the caller ID—it was Cisco.
“I saw Anthony cleaning out his locker,” Cisco said after I’d relayed the events that unfolded in Principal Casey’s office. “He was pissed. I expected steam to come out of his ears, like he was a cartoon character or something.”
“Well, at least I don’t have to see him anymore,” I said, relieved. “I just get to deal with all the gossip every day. Oh, joy.”
“Okay, Emma, I don’t know if I should tell you this but, well, I feel obligated to.”
“Oh, great, what now?”
“Do you want to know the rumor that’s going around school?” Cisco’s voice was apprehensive.
“Sure, why not,” I said dryly. These days, only the supernatural can faze me.
“It’s so obvious that Kristin’s behind this, because the stories are that you slept with Brendan and Anthony, that Brendan’s embarrassed to be seen with you, and that Brendan’s only using you. And all kinds of variations on the same story.”
“Ew, so gross.” I sighed.
“I know. But speaking of Brendan…” Cisco trailed off pointedly.
“That happened kind of suddenly,” I admitted a little guiltily. Cisco thought I was keeping secrets. “We pretty much hung out all weekend, and now we’re dating.” Dating seemed to be a weak word for what we were, but it was all I had to work with.
“I knew it!” he shouted, and I had to hold the phone away from my ear. “You sneak! You were holding out on me!”
“No, I wasn’t—trust me,” I assured him. “As of Friday, we weren’t together. It happened fast.”
“You can say that again.”
“It happened fast,” I repeated, and Cisco laughed.
“Well, tomorrow should be interesting.” I sighed.
“Emma, since you’ve started going to Vince A, things have been nothing but interesting,” Cisco said. I just groaned. I wanted to see Brendan—but another day of going to school where I would no doubt be the topic of conversation…I was beginning to see a trend here. If it weren’t for Brendan, I might have been tempted to long for the lonely days back in Keansburg.
I thought about having a home-cooked meal ready when Aunt Christine, the perennial queen of takeout, came home. I figured it was a way to start making things up to her. I thought of how she plucked me out of Henry’s loveless house, and all the favors she pulled to get me admitted to Vince A, and felt shame color my face. My behavior was not exactly a shining example of how the niece of someone on the board should act. But a quick survey of the kitchen told me the only ingredients were French bread, a large slice of brie, some fruit and more tea than there was in the Lipton factory. And, of course, the makings for multiple martinis, but I doubted finding me with a vodka bottle would improve my standing with Christine.
I decided to go with a safer activity: catching up on what ever schoolwork I missed that day to look slightly more like a model student. I was several pages into my history book when Christine came in an hour later.
“Let’s order dinner, then talk about what happened today,” she said, her voice brisk as she leaned against the door frame to my room. I gulped, expecting the worst. But after we’d ordered some chicken Caesar salads from the local diner, Christine’s tone softened.
“Emma, as I told you earlier, I wish you had come to me, especially if you were having a fight with a boy