Family Magic, Chloe Price [christmas read aloud .txt] 📗

“I tortured you and made the whole school torture you too.”

“And pushed me into standing up for myself instead of just taking it like I used to.” I meant what I said. Because of Alison Morgan, I started to pull my life together and find out who I really was. And like myself, for a change.

“You’re welcome,” she grinned, dimples flashing.

“So now what?” I asked her.

“I don’t know,” Alison admitted. “I don’t even know how to act anymore. I’m feeling a little lost, here. But I have to tell you, for some reason I feel a whole lot better now that I’m not juggling a bunch of people all the time. Weird, I thought being alone would be scary, but it’s okay.”

She seemed so lost, so fragile and delicate. I reached out to her out of pure empathy.

“I’m a little low on friends myself, lately,” I said.

Hope lit her eyes. “Seriously? You would be my friend after everything I did?”

I shrugged. “What’s the worst that could happen? I figure it only gets better from here. Besides, if you ever backslide, at least I know I can kick your butt.”

She laughed and I laughed with her.

“I’ll consider myself warned. Syd,” she said. “About Brad...”

“He asked me out, Alison.” I wanted to be up front.

She seemed relieved and let out a long breath. “Good.”

“You’re not mad?”

She shook her head. “Are you kidding? I’ve known Brad since kindergarten. He’s more like a brother to me than anything. It was my mother’s idea that I date him. Captain of the football team and all that. He’s a great guy, Syd,” she said. “Don’t break his heart, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

Mom chose exactly then to enter the kitchen.

“Syd, honey,” she set one hand on my shoulder, smiling at Alison. “Who’s your friend?”

As I introduced them I realized Mom eavesdropped on our conversation. She knew exactly who Alison was. Or rather, had been.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Hayle,” Alison’s cheeks flushed rosy. I figured she knew Mom was in on the whole mess and didn’t blame her for blushing. “I have to go, Syd.”

“Please, don’t run on my behalf,” Mom said.

Alison’s blush faded as she smiled, the warmth of it lighting her eyes. She could be quite sweet when she wasn’t being nasty.

“My mother is expecting me, ma’am,” she said. “But maybe I could come back? To study sometime?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Alison was at the door when she turned back.

“Thanks, Syd,” she said. “See ya.”

I turned to my mother as Alison disappeared through the back door. I was met with a huge hug.

“That was a wonderful thing you did for that young woman,” Mom said.

Maybe. But I had the feeling I did a great thing for myself, too.

Alison Morgan was going to be my friend. Imagine that. Chapter Twenty

This was fantastic. All of a sudden I actually had a friend. Me. Or, at least, the beginnings of one. Things were definitely looking up. I practically bounded up the stairs to my room, almost knocking over my sister on the top step.

When she saw me grinning, she smiled back. I hugged her impulsively, my good mood just too much to keep to myself.

Naturally, Meira took full advantage.

“I love you, Syd.” She beamed up at me, amber eyes glowing.

“I love you too, Meems.”

“No, I really love you.” She clasped her little hands in front of her chest and spun in a circle. “Really, really.”

How obvious was she? It made me laugh.

“Okay,” I said, “what do you want?

“Ice cream!” She bounced on her toes, clapping and giggling.

I hesitated one moment before remembering the coast was clear. Since I didn’t have to worry about being picked on anymore, the prospect of visiting the local hangout didn’t seem so daunting.

Inside of ten minutes, I settled into a booth across from her while she shivered in delighted anticipation.

“I want every flavor,” she said.

Mom would kill me if I brought her home hyped up on sugar, but for some reason her little demon body loved ice cream and I hated to say no. So, I waffled. “We’ll see.”

As we perused our menu and Meira drooled over her choices, I glanced around, surprised at how many of my classmates went to Johnny’s. I suppose I shouldn’t have been, especially since it was one of the only places to grab a burger in town. No brand names for Wilding Springs. Johnny’s felt like an old-fashioned fifties place with red vinyl and chrome everywhere, down to the fully functional jukebox in the back of the dining room.

Meira finally settled on chocolate, vanilla and bubble gum while I rolled my eyes at her and ordered a hot fudge sundae. The cute twenty-something waitress in her checkered gingham poodle skirt winked at my sister and went off to fetch our order while we settled back to watch the world walk by our window.

As we did, I noticed a familiar face. With some surprise, I watched as Page left her table and came over. She made her way home to the ‘in’ crowd, it seemed. She already had her cheer uniform back on.

She smiled at me, even shared it with Meira.

“Syd,” she said, “you’ll never guess what?”

“You’re back in,” I said.

“Thanks to you.” She was almost beside herself with delight. “Now that Alison is out, they let me back on the squad. Isn’t that great?”

I tried to be happy for her. “Sure, Page. How’s Simon?”

Her face crumbled a bit before her perfect mask came back.

“They’ll be fine without me,” she said. “Besides, I’m on cheer squad again! It’s so worth it.”

I tried not to think about Page selling her soul for a set of pompoms and gave her the benefit of the doubt. After all, without Alison leading the pack, maybe things really had changed.

“Anyway,” she made a face, “I didn’t mean to bother you this long. I wanted to say thanks and give you this.” She handed me a black and orange card with a pumpkin on it. “It’s an invitation. To a Halloween party. You’re invited.”

She said it like I was special. Whoopee.

“Thanks, Page,” I said.

“You have to come,” she gushed. “Everyone will be there. Even Brad.” She said his name like it was a fishing lure.

Okay, so I took the bait.

“Really?” I said. “When is it?”

“Tomorrow night,” she said. “I know, I know, short notice. Sorry. Oh, and costumes only, so come as your favorite... whatever!”

This Page was so different from the one I first met. The old Page lurked dark and bitter. This one was so perky I felt overwhelmed.

“Okay, thanks,” I said.

“It’s at Suzanne’s house, seven o’clock, don’t be late. Gotta go, bye, Syd!”

Page practically skipped away. I glanced at the invitation and over at the table. Suzanne smiled at me, pleasant enough. Maybe I scared her into being nice. A costume party, though... I hadn’t dressed up for Halloween for years for obvious reasons. When you lived Halloween, who needed to pretend? Still, the chance to see Brad outside of school a whole day before our planned date was almost too much to pass up.

The girls rose and left as a pack, Page waving at me as they exited en masse. I waved back. How surreal. I continued to watch them as they crossed the street. When they passed the stop sign, I saw the dog sitting there, watching me

“What the…” I breathed, frowning.

“Syd,” Meira said around her hot fudge sundae.

“Yeah, Meems,” I said, still distracted by the sight of the black dog. What was he doing here? What did he want from me? I briefly considered reaching out to him but knew it wasn’t in the rules. Still, he was just a dog, wasn’t he?

“Are you going to go?” Meira licked some excess chocolate from her spoon, eyes curious.

“Go where, Meems?” I turned away from the dog, confused and disoriented. I needed to tell his owners it wasn’t safe to let him run around like that.

She rolled her eyes. “The par-tay.” She spun the word out like the point of her ice cream.

Right. I examined the invitation in my hand.

“I haven’t decided,” I answered. “It’s a costume party.”

Her little cheeks turned pink from the cold ice cream. “I love costume parties. Can I come?”

I grinned at her. “Sorry, big kids only.” I glanced out the window. The dog was gone. Somehow, though, I wasn’t feeling any better about it.

Meira made a face, her cheeks getting redder. I stuffed the invitation in my front pocket as I watched her, concern growing to fear.

“No fair,” she said, blue eyes flashing amber. “You always get to have more fun than me.”

I leaned forward and gripped her hand as two tiny horns peeked out of her black curls. Her skin reverted to her natural red hue.

“Meira,” I hissed at her. “Your disguise.”

She looked up at me, confused, and down at her hands. She let out a little shriek, her face screwing up in despair. I glanced around. No one noticed yet. There was still time for Meira to get herself under control.

No such luck.

“Syd!” She said. “It won’t come back!”

Now we were attracting interest. I had to get her out of there, but I had no idea what to do. All I had were my own shields but when I tried in desperation to wrap them around Meira she just squealed like I hurt her.

I was trying to come up with something else when Quaid appeared beside us.

“Let’s go,” he hissed, tossing money on the table. He bundled Meira up against him, keeping her shielded from the people in the diner, hurrying her to the door and outside onto the street.

I waved at the waitress, pointed at the money and followed.

Outside, Meira struggled not to cry but was still startlingly herself. One kid, who happened to be walking by, grinned.

“Cool costume,” he said.

Meira ran.

“Meira!” I called after her. Before I could follow her, though, Quaid caught my bare arm. He spun me around to face him. I felt a huge jolt of energy exchange, a connection between the two of us taking my breath away and freezing us both. My anger and fear drained away as the connection tightened before easing into something warm and wonderful.

“What the…” I could barely speak. From the light in his dark brown eyes, I knew he was as shocked by the event as I was.

“No idea,” he answered, voice soft and a little vulnerable.

All of a sudden he was wide open to me, the deliciousness of his energy pouring over me like a waterfall of yummy. My demon instantly started to purr and soak it up, reaching back with equal enthusiasm. I found myself moving closer to him, hands pressed to his chest, lost in his eyes and the magic that surrounded me.

I knew his pain, then, understood his loneliness and longing for a place to belong. My demon let him in, gave him what he needed without reservation, accepted the lost boy inside him even as his own magic stripped away the judgments I had for myself and the confusion I felt about just being me. I’d never felt anything like it before and didn’t want it to end.

I think we may have stood there forever if a passing group of teenagers hadn’t broken the connection with their giggling and kissing noises. It was enough of a distraction