Silent Circle Read online

  Kayla starts a detailed description of the dress she’s wearing, but I get distracted by the mop of brown hair I spot across the room.

  Caiden is sitting with Lydia, Ethan, and Arianna. Those four are always quiet, staying mostly to themselves – the complete opposite of the people currently around me. It’s funny the way things work out, who your friends turn out to be. Before my mom died three years ago, Lydia and I were pretty close. If things hadn’t turned out the way they did, I might have been sitting over there with them, talking in hushed tones, always in the background. Instead, I ended up with this group.

  Caiden looks up just then and meets my stare. The strangest feeling comes over me, a light fluttery feeling along my forehead and temples.

  I break eye contact when Sebastian bumps into me, standing up to yell at Josh. It seems they’ve reached the shouting portion of their debate and are now challenging each other to an arm wrestling match to decide the winner.

  Most of the room looks on, laughing. These sorts of displays are common between them. We’re certainly not the popular table – that honor belongs to Sarah Bell, Landon Price, and Courtney Deeds sitting on the opposite side of the room, looking over at us in disgust. We’re more like the slackers and delinquents, but the amusing kind.

  Chris joins our table, his lunch tray overflowing with fries and chips. His head is shaved on both sides with a short Mohawk on top. His dark eyes gleam with excitement and he immediately jumps into the fray, offering to referee the arm wrestling match.

  “How long do you think this will go on?” Olivia asks me, smiling and rolling her eyes.

  “You know how these things go.” I shake my head in mock disapproval. “We won’t hear the end of it until one of them slugs the other.”

  “Uh oh, here comes Davidson. Looks like there won’t be any slugging this time.” She nods her head towards the front of the room, where Josh’s antics have grabbed the attention of Mr. Davidson, our Vice Principal.

  Davidson’s bald head gleams with sweat as he hurries towards us, adjusting his wire rim glasses. He reaches us just as Chris is clearing a space on the table. Josh complains loudly when Davidson forbids the contest, causing even more of a scene, but he eventually gives up, promising Sebastian he’ll thrash him later.

  I shake my head at Olivia again. “I’ll be back. I’m gonna go grab some water.”

  I get in line, still chuckling over the theatrics, when that weird vertigo feeling hits again. I stop, shaking my head, trying to clear it. Waves of dizziness bombard me, causing my vision to blur. People behind me mutter angrily, but I ignore them. Afraid of passing out in front of the entire cafeteria, I take off for the nearest restroom as fast as my heels will allow.

  Everything wavers in front of me like fun house mirrors, and I reach out to the walls to guide me. Maybe I shouldn’t have worn these pumps today...

  I make it to the bathroom without tripping – thankfully – and grab onto the sink to hold myself up. What the hell is going on? Maybe I’m coming down with something.

  The door behind me opens again as someone enters. I try to slow my breathing and appear normal, hoping that whoever it is will leave quickly. Then the lock on the door clicks into place.

  Turning to see what’s going on, I find Caiden standing there, his glittering emerald eyes locked on mine.

  Chapter 2

  My heart pounds in my ears. What the hell is he doing here? “You know this is the women’s room, right?”

  Caiden doesn’t react to my sarcasm. “Is your headache back?” He approaches me slowly, eyebrows knitted together.

  “It’s just a dizzy spell.”

  He moves closer, scrutinizing my face. All my muscles clench. “It’s more than that. You said you were seeing colors? What kinds of colors?”

  “Just colors. Like I said, I’m lightheaded.” The way he’s looking at me, like I’m some side show freak, snaps my temper. “And I really don’t see how this concerns you. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.” I turn my back on him, waiting for him to leave.

  *Today’s her 17th birthday, isn’t it? It looks like Caroline was right. I didn’t think it would actually happen to Emerson. She’s never shown any signs before...*

  “And you don’t need to talk about me like I’m not here!” Officially pissed off now, I glare at him in the grungy mirror above the sink. “And how do you know it’s my birthday anyway? You stalking me on Facebook or something?”

  His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. *You heard me? But how? There’s no way. You’re completely untrained...*

  I hear his voice again, but this time I notice something really creepy. His lips aren’t moving. He’s simply staring at me, green eyes wide, mouth open in shock, but no sound is coming out.

  Whipping around to face him, I begin backing towards the wall. “How are you doing that? Speaking without moving your lips?”

  “Calm down, Emerson. Let me explain.” His hands are up in a peacemaking sort of gesture.

  I gauge the distance between me and the door, preparing myself to go through Caiden if I have to, but what he says next pulls me up short.

  “Emerson, listen. I know this is confusing.” He runs a hand through his dark hair. “This is going to sound crazy to you, but your mother was a witch.”

  Oh, no, he did not just say that! “Did you just call my mother a bitch?” A low, deep growl rises from my throat as I launch myself at him, unconcerned that he’s a full head taller than me. All I see is red.

  We fall to the floor in a tangle of limbs. I’m punching out viciously, trying to reach any part of exposed body that I can. I claw at his face just before he reaches up and grabs both of my hands into one of his fists. I try to knee him in the stomach, but he rolls me onto my back, pressing his hard body down on top of me, wrapping his legs around mine to hold them in place.

  I writhe beneath him, snarling incoherently, but he has his full weight pinning me to the tiled floor. His face is just above mine, hair hanging down around his eyes. He’s breathing hard from my sudden attack, his chest heaving as he presses me harder into the floor. There are angry red scratches down one side of his cheek and I feel a brutal satisfaction that I was able to injure him in some way.

  “Calm down, dammit!”

  “Let go of me!” Animal like noises come out of me in frustration, but my struggles become weaker. Despite my best efforts, I can’t move him an inch.

  “Em, listen! Your mother was a witch. A witch! Not a bitch! Will you calm down and listen?”

  I freeze, staring up at him in shock. This guy has lost his mind.

  “She was a witch, like your grandparents, and their grandparents, dating back hundreds of years.” His face is right above mine, eyes pleading with me. “That’s what’s happening to you now! The colors? Hearing people’s thoughts? You’re starting to develop your powers.”

  He’s looking at me so earnestly, but what he’s saying is ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. Despite the fact that I am lying on a nasty, cold floor in the middle of the girls’ bathroom with a deranged guy holding me down, a giggle bubbles up.

  “I’m developing my powers? What, my super powers, Caiden?” I giggle again, louder, especially when I see him peering down at me like I’ve gone insane. He’s talking about witches and he thinks I’ve gone crazy! My whole body starts shaking with suppressed laughter, though nothing about this situation is funny. I think my brain is in overload.

  Caiden starts to release my hands, slowing lifting off me, allowing me room to wrap my arms around my stomach, trying to halt my increasing hysteria. “Am I going to turn into a bat too?” I get out between fits. There are tears in my eyes, but I don’t know if they're from laughter or something else.

  “Emerson, I’m not kidding.” He runs his hand through his hair again in frustration. “Christ, I really didn’t think I’d be the one to have to tell you this...”

  I wipe my eyes, sitting up as well. “I think you’ve lost it Caiden, I really think you’ve lost it. Witch
es?” I stand up, brushing my filthy hands off on my jeans. Caiden follows, watching me warily.

  “I’m serious. I don’t know why you’re only just now developing your abilities. Honestly, most of us just thought you took after your father, that you were human. But what happened today proves otherwise. You’re going to need help. This stuff isn’t easy to deal with.”

  “I need help? You’re the one following me into the bathroom, raving about witches!” My voice hardens as the laughter dries up. “And who is ‘we’? You’re telling me there are other people who believe in this delusion of yours?”

  “You want proof? Watch the marks on my face.” He holds up his right hand and places it over the scratches I made. Slowly, a faint glow appears under his hand. His eyes scrunch up, brows knitting together in concentration. After a moment, the glow fades and he takes his hand. His face is a bit paler than usual, but the scratches are gone.

  “Wh-what was that?” A chill skitters up my spine.

  “I told you. You’re a witch. So am I. So are quite a few other families in this town. Come with me tonight to our circle and I’ll show you. I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  This is getting too weird. First he follows me into the bathroom, grappling around with me on the floor, then he starts babbling about some ‘circle’ he wants to take me to. No way. I’m done with this.

  “Look, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I’m not interested. And I’m certainly not going to any freaky cult meeting tonight, so just back the hell off!”

  I spin around and burst out the door. I hurry down the hallway, wanting to get as far away from him as I can. Storming into the lunchroom, I run right into Olivia.

  “Holy hell Em! What happened to your hair?”

  Crap! I was rolling around on the floor with Caiden – it must be a mess! I reach up to fix it. Olivia isn’t kidding – it's all but matted to the side of my head, locks of it spilling down my back and over my shoulder. She grabs my elbow with surprising strength for her small frame and wheels me around, right back into the hallway.

  “God Em! What has gotten into you today?” She drags me back towards the bathroom I just left.

  Before we reach the door, it opens and an equally disheveled Caiden walks out. Olivia takes in Caiden’s messy brown hair and his wrinkled shirt, which is missing a few buttons near the top. She turns her gimlet stare on me and yanks me through the door.

  “What the HELL is wrong with you! Do you know what Seb will do when he finds out you’ve been screwing around on him?”

  “What? I’m not screwing anyone, least of all Caiden!”

  “You don’t need to lie to me; save those for when Seb catches you. Right now, we need to do damage control.” She pushes me in front of the mirror and begins fixing my hair, using a little more force than is strictly necessary.

  “Liv, I am not fooling around with Caiden.” Hurt surges up in my chest. I thought Olivia knew me better than this. “I know this looks bad, but I wouldn’t lie to you.”

  Her angry face softens, but her voice still rings with accusation. “Really, then how do you explain the two of you disappearing in here and coming out like that?” She gestures dramatically to my twisted shirt and rumpled hair. “Is he helping you train for the wrestling team or something?”

  I open my mouth to tell her what happened, though I barely believe it myself, but she stiffens.

  “Too late. Here.” She takes out a bottle of perfume and starts spritzing it all over me while I try to straighten my clothes.

  “Oh my God, Liv, don’t you think that’s enough!” I cough, nearly choking from the fumes. “You’re going to be able to smell me from across the school!”

  “Better than smelling like Caiden.”

  “What–”

  “Em, there you are.” Sebastian walks into the bathroom. What is it with getting cornered in here today?

  “I saw you take off and I got worried when you didn’t come back.” He starts sniffing, making a face at the perfume still in Olivia’s hand.

  “Went a little heavy on the cologne, huh?” His eyes shift to Olivia suspiciously, then to the door, where the lock is. Or used to be. Studying it myself, I notice that the doorframe is splintered near the deadbolt.

  “Do you think?” She shrugs her shoulders delicately. “I was just showing Em this new scent, but the lid wasn’t on right and it spilt all over.”

  He looks back and forth between us, still sniffing the air.

  Catching on, I glare at her. “Yeah, and now I’m going to have to walk around all day with this crap on me. Thanks a lot, Liv.”

  “Don’t worry about it Em, I’ll drive you back home. School’s almost over anyway. I’m sure no one will notice if we skip the last couple classes. Besides, we still need to find something to wear for homecoming.” With a wave, she bustles me past Sebastian and out the door.

  We move quickly through the hallways, into the parking lot, avoiding teachers and other staff who might stop us. We don’t talk again until we slide into Olivia’s Civic.

  “First thing we need to do is get you to a shower. My car’s going to stink for a month, ugh!” She wrinkles her nose and waves her hand in front of her face.

  “Well, you’re the one who sprayed it. What’s up with that anyway? Why did you douse me?”

  “I told you, you smelt like Caiden. Seb would have noticed something was up.”

  “Caiden wasn’t wearing cologne. How could Seb have smelt anything? Besides, like he isn’t suspicious now? You weren’t exactly subtle.”

  “Yeah, well, I think it’s your turn to explain what you were doing with Caiden to begin with. I thought you and Sebastian were getting serious?”

  “I’m not ‘getting serious’ with anyone right now, but I wasn’t cheating on Seb,” I protest, glaring at her. “Caiden followed me out of lunch, then wigged out.”

  “What?” She barks out a laugh and looks at me to continue.

  “Well, he said something about my mom and I kind of attacked him.”

  Olivia doesn’t laugh this time, despite how silly it sounds. “He insulted your mom? I can see why you flipped.”

  She knows how furious I get when people talk about my mom. I’ve had enough of the gossip and insults about her after she died.

  “So what did he do when you attacked him?” She continues. “He didn’t hit you back or anything, right? I’ll kill him if he did.” Her face hardens, eyes narrowing to slits.

  “If he did, do you think he’d be walking? No, he just tried to keep me from hurting him. Then he started rambling about a circle or something. Like I said, he wigged, I took off, end of story.” For some reason, I’m unwilling to mention what he said about witches. It’s just too crazy.

  “A circle?”

  “I don’t know, some kind of cult. He was mental.”

  Thankfully, we pull up outside my house. I jump out quickly, hoping to end the conversation. I head straight upstairs to my bedroom, Olivia trailing behind me.

  There are clothes strewn about the floor and a pile of outdated Cosmo magazines near my bed. I head straight to my closet to find something else to wear, since this outfit is coated in Liv’s spray.

  “So he followed you into the bathroom just to insult your mom and invite you to join a cult?” I can hear the skepticism in her voice.

  “No, he followed me in to see how I was feeling.” I hunt around for my fitted, dark blue dress and matching stilettos, keeping my back to Olivia. “I got dizzy again in lunch, that’s why I ducked out on you. He must have seen it and followed me. And he didn’t insult my mom, I just misheard him. Look, why are we still talking about this? It’s over. All I want to do right now is take a shower and get this stink off of me. Seriously, Olivia, you have horrible taste in perfume.”

  My distraction works like a charm.

  “What? That perfume is Victoria Secret’s newest line! It’s one of their best sellers! It says, ‘I’m sexy, but innocent.’ ‘I’m the girl next door and you
r biggest fantasy’.”

  “All I’m hearing is ‘wash immediately after wear’,” I answer laughingly, walking into the bathroom to shower.

  When I get out twenty minutes later, Olivia is in my closet, a large pile of clothes littering my bed.

  “Hey, I hope you don’t mind if I borrow a few things. I have a date tomorrow night and I need something to wear.”

  “Help yourself.” I wave my hand at the closet that she’s currently ransacking.

  “So what time will your dad be home tonight?”

  “He won’t. He has a meeting and won’t be back until tomorrow.”

  “He left you on your birthday? Ouch.” She gives me a sympathetic look.

  “Yeah, well, it wouldn’t make much of a difference if he was here. It’s not like we were going to bake a cake and blow out the candles or anything.” I shrug, feigning indifference. “At least I won’t have to worry about sneaking in tonight.”

  “That’s true. I was so afraid my mom was going to catch me last weekend. I was trashed. I literally fell through my bedroom window when I was trying to climb in. I can’t believe she didn’t wake up.” She shakes her head.

  “Yeah,” I say, smiling and thinking back to the bonfire at Chris’s house. “I think we were all trashed that night. I’m lucky I didn’t have to climb through any windows...”

  Olivia rifles through my closet a little longer and decides that there’s nothing good enough for her date, so we head out to the mall to do some shopping.

  Living in such a small town, it takes us almost an hour to get to the closest mall, but it’s well worth the trip. Olivia finds an outfit for her date, though nothing for homecoming yet, and thanks to my dad’s guilty conscience, I have an extra two hundred bucks that I blow on a truly jaw dropping little number. I know should probably stash some of it away for my car fund, but the dress is just too perfect to pass up.

  By the time Olivia drops me back home, it’s after seven. She heads to her house to get ready and I quickly throw something together for dinner before wiggling into my new dress. It’s black, with thin silver bows on the shoulder straps to hold it together. The front is cut just low enough to show off a small amount of cleavage, but it drops down dramatically in the back, exposing my entire back and shoulders.