Frustrated and more confused than ever, I chose to sleep on it. The decisions I had to make were too big to reach in one night. I knew time was of the essence, but I really felt like I needed a little time to digest it all. So I put on my cute pajamas of capris and a cami with little seagulls all over them and slipped under the covers. Magic took a lot out of you, and we’d been going strong for most of the day. My whole body was sore from tensing up during the spells, and I could feel small bruises forming in spots where the others had hit me with both their fists and spells. It was a good hurt though, the kind that came with knowing that you worked a hard day.
Even so, I was looking forward to getting a good night’s sleep. That’s why, when I heard a light knock on my door just as I was drifting off, I wished I could ignore it. But when it happened again less than a minute later, I threw the covers off and padded reluctantly to the door. Ever since getting back, I’d been trying my hardest to show the others that I wanted to be there and that we were a team, not just a coven of individuals. Which meant that I couldn’t just do whatever I wanted to with no regard for anyone else. Even if I was currently debating whether to stay or go.
Besides, if there was anything I did understand from what my mom had been trying to tell me, it was that I needed to stop thinking only of myself. She’d seemed pretty clear on that. So I plastered a smile on my face before unlocking my door and opening it.
“Hey. You weren’t already asleep, were you?” Asher asked quietly. He was leaning up against the door frame and looked unbearably adorable. It was like something out of a movie. In fact, maybe I’d already fallen asleep and this was a dream.
Then I grew sad. How was I supposed to leave Asher, too? Especially since I’d been the one to get him into this mess.
“Uh, no,” I said, looking back at the bed that I’d obviously just been lying in a few seconds before. With a quick glance down at my pj’s, I crossed my arms over my chest and tried my best to appear awake. “Not yet, anyway. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. I just didn’t get to see you much today. Thought maybe we could hang out or something.” He looked at my outfit and then smiled. “Unless you want to go to bed.”
“Nice try, Asher,” I said sarcastically, hearing the flirtatiousness in his voice.
“There you go with your mind in the gutter again,” he said, wagging his finger at me.
“Please, like you weren’t trying to get into bed with me.”
“Well, if you insist!” He breezed past me and jumped halfway across the room, landing with a thud on my mattress. I watched with amusement as he lay back, crossed his legs at the ankles, and folded his arms behind his head. “You coming?”
I paused for a second, trying to decide what to do. Then with an exaggerated eye roll, I closed the door and locked it behind me. If there was a possibility that this would be my last night with Asher, I was willing to take the chance of being alone with him. I highly doubted that anything serious was going to happen with a house full of kids.
At least I wasn’t going to let anything happen with everyone else downstairs.
“Fine, you can stay. But this is strictly a PG sleepover, got it?”
“So that means freezing each other’s underwear and having pillow fights?” When I gave him a look that said I wasn’t amused, he added, “I’m a boy, remember? We never had sleepovers growing up. Now explain to me what goes on at these so-called slumber parties. And does kissing fall under the PG category?”
My face grew warm with embarrassment and my body tingled. As if I needed another reminder that I was really into this guy.
“Let’s start with talking and see where it goes,” I said, laughing at his bravado.
Once again I slid under the covers and noticed with relief that Asher wasn’t trying to follow me in. Instead, he stayed on top of the comforter and kept his hands to himself. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the idea of kissing him again, but I wasn’t sure that now was the right time to be getting sexy. Not with imminent doom pressing down on us and all.
“So what do you want to talk about?” he asked when I’d settled back into my warm cocoon of a bed.
“Dunno,” I said, thinking. “What’s your full name?”
“Asher Aaron Astley the third,” he answered.
I raised an eyebrow. “You’re a third?”
“Yep. You know that the best things come in threes, right?” he asked.
“Oh, do they? Good to know.”
“Now my turn. When did you know that you were a witch?”
“Wow, start off with something simple, why don’t you,” I said with a snort.
“Sorry,” he said, and looked down at the puffy comforter between us. “We could just get straight to the making out… .”
“So, you want to know the first time I knew I was a witch, right?” I said quickly, ignoring his last comment. “Um, I think I was about three and there was this candy that I really wanted in a store, but my parents wouldn’t buy it for me. I got really mad and started to throw a tantrum in the car and the next thing I knew, the candy was in my hands. I was already eating it by the time my parents noticed, and when they asked me about it, I told them it had just appeared. After that I think they realized they had to have the talk with me.”
“The talk?”
“ ‘Responsible magicking,’ ” I said, doing air quotes. “Letting me know that I wasn’t like other kids, that my friends couldn’t just conjure something up because they wanted it badly enough. That’s how I found out I had certain… abilities.”
“Didn’t it freak you out?” Asher asked.
“Nah. It’s all I’ve ever known. And I sort of already knew it before that day. My parents always thought they were being sneaky when they were casting, but the truth is, you can’t hide anything from a kid. Especially one who’s magically inclined,” I said. “Okay, my turn. Where did you come from, Asher Aaron Astley the third? I mean, you just showed up one day and suddenly you’re everywhere I turn. Why are you here?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to just make out?” he asked with a laugh.
“Nuh-uh. I answered your question. You answer mine.”
“Okay, okay. I guess that’s fair,” he said. He didn’t speak again right away, but after a slightly awkward pause he continued. “I’m here because my parents passed away and I had to come live with my aunt.”
Hello, mouth, meet my foot. I hope you feel comfortable in there.
I studied his face as I tried to figure out what to say in response. I decided that the truth was probably my best option. “I’m so sorry, Asher,” I said, feeling horrible. Then a thought came to mind. “So you do understand what I’m going through.”
“Yeah,” he admitted, sadly.
I reached for his hand and slipped my fingers into his. Our skin made for a great contrast of colors; his was a dark caramel, mine was porcelain like a doll’s. There was something oddly intimate about holding hands with someone. It was one of the few things you could do to show affection without it necessarily being sexual. I wanted to comfort him, to bring an emotional connection into physical territory. It’d been a long time since I’d found someone I wanted to be intimate with. And now that I’d found him, it would be even harder to let him go.
Asher looked up at me briefly and smiled in a way that seemed forced. His face looked slightly pained, as if the memory physically hurt him. But then it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, and he was squeezing my hand back. He rolled over and stared up at the ceiling.
“Thanks. It’s been a while now, so…” His words trailed off. “It gets easier.” The pain in his voice told me otherwise, but I decided to believe him for the time being.