"Oh, that's great," I said. "They seem like they'd be perfect together. I hope it works out."
I felt so normal, talking about regular high school stuff with Tamara. As exciting and fantastic and empowering as my Wicca experiences were, they made me feel kind of isolated. They were also exhausting. It was nice, not having to think about anything deep or life changing for a few minutes.
After our laps we split into teams for volleyball. The girls were on one side of the gym with Ms. Lew, and the boys were on the other with Coach.
Bree and I ended up on opposite teams.
"God, look at Robbie," a girl whispered behind me. I turned around and saw Bettina Kretts talking to Paula Arroyo. "He is so hot."
I looked at Robbie. With great skin and no glasses, he was moving around the volleyball court with new confidence.
"I heard that senior, Anu Radtha, asked when he had transferred here," Paula said in a low voice.
I raised an eyebrow. Anu was the older sister of one of Bree's old boyfriends, Ranjit. So Anu actually thought Robbie was a new student and one worthy of a senior's attention.
"Is he going out with anyone?" Bettina asked.
"Don't think so," Paula answered. Their conversation was interrupted when the ball came into our quarter for a minute. We bounced it around, and I knocked it across the net, anxious to hear the rest of what they were saying.
"He hangs out with the witches," Bettina shocked me by saying. She was several people away and speaking in a low tone. Only by concentrating could I hear what she was saying. I'd had no idea that people around school thought of our group as "the witches."
"Yeah, I've seen him with Cal and the rest of them," said Paula. "Hey, if he isn't going out with anyone, why don't you ask him to the game?"
Bettina giggled. "Maybe I will."
Well, well, well, I thought, popping the ball over to Sarah Fields. She hit it over the net to Janice, and Janice returned with a quick, neat pop that went right between Bettina and Alessandra Spotford, costing us a point and giving our opponents the serve.
Bree was in the server's position on the other team, and while she was holding the ball, someone gave a wolf whistle from the other side of the gym. She looked up, her eyes flitting from boy to boy until she found Seth Moore giving her a big, lecherous grin. Seth was good-looking in a punky kind of way. His hair was cut in a buzzed flattop, he wore two silver earrings in his left ear, and he had pretty hazel eyes.
Bree grinned back and wiggled her shoulders at him.
Automatically I looked for Chris Holly, Bree's most recent ex. He was watching it all with a kind of frozen animosity, but he said nothing and made no move.
"Come on, Miss Warren," ordered Ms. Lew.
"You and me, baby!" Seth shouted.
Bree laughed, and then our glances met. She gave me this snarky, superior smile, as if to say, See? Boys would never do that for you. I tried to look bored, but of course it was true. Cal was the only guy who had ever paid me any attention. Bree's showing off hurt me, as she intended.
"Anytime!" Bree called to Seth, getting ready to serve. Several of his teammates made a big show of holding him back. Everyone was laughing now, everyone but me, Chris Holly—and one other person. When I saw the look on Robbie's face, my jaw almost dropped open. Good old Robbie, my pal Robbie, was watching Bree and Seth with a barely concealed jealousy. His hands were clenching at his sides, and his whole body was tense.
Huh, I thought in wonder. He had never said a word about liking Bree.
Then I felt a stab of guilt. Of course, I hadn't asked.
"Come on, Bree," said Ms. Lew, sounding irritated.
Bree gave me another superior smile, as if this whole show was for my benefit, to show me how hot she was and how nothing I was. A spark of anger ignited in me. Looking at her, I impulsively hooked my finger in the neck of my T-shirt and tugged it down, revealing the silver pentacle that Cal had once worn and that was now mine.
Bree paled visibly and drew in a quick breath. Then she pulled back her arm, made a fist and smashed the volleyball right at me with all her strength. Automatically I threw my hand in front of my face a split second before the powerful serve came right at me. It knocked me down, and the entire junior class saw me whack my head on the wooden floor. A tangy, coppery smell alerted me one second before my nose and mouth filled with blood. Putting my hands over my face, I tried to sit up before I drowned, and my blood ran out through my fingers and down my shirt.
Everyone was gasping, talking fast and Ms. Lew's voice, urgent and in control, said, "Let me see, honey." Her hands pried my fingers away from my face, and when she did, I saw Bree, standing over her, peering at me In alarm, a horrified expression on her face.
I looked at her, trying not to swallow blood. Her mouth opened, and silently she said, "I'm sorry." She looked so much like her old self for a minute that I almost felt happy. Then all of a sudden the shock subsided, and my face was filled with pain.
"Are you all right?" someone asked.
"Um," I mumbled, putting my hands up to my nose. "Hurts."
"Okay, Morgan," said Ms. Lew. "Can you stand up? Let's get you to my office so we can put some ice on it. I think we'd better call your mom." She helped me up and called, "Get back to the game, girls. Bettina, get some paper towels and wipe that blood up so someone doesn't slip on it Ms. Warren, see me in my office after class."
I cast a last look at Bree as I left. Bree looked back at me, but suddenly every remnant of friendship or emotion was gone, replaced by calculation. It made my heart sink, and tears filled my eyes.
When Mom came to get me, she was still in her work clothes. Clucking with worry, she took me to the emergency room, where they x-rayed my face. My nose was broken, and my lip needed one tiny stitch. Everything was swollen, and I looked like a Halloween mask.
It had come to this, between me and Bree.
CHAPTER 17
The New Coven
April 14, 1983
My peas are coming up nicely—I thought I might have put them in too early. They're a symbol of my new life: I can't believe they're growing on their own so strongly, without magickal help. Sometimes the urge to get in tough with the Goddess is so strong, I ache with it—it's like a pain, something trying to get out. But that part of my life is over, and all I have from that time is my name. And Angus.
We have a new addition to our household: a gray-and-white kitten. I've named her Bridget. She's a funny little thing, with extra toes on each paw and the biggest purr you ever heard. I'm glad to have her.
— M.R.
That afternoon, as I lay in bed with an ice pack on my face, the doorbell rang. I immediately sensed that it was Cal. My heart thumped painfully. I listened as he spoke to my mom. I focused my attention, but I could still barely make out their words.
"Well, I don't know," I heard Mom say.
"For Pete's sake, Mom. I'll stay the whole time and chaperon them," said Mary K., much louder. She must have been standing right at the bottom of the steps. Then footsteps sounded on the stairs. I watched nervously as my door opened.
Mom came in first, presumably to make sure I was properly dressed and not, say, wearing a sexy, see-through negligee. In fact, I was wearing stretched-out gray sweatpants, an undershirt of my dad's, and a white sweatshirt.
Mom had helped me wash the blood out of my hair, but I hadn't dried it or anything like that. It hung loose in long damp ropes. Basically, I looked as awful as I had ever looked in my life.
Cal came into my room, and his presence made it seem small and young. Note to self: Redecorate.
He gave me a big smile and said," Darling!"