Blood Witch

I nodded and started organizing my books and notebooks for my morning classes.

"Well, you missed the big news," Tamara went on. I looked up. "Ben and Janice are officially going out. Boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Really? Oh, cool," I said. I glanced across the room at the lovebirds in question. They were sitting next to each other, talking quietly, smiling at each other. I felt happy for them. But I also felt removed—they, too, were friends I'd hardly seen in recent weeks.

My senses prickled, and I glanced across to see Bree's dark eyes on me. I was startled by their intense expression, and then we both blinked and it was gone. She turned away, and I was unsure if I had imagined it or not. I felt unsettled. Cal had said there was no dark side to Wicca. But aren't two sides of a circle opposite each other? And if one side was good, what was the other? I had disliked Sky as soon as I had met her. What was Bree doing with her?

The bell rang for first period. I felt sour, as if I shouldn't be there—and thought enviously of Dagda at home, wreaking feline havoc.

During American lit it started to drizzle outside: a depressing, steady stream that was trying hard to turn into sleet but not quite making it. My eyelids felt heavy. I hadn't even had time for a Diet Coke yet. I pictured my bed at home and for just a moment considered getting Cal, skipping out, and going home to be alone with him. We could lie in my bed, reading Maeve's BOS and talking about magick….

Major temptation. By lunchtime I was really torn, even though I never skipped school. Only the knowledge that my mom sometimes popped home in the middle of the day prevented me from bringing up the idea to Cal when I saw him.

"You bought lunch?" he asked, eyeing my tray as I slid it onto our lunch table. He met my eyes. As clear as the rainfall, I heard the words I missed you this morning inside my head.

I smiled and nodded, sitting down across from him, next to Sharon. "I overslept, so I didn't have time to make anything at home."

"Hey, Morgan," Je

I shrugged. "Yeah, it's fu

Sharon smiled tentatively. "It was kind of creepy, to tell you the truth," she murmured. She opened her container of soup and took out a crusty roll. "I mean, it was beautiful, but it's weird to have words you don't even know coming out of your mouth."

I looked up at Cal. "Did you recognize them?"

He shook his head. "Uh-uh. But later I thought about it, and I felt like I had heard them before. I wish I had taped our circle. I could play it for Mom and see if she knew what it was."

"Cool, you're speaking in tongues," Ethan joked. "Like that girl in The Exorcist."

I pursed my lips. "Great," I said, and Robbie laughed.

Cal shot me an amused glance. "Want some?" he asked, handing me a slice of his apple.

Without thinking, I took a bite. It was astonishingly delicious. I looked at it. It was just an apple slice. But it was tart and sweet, bursting with juice.

"This is a great apple," I said, amazed. "It's perfect. It's the uber-apple."

"Apples are very symbolic," said Cal. "Especially of the Goddess. Look." He took his pocketknife and cut his apple again-but across the middle instead of top to bottom. He held up a piece. "A pentacle," he said pointing to the pattern made from the seeds. It was a five-pointed star within the circle of the apple's skin.

"Whoa."I said.

"Awesome," said Matt. Je

"Everything means something," said Cal lightly, taking a bite of apple. I looked up at him sharply, reminded of what had happened yesterday in church.

Across the lunchroom I saw Bree sitting with Raven, Lin Green, Chip Newton, and Beth Nielson. I wondered if Bree was enjoying hanging out with her new crowd… people she had once referred to as stoners, wastoids. Her old crowd—Nell Norton, Alessandra Spotford, Justin Bartlett, and Suza

"I wonder how their coven's circle went on Saturday," I mumbled, half to myself. "Bree's and Raven's. Robbie, do you know? Did you talk to Bree?"

Robbie shrugged and finished his piece of pizza.

"It went really well," said Matt absently. Then he blinked and frowned a tiny bit, as if he hadn't expected to say anything. Je

Matt's face turned slightly pink. He shrugged, his attention on his lunch. "Uh, I talked to Raven during English," he said finally. "She said it was cool."

Je

"What are you doing this afternoon?" Cal asked in the parking lot after school. The rain had all but stopped, and an icy wind was blowing.

I glanced at my watch. "Besides waiting for my sister? Nothing. I have to get di

Robbie snaked his way through a few cars, heading toward us. "Hey, what's going on with Matt?" he called. "He's acting all squirrelly."

"Yeah, I thought so, too, " I said. "Almost like he wants to break up with Je

Cal smiled. "I don't know them as well as you guys do," he said, putting his arm around me. "Is Matt acting that different?"

Robbie nodded. "Yeah. Not that we're bosom buddies or anything, but he seems kind of off to me. Usually he's really straightforward. He's always just right there." He gestured with his hands.

"I know," I agreed. "Now he seems to have something else going on." I wanted to mention the Matt-Raven car thing but thought it would be too gossipy. I wasn't even sure if it meant anything. I suddenly wished Bree and I were still close. She would have appreciated the significance.

"Morgan!" called Jaycee. "Mary K. asked me to tell you that she was catching a ride with Bakker." Jaycee waved and trotted off, her blond ponytail bouncing.

"Damn!" I said, disengaging myself from Cal. "I have to get home."

"What's the matter? Do you want me to come with you?" Cal asked.

"I would love it," I said gratefully. It would be nice to have an ally in case Bakker needed to be kicked out of the house again.

"See you, Robbie," I called, hurrying off to my car. Damnation, Mary K., I thought. How stupid can you be?