Entangled (8 page)

“It’s beautiful,” Raj said. He hoped Shay would give it to him tonight. He had a couple more days to pay her the rest of the money before Valentine’s, but he’d feel better if he had the amulet now. That and he wanted a chance to look at it before he gave it away.

Shay grinned and dropped the amulet back inside its pouch. “One of my best,” she said. She held it out.

Raj stared at her outstretched hand a moment.

“Go ahead, take it. I know you’re good for the remaining payment.”

Raj didn’t need further encouragement. He snatched the pouch. Shay raised one brow before lowering her arm.

“Thanks.” Raj flashed Shay one of his devil-may-care grins. “I’ll let you get back to your conjugations.”

“Stay awhile,” Shay said.

“Naw, I’ve got my own studying to do.”

Shay rolled her eyes. “No kidding. Where were you today?”

“Classified.”

Shay gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. It felt good; she rarely joked around like that anymore. “Maybe I’ll have to beat it out of you.”

Max half laughed, half grunted from Shay’s desk. He turned around to face the room. “And she could do it, too.”

Raj grinned. “I can withstand a bit of torture.”

“Ah, but can you withstand a truth spell?”

Raj crossed his arms over his chest. He squeezed the amulet in a protective fist as he did so and tucked it under his folded arm. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Shay stared him down then laughed, relaxing her shoulders as she did so. “Of course not, that’d be a violation of a witch’s rights.”

Behind her, Max nodded his agreement.

Graylee entered her house quietly. God knows she should have slammed the door, but she didn’t feel like seeing or speaking to her mom or sister and that meant not drawing attention to herself.

Forgiveness was out of the question.

Then again, in order for forgiveness to be denied in the first place it would have to be requested, which Charlene had not done.

“Where were you?” Mom asked.

Graylee hadn’t noticed her sitting in a dark corner of the living room.

She answered with a flip, “Out.” Graylee kicked her shoes off and headed for the stairs.

“Charlene feels terrible about what she did,” Mom’s voice said from behind her. “I know it doesn’t excuse her, but it was Ryan Phillips’s idea.”

Sure, blame pear-faced Ryan Phillips. That’s what minions were for—to take the fall.

Graylee glanced sideways at her mom through narrowed eyes. There was a tight frown and faraway look on her face.

“Ryan’s been a bad influence on Charlene,” Mom said.

Graylee gripped the banister railing and took the first step up, proceeding forward before her mom could say anything more. She locked herself inside her room and put a pair of headphones over her ears. Jem’s “They” began playing. Graylee turned up the volume.

The clock beside Graylee’s bed read eleven thirteen. She moved around the room. She wasn’t exactly dancing, nor was she pacing—more like flowing, keeping in motion. The plan, at the moment, was to stay up all night. So she’d be a zombie at school the next day. So what? Her sister had thrown her down and trampled her.

Graylee scrolled through her playlist and selected her heavier tunes. A little head banging might be therapeutic. She was going to rock out all night. That was the plan anyway.

At some point, Graylee woke lying atop her bed. Her iPod was beside her on the nightstand. She still had her jean skirt and embroidered blouse on.

Graylee tried to sit up, but found she was stuck on her back. A second attempt failed.

What the hell?

Then suddenly Raj McKenna materialized at the foot of the bed.

Graylee tried to scream, but no sound emerged. The grin on his face was full of wicked intention. He took a step closer until the bed sheets brushed his thighs. His jeans were tight; even his ribbed cotton tee clung to his torso. He was muscled. More muscled than Nolan, less than Blake, but not as top heavy and bulky as her sister’s ex. Graylee swallowed and it was no longer to scream. Raj’s eyes gleamed in the dark.

Graylee was able to lift herself to her elbows. Once she did, her eyes met Raj’s gaze. His eyes dropped to her blouse. Graylee’s heart thundered, but there was nothing she could do to stop him. Her blouse burst open.

Graylee shot up in bed, gasping and hugging her hands to her chest. With the flick of her finger, the light flipped on. Graylee made a quick scan of her room, but there was no sign of an intruder.

Once she regained her breath she noticed she was wearing her purple tank top and matching pajama bottoms.
Just a dream, Gray
.

Why then had she been wearing the exact same clothes she’d had on at school that day? Dreaming in detail—was that normal? Her outfit had been dead on, right down to her new red and black bra.

Graylee flung her pillow at the foot of her bed—just in case—but it didn’t hit any invisible figures lurking at her bedside. She retrieved the pillow off the floor, punched it into shape, and curled up on her side.

Snow drifted from a faint blue ceiling overhead in a mass of wet clumps. The particles seemed to hover in the air, in no hurry to touch the pavement, where each speck of white melted upon contact. The flurries blotted out the houses across the street as Graylee waited for Thea the next morning.

Her mom suggested she wait inside, but Graylee wanted out of the house. Besides, there was something magical about the falling snow—a quietness that enveloped her and sealed out the rest of the world.

“Early dismissal, you think?” Graylee asked when she climbed inside Thea’s car.

“Naw, it’s melting too fast. We’re just gonna have to brave another day at McKinley High. Maybe it’ll wait and dump down on Valentine’s Day. Then everyone will have to keep their chocolate and floral displays to themselves. Boo hoo.”

“I wish.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Graylee turned her head. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Thea shrugged and cranked the wheel at their turn onto the main road. “It seemed like you had a moment with that guy yesterday.”

“Nolan?”

“Umm hmm.”

“We’re just friends. Well, not really even friends. We know each other,” Graylee clarified. Clearly it wasn’t working on Thea.

“He seems nice. I do have a few questions for him before he can ask you out.”

“Thea!” A moment later Graylee laughed. Her cheeks were heating, but it felt good.

“What kind of music does he like?”

 “No idea.”

“You can tell a lot about a guy by the music he listens to.”

Graylee leaned forward. “Like what?”

Thea straightened up behind the steering wheel. “Like if he’s a lameo.”

“Pray tell, what kind of music do lameos listen to?”

“Boy bands, Britney, Lady Gaga… pop.”

“You’ve just described my sister’s favorites.”

Thea raised a brow. “Point made. Speaking of, I imagine Charlene will be a no-show on Valentine’s Day.”

Graylee snorted. “Yeah, unless she plans to throw pig’s blood on Stacey Morehouse.”

Thea chuckled. “Not that she wouldn’t deserve it. Stacey Morehouse is among the heinous.”

“So’s Charlene.” Graylee sighed. “Why can’t I have a nice twin sister?”

“Yin and yang, baby.” Thea shrugged. She flicked her blinker on and took a sharp turn into the student parking lot, coming to an abrupt stop that sent Graylee lurching forward in her seat. Thea sighed. “Another day in paradise.”

Graylee’s head snapped toward her. “What did you just say?”

“Another day in paradise,” Thea repeated louder.

“Sorry,” Graylee said. “It’s just I heard Raj McKenna say the exact same thing the other day.”
When he didn’t realize she was there
.

Thea’s eyes lit up. “Oh, now he’s delish.”

Graylee could see Thea’s tongue peeking out as though she meant to lick her lips. “Gross,” she said.

“Tall, dark, lean, muscled McKenna—gross? You’re in denial, babe, face it. And I can guarantee you he doesn’t listen to any offending music.”

“It’s just everything else about him that’s offending.”

Thea finger combed her bangs over one eye. “He’s got depth.”

“How do you know?”

“I can just tell.” She glanced sideways at Graylee out of her visible eye. “And I think you like him.”

“Do not!”

Thea grinned mischievously. “Then what were you doing inside his car last week?”

Graylee straightened. “I told you. He didn’t return the pen I lent him in class and I went to retrieve it.”

“Right, you must have
loved
that pen to go to such great lengths.” Thea chuckled.

“It was my favorite pen, Thea. And let me tell you something about Raj McKenna. He’s a delinquent. He burnt down his last house.” Graylee could have sworn Thea looked even more impressed.

“All right already. No reason to get your panties into a twist.”

Graylee pushed the car door open and got out. Thea was just as quick. Graylee looked over the hood at her. “I hate that expression.”

“No, you don’t. You hate that I’m right.”

“No, you’re not.”

After fourth period, Graylee went to her locker to retrieve her lunch and found that someone had decorated the outside with pink shimmery wrapping paper. There was a balloon at the top with a Band-Aid stuck in the middle and some ribbon that curled downwards. When Graylee opened her locker she found a white rose and card taped inside.

The card had a picture of two bears seated on a green hill under a blue, sunny sky. The print on the card read: I’m Sorry I Hurt You.

Inside, Charlene had written:

Dear Sister,

What I did was wrong and I don’t blame you if you never want to speak to me again. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I have tried so hard to be a good friend and sister to you. I have tried to make you like me. When you started doing so well at Gathering I thought you’d get bored with me and leave me behind. I only wished you wouldn’t forget me. I wasn’t even aware of what I was doing and by the time I was I didn’t know how to stop. My presence canceled your powers out without me wishing it and I was too ashamed to ask for your help or Mom’s.

It is such a relief that the spell is lifted. It is a burden I have carried far too long and the guilt has eaten at me all these years. Be happy knowing that I have been my own worst punishment and that I hate myself for what I did.

I am going to fix this, Lee. I’m going to fix everything.

Your sister,

Charlene

Graylee tucked the card between two textbooks and re-taped the rose to the inside of her locker door. She grabbed her sack lunch off the top shelf and smacked the locker door shut. For a moment she looked at the glossy paper covering her locker and thought about tearing it down then decided there was no point. Anyway, it looked pretty. Maybe Nolan would notice it and think she had a secret admirer.

She turned around only to see that Shay Baxter had honed in on her as she was walking by, hand in hand with Max Curry. Of course—it had to be the coven’s star couple.

Graylee pasted a smile over her face. She didn’t know why. Shay wasn’t smiling at her. Her gaze flicked from Graylee to the papered locker and then back to Graylee. Max probably wouldn’t have noticed her if Shay hadn’t said hi and dragged him to a stop at the last minute.

“Hi,” Graylee returned.

At least Max smiled.

“That was an impressive comeback at Gathering Sunday,” Shay said.

Why was she studying Graylee as though she were a specimen under a microscope?

Graylee’s smile faded. “Not really.” What she really wanted to do was inform Her Magic Holiness that it wasn’t a comeback at all. Graylee hadn’t lost her capabilities—they’d merely been blocked… by her sister. That was the part she wasn’t willing to admit. She might as well tell Shay that her sister had committed murder. She’d judge her just as harshly. As mad as Graylee was at Charlene, it was for her to judge, not Shay Baxter.

“Well, it’s good to have you back,” Max said just before the couple continued down the hall.

Suddenly his smile wasn’t as endearing.
Back
. Had Graylee been away? Did her presence not count during the years she’d been hindered? Graylee recalled the look on Shay’s face when the applause for Graylee had drawn her attention from the next room. For a fleeting second Graylee’d had the suspicion that Shay had done something to block her magic in the past. But that was ludicrous. Not the infallible Shay Baxter.

Graylee wished it had been Shay. She wished it’d been anyone but her sister.