So Mote it Be (9 page)

After English class was over, she raced to the cafeteria. Scott would be there shortly, as would her friends, and she didn't want to run into any of them. She just wanted to find Annie. But as she scanned the tables and the food service line, she didn't see her anywhere. She was just about to give up and go spend the period in the library when she noticed someone tucked into a corner of the cafeteria. Her back was to Kate, but Kate recognized the single long braid that fell down the girl's back. It was Annie. She was all alone, and there was a book open in front of her. Before she could lose her nerve, Kate walked over to the table.

“Hi,” she said, not sure of how to proceed.

Annie looked up. She was eating an apple and had just taken a bite. She looked at Kate and then looked around with a confused expression.

“Are you talking to me?” she asked doubtfully.

Kate nodded. “Yeah,” she said, suddenly incredibly nervous. “I'm . . . um . . . Kate.”

“I know who you are,” Annie said. She didn't sound either pleased or annoyed.

“I guess you do,” Kate said nervously. “Look, I know we don't know each other very well—”

“We don't know each other at all,” Annie said, interrupting.

Kate paused. “No, I guess we don't,” she said. “Not technically, anyway.” She stopped, unsure of what to say next.

Annie took another bite of her apple and munched on it. She stared at Kate, waiting for her to say something. When Kate didn't, Annie looked away. “I guess I should get back to my book,” she said.

“Book,” Kate said, suddenly remembering why she had come to talk to Annie in the first place. “That's what it was. I want to talk to you about a book.”

Annie looked up. “A book?” she said. “You want to talk to me about a book?”

Kate looked around. The cafeteria was filling up. Already some of Scott's friends had settled into their usual table, and she knew that he would be coming in soon. A few tables away, she saw some of the girls who had confronted her earlier watching her. One of them, the one who had stuck her finger in Kate's face, said something to another girl and they all laughed meanly. Kate felt her face flush with embarrassment.

“Are you okay?” Annie asked her. “You look kind of sick.”

Kate sat down in the chair next to Annie. “I'm okay,” she said. “Well, I'm not okay, but I'm not sick. I just have a problem. One I think you might be able to help me with.”

“Me?” said Annie. “What can I do?”

“You checked a book out of the library,” Kate said.

Annie shrugged. “I check a lot of books out of the library,” she said. “So what?”

“Well, you checked this one out seven times in a row,” Kate continued.

An uneasy look passed over Annie's face for a moment and she looked away. When she looked back, she seemed fine again. “Seven times?” she said. “I don't remember doing that.”

“Well, you did,” Kate said. Then she brought her voice down to a whisper. “The book is called
Spells and Charms for the Modern Witch.
Does that sound familiar?”

Annie put her apple core into her lunch bag and rolled up the bag. “I don't really remember,” she said. “Maybe I did. Maybe I needed it for a class or something.” She started to get up.

Kate grabbed her arm. Annie looked startled.

“For two months straight?” Kate said, looking up at Annie.

Annie glanced around the room. Kate was afraid the other girl was going to run away from her, and she gripped Annie's arm more tightly.

“Please,” she said. “I need to know. Did you do anything with that book?”

“Maybe I read it,” Annie said. “I don't really remember.”

“But did you
try
any of it?” Kate asked.

“I really have to go,” Annie said. “I have to study for a test.”

“Why not just do a spell?” Kate said. “Isn't that how you get all your other grades?”

Annie glared at Kate as if she'd been slapped.

“Let go of me,” she snapped. She jerked her arm out of Kate's grasp and walked away quickly, hugging her books to her chest.

Oh, great,
Kate thought.
I just went and insulted the one person who might be able to help me
. Getting up, she walked after Annie, who had disappeared through the cafeteria doors.

When Kate exited the cafeteria, she saw Annie at the end of the hall. Running quickly, she caught up with the retreating girl.

“I'm sorry,” she said, walking beside Annie, who refused to look at her. “I don't know who else to ask. Your name was on the checkout card for the book.”

Annie stopped and turned to look at Kate. “What do you want?” she said. “And why do you think I can help you just because I checked some stupid book out of the library?”

Annie's face was red, and she almost looked as if she were about to start crying.

“You did try some of the spells, didn't you?” Kate said suddenly. Something about the way Annie was reacting made her sure that she had.

Before Annie could answer, Scott appeared from around the corner. When he saw Kate, he waved and started toward them. “Hey,” he called. “I've been looking all over for you.”

Kate groaned. “We don't have much time,” she said to Annie. “I need your help. If you know anything about the stuff in that book, you've got to tell me.”

Scott was getting closer. Annie looked at him, then at Kate. She opened her mouth and closed it again.

“Please,” Kate said. “Just tell me.”

Annie sighed. “Come to my house after school,” she said. “We'll talk. I'm at Thirty-nine Ash Lane.”

“The street just past the college library?” Kate asked.

Annie nodded. “Come at three-thirty,” she said.

Kate would have to skip basketball practice to go to Annie's house, but she wasn't exactly looking forward to spending an hour and a half with Tara and Jessica right then anyway. She'd make up some excuse for Coach Saliers. She looked into Annie's eyes. “Thanks,” she said.

Annie smiled slightly. “Don't thank me yet,” she said. “I didn't say there was anything I could do.”

She turned and walked away as Scott caught up with them.

“Where have you been all day?” he asked Kate. “It's like you're avoiding me or something.”

Kate tried to sound happy to see him, but she was worried that someone might see them. As she and Scott walked down the hall, she kept glancing around for signs of trouble. When Scott reached for her hand, she dropped her books and busied herself picking them up.

“What's gotten into you?” Scott asked as he helped her.

“Nothing,” Kate said. “I guess I'm just nervous about the dance and all.”

“Nervous?” Scott said. “Don't be nervous.” He put his arm around her and continued walking. “The dance is going to be great, especially with you on my arm.”

Kate had waited a long time to have Scott say something like that to her. She wanted to enjoy it. But ever since the incident with the other girls, she had felt like all eyes were on her. And sure enough, as she and Scott walked past the cafeteria doors, they swung open and Terri Fletcher walked out with one of her friends. When they saw Scott and Kate, they stopped talking and just stared.

“Hi, Scott,” Terri said icily, but Scott didn't seem to notice the tone in her voice.

“Hey,” he said. “How's it going?”

Terri's face pinched up. She turned and rushed down the hallway, away from them.

“Nice going,” her friend said to Scott. Then, as she passed them, she said so only Kate could hear her, “You'd better watch your step.”

“Maybe we shouldn't go to the dance together,” Kate said to Scott after the girl was gone. “It seems to be causing a lot of trouble.”

Scott hugged her close. “Don't you worry about them,” he said. “They're just jealous because you snagged me.”

For a moment, Kate felt the warm joy of being with the boy of her dreams flow over her again. Maybe Scott was right. Maybe everything would be all right. Maybe she was just overreacting to things.

“Besides,” Scott said, “I have a big surprise for you.”

“For me?” Kate said. “What is it?”

Scott grinned. “Not until tomorrow,” he said. “But I promise you, it's going to be great.”

No matter how hard she begged, Scott wouldn't tell her what his big surprise was. She tried for the rest of the lunch period to get it out of him, but when the bell rang she wasn't any closer to finding out what he had in store for her. Still, just knowing that he was planning something was enough, and for the rest of the day Kate felt almost normal again.

After school, she ran home to change and grab something to eat. Then she headed back out and walked to Annie's house. It wasn't hard to find. The area of town where Kate and Annie lived was centered around the campus of Jasper College. The beautiful old stone buildings of the school, and the wide, tree-lined lawns that surrounded them, formed a big square. The streets all ran parallel to the square, making it easy to walk around. In the fall the streets were filled with students walking or riding their bikes to classes. In winter, they scurried by with their hats pulled over their ears and their scarves wrapped around their necks.

Kate walked until she came to the big college library with its wide steps and students going in and out of the revolving glass doors. At the corner, she turned onto Ash Lane. Number 39 sat at the far end of the street. It was a huge Victorian house painted light green with yellow, dark green, and deep red trim. Although the paint was faded and the house looked lived in, it didn't look run-down. Even in the chill of winter, the garden outside looked neat and orderly. The windows were filled with warm light behind the curtains, and there was a thick stream of smoke coming out of the chimney.

Kate went up the steps and rang the bell. A minute later the door opened and Annie appeared.

“Come on in,” she said, sounding almost surprised to see Kate.

Inside, the house was even cozier than the outside looked. The floors were dark polished wood, and there were carpets everywhere. From the hallway, Kate could see what looked to be lots of rooms opening into one another. They were all painted in rich colors.

“Your house is beautiful,” Kate said as Annie took her coat and hung it in a hall closet.

“It's my aunt's house, really,” Annie said. “We've lived here since we were little,” she said.

“We?” asked Kate.

“My sister and I,” Annie explained.

As if on cue, a little girl ran into the hallway. She looked like a miniature version of Annie, with the same long braid hanging down her back.

“I'm Meg,” she said to Kate. “I'm nine. How old are you?”

“I'm Kate, and I'm fifteen,” Kate said.

The little girl smiled. “The same age as Annie. Are you friends?”

Kate didn't know how to answer that question. She looked at Annie. “I think maybe we are,” she said.

“Good,” said Meg. “Annie needs friends. That's what Aunt Sarah says.”

“Okay,” Annie said. “I think it's time for your snack. How about some cookies?”

Meg ran into another room and Annie followed her, with Kate close behind. They went into a big kitchen, where Meg was already taking milk out of the refrigerator.

“Does your friend want some?” she asked.

Annie turned to Kate. “Milk and cookies?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You know, that sounds really good right about now,” Kate said.

Meg and Annie busied themselves pouring milk into glasses and putting chocolate chip cookies on plates. Then Annie sent Meg into the other room. “Kate and I are going to go up to my room for a little while,” she said. “You can watch TV if you want.”

“I'd rather read, if you don't mind,” Meg replied. “I'm reading
Alice in Wonderland
,” she explained to Kate. “I'm at the part where Alice eats the mushroom and gets really big.”

After Meg left, Annie headed for a stairway at the back of the kitchen. Kate followed her. It turned out to be a narrow set of steps that went up a flight and turned a corner before going up some more.

“I feel like we're climbing to the moon,” Kate commented as the stairs turned yet again. Her house was also an old Victorian, like most of the houses in the neighborhood around the college, but it was nowhere near as large and rambling as Annie's.

“This was the stairway that kitchen maids used when this place was first built,” Annie said as they went up, “so they wouldn't bother anyone when they got up early in the morning. My room is all the way at the top of the house.”

“Very convenient for late-night kitchen raids,” Kate commented.

They finally reached the top, where Annie opened a door and they stepped through.

“You weren't kidding,” said Kate, looking around. They were in a huge room. There were windows on three of the walls, and through them Kate could see the tops of the pine trees outside. “This is like being in a castle or something.”

“That's why I like it,” Annie said as she set the plate of cookies on a dresser. “And it's quiet.”

The enormous room had wooden floors like the rest of the house. Annie's giant brass bed was against one of the walls, which were painted a warm honey color, and there was an equally huge old desk beneath one of the windows. The rest of the room was filled with bookcases crammed with books. Next to the bed was a tall floor lamp with an old-fashioned fringed shade.

“Looks like reading runs in the family,” Kate said as she surveyed the books.

She walked around the room, looking at all of the titles on Annie's shelves. There were rows and rows of books of all kinds, from children's books to science textbooks. They didn't seem to be arranged in any particular order, and there were as many books stacked on the floor as there were on the shelves.