Broken

BROKEN

(The Witches of Santa Anna, Book Fifteen)

by Lauren Barnholdt & Aaron Gorvine

reserved. This book is a work

of fiction, and any resemblance to any

persons,

living or dead, is entirely coincidental

Chapter One

Natalia

I can see Cam through the window, standing by his
car and talking to my mom.

His hands are in his pockets and his face is
pleading. My mom’s arms are crossed over her
chest, and from the look on her face, I can tell exactly
what it is that she’s saying.

She’s telling Cam that he’s not allowed to see me
anymore and that he should go home.

He looks up and our eyes meet through the window.

Wait for me, I think. I’ll come down after she’s gone,
just wait for me.

I hear my mom coming back inside, shutting the door
behind. Her footsteps echo through the hallway,
moving back toward the family room, and then, after
a few seconds, the TV turns on.

I  grab  a  sweatshirt  off  the  back  of  my  desk  chair,
then run down the stairs and out the front door. But
when I get there, the driveway is empty. Cam’s gone.
I  run  down  to  the  street,  looking  for  his  mom’s  car,
hoping that maybe he just drove around the corner or
something  so  that  my  mom  wouldn’t  catch  us.  But  I
don’t see him anywhere.

“Cam!” I yell, even though I know he won’t be able to
hear me. My knees start to feel weak, and I have the
overwhelming urge to collapse onto the driveway, to
just lie there and start crying. I have no way of getting
in touch with Cam. I can’t call his cell phone,
because he doesn’t have it anymore, and I can’t call
his house phone, because he won’t be back home
yet.

After  a  long  moment  of  taking  deep  breaths  of  the
cool  night  air,  I  force  myself  back  up  the  driveway
and back through my front door. I stand in the foyer
for a minute, listening for sounds of movement from
the  family  room.  But  the  only  thing  I  hear  is  the  dull
sound of the television.

Luckily,  my  mom  hasn’t  heard  me  go  outside.  She
must  have  figured  that  since  I  didn’t  come
downstairs  when  Cam  first  got  here,  that  I  was
accepting her wishes not to see him.

I walk quietly back upstairs and into my mom’s room.
I pick the cordless up off the table by her bed, and
punch in Cam’s house number. After three rings, his
mom answers.

“Hello?” Her voice sounds a little slurred, like she just
woke up, but I can hear the sounds of pots and pans
clanging in the background.

“Hi, Mrs. Elliot,” I say. “This is Natalia. I’m, um, calling
for Cam.”

“Campbell’s not here.” Her voice is definitely slurred,
but it’s a controlled slur now, and I can tell she’s
trying to curb it for my benefit. “I’m not sure, but I think
he might be with Raine Marsden or perhaps at
football practice.”

At the mention of Raine’s name, I feel my heart skip

a  beat.  But  then  I  remember  there’s  no  way  Cam
could  be  with  Raine,  and  he’s  obviously  not  at
football  practice  either,  since  he  was  just  at  my
house.  Which  means  that  Mrs.  Elliot  is  most  likely
drunk out of her mind.

“Can you tell him I called?” I ask, even though I know
she probably won’t even remember speaking to me.

“Of course,” she says. “I’ll tell him you called as soon
as he gets back. I’m making him dinner. Macaroni
and cheese, his favorite.” She sounds proud.

“That’s great,” I say. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate that.”

“What did you say your name was again?”

“This is Natalia.”

“Natalia. Okay, dear, I’ll let him know.”

“Thanks.”

I hang up the phone and sit there for a second. If he
doesn’t call me back in an hour, I’ll call him again.

***

Half an hour later, I’m back in my room, lying on my
bed and staring at the ceiling, when there’s a knock
on  the  front  door.  Cam.  I  race  downstairs,
determined not to let my mom beat me to it this time.
Let  her  call  the  police  on  me  if  she  wants.  I  don’t
care. I can’t stand the thought of Cam thinking that I
didn’t come outside, that I turned my back on him. I
can’t  stand  the  thought  of  not  being  with  him  right
now.

But when I throw open the front door, it’s not Cam
that’s standing on the porch.

It’s Brody.

“Brody,” I say, feeling all the breath rush out of me in
one big wave of disappointment.

“Wow,” he says. “Don’t sound too excited to see me
or anything.”

“No,” I say. “I’m not… I mean, I just…I thought it was

going to be Cam.”

At the mention of Cam’s name, a cloud passes over
Brody’s face, but it’s only for a split second, and then
it’s gone. “Why?” he asks. “Is everything okay?”

I shake my head no, and he takes a step toward me.
But before I can say anything else, the sound of
angry footsteps comes echoing through the front hall.

My mom’s like a woman possessed, her eyes
flashing, her stride heavy and purposeful. I step away
from the door, but when she sees that it’s Brody, her
face instantly softens. As much as I was
disappointed to see Brody, my mom is relieved.

“Brody,” she says. “What a nice surprise. What are
you doing here?”

“Hi, Ms. Moore,” he says. “Nice to see you again.”

“Please,” she says. “Call me Beth.”

I sigh.

“I  was  just  coming  over  to  make  sure  Natalia  was
okay,”  Brody  says.  “I’d  been  trying  her  cell  all
weekend  and  I  couldn’t  reach  her,  so  I  figured  I’d
stop by. I’m sorry it’s so late on a school night. I just
got worried.”

“Oh, no, no, that’s fine,” my mom says. “You’re sweet
to check on her. Would you like to come in and have
a snack?”

Brody looks at me and raises his eyebrows, asking
me if it’s okay. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I want
Brody to stay. He’s one of the only people I can talk
to about what’s been going on, and if I can’t talk to
Cam, he’s second best.

“Yeah,” I say. “You should stay.”

“Please,” my mom says. “I have a chocolate cake I
made yesterday.”

“Okay,” he says, and gives me a smile before
slipping in the door.

***

Twenty minutes later, with empty plates of cake and
drained glasses of milk on the table in front of us, my
mom stands up.

“Well,” she says, stretching her arms out behind her.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have a Dancing with the Stars
on the DVR.”

“You sure you want to admit that, Mom?” I ask. I fork
up a stray crumb of cake that’s left on my plate. I
didn’t think I would be able to eat, but the chocolate
tasted amazing, and I ended up having two pieces.

“It’s my one guilty pleasure, Brody,” she says. “And
I’m only able to watch it on my nights off. So don’t tell
me who gets voted off if you already know.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Brody says. He gets up and
helps her start clearing the table. Once the dishes
are in the sink and my mom’s gone back to the TV,
the whole vibe in the dining room changes. Before,
when my mom was here, it was like Brody and I were
playing roles and trying act like everything was fine.

My  mom  was  playing  along,  too,  probably  figuring
that if I wanted Brody to know what was going on, I
would  tell  him  myself.  It  felt  forced,  but  it  also  felt
good  in  some  weird  way,  because  I  could  pretend
that everything was normal.

“So where have you been?” Brody asks
nonchalantly. His tone is the same as it was when my
mom was here and they were making small talk --
friendly, polite, inquiring. But I know he’s asking a lot
more than just where I was this weekend.

“Let’s go in the living room,” I say, standing up. Once
we’re there, I sit down on the couch, expecting him to
take a seat in the chair across from me. But instead,
he sits down next to me, so close that his leg is
touching mine.

“Natalia,” he says, looking into my eyes. “What’s
going on?”

I don’t know if I can tell him. I think I can trust him, but
I’m not sure. And it feels wrong somehow, sitting
here with Brody, telling him things that I should be

telling Cam. Then again, I’m not allowed to talk to
Cam. And even though Cam and Brody have had
their issues, my gut tells me that deep down, Brody’s
a good guy.

“I don’t know if I can talk about it,” I say. But then, a
second  later,  it’s  all  coming  out.  The  whole  thing.
How  I  woke  up  on  the  beach,  not  being  able  to
remember  anything.  How  Cam  told  me  we  were  at
the witch’s compound in Maine, that I brought Raine
with me and that she killed Hadley. How I ended up
at the hospital this morning.

How my mom had to come and get me, and how she
thinks Cam did something horrible to me.

“But he didn’t,” I say. I didn’t even realize I was
crying, but I am. It strikes me that I’ve been crying so
much lately that it’s almost become normal. I can’t
even tell anymore when I’m doing it because it’s just
somehow become my default.

“He wouldn’t have done anything like that,” Brody
says, nodding, and I appreciate this about him. Even

though he and Cam have their issues, Brody knows
that Cam would never hurt me.

“I know he wouldn’t,” I say, wiping my eyes with the
back of my hand. “But try telling that to my mom.”

“Natalia,” Brody says. “You…you don’t remember
anything from this weekend?”

“No,” I say. “Nothing.”

He sighs, leans forward on the couch, and rests his
elbows on his knees. He rubs his eyes with his
fingers, then puts his head in his hands.

“Why?” I ask. “Are you… Do you know something
about what happened to me?”

He doesn’t say anything.

“Brody,” I say, “If you know something about what
happened to me or what I was doing, you have to tell
me.”

“I saw you,” he says, turning his head and looking at

me. “After the football game, you… you came back
to my house.”

“I did?”

“Yes.” He nods and sits back up on the couch. “You
wanted help. You were asking me questions about
Raine.”

“Okay,” I say, thinking about it. “That makes sense.” I
believe him. It’s definitely logical that I would go to
Brody for answers, hoping that maybe he’d tell me
something that could help.

“But, Natalia, I gave you an iPad. Do you remember
that?”

I shake my head. “No,” I say. “I don’t remember any
of that.”

I see the look that flashes over his face, a look of
dread and sickness. “I wasn’t supposed to give that
to you,” he says. “It’s not… it’s not really my place to
help you, but I did.”

“Okay.” I nod. “It was probably in my mom’s car.”

“And where’s your mom’s car now?” he asks.

“It got incinerated at the compound,” I say. “At least,
that’s what Cam said. I don’t remember. So I’m
guessing it was probably destroyed.”

“Are you sure?”

“No,” I say, frustrated. “I’m not sure. I told you, I don’t
remember anything.”

He doesn’t say anything, just stares straight ahead.

“Why?” I ask. “What’s the problem? Can you get in
trouble if someone finds out you gave it to me?”

“Yes,” he says. “That’s not my main concern right
now though. The thing about that iPad… Natalia, if it
falls into the wrong hands, it could be a really big
problem.”

It’s the first time I’ve ever heard Brody sound scared.
“How big of a problem?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer, just looks down at the floor.
“Pretty big.”

“I’m sorry,” I say, starting to cry again. “This whole
thing is my fault.”

“No,” he says, shaking his head. “Don’t say that. It’s
not your fault.”

He reaches out and pulls me close. For a second, I
want to pull back, because it feels weird being close
to someone who’s not Cam. But then, his arms are
holding me, and my head is against his chest, and it
feels so safe, safer than I’ve felt all day. He strokes
my hair and I close my eyes, allowing myself to get
lost in the moment.

Chapter Two

Campbell

As we drive toward the golf course, Kaci and I both
fall silent. Something about this is awkward. Of
course it’s fucking awkward. You’ve got a girlfriend
and this is Brody’s little sister.

I turn the radio on low and think about Nat looking
down at me from her bedroom window while her
mom yelled at me.

Why didn’t she come down and say something?

“You seem upset,” Kaci says.

I glance at her out of the corner of my eye. I always
think of her as Brody’s little sister, but she’s definitely
not  looking  so  little  tonight.  She’s  dressed  in  tight
jeans  and  her  jacket  is  open,  revealing  a  tight  red
shirt.  She  has  a  really  pretty  face  and  wide  blue
eyes.  Thankfully,  she  looks  nothing  like  her  idiot

brother.

“Sorry,” I say. “I guess I’m not in the best mood.
Which is why Derek was able to push my buttons
back there.”

She laughs. “Derek can push anyone’s buttons, bad
mood  or  not.”  She  starts  messing  with  the  radio,
scanning  through  the  stations  before  settling  on  a
slow,  guitar-heavy  alternative  song.  She  turns  the
volume up slightly, and the soft melody fills the car.

“Why do you hang out with that dude?” I ask her.
“He’s a total scumbag.”

“Eh. He’s not really as bad as he seems.”

“No. He is that bad. Maybe worse.”

She sighs. “Derek can be an asshole. I mean, I know
that in the past he’s been pretty mean to Natalia. But
he’s been there for me, so…”

We turn onto Concord Street, heading toward the
Santa Anna Public Golf Course.

“Yeah,” I say. “I get that it’s hard to hate someone
who’s been nice to you. But even assholes can be
nice once in a while if it suits them.”

She laughs. “True.”

There’s a path right near the ninth hole, and I pull in,
following  it  all  the  way  down  to  the  end,  where  we
can’t be seen from the main street. The path reminds
me  of  the  path  in  Maine,  the  path  at  the  witch’s
compound.  I  remember  stopping  on  that  path  with
Hadley. Jesus. Hadley. She was alive, in my car with
me just like Kaci is now.

I have a flash of Hadley lying there, on the ground,
with her neck snapped. The look in her eyes, the
death on her face. The sound of Natalia’s screaming
sobs, Raine’s bizarre laughter.

“Hey! Hey, Cam!”

“Huh?” I snap out of it and Kaci’s watching me
intently.

“You went somewhere,” she says. “Your eyes got all
funny.”

“Oh,” I say. “Sorry. Just thinking about football. Next
week’s a big game for us.”

“Whatever,” she says, rolling her eyes. She puts her
feet up on the dashboard.

“You don’t have to lie to me. I know you weren’t
thinking about football.”

“Oh, you do, huh? You become a mind reader all of a
sudden?”

“Maybe.” She smiles and something about it makes
me relax.

I smile back at her. “Good,” I say, “It will spare me
from having to make small talk. Come on.” I get out
of the car and she follows me. I grab the beer out of
the back and carry it under one arm as we head
through the patch of woods and onto the ninth hole of
the course. The air is cool, but not too bad, and the
sky is clear, the moon shining down on us.

“It’s dark out here,” Kaci says.

“You scared?”

“No.”

“You don’t have to lie to me, Kaci,” I say, using her
line back on her. “I know you’re scared.”

She rolls her eyes and gives me a playful hip check,
and I actually lose my footing a little, slipping on the
wet grass. “Shit!”

“You okay?” she asks anxiously, reaching out and
grabbing my arm.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Jesus, you’re pretty damn strong for
a girl.”

“I’m not as girly as everyone thinks,” she says. “I
grew up playing all the same sports as Brody and I
was better than him at pretty much everything.”

I notice she hasn’t let go of my arm yet. Her hand

feels nice. Of course, then she had to go and ruin it
by mentioning her asshole brother. I pull away slowly,
and we both fall silent again as we walk.

Finally we get to the green, and I can see the outline
of the flag for the ninth hole.

“Okay,” I say, stopping and putting the bag of booze
on the ground. The air smells like dirt and grass and
night. “This is good.”

Kaci’s still standing very close to me, and she
shivers.

“Cold?”

“I’m fine.”

“Have a beer, it’ll warm you up.” I bend down and rip
open the case, grab two drinks. She takes one and I
quickly pop the top on mine.

“Cheers,” Kaci says, and we clink cans.

The beer kind of burns going down, and then the

warmth spreads out from my stomach up through my
throat. My eyes are adjusting to the dark and the
moonlight is streaming down to the green. I can see
Kaci’s eyes watching me, and I can make out her
lips, which always seem have a little smile on them.

“So what were you really thinking about back in the
car when we first got here?”

she asks.

“Honestly?” I sigh and sit down on the green. “I was
thinking about Natalia.”

“Oh.” She drinks a little more and shifts her weight
from one foot to the other.

“What about her?”

I hesitate. “I don’t know if I should really get into it.”

She sits down beside me. “You don’t have to. I just…
I can be a pretty good listener, Cam. You don’t really
know that about me. I mean, you’ve only known me
as Brody’s little sister.”

“Yeah,” I say, and take another swig from my can. “I
remember you when you were running around
playing with Barbies.”

“I don’t play with Barbies anymore. Not for a long
time.” She looks at me and her chin tilts up, kind of
like Natalia’s does when she really thinks she’s right.

“I get it. You’re not little anymore.”

“No. I’m not.”

“But that’s not really the reason I shouldn’t be telling
you this stuff.”

“Then what is it?”

I sigh. “Your brother isn’t exactly my favorite person
right now.”

“Why?” she asks. “What happened between you
two?”

I’m suddenly filled with nervous energy, so I stand up

and start to pace around the green. “Well…I don’t
want to sound like a complete dick, but let’s just put it
this way: Your brother is a giant douche bag and
he’s been trying to steal Natalia away from me since
pretty much day one.”

She grins. “That sounds like Brody. But what does it
have to do with me?”

“Nothing, I guess. But you guys are pretty close, no?”

“No.”

“Okay, well that’s news to me. I mean, I thought that
ever since you got sick…”

The words are out of my mouth before I realize that
maybe I shouldn’t have brought that up. I don’t even
know much about it. There were rumors of course –
rumors that Kaci stopped eating and her parents put
her in some sort of special clinic for it. Brody
substantiated them, telling me she was in a rehab
facility and getting better. She hasn’t been in school
for well over a month. But she’s here now, and she

certainly looks fine.

Better than fine, actually.

“I’m not sick.”

“You’re not? Didn’t you have to go to a special
hospital or something?” I say. “I mean, you don’t
have to talk about it if you don’t want to. Either way
it’s fine with me.

But you should know I don’t care about that stuff. No
judgments.”

She laughs. “Well, maybe if I tell you a secret than
you’ll trust me a little.”

“I like secrets,” I say. “I keep plenty of them myself.”

“This is a good one,” she says. She stands up and
walks slowly over to me, moving close. “Here, let me
whisper it.” She leans in and puts her lips next to my
face.

I can feel her breath, warm and soft against my

cheek. “I never went to any hospital.”

“Really?” I pull back a little and look at her. “I don’t
know if I believe you. Why would Brody have lied to
me about that?”

“Cam,” she says, cocking her head and raising her
eyebrows. “Seriously?”

“Seriously what?”

“You know as well as I do why he might have lied
about it. Because everyone’s lying about everything
right now. About what’s really going on in Santa
Anna. About the witches.”

A chill runs through me. “You know about it too?”

“My brother isn’t the only smart one in my family,” she
says, her eyes darkening.

“Of course, he likes to pretend he is. Brody thinks he
knows what’s best for everyone else.”

“So if you weren’t in the hospital, then where were

you this whole time?”

“I’ve been trying to help you, Cam. For as long as I
can  remember.”  Something  about  the  way  that  she
says  it  takes  me  by  surprise.  As  if  she’s  had  this
secret life for years and years. She’s been thinking
about  me,  trying  to  do  things  for  me  and  I  was  just
clueless, off in my own world of football and girls and
grades.

“But why, Kaci? Why would you be trying to help
me?”

“Because…” She doesn’t continue. I have a
suspicion of what she wanted to say.

But she caught herself. Instead she turns away and
takes a long sip of beer.

“I appreciate that you want to help me,” I say, so that
she won’t think I’m ungrateful. “I really do. Although,
these days I can’t really tell who to trust.”

“Well, you’ll see that you can trust me. In fact,” she
laughs, doing a little spin with her arms outstretched,

“Brody is really pissed off at me for ‘going rogue’ as
he calls it. He wants to do everything by the book.
But I’m the one who’s getting shit done.”

“Everything by the book? Why, what are you two
doing?”

“We’re peacekeepers, Cam. At least, that’s what
we’re supposed to be. We haven’t been doing a very
good job of it lately.”

“No. You haven’t. In fact, I’m pretty certain we’re at
war.”

“What happened to you, Cam?” she asks. “Tell me.
What were you thinking about just now in the truck?”

I don’t say anything.

“How can I convince you to trust me?” she says, and
moves toward me again.

She puts her hand back on my arm, and heat flies
through my body. “Won’t you let me help you? After
all, Brody’s helping Natalia.”

The way she says this, with such certainty, makes my
blood boil. “What does that mean?” I say. “Do you
know something about Brody and Nat?”

“Just that he really likes her. And that he’d do almost
anything for her.”

I laugh. “Good for him,” I say. “Let him try. Natalia
doesn’t want him.”

She  bites  her  lip,  thinking  about  it.  And  then  she
says,  “He’s  not  the  only  one  who’d  do  anything  to
help  the  person…the  person  they’ve  been  destined
to look after.”

I  stare  at  her.  She’s  looking  at  me  with  a  kind  of
hunger,  a  passion  that  shocks  me.  It  makes  me
nervous and excited all at once. Suddenly she leans
forward  and  pulls  me  down  for  a  kiss.  It’s
unexpected,  but  I  can’t  pretend  it’s  unwanted.  Her
lips  are  cold  but  her  tongue  is  warm.  I  find  myself
pulling  her  against  me,  and  then  I  catch  myself  and
break it off.

“Shit,” I say, moving away from her, my heart
pounding. “Kaci, I’m sorry, I can’t – ”

I get caught off guard by a loud voice yelling at us
from nearby. “Hey! Hey!

What the hell is going on over there?”

“Shit, it’s a cop!” Kaci yells. “Come on!”

I grab the beer and we start running. Our eyes have
adjusted  to  the  darkness  by  now,  and  it’s  easier  to
maneuver  through  the  trees.  We  get  to  the  car
without incident, and I start it up and pump the gas,
speeding down the dirt road and out onto the street. I
keep  checking  the  rearview  mirror  for  a  police  car,
but  there’s  no  one  behind  me.  The  cop  must  have
given up.

My  adrenaline  slowly  subsides  as  we  get  farther
away.  I  glance  at  Kaci,  wondering  if  we’re  going  to
have  to  have  an  awkward  conversation  about  the
kiss  we  just  had  on  the  golf  course.  But  to  my
surprise, she starts to laugh.

“Did you see how fast that cop was running?” she
says. “He was super old, too, like I thought he was
going to fall on his ass.”

I start to laugh, too. And then we’re both cracking up.
Her eyes are shining and she’s looking at me with
something close to adoration. I realize that nobody’s
ever quite looked at me the way she is right now.

It scares me to admit it, but I like it. I like it a lot.

Chapter Three

Natalia

I wake up with a pounding headache that radiates
out through my temples and down to my shoulders. I
groan and roll over, looking at the clock on my
nightstand.

7:07. Which means I have an hour before I have to
be at school. Surprisingly, despite the headache and
the fact that I was tossing and turning until four in the
morning, I don’t feel tired. I feel wide awake, ready to
face the day, to get back to my normal life, and most
of all, ready to see Cam.

I  pad  my  way  to  the  bathroom,  peeking  into  my
mom’s  room  on  the  way  She’s  still  asleep,  which
means  she  probably  took  the  day  off  from  work.
Which means she probably thinks there’s a chance
I’m not going to school today.

I turn the shower on full blast, turning the faucet all the

way over to hot. I down a couple of Advil, leaving the
bottle on the sink so I can take it to school with me. I
strip off my pajamas, then step into the shower. The
water beads against my skin, relaxing my muscles,
and I stay in there until it starts to turn cold. I wrap
myself in a towel, grab the bottle of Advil, and step
into the hall.

“Good morning,” my mom says. She’s standing in
the doorway of her room, looking sleepy.

“Morning.”

“I take it since you’re up you think you’re going to
school.”

“I am going to school, Mom. I feel fine.”

She glances at the bottle of Advil in my hand.
“What’s that for?”

“Nothing,” I say, and shrug. “I just have a little
headache.” I think about lying, but since she’s
already caught me with the body, it seems pointless.

She opens her mouth like she’s going to say
something, but I push past her toward my room. “I
have to get dressed,” I say, “or else I’m going to be
late.”

“I’ll drive you,” she says. “Do you want coffee?”

I don’t, but I don’t want to give her any more
ammunition for thinking that things are out of sorts,
so I nod. “Yes, please.”

Again, she looks like she wants to say something.
Probably about Cam, and how she meant what she
said about me having nothing to do with him. But she
must change her mind again, because a second
later, she’s moving down the stairs.

***

My mom has to drive me to school in our neighbor
Jerry’s car. When I ask her how long she’s allowed to
keep it, her cheeks turn red and she mumbles
something about how she’s not sure. My mom hasn’t
dated anyone in as far as I can remember, but from

her reaction I wonder if maybe there’s something
going on between the two of them.

We  make  small  talk  on  the  way  to  school,  and  I’m
grateful  for  the  travel  mug  of  coffee  in  my  hand,
because sipping at it gives me something to do. The
caffeine  combined  with  the  Advil  is  helping  my
headache,  and  by  the  time  we  pull  up  in  front  of
school, my head feels fine.

“Thanks for driving me,” I say, unbuckling my
seatbelt. “I know it was a big pain in the ass.”

“It’s not a pain in the ass.” She reaches over and
turns the radio down. “You’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“And if you start feeling dizzy, or your headache gets
worse, or anything, you’ll call me right?”

“I don’t have a cell phone, remember?”

She reaches in her purse and then hands me hers.
“I’ll be at the house, so call me there if anything

comes up. Or go to the nurse.”

“I will. I promise.”

“And Brody’s going to be at school today?”

“Yes.” My stomach flips at the mention of his name.
I’ve been trying not to think about Brody all morning.
Trying not to think about last night on my couch, the
way he was holding me, the way I was crying into his
shoulder. He stroked my hair and kept his arms
around me. It felt good. Soothing. Safe. And the
more I liked it, the more it felt like a betrayal of Cam.
I push those thoughts out of my head, and open the
car door.

“I’ll pick you up after school,” my mom calls after me.

She waits for me in the traffic circle, not moving until
I’m safely inside.

***

Before I even go to my locker, I’m scanning the junior
hall for Cam. At first, I don’t see him and I’m filled

with fear that he might not have come to school
today, that he might have stayed home. I tried calling
his house last night at around midnight, after Brody
left, but the phone just rang and rang, not even being
picked up by an answering machine.

And then I spot him. He’s standing in the hallway with
Aidan,  pulling  books  out  of  his  locker  and  sliding
them  into  his  bag.  He’s  wearing  khaki  pants  and  a
black  sweater,  and  his  hair  is  all  messed  up.  He
looks amazing, and it’s all I can do not to scream out
his  name  and  run  to  him.  But  I  force  myself  to  take
my  time,  pushing  myself  through  the  crowd  until  I
reach him.

“It was sick,” Aidan’s saying. “The car did like three
rolls over and over, and when they finally pulled the
dude out, his whole arm looked like a package of
hamburger.

And that wasn’t even the worst crash they showed.“

“Sick,” Cam says, clearly not paying much attention.

“Hey,” I say.

“Hi, Natalia,” Aidan chirps happily. “How was your
weekend?”

“Um, good.” Lie.

Cam doesn’t say anything, just keeps pulling books
out of his locker and putting them in his bag.

“Hey, Cam, can I talk to you for a second?” I ask. His
jaw clenches, and I clear my throat nervously.

Aidan must sense the tension, because he says,
“Uh, I’ll meet you in a little bit, okay, dude?” and then
takes off down the junior hall.

“Hi,” I say once Aidan’s gone.

“Hi.” Cam’s not looking at me.

I take a deep breath. “So you’re pissed, I guess?
About last night?” He doesn’t say anything. “Hello?” I
say. “Are we going to talk about what happened?”

He slams his locker door shut and turns around
angrily. “Yeah, let’s talk about it.

Let’s talk about how you looked down at me from
your bedroom window and then just left me standing
there in your driveway like a fucking idiot.”

“Cam, I was coming down!” I say. “I was waiting for
my  mom  to  come  back  upstairs.  You  have  to  know
that  I  would  never  leave  you  out  there  on  purpose.”
He  goes  to  move  by  me,  but  I  put  my  arm  out,
blocking his path. “Please,” I say, feeling my eyes fill
with  tears.  “I  came  downstairs,  I  did.  I  was  trying  to
get to you. I even called your house.”

He stops for a moment, considers. “You did?”

“Yes. I left a message with your mom.”

His eyes go dark at the mention of his mom, which
makes me think my hunch was right – she was
probably drunk last night and out of control, which is
probably why he never got my message.

“Nat, you can’t be afraid to stand up to your mom,”

he says.

“I’m not afraid of her!” I say. “I just have to make sure
that I act like I’m playing by her rules, otherwise –“

“Playing  by  her  rules?”  he  yells.  “Are  you  kidding
me?  So  now  you  want  to  sneak  around,  act  like
we’re  some  kind  of  typical  teenagers  with
overprotective parents?

Do you have any idea what I saw this weekend, what
happened?”

“No,” I say, “You know I don’t. And I’m sorry for that. I
am. I want to remember, I do.” I soften my tone of
voice. “And besides, weren’t you the one who told
me that we need to keep my mom happy, at least for
now? You told me that at the hospital, remember?”

He looks at me, and I can see the pain and the fear
in his eyes. But then it starts to slowly fade, and his
face starts to relax. He takes a step toward me, but
then suddenly, Brody’s come up beside me.

“What’s going on?” he asks. He steps in between
me and Cam, his large frame becoming a barrier.

“Nothing,” I say quickly. “We were just talking.”

“Yeah?” His eyes never leave Cam. “Because I
heard him yelling at you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Cam
says. “I wasn’t yelling at her.”

“Well, that’s what it sounded like to me.”

“He wasn’t yelling at me,” I say. “He was just upset,
he – “

“I don’t care if he was upset,” Brody says. “He
shouldn’t have been raising his voice, especially
after all you’ve been through.” Again, his gaze is still
on Cam, and I know his statement is more for Cam’s
benefit than mine. It’s a threat. The threat being that
Cam needs to leave me alone, to stop yelling at me,
or he’s going to have to deal with Brody.

“After all she’s been through?” Cam says. “What the

hell do you know about what she’s been through?”
Brody doesn’t answer him, and Cam looks at me.
“Nat?”

“He…he came over last night,” I say. “After you left.
He was worried, and so--”

Cam laughs. “You have got to be fucking kidding
me.”

“It’s not like that,” I say. I feel a panic rising up inside
me,  panic  at  the  fact  that  Cam  could  think  that  I
would  leave  him  standing  in  my  driveway  while
allowing  Brody  to  come  into  my  house.  “My  mom,
she thought – “

“Stop, Natalia,” Cam says. He usually calls me Nat,
and I don’t like the way it feels, him calling me by my
full name. “Whatever bullshit you’re about to tell me, I
don’t want to hear it.” And then, before I can stop
him, Cam turns around and heads down the hall,
leaving me standing there with Brody.

“I’m sorry,” Brody says immediately. “I wasn’t

thinking, I didn’t mean to let him know I’d been over.”

I want to be mad at him, but I know he was just
sticking up for me. “It’s okay,” I say, trying to clear my
thoughts. My headache is back now, the same one
from this morning. “He’ll get over it, he just… he’s
upset.”

“Yeah.” We watch as Cam disappears around the
corner of the junior hall with Aidan.

“I’ll see him again in study hall,” I say. “And I’m sure
I’ll be able to explain it to him then.”

Brody nods. “Come on,” he says. “I’ll walk you to
homeroom.” And for the second time in twelve hours,
it’s Brody who’s taking care of me, not Cam.

Chapter Four

Campbell

As I’m walking away from Natalia, Aidan runs over to
me, his eyes so big he looks like a cartoon. “Dude,
what the hell is going on with you?”

“Nothing’s going on with me.”

“You haven’t answered my calls for days, you won’t
tell me where your car is, and now you have a
blowout in front of the entire school. Seriously, dude,
you’re turning into a bad show on ABC Family.”

“Have you ever considered becoming a therapist?” I
ask, walking faster in an effort to burn off some of my
adrenaline. My legs are tingly and my lips feel numb.

“You have such a way with words.”

“Thanks.” Aidan grins at me momentarily but then his
face turns serious. He lowers his voice to a
conspiratorial whisper. “You have to get a hold of

yourself. People are going to start to talk.”

“So?”

“So, I’m just looking out for you, the way you look out
for me.”

Suddenly a voice booms out from nearby. “I knew I
smelled something foul. I thought to myself, either I
stepped in dog shit or it’s Aidan Jacoby.”

I glance over and see Lancaster standing against
the wall, his face red, eyes narrow.

“Is there a problem?” I ask him, hoping to God he
says yes.

“Nah,” he says, ambling over to us. “Me and you are
cool, Cam. It’s the little piece of dog shit next to you
that I have beef with.”

“Yeah, well, whatever your problem is with Aidan, I
think you might want to take it down a notch.”

Aidan puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’m good, dude.

You don’t have to do this.”

I look at him. “No you’re not. And yeah, I do.”

Lancaster points to Aidan, stepping even closer.
“You heard him, Cam. He’s good. This has nothing
to do with you.”

“You’re twice his size.”

“So? Is it my fault I was gifted with size, speed and
athleticism and this punk still hasn’t gotten hair on his
balls yet?” He laughs.

Aidan doesn’t seem fazed. “I heard you love
checking out other guys’ junk, so I’m not surprised
you keep imagining what mine looks like.”

The smirk dies on Lancaster’s face. “What did you
just say to me?”

Aidan holds his hands up in mock surrender. “I don’t
have a problem with you being into other men. No
wonder you want to wrestle with me so bad. It’s just
that I don’t really swing that way.”

“I was only fucking with you before, dumb shit. But
now you really fucked up.”

Lancaster starts forward and I immediately step in
between them.

“Back off, dude.”

Lancaster  moves  so  close  to  me  that  he’s  actually
breathing  on  my  face.  His  breath  smells  like  wet
cabbage.  His  eyes  are  narrow,  his  forehead  red.
“Get  out  of  the  way,  Cam.  I  told  you,  this  shit  has
nothing to do with you.”

“Aidan’s my friend. You touch him and we will have
an issue. Believe me.”

“Fine, whatever you say,” Lancaster replies, turning
to walk away.

I  make  the  rookie  mistake  of  glancing  at Aidan  to
make  sure  he’s  not  going  to  do  anything  dumb.  In
that  split  second,  Lancaster  comes  back  with  a
sneaky overhand right that I just barely glimpse out of

the corner of my eye. I duck my head just enough to
take away the full force of the punch, but he still clips
me in the side of the head and I stumble backwards.

The next thing I know, Lancaster’s on top of me. He’s
big kid, and strong as an ox. But I’m not scared for
even a second, just annoyed that I let myself get
distracted.

“I’m sick of your shit, Elliot,” Lancaster says, trying to
hold me down. He raises his fist to throw another
punch at me.

That’s when Aidan grabs him by the back of his shirt
and pulls so hard that I can see the cords of muscle
standing out on Aidan’s arms and neck. He screams
a wild scream as he somehow lifts Lancaster off me
and tosses him to the side.

Lancaster  spins  across  the  hall  and  then  finds  his
balance.  This  time  when  he  moves  forward  I  throw
two  fast  jabs  at  his  face.  They  snap  his  head  back
and he falls to one knee. His nose is bleeding.

“Goddamn  it!  Stop  right  there!”  an  adult  screams
from  down  the  hall.  I  turn  around.  It’s  ’s  the  vice
principal,  Mister  Curtis.  “All  of  you!  Stop  right  there
and don’t move.”

“Shit,” I whisper.

Mr. Curtis is not going to let us off with a warning. I
know that right away.

When he finally gets to us he’s huffing and puffing
and can barely speak.

“You…three…are in….deep…deep….” He puts his
hands on his hips and shakes his head. “Deep
trouble.”

“Mr. Curtis, you really ought to stop smoking,” Aidan
says. “You can’t hardly breathe and you only ran like
twenty feet!”

“Everyone else, get to class!” Mr. Curtis shouts.

It’s only then I realize that the entire hall full of juniors
has been watching us. I scan the crowd, looking for

Nat, but I don’t see her. I wonder what she would
have thought if she’d seen the fight. Would she have
even come over to see if I was okay?

The crowd disperses as Mr. Curtis glares at us. His
jaw works from side to side and his mustache
quivers. “You kids have no damn respect anymore.
None.”

We all look at the floor, pretending to be ashamed of
ourselves.

“We were only kidding around,” Lancaster says,
wiping the blood from his upper lip. “Hell, Cam and
me are on the football team together.” He sneers at
Aidan, unable to control himself. “It’s only the runt that
makes any trouble.”

“Fuck off, Lancaster,” I say.

“That’s it,” Mr. Curtis hisses. “You’re suspended. All
three of you are suspended! Go home. Now. I’ll be
contacting your parents to let them know you’re on
your way so you best go straight there.”

As we start to leave, Mr. Curtis grabs Lancaster by
the arm. “You wait here.

Don’t think I’m stupid enough to allow a repeat
performance outside in the parking lot.”

Aidan and I turn and walk quickly down the hallway,
then we’re out the front entrance and Aidan is
laughing hysterically. “That was so goddamn funny!”

“Yeah. Real funny,” I say sarcastically, not sharing his
enthusiasm.

“What’s your problem?”

We get to my mom’s car and once we’re inside, I put
the  key  in  the  ignition  and  then  look  at  him  closely.
His beard is coming in thick but patchy, and his eyes
are  dark  and  intense.  “What’s  my  problem?”  I  say.
“I’d  like  to  ask  you  the  same  thing.  What  the  hell  is
going on with you, dude?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yeah, you do.” I start the car and guide it out the

student parking lot.

“All I know is that Curtis gave me a day off,” Aidan
says. “I’m psyched.” He rubs his hands together in
anticipation of his unexpected freedom.

“Yeah, you’ll be even more psyched when he calls
your parents. That’s going to be real fun.”

Aidan waves it off. “Curtis is full of hot air. I’ll tell my
parents I was getting bullied and decided to fight
back. My dad’s been wanting me to do that my
whole life.

He’ll be happy I stood up for myself.”

“Good for you, then.”

“It is good. I’m sick of letting idiots like Lancaster
walk all over me.”

For a little while I don’t say anything and neither does
Aidan. Thinking about it from his perspective, I
guess I can see why he’d be happy.

“I get it,” I tell him finally.

“You get what?”

“I get why you feel good about standing up for
yourself.” I sigh. “But what I don’t get is how you got
Lancaster off me the way you did. He weighs almost
two hundred pounds.”

“I don’t know how I did it, either. It just…happened.”

“This summer when we went to the gym you couldn’t
even bench one twenty-five.”

Aidan laughs. “Maybe it’s like that story about the
mother who lifted the car off of her son. Maybe when
I saw Lancaster crushing you I got superhuman
strength.” He flexes his arms.

“Right,” I say, rolling my eyes. “That must be it.”

He throws up his hands. “I don’t know man. Look at
me!” He turns his cheek to me and leans in. “Look at
this beard I’m growing. It’s like a Brillo pad! Feel it.
Feel it!”

“Uh, no thanks. I believe you. And I think it’s called
hitting puberty.”

“Yesterday I decided to try and do some pushups
just for fun while I was watching TV, you know? I did
like a hundred of ‘em without stopping. I swear to
God, ever since homecoming I’ve been different.”

My stomach churns uneasily at the mention of
homecoming. The image of Aidan hanging from that
tree branch is burned into my brain forever. “You’re
probably just trying to make sense of what happened
that night. Since it was so insane.”

“You don’t believe me? That I’m different?”

I pull up in front of his house and don’t answer. The
truth is, I don’t know if I believe him. Maybe it is true.
Maybe he is changing.

He sits there thinking for a second. “Okay. Let’s test
my theory. Arm wrestle me right now.”

“Arm wrestle you? What the hell is that going to

prove?”

“You scared?”

“Yes, I’m terrified you’re going to break my arm when
you turn into Wolverine.”

“Okay, if you’re not scared then do it.”

I sigh. “Where are we going to arm wrestle?”

He turns in his seat and puts his elbow on the cup
holder next to him. “Right here.”

“Fine.” I turn and put my elbow down in front of his
and we grip hands.

“On three?”

“Sure. One, two, thre— ”

Suddenly I feel it. His hand grips mine ferociously
and he’s twisting my arm.

I haven’t really been trying, but now my arm is being

forced down, so I put my strength into it. We lock in
place, both of us straining.

“You’ve gotta be kidding,” I whisper. I know for a fact
I’m much, much stronger than Aidan. Like I could
break him in two. At least, I used to be able to.

After a little while I start to take control and slowly
wear him down, and then I pin his arm. But sweat
has sprung up on my forehead.

He opens the car door, then flexes again and says,
“Do you think Adrianna would like me if I beat up
Lancaster in front of her?”

I shake my head. “You’ve done enough fighting for
now.”

“Or maybe I’m just getting started.” He smiles, winks,
and then gets out of the car.

I watch him until goes inside, wondering whether his
dad will be as happy about Aidan getting into a fight
as Aidan seems to think he’ll be.

Two minutes later and I’m back home.

“Mom?” I call as I walk in, wondering where she’ll be
now. When I left for school she was still in bed,
planning on calling into work sick. She used to never
miss work no matter how hung over she was but
lately that seems to have changed. This is probably
the third or fourth time she’s called in sick in the last
two months.

I figure she’ll either be up and about with a big cup of
black coffee, or on the sauce again, lying in front of
the  TV  with  her  cigarettes  and  wine.  Sure  enough,
when I get to the kitchen, there’s two empty bottles of
wine, and a few glasses with lip smears on the sides
and  a  bit  of  red  residue  left  over.  Those  empty
bottles  weren’t  out  when  I  went  to  school  this
morning.

“Mom!” I yell, a little louder.

She’s not in the living room, which means she’s
probably passed out in bed again.

Disgusting. But when I get to her bedroom, there’s
no sign of her there, either.

And then it hits me.

She  must  have  run  out  of  booze  and  went
somewhere  to  get  more.  Could  be  the  liquor  store,
but  just  as  likely  she’s  at  Bud’s  Grille.  It’s  a  dive
bar/restaurant that she could walk to from here. She
used  to  drive  there  all  the  time  until  I  gave  her  hell
about it once and she agreed not to drink and drive
anymore.  Somehow  she  managed  to  stick  to  that
one promise.

If I’m right and my mom’s actually at Bud’s, then
she’s on some terrific bender. I haven’t seen one this
bad in a long time.

I sigh and rub my eyes, suddenly exhausted. Part of
me feels like I should just let her fend for herself, but I
can’t do it. I can’t leave here in some bar, out of her
mind drunk, especially with the kinds of predatory
guys that frequent those places.

“Great. Another fun adventure for Cam,” I say,
jangling the car keys in my hand.

As I’m leaving the house, I notice a car parked out
front. Across the street, but still in front of my house.
The car windows are tinted so I can’t see inside. But
then the driver’s side door opens, and a girl steps
out.

It’s Kaci. She’s wearing dark blue jeans, brown high-
heeled boots, and a light cream-colored sweater.

“Hey,” I say, unable to keep the surprise out of my
voice. “What’s going on?”

She smiles and shrugs. “I was just driving in the
neighborhood and – okay, that’s a lie.” She puts her
face in her hands momentarily and then laughs. “I just
wanted to see you.”

I want to ask her how she knew I’d be home on a
school day, and why she’s not back in school herself
– she seems fine. But all that would just prolong the
conversation, and I don’t want to get into it. “Right

now isn’t really a great time,” I say, glancing back
toward the house.

“I also wanted to apologize for last night.” She stands
there and looks down, embarrassed. “I just, you
know… I was hoping that it wasn’t too weird. Me
kissing you, I mean. I hope we can get past it.”

“It’s fine.” I try to smile reassuringly.

“Because it would be nice if we could be friends, you
know?”

“Yeah,” I say, feeling a little uncomfortable. Last
night, after the golf course, I dropped Kaci off at her
house. I wasn’t really planning on seeing her again,
and I definitely wasn’t planning on becoming friends
with her. I know things are weird with Natalia and me
right now, but she’s still my girlfriend. “Listen, maybe
we can talk when I get back.” I push the button on the
key fob, unlocking my mom’s car.

“Back from where?”

“A bar.” I realize that sounds strange. It’s early

morning. “Look, it’s just a bad time for me.”

“Why are you going to a bar?”

“I told you, I can’t get into it right now.”

“Cam, if something’s going on, you can tell me. I
promise. I’m a good listener.”

I start feeling a little impatient. “Kaci, I appreciate you
stopping by and all, but…you really don’t know me.
And things are weird right now. I’ve got a lot to figure
out and it’s messy.”

“You think I can’t handle it because I’m so young?”
She walks toward me, sounding defensive.

“Fine,” I say, starting to lose my patience. “You want
to know what’s going on?

I’ll  tell  you.  My  mother  is  a  drunk,  a  total  loser,  and
this  very  moment  she’s  at  some  bar  getting  even
drunker. So I need to go and get her, pull her out of
there  by  her  hair  if  I  have  to.”  I  thought  she’d  be
surprised and shocked by this revelation, but she just

nods.

“I’m sorry,” she says.

“I have to go.” I turn to get in my car, but she puts her
hand on my arm.

“Let me come with you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” I say, shaking her off. “I’m not
taking you to a bar.”

“Did Brody ever tell you about our dad?”

I stop and look at her. “He said your parents are
divorced.”

“They are,” she says. “But he’s still our dad.” She
laughs, but it’s a sad sound.

“I lost count of how many times my mom sent me and
Brody to pull my dad out of a bar at two or three a.m.
on a weeknight.”

I shake my head. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I had no idea.”

“I’m a big girl and I’ve seen a lot, Cam. Let me come
with you.”

I sigh. Maybe it’s because I can tell that she’s not
going to take no for an answer, or maybe it’s
because I don’t want to waste any more time arguing
with her, or maybe it’s because I just don’t want to be
alone -- but for whatever reason, I nod.

On  the  ride  to  Bud’s  Grille,  the  car  is  quiet.  My
knuckles  are  white  on  the  wheel  as  I  picture  how
awkward  and  possibly  horrific  this  encounter  is
going to get. It all depends on just how stubborn my
mom  is  going  to  be  about  leaving.  Part  of  me
actually  hopes  she’s  not  there,  even  though  that
would mean she could be anywhere and I’d have to
go looking for her.

We pull up to the restaurant and I take a deep breath
as I turn the car off. “You sure you want to come
inside?”

Kaci looks me dead in the eye. “Yes.”

I think about fighting her, but again, I sense she’s not
going to listen. “Fine,” I say, “But stay close to me
and don’t talk to anyone.”

We head inside. The place is small, dim and
depressing. At this time of day it’s nearly empty, so
my mom isn’t very hard to spot. It doesn’t hurt that
she’s also incredibly loud. She’s sitting at the bar, a
plate of soggy-looking eggs in front of her.

The television on the wall is tuned to CNN, and my
mom’s watching it and shaking her head. The
bartender is looking at her with mild amusement as
she holds court.

“These  politicians  nowadays  are  absolutely  full  of
crap. All of them! I’d run for office tomorrow and do a
better  job  than  this  idiot  president  we  have  now.  I
know how to make things happen. I know how to…to
create…you  know…”  She  takes  a  long  drink  from
her glass. “Change.”

“Oh, I’m sure you do,” the bartender says, laughing.

A man is eating steak and potatoes while reading a
newspaper down at the other end of the bar. He just
shakes his head and flips his page.

My mom stabs her fork at her eggs and takes a bite,
then  starts  talking  again  with  her  mouth  full  of  food.
“I’m  a  leader,  I’m  someone  that  people  instinctually
follow  and  they  know…they  know  that  I  can  lead
them.  That’s  what  I  would  bring  to  the  table  as
president of the United States of America.”

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. This is worse than usual. But
I pull myself together and walk over to the bar.

“Now, let me tell you the first thing I’d do as
president,” she’s saying.

“Already planning your acceptance speech?” I ask.

My mom turns and looks at me, her head seemingly
unstable on her neck. It bobbles slightly. “Campbell!
Honey!” She smiles almost lovingly, but the smell
coming from her is enough to make me sick.

“Come on, Mom, time to go,” I say, trying to keep my

tone light. “You’re drinking and it’s not even lunch
time.”

“I’m having eggs,” she says, pretending to be
shocked by my accusation.

I lean toward her glass. “That doesn’t smell like just
O.J.”

She slides the glass away from me. “For your
information, I’m having a mimosa.

It’s called brunch.” She looks at the bartender, as if
to say, Can you believe these kids nowadays? They
don’t even know what brunch is.

“Yeah, well, brunch is over,” I say, an edge creeping
into my voice. “And it’s time to go.”

Kaci touches my arm lightly, probably trying to warn
me to calm down so that things don’t escalate. But it
doesn’t take much with my mom, and so it’s too late.

“How dare you come in here and embarrass me in
front of my friends?” my mom slurs, standing up and

wobbling toward me.

I glance up at the bartender, but he holds his hands
up like this has nothing to do with him. He walks
down toward the other end of the bar.

“Mom,” I say, “that guy isn’t your friend. He’s paid to
serve you alcohol and talk to you.”

“His name is Peter,” mom says, “and he’s a great
conversationalist, unlike some people I know.”

I’m about to really let her have it now. But Kaci pulls
me back and leans in.

“Mrs. Elliot!” she gushes. “Oh my goodness, it’s so
nice to see you!”

My mom looks at her blearily. “Do I know you?”

“I’m Brody’s sister, Kaci. Remember? We used to
play at your house all the time when I was younger.
You made the best chocolate cupcakes. What were
they called?”

My mom’s face transforms as if she’s just been
reunited with her long lost daughter. “Devil’s food
cake!” she says. “Kaci! Of course I remember.” She
leans forward and hugs her. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m good,” she says.

“And your family?” my mom asks. “How are they?”

“They’re doing well,” Kaci says. “Listen, I’d love to
catch up with you about everything. But maybe we
could do it back at your house? You could give me
the recipe for those cupcakes if you still have it.”

“Of course,” my mom says, grabbing her purse and
taking  a  last  sip  of  her  mimosa.  “I  was  just  about
ready  to  leave  anyway,  but  these  people  just  won’t
stop chattering away. Everyone wants to talk to me
all  the  time  and  I’m  too  nice  to  just  say  enough  is
enough.”

I trail behind them as Kaci helps my mom out to the
car and into the passenger seat. Kaci slides into the
back and chats with my mother about absolute

nonsense on the way home.

Midway  through  the  drive,  my  mom  starts  slowing
down.  She  starts  yawning,  and  her  eyes  are
drooping. Without any booze to fuel her, she’s fading
fast,  and  the  pauses  in  the  conversation  start
growing longer and longer.

By the time we get into our driveway, my mom is
moving in slow motion. Kaci and I help her inside,
where she announces that she’s going to go upstairs
and “spruce up.”

We both watch her navigate the steps slowly, and for
a moment I wonder if she’s going to fall backwards
and crack her skull on the stairs. But eventually she
gets to the top and weaves her way down the hall
and out of sight. A few seconds later the door to her
room slams shut.

“Yeah, she’ll never come back down. That’s a wrap,”
I say.

Kaci smiles at me. “I know how it is. Believe me.”

“How did you know what to say to get her to leave?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugs. “Just good at reading
people, I guess.”

We look at one another for a long time. There’s
suddenly an electrical charge in the air and I’m not
doing anything to break it. Next thing I know, Kaci’s
leaning toward me. Just like last night.

Only this time, I kiss her back.

Chapter Five

Natalia

Cam’s  not  in  study  hall.  I  spend  the  whole  morning
completely  keyed  up,  waiting  to  see  him,  but  he
never shows. As soon as the bell rings, and I know
he’s  not  going  to  be  there,  my  heart  drops  into  my
shoes and stays put for the rest of the morning.

At lunch, I take my place at my usual table with
Adrianna and her friend Chelsey.

“So what happened?” Adrianna asks as soon as I
set my tray down.

For a moment, I think she’s talking about the
weekend, and my heart starts to beat fast. “What do
you mean?”

“I mean this morning. With Cam. Everyone’s talking
about it.” She takes a packet of ketchup and squirts
it onto her veggie burger.

“They are?” I open my strawberry yogurt and stir it. It
looks disgusting. I’m not hungry at all, but I force
myself to take a spoonful.

Chelsey nods. “They’re saying he pretty much kicked
Lancaster’s ass.”

“Wait.” I shake my head. “You mean Brody, right?”

“Brody  kicked  Lancaster’s  ass?”  Chelsey  asks,
confused.  Then  she  shakes  her  head  and  leans
forward  over  the  table.  She’s  wearing  bright  red
lipstick, and a tiny bit is on her front teeth. “No, Cam
kicked Lancaster’s ass. You didn’t hear that they got
into a fight?”

“No.”

“Cam didn’t tell you?” Adrianna asks. She’s looking
at me carefully, probably able to tell from my face
and my tone that something’s not right with me and
Cam.

But I don’t want to get into it in front of Chelsey, and
maybe not at all, so I just say, “I lost my cell so we

haven’t been able to text all morning.” I sigh, like not
being able to text him is driving me crazy, in a
normal teen angst kind of way.

Adrianna nods, like this satisfies her. “Well, I guess it
was kind of a big deal.

Something with Aidan and Cam and Lancaster,
although nobody really knows what since they all got
sent home.” She takes a sip of her diet Sprite. “Do
you think I should text him?”

“Lancaster?” Chelsey says. She has her phone out,
her fingers flying over the keyboard as she texts
someone. “No way, not after what he did to you at
the dance.”

“Not Lancaster. Aidan.” Adrianna’s cheeks flush.

“If you want.” Chelsey shrugs, obviously not
understanding that Adrianna might be getting a little
crush on Aidan. It’s a weird pairing, but whatever. I’m
not going to judge.

“I think you totally should,” I say, and give her a smile.
“I’m sure he’d be glad to hear from you.”

Adrianna’s cheeks flush darker as she smiles back
at me. We spend the rest of lunch talking about
random things – if college is better than high school,
how some cheerleader got caught with marijuana in
her locker, if it’s worth it to spend eighty dollars on a
pair of skinny jeans -- and I force myself to engage in
the conversation.

But all I really want to do is leave, and I think about
calling my mom and telling her I don’t feel good and
to  come  and  get  me.  But  if  I  do  that,  I  know  she’s
going  to  flip  out  and  insist  I  go  see  a  doctor.  So  I
force myself through the rest of the day, walking like
a zombie through the halls and to my classes. After
another dose of Advil my headache fades to a minor
annoyance,  and  by  the  time  my  mom  picks  me  up
after school, it’s completely gone.

“Hey,” she says as I climb into the car. “How was
your day?” She’s trying to sound casual, but I can
see the way she’s looking at me, the way her eyes

slide up my body, taking in every inch of me like
she’s afraid there’s going to be something else
wrong.

“It was fine,” I say and shrug. “Just a normal day at
school.”

She  nods,  then  pulls  out  onto  the  traffic  circle  and
then onto the main road. “So I was thinking we could
go  and  get  you  a  new  cell,”  she  says.  “You  can’t
keep  mine  all  the  time,  and  you  definitely  should
have a phone.”

I shrug. She’s right -- I probably should have a phone.
But right now I’m having trouble mustering up any
kind of excitement for anything. She drives to the
shopping plaza down the street from the school and
pulls into the AT&T store.

The  bell  tinkles  over  the  door  as  we  walk  in,  and  I
immediately  head  over  to  the  display  of  iPhones
while my mom goes to look for a salesperson. I read
through  the  list  of  features,  wondering  if  there’s
anything  about  iPhones  that  make  them  safer  or

better built, something I can use to get my mom to
think they’re the best choice.

I pick one up and run my finger over the touchscreen,
dialing Cam’s number, but of course the phone’s not
hooked up. I wonder where he is, if there’s any way I
can get out of my house tonight and try to sneak over
to his.

There’s giggling coming from the other side of the
store, near the display of old school flip phones. The
giggling sounds familiar, and I look up. But whoever
it is is blocked by a huge cardboard map of the
AT&T coverage area.

“You can’t put your own facebook page on all the
screens,” the giggler says.

“I totally can,” a girl’s voice replies. “You never know
what kind of hot guys might be in here checking the
phones.”

“And they’re going to see your facebook page and
contact you?”

“Yup.” More familiar giggling.

I peek around the corner of the cardboard so that I
can get a better look at who it is that’s talking.

One of the girls looks up, her gaze meeting my eyes.

“Oh, hi, Natalia,” Becca says calmly. “Are you getting
a new phone?”

“There are some cheap ones over there,” Teri adds.

My headache comes back full force. My gaze moves
to the left of Becca and Teri. There’s a familiar figure
standing with her back to me.

Raine.

She turns around and smiles at me, as if the two of
us share a special secret. But she doesn’t say
anything. Instead she whispers something to Becca
and then the three of them exchange glances and
walk out of the store together.

I don’t know what they’re planning. But the Triad is

back.

WATCH FOR BOOK FIFTEEN OF THE

WITCHES OF SANTA ANNA, COMING

SOON…