The Divide Page 0,23

Melanie argued, shoving Adam's peacekeeping hand aside. "What we can't afford is Faye not following Circle rules when our lives are at stake."

"Please, Faye." Adam was practically begging her to cooperate. "No magic. Just until we figure out who the hunters are. Okay?"

"Fine. My God, you people are so boring." Faye began walking away, toward the ocean.

"That's not all," Diana called out. "We also need to be on the lookout for Outsiders who are getting too close. And anyone new in town."

Diana glanced sharply at Cassie. She didn't name Scarlett specifically, but she didn't have to. Then she turned to Faye. "So you need to lay off Max."

Suzan smirked. "How can she lay off him when he won't even let her lay on him?"

Faye looked like all the fight had been knocked out of her. It obviously bothered her that Max wasn't falling under her spell like every other boy in school.

"Is that all?" she asked Diana.

Diana nodded. "For now."

Faye turned and marched toward the ocean to wash her forehead clean. Her black skirt and hair flowed behind her like a dark shadow.

The next morning at school, Faye pulled into the empty parking space beside Cassie and Adam. "Is Diana here yet?" she asked, before she was even out of the car.

"Not yet," Adam said. "What's wrong?"

Faye looked anxiously around the school lot, at Sally and Portia gathering their pompoms and books, at a few lacrosse players playing catch, and finally at Suzan sitting on the hood of her Corol a, applying mascara.

"I can't handle this no-magic thing," Faye said. "I had to wait for water to boil this morning. Can you believe that?

Eight minutes. Like I have nothing better to do with my time."

"I'm with Faye," Suzan said from behind her hand mirror.

"I feel so ordinary, so unexceptional. It's dehumanizing."

"And on top of all that, you have a stain on your shirt," Faye said.

"I know." Suzan scratched at the blotch on her collar.

"How do normal people get ketchup out of their clothes?" Diana zipped her Volvo into the spot next to Faye and hurriedly pushed her door open. She was less put together than usual. Her hair was loose and wild, and her jacket was hanging half off. She had a coffee cup in one hand and a bagel in the other, which she shoved in her mouth to dig for her books in the backseat.

"See," Faye said. "Even Diana's a mess. We can't live like this."

Until this moment, Cassie hadn't realized how much her friends used magic in their everyday lives.

Adam helped Diana with her books. "This isn't easy for any of us," he said. "But we have to stick with it. It's only temporary."

The rest of the group arrived sporadically. Whether it was purely psychological or not, Cassie noticed they all seemed a bit distressed without their magic - except Deborah, who tore through the parking lot with her motorcycle up on one wheel. Cars and people scattered from her path until she lowered the front tire down, screeched to a halt, and cut the engine.

"Where's your helmet?" Diana asked, once Deborah joined the rest of the group.

Deborah rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to mess up my hair with a helmet when I'm invincible."

"You may be invincible," Diana said. "But you can still accidentally run over somebody else."

"Then maybe they should be wearing helmets," Faye said, which drew a sharp look from Diana.

"Please, don't abuse the protection spell," Diana said.

"It's not an excuse to be irresponsible."

"You're telling me this?" Deborah removed one of her leather gloves, then the other, and pointed at the sky. "What about them?"

Cassie noticed everyone in the parking lot had stopped going about their business and were focused on something overhead. She followed the communal gaze, just as Diana did, to find Chris and Doug on the roof of the school building.

Someone screamed out, "What are those maniacs doing up there?"

"I think they're fencing," another voice said.

Diana had to look away. "Please tell me they didn't bring real swords to school."

"Technically they're not in school," Sean said. "They're on it."

Chris and Doug sparred back and forth, swinging wildly at each other, ducking and bobbing. The crowd gasped as Doug took a slicing hit on the shoulder. He cried out, dropped to the ground, and fake blood spurted from the rooftop like a sprinkler. Their schoolmates started to scream, but then Doug jumped back to his feet with one arm hidden within his sleeve and resumed the fight.

"They're having way too much fun