I don’t think you can just wander up to her and ask if you’re a witch, though. That might come out wrong — especially if you’re still hiding from your mother. She’s going crazy because you refuse to visit, by the way. She’s spending all her time complaining to my mother.”
I wasn’t surprised. Her mother, my mother, and our Aunt Trina were a terrifying trio. They fought constantly, and then made up and fought with everybody else in town.
“Why do you think I’m avoiding her?” I said, turning my attention back to the pathway. “She’s being a pain and I like to get her really good and angry before having to see her. That usually cuts down on the invasive questions as she spends half the get-together reminding herself that she’s angry with me.”
“Well, at least you’ve thought it through.” Alice went back to annoyingly scuffing her feet. “What are you going to do in the meantime?”
“About what? And, if you ask me about Hunter again, I’m going to tackle you into the river and drown you right here. There’s nothing to be done about Hunter. We’re just friends.”
She looked dubious, but she didn’t press the matter. “I was talking about the witch thing. Are you really going to wait until Great-Grandma gets here? That’s a long time, especially if you really are burning off people’s eyebrows.”
She had a point. “I don’t know what to do. I have to think.”
“You could always ask our grandmother. She’s never been shy when it comes to complaining about Great-Grandma.”
That was true. “I have tomorrow off. I’ll decide then.”
Alice was quiet for a few moments, something I appreciated, and then she pushed things to an uncomfortable place. “What’s the over-under for when Hunter dumps Monica and officially asks you out? I say it happens in less than a week. I wouldn’t have said that before I saw you together, but it’s definitely coming.”
“I will kill you,” I warned.
“Promises, promises.”
18
Eighteen
I didn’t wake with a hangover — at least from alcohol — but my head was fuzzy when I finally crawled out of bed the next morning. The kitten opened one eye, gave me a long look, and then rolled over and went back to sleep. His opinion on how I was spending my time was obvious.
I was still half asleep when I trudged to the kitchen to make coffee. It would’ve been faster — and probably better — if I’d just gone down to the restaurant and filled a mug there, but that would’ve meant changing out of my pajamas, far too much work. I was still waiting for the Keurig to finish heating up when Grandpa strolled into my apartment, a newspaper tucked under his arm. He pulled up short when he saw me.
“We have to talk about your drinking habits, kid.”
I stared at him for a long moment. “We have to talk about your knocking habits.”
“Technically this is my apartment.”
“But I live here. What would you have done if I’d been naked?”
He shrugged. He was no stranger to nudity now that I thought about it. In fact, if he was reading the newspaper at home, he refused to wear pants — no matter who wandered into the house. “Laughed while you ran screaming into the bedroom probably.”
I heaved out a sigh and turned back to the Keurig. “Try not to be in there all day.” The conversation Alice and I had shared on the walk back from the party last night bubbled up. “I need to shower in the next half hour or so.”
“Big date?” Grandpa didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get to the bathroom, which didn’t bode well for the schedule I was setting in my mind.
“If you say the name Hunter, I’ll wrestle you down and beat you with that newspaper.”
He chuckled. “Right. Good luck with that.” His gaze was speculative as he looked me up and down. “What did you do last night?”
“I drank in a field.” I saw no reason to lie. “Apparently everyone I went to high school with still hangs out in the same field on weekends.”
“There’s not much to do in this town,” Grandpa conceded, moving the newspaper to his other hand. “Do you want to tell me what’s bothering you?”
Did I? Would he think I was crazy if I told him about burning Monica’s eyebrows off her face? What was I thinking? He would jump straight on the crazy train and call the men in white coats to fit me for a