Witch - By Fiona Horne Page 0,17

come out with it.

‘Well, I’ve had an idea. Now that Cassidy and co officially hate our guts at school . . . I just thought we might as well completely embrace the freak factor and have our own club.’

I hesitated. No one looked too resistant so, encouraged, I continued. ‘It would be a club with a specific purpose. That is, it could be a little bit . . .’ My voice trailed off.

‘What?’ Dean urged me on.

‘Magical.’ I almost whispered the word, waiting for their retorts and ridicule. But everyone was silent. I looked at their faces and they all appeared thoughtful.

Brenda appeared again with more cookies. We had already devoured the first lot. ‘These ones are for enlightenment,’ she whispered in my ear, ‘infused with lemon and sage.’

I nodded and offered the plate around the table.

‘If it’s a magical club, maybe we should call it a coven?’ Alyssa said.

‘Aren’t covens evil?’ Dean looked nervous.

‘No,’ Bryce said, ‘covens are just people who get together and do magic and other stuff like that.’

‘How do you know that?’ Dean looked at Bryce warily. I think he was still getting used to the fact that the best-looking and coolest guy in school was hanging out with us motley crew.

‘Uh, I think I read it in a book. You know, I think Vania’s idea is great.’

He turned to me and smiled in that dazzling way, and for a second my heart fluttered. But then I folded those wings. Guard your heart Vania, you’re just friends, I admonished myself.

Brenda came over with a jug. ‘Would anyone like refills?’

We all nodded.

She poured the lemonade carefully, and I noticed that there was a large clear stone in the bottom of the jug.

‘What is that?’ I asked.

She smiled. ‘Quartz crystal. I use it to cleanse and empower whatever I place it in.’

‘That’s weird,’ Dean scoffed.

If Brenda was offended she didn’t show it. ‘Well, consider this,’ she said pleasantly. ‘There is quartz in watches, silicon in computers – there are crystals conducting energy in many common things we see every day.’ She stopped before adding cryptically, ‘And some things we don’t see.’

Brenda was so cool. I had a feeling I could learn a lot from her.

‘Maybe you could teach Vania more about that kind of stuff,’ Amelia and Alyssa said. Yes, they were most definitely psychic.

‘Would you like that, Vania?’ Brenda’s unblinking eye turned in my direction with a piercing gaze, and I felt a shiver of anticipation – and apprehension. If I said yes, who knew what could happen? I knew I was drawn to magic, and I was starting to think I had some in me, but the memory of the tree and that blackness in me made me worry what might be unleashed.

I sat there in silence until Bryce said, ‘Come on, Vania, this was your idea anyway.’ He turned to Brenda. ‘And while you’re teaching her spells, maybe you can throw in the recipe for these amazing cookies!’ He took a big, exaggerated bite and everyone laughed. He was hot, but he wasn’t afraid to be a dork sometimes – which, I had to admit, was adorable.

‘I would love it if you’d teach me some things, Brenda . . . thank you.’ I smiled.

Brenda nodded graciously and then turned to the others. ‘So what are the rest of you going to do?’

The twins immediately spoke up, ‘We’re interested in psychokinesis.’

‘Moving things with your mind – very cool,’ said Brenda approvingly.

Dean was next, and he shifted in his seat self-consciously. ‘Uhh, I don’t know exactly. I liked it when Vania made that penny turn gold. I thought that was magic, but it turned out to be science. I like magic, but I think I still have a lot to learn about what it is exactly. Maybe

I could just help her?’ He looked at me questioningly. ‘Could I be your assistant, Vania?’

I nodded. I had a feeling we would work well together. ‘For sure, Dean – you can help me until you decide what you want to do.’

And that left Bryce, who was sitting back looking very self-assured. ‘I know exactly what I want to focus on. Communicating with ghosts,’ he said decisively.

‘Is that possible? Are there ghosts?’ Dean said nervously. He looked around the room as if something were going to leap at him out of the dark shadowy corners of the cafe.

‘Only good ones here,’ Brenda said reassuringly and Dean relaxed . . . slightly.

‘Okay, so we are officially a coven,’ I said. ‘Um .