Cursed (22 page)

Jayden spoke to her!

Adrienne went to her next class, bursting with joy. He hadn’t paid any attention to the talk about her family’s curse, and he didn’t know that she spent the evening with a voodoo priestess learning about her sister.

She was aware of the students looking at her in the cheer uniform and couldn’t help but smile at everyone she passed. In a matter of a week, she fit into her new school in a way she’d never expected. Jayden liked her and the cheer squad members were quickly becoming her friends.

Despite a steady stream of cards warning her to be cautious, the morning passed in a happy, dreamy haze, the best day of school in her life.

On her way to lunch, Kimmie intercepted her.

“Addy, why don’t you sit with us?” she asked.

“Um, I …” Adrienne glanced towards the open double doors of the cafeteria, hesitating. She’d promised to have lunch with Emma, who was probably waiting for her at the salad station.

“You’re part of the team now, Addy,” Kimmie reminded her. “We always have lunch together on game days. It’s for luck.”

“Oh. Okay. I guess I can do that today,” Adrienne replied.

“Great!” Kimmie looped her arm through Adrienne’s and waved Kayla over. “I’m like, so excited to hear you sing today.”

They walked into the cafeteria. Adrienne’s gaze went to the salad station, where Emma was waiting.

She waved and started towards her, wanting to explain that she was having lunch with the cheer squad today only.

“This way,” Kimmie said, tugging her the opposite direction.

“I need to tell –”

Kimmie made an exasperated sound. “It’s just one lunch.”

Adrienne didn’t resist. She cast a glance over her shoulder, in time to see Emma’s face fall. The lonely girl limped to the salad station alone.

Adrienne pried her arm loose from Kimmie’s, intending to talk to her friend, whether or not Kimmie wanted her to.

Until she saw Jayden seated at the table with the other members of the cheer squad and a few guys in football jerseys.

He caught her gaze and smiled.

All thoughts of Emma faded, and Adrienne walked the rest of the way to the table without Kimmie’s help. She sat down in an empty spot, surprised to see there were two large pizzas on the table already.

“We have a pizza lunch every game day,” the skinny teen with dark eyes and blond hair told her. “I’m Mickey.”

“Adrienne,” she said.

“I know.” He grinned and glanced at Jayden, who was at the other end of the table.

Adrienne followed his look, admiring Jayden’s chiseled profile. He was breathtakingly handsome, so much so she almost didn’t believe he was at all interested in her.

“Hi, Tara,” Mickey said to the girl who sat down beside Adrienne.

“Whatever,” came the curt response. A gorgeous brunette with large, blue eyes and golden skin, Tara had a heart-shaped face and high cheekbones. She was taller than Adrienne, willowy and feminine from her manicured fingernails to her neat hair and the light scent of perfume. Adrienne recognized her when they met earlier from Madame Estelle’s.

Mickey appeared wounded enough for her to giggle.

“Addy, I brought us all that water you like,” Kimmie called from her spot three seats down. “Cherry flavored!” She held out a bottle to Adrienne.

Adrienne took it. While she loved the water, the blood red coloring was a little too similar to the red from her adventures yesterday. She forced a smile.

“Thanks, Kimmie.”

Kimmie beamed and passed out bottles of red water to everyone else on the cheer squad.

A little queasy at the red water, Adrienne touched her ear. She’d taken enough painkillers to keep it from hurting more than a distant throb. Her hair was down, so no one had noticed the bandages around her ear.

“To the first game of our senior year,” Kimmie said and stood. She raised her bottle of water. “And the best quarterback in the country. Win us a game, Jay!”

The others at the table clapped and whooped, while the girls on the cheer squad raised their bottles in a toast.

Adrienne swallowed hard and did so as well. She sipped it, relieved it tasted like cherry.

Don’t be so lame!
She lectured herself.
It’s just water.

She drank more, relaxing. It wasn’t the blood of a deranged voodoo priestess, just flavored water. Mickey plopped a slice of pizza on her plate then tried to offer one to Tara, who just passed her plate down to the girl beside her.

Sensing someone watch her, Adrienne looked up.

It was Jayden. He wasn’t smiling. His gaze went from her to the bottle and lingered before he looked away.

Was he thinking of what happened at his grandmama’s last night?

Her spirits dampened a little. Maybe he was more upset about what happened than he let on. He’d been smiling and happy to see her earlier, but maybe the blood red drink was too much of a reminder.

What if his grandmama called him and told him again that Adrienne was cursed?

She drew a deep breath.

Enjoy today.
It was the best day of school ever. She’d wow everyone – including Jayden – at the pep rally and then cheer her heart out at the game tonight. Tomorrow, she’d splurge on some nice nail polish then go out with Jayden after her shift reading tarot cards.

This was her year. She was going to relish every second of it.

“You wanna hang out after the game tonight?” Tara asked her.

Adrienne froze, not expecting yet another incredible addition to her already amazing day.

“Yeah,” she said. “I would.”

“We usually go for pizza. It’s all we eat on Friday’s,” Tara said, smiling. “Seniors buy. It’s my turn tonight.”

Adrienne didn’t want to think about what happened if it ever came to be her turn to buy. How on earth could she afford to buy pizza for the whole football team and cheer squad?

“Jay has to take care of the twins, so he won’t be there,” Tara added.

“Twins?” Adrienne echoed.

“Our sisters. We take turns during the school year so we can have like, a life.”

“You’re …” Adrienne tried to grasp what Tara was saying. She glanced at Jayden.

Devil. Death. Six of Cups.

Suddenly, the cards she’d seen Sunday made sense. Jayden’s cards had been haunting her all week.

“Stepsiblings. His daddy adopted us when he married our mama,” Tara explained. “Our parents are too busy for the two little ones, so we take turns.”

“I know how that feels,” Adrienne said with wry emotion. “I pretty much raised my three younger sisters before coming here. If you ever want a babysitter, let me know.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, sure.” Adrienne smiled. “It’s what friends do, right?”

Tara appeared startled. She said nothing for a few seconds.

“Um, I guess,” she said finally. “Thanks.”

“No problem.”

Adrienne wolfed down her pizza, grateful to eat real food instead of salad for lunch. She calculated how much money she’d save if she didn’t have to pay for lunch on Fridays. It was at least ten extra dollars a week. It would add up fast.

Lunch passed quickly, and she went to her next class. No one had called her Swamp Girl all day, though a few students snickered to see her dressed in the cheer uniform. There was nothing any of them could do today to upset her.

She finished Kimmie’s water the next class and dropped the bottle in a recycle bin. Her throat was tingling by the time she sat down in the last class of the day. The pep rally would take up the final period, and her excitement was growing.

When they heard her sing, they’d never call her Swamp Girl again. The whole school would know she was meant for something great.

Adrienne cleared her throat a couple of times, attributing the scratchiness to nerves. Even knowing how good she was, she felt anxious about singing in front of Jayden. He’d heard her practice, but he’d never heard her really sing. They’d asked her to sing the National Anthem at the pep rally then one other number, the school’s alma mater.

Too nervous to focus on the instructor, she checked her email and was excited to see an email from her mother.

Hi baby,

I don’t remember all of it and can’t recall the original French. It was one of them fairy tales meant to teach kids lessons. I think it went something like …

A man gave the gods his spirit for a black magic spell

that would grant him riches.

The gods took not his spirit but what he cared for most.

A curse times three came upon the bokor who created the blood magic

that took the lives of thousands.

Ninety-nine lives was the price of the bokor’s magic, and the bokor’s life.

The man was spared but brought the curse of ninety-nine upon his family.

He spent his life with gold and pain and only his greed

kept him warm at night.

That’s all I can remember. When are you coming back? You seem so far away.

Love,

Mama

Adrienne re-read the disjointed tale many times, perplexed by it. Candace seemed to think either Adrienne’s family did something terrible or were the target of someone’s vengeance. What if it was something different? What if one of her ancestors was the
bokor
who created the blood magic that hurt thousands?

Who were the man and
bokor
? Why was the man who bought the spell in pain? What was it he cared for most of all? Who were the ninety-nine who died?

The more she thought, the more confused she became. Much of the story was missing. Could Candace make any sense of it?

Adrienne jotted down her questions. She wrote herself a reminder to mention the sticky notes, too, when she saw Candace next.

The bell rang, jarring Adrienne out of her thoughts.

Adrenaline jolted through her. She stood in sync with the rest of the kids in class and cleared her throat once more. It felt … swollen? She hummed to loosen it up on the way to her locker. Following Kimmie’s instructions, she put everything away.

Her attention went to the single photo she’d put up in her locker, the one Rene gave her of Therese and Jax.

Get my journal back.

Adrienne’s smile fell. She studied the picture. Maybe she shouldn’t go for pizza after the game tonight but find Candace instead. Was she being selfish by not going right away?

Jax cared for her sister too much to destroy the journal.

What was the mysterious leaver of sticky notes worried about, if not Jax ruining the journal?

“You ready?” Tara asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Yeah,” Adrienne answered. Her voice was husky, the way it was when she had hay fever in spring. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Just grabbing a good luck charm.” She tugged the photo free and tucked it into the small pocket of her skirt. She debated for a split second, not liking the idea of leaving her iPad where she couldn’t see it. She’d never owned anything so expensive. She preferred to keep it with her.

“You don’t have to do this, if you’re not ready,” Tara said.

Adrienne put her iPad in its cross body case to take with her and closed the locker.

“I’m ready,” she said happily and started towards the locker room.

“No, really.” Tara took her arm. “You don’t have to do this.”

Tara was serious.

Adrienne was more than a little wounded. Why would Jayden’s stepsister not want her to participate? What had he told her?

“But I want to,” Adrienne said. “I want to show people I’m not some charity case. When they hear me sing, they won’t make fun of me anymore.”

Tara released her, features softening. “I just … Jayden’s right. You’re a sweet girl.”

“He said that?”

Tara nodded.

“C’mon, girls!” Kimmie shouted from down the hallway.

Adrienne went, the strange exchange with Tara forgotten. Her heart hammered faster and faster the closer she got to the locker rooms. The excitement in the air made her almost giddy at the opportunity to show the world why she was there.

The girls on the cheer squad were joking and laughing. A couple freshened up while two more dished about the members of the football team they were dating. Adrienne listened to the chatter flying around her, amazed.

This is what it’s like to be popular.
It was better than it looked from the outside.

Only Tara seemed uninterested in engaging with the others. She was quietly redoing her makeup a short distance from everyone.

Adrienne wondered what was wrong with Jayden’s sister. Her own spirits were too high for her to dwell on Tara’s subdued presence. It was soon time for them to make their entrance into the auditorium.

“Line up!” Kimmie ordered.