Wish (4 page)

“The Institute’s location is kind of loose. It’s not like a regular
building. It’s close now, but unseen by human eyes.  She chose to go, to
protect you.”

I snorted. “Protect me? How, by screwing up my adolescence?”
I gritted my teeth even harder. “Why did she have to run away and hide if she’s
a witch?”

Nana patted my hand. “It’s a long story, sweetie. Your mom doesn’t
have her powers anymore, but she can still be sensed and….she thought The
Institute would keep them from finding you.”

I made another snorting sound to hide my fear.  “Why would
they want to find me?”

“She didn’t want to leave you and Cody, but she didn’t think
she had any other choice.”

It didn’t escape me that she ignored my question. She glanced
away as if something fascinating lay on mom’s dresser. “We have to figure out
what went wrong. What to do.”

“How about TELLING ME THE TRUTH?” I yelled.

      Nana tsked me. “That’s another thing that makes this so
difficult. Powers arrive at the same time as fluxing hormones.”

      “Nana! What’s going on?”  A ball of something inside my
stomach burned and felt a lot like fear. I didn’t know what was going on. But I
knew I didn’t like it.

Nana looked like a little old lady perched on the edge of my
mom’s bed, but she’d been the source of stability in the last year. “You’re a
witch, honey. No doubt about it. A full-fledged witch. Your mother tried to
prevent. She got rid of the necklace. She hid. But it couldn’t be stopped.  Magic
is back. The wheels are in motion. There’s nothing you can do. I can’t make any
decisions until I talk to your mom. I only hope that we can get her out.”

      “I don’t want this,” I interrupted. Magic meowed and
jumped on the bed and crawled on top of me. “I don’t want this,” I repeated.

I thought I was boring. A snooze fest in sneakers. A flat underdeveloped
teenager.  

“I know you’re upset, pumpkin. I’m upset, too. But we have to
deal with this. Right away. There’s danger.”  Nana stopped talking and ran her
hand over my head. A wave took my entire body downwards. I was more tired than
I’d ever been in my entire life. My rage disappeared, taking all my energy with
it. I yawned.

 “Danger?”  I asked, almost disinterested.

“Don’t worry. Magic will help look after you. Magic is
special.”

My eyes got even heavier as Magic purred on top of me. My
brain got foggier. “I don’t want to be a witch. I don’t want to go crazy,” I
mumbled.

“You’re not crazy, Sydney, trust me. Right now, you need rest.
Tomorrow when you wake up, you’re going to experience a lot of changes. I have
to see your mom. I don’t know what I can tell you, yet. I have to talk to your
mom first. We’ll talk more soon.”

She sighed so deeply, I felt the breeze of it touch my own soul.
“Being a witch is not a bad thing, pumpkin. But it does make you, rather
extraordinary. Humans don’t always accept us if they find out about us. And there
are the Others.” She pursed her lips tightly, made a little noise of
frustration. “You really should have been schooled on this. You have changes
coming. I’ll go to your mom.  Speak to her. I’ll be back tomorrow night with
answers. Tomorrow, you go to school like you normally do because we don’t want
to set off any alarms. But keep this secret. You can’t let anyone know you’re a
witch. Not yet. Promise me.”

She gripped my hand hard and I nodded. My heart dipped.
“Nana. I’m scared. I don’t understand.”

      “I know, dear. And I’ll explain. I will. But first.
First I have to talk to your mom. Promise me. Tell no one.”

      I nodded.

Nana wiped a stream of wetness off my cheek. “I’m here for
you. More than you know.” She tucked sheets and blankets around me, cocooning
me into my mom’s bed. “Sleep here tonight,” she whispered in my ear.

She placed her hands over my eyes and I closed them again,
relived to rest. She spoke again, leaning down and whispering in my ear. Her
voice sounded lyrical, almost like a chant, and I didn’t understand what she
was saying.

She placed her hand on my shoulder and I felt a warm sensation
prickle under her fingers. It lingered for a moment and then disappeared. I
moaned as Magic’s warm body pressed in close to my chest and gave in to
unconsciousness.

      If I’d known what was coming, I would have stayed
sleeping for the rest of my life.

      I opened my eyes, surprised for a moment to find myself
curled up in my mom’s bed. Then as memories from the day before rushed my
brain, I closed my eyes.

Cody clomped up the stairs. “Sydney,” he shouted.

“I’m in here.”

His footsteps moved down the hall to where I lay in Mom’s
room.  He opened the door, poking his head in. “What’re you doing in here?”

He didn’t wait for an answer but threw the cordless phone at
the bed “It’s for you.”

I stared at the phone, but he left, closing the door behind
him. I heard a Meow, and lifted my arm. Magic crawled out from under the
covers, stretching. 

I frowned and then picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“Sydney?” a male voice said. “Hi. It’s me. Mike. Can I give
you a ride to school today? Pick you up at your house?”

“No,” I shouted. I clicked the off button and threw the phone
on the bed. Mike in the privacy of my own mind was one thing. Stupid crush.
Officially over. If I had public contact with Mike it would unleash the rage of
the Clickers on me, the most powerful group in high school. The Clickers
usually leave me alone, which means they deny my existence, but this definitely
spelled exception-ville. Messing with Jenny’s boyfriend, the leader of the
Clickers. Um. Not allowed. I wasn’t sure if my friends would stand behind me or
kick me to the curb. 

The phone rang again. I yelped, and then picked it up before
Cody.

“Hello?” I panted.

“Sydney? It’s Mike. I must have got cut off.” His cheery
voice didn’t sound offended.

“Yes, I know. Sorry, there’s something wrong with our phone.”
I clicked the phone off again and buried it under the pillow.

“Ahh,” I screamed. “Cody,” I shouted. “Don’t answer the
phone.”

On cue it rang again. I knew Nana wouldn’t pick up. She
always left early for work before Cody and I got up. I wondered if she’d
already talked to Mom.

“They’re both crazy,” I muttered. No way my mom had powers.
She was more ordinary than me.

Magic meowed loudly. I stared at him. He looked back with his
shrewd cat eyes.

“Leave me alone,” I ordered.
          Magic dismissed me and began to lick his fur. The ringing under the
pillow stopped. I tried to remember what I’d learned about mental illness in
health class. Paranoia. Bonkers was arriving way before schedule. I jumped out
of the warm bed onto the cold tile floor. 

      “I’m not crazy,” I said out loud. Magic leapt off the
bed and disappeared out of Mom’s room.

My head throbbed and a strange cramp pierced my stomach.

      The phone squawked to life again. I glanced around,
panicking, and caught a reflection of myself in the mirror across the room. The
ringing faded into the background. I crept closer. It was me in there, all
right, me only better. My black hair shined, wavier. I leaned in closer. My
skin looked flawless. Not one pimple on my usually spotty face. Instead of
pale, as if I’d been in the hospital for months, my skin actually looked creamy
as if I’d been airbrushed for a photo.

      My stomach cramped up again and I hurried out of Mom’s
bedroom into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. I pulled down my pants
to sit on the toilet. A big red spot stained the middle of my cotton underwear.
White ones, of course. Perfect timing. My first period.

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply so I wouldn’t pass out
from the combination of pain and weirding out.

A rat-tat tat sounded on the door. Startled, I stood up and
plopped down on the beige, squishy bath mat, my underwear still bunched at the
bottom of my feet.

“What?” I cried, worried who would answer as I tried to get
myself upright.

“Your boyfriend is here,” Cody called.

“Boyfriend?” my voice squeaked.

“Mike. He’s downstairs. You okay in there, Sydney?” Cody’s
voice cracked.

“Fine, fine.” I stood and pulled up my pants mortified he
even had an inkling of what was happening to me.

“I
wish Mike would go away,” I whispered under my breath.

“Tell him I’m dead,” I called as I scanned the bathroom for a
solution to my problem. I wondered if we had any girl stuff in the house.

“Yeah. Like that’s going to work with the super freak.”

“Well, tell him something. Tell him to go away.”

I checked the cupboards. Nothing.

      He clomped down the stairs. I grabbed toilet paper and
wrapped it around my hand until I had a thick sausage roll. I shoved it into my
underwear. I’d have to deal with this too, on top of everything else.

      I scrubbed my hands and face and opened the drawer
beside the sink and pulled out an elastic and brush, pulling my hair up into a
ponytail.

      I stumbled down the hallway, to my room. Had I really
wished I’d finally get my period? The way my head and stomach ached, I
definitely could have waited another sixteen years.

      “I’m leaving the house in ten minutes, and I’m not
waiting for you if you’re late.” Cody shouted up the stairs.

      I glanced at the clock. Shoot. Why wasn’t I born a
morning person like Stevie, who would have had time to shower after the arrival
of her period?

      The clump of paper between my legs rubbed like diapers.
I pulled out a clean pair of panties and transferred the stuffing and went to
the closet to stare at my clothes. My jeans all fit tight; a big bulge of
toilet paper would show. I thought about my new miniskirt and shuddered. What
if my makeshift pad fell out of my panties? I reached to the top shelf and
pulled down a pile of clothes. I inspected them as they plopped to the floor.

I picked up a plain white shirt and an old pair of jean
overalls and pulled them on. I rubbed my necklace for luck as I slid into a
pair of clunky sandals. I rushed back to the bathroom and threw some toothpaste
on my toothbrush and circled my eyes with black eyeliner.

I glanced closer in the mirror. I resembled a farm girl in my
overalls with my hair pulled back. The only thing remotely cool was the
necklace around my neck. It didn’t help my nerves to worry about being expelled
to the outskirts of loser-hood, without a group to call my own. Thank God, Stevie
was my friend. Without her I’d be banished, especially if Mike talked to me at
school. Jenny would be on the warpath.

I spit out toothpaste and bolted down the stairs before Cody
left without me.

Cody was waiting. “You’re lucky. Mike left before I got to
him.”

Magic meowed loudly from the bottom step.

Shoot. I haven’t even fed the cat, I thought.

“No worries. I fed him. I gotta admit, I kind of like this
kitten,” Cody said. “He reminds me of Mom’s old cat. You remember don’t you? He
was white, exactly like this guy. Same eyes too.”

I gave him a dirty look. He was listening to my thoughts, no
matter what Nana’s said. I did not need him snooping around in my head on top
of everything else. I glanced at Cody’s too handsome face. He had on freshly
pressed jeans and a wrinkle free t-shirt. His hair was damp and slightly curly
from his shower. He’d probably been up for an hour. I looked like a mess.

Magic purred.

I glanced down at him.

He looks exactly like Mom’s old cat, I thought.

Cody reached down to scoop Magic into his arms. Magic purred
again.

“He does look like Mom’s old cat,” Cody said.

I burst into tears. My brother was reading my mind. How could
things possibly get any worse?

Cody rammed his car into a spot in the high school parking
lot. He turned to me as he shut off the ignition. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Fine.” I grabbed my backpack from the floor by my feet
without meeting his eyes. I tried not to think too hard, in case he tuned in.

He pulled his neatly organized backpack from the backseat.
“Whatever, Sydney. I didn’t think turning sixteen meant you were going to
become an even bigger freak.”

He got out of the car and slammed the door, waiting for me to
climb out. Poor Cody. He kept his life in order and dealt with the chaos in our
family by pretending nothing unusual was happening. He seemed to think that if
he stayed active and fashionably unwrinkled, he could keep away the family
crazies.