Denial - BK 8 Santa Anna Witches Page 3

  That’s the understatement of the year.

  “So’s mine,” Natalia says. “And she’s totally not judgmental at all—she loves everybody. She even loved Derek.”

  “Oh, that changes things. If she thought Derek was cool then my mom is a lock.”

  Nat laughs and a few minutes later we get off the phone. The smile dies on my lips as soon as I hang up. The thought of having my mom at Natalia’s house is horrifying to me. But I didn’t want to let Nat down, so I had to say yes. But still. Talk about a disaster waiting to happen.

  ***

  Mom gets home from work at about seven o’clock. She’s carrying two brown bags and the smell of Chinese food wafts towards me.

  “Takeout?” I ask, as she hands the bags off to me and sets her satchel on the floor by the front door.

  “I’m exhausted,” she says. “Can you get out some dishes?”

  “Sure.” I put the food on the table and grab some plates and silverware.

  “How was school?” she asks.

  “Fine.” I rip open the bags. “Nice, you got spare ribs.”

  “Of course.” She comes over and sits down, sighing. “Anything interesting happening?”

  I give her a look. If she only knew the half of it. But I would never even hint at the insane stuff going on with Raine and Brody. My mom can’t even watch PG-13

  horror movies so I can’t imagine what she’d do if she found out that her son was almost made a human sacrifice by a coven of witches.

  “Well, there is something,” I say, biting into a spare rib.

  “Do tell.”

  “I’m kind of seeing someone.”

  Her eyes light up. “Well I know you’ve been spending time with Raine Marsden.

  I really like her.”

  I flinch at the mention of her name. That’s right, Brody opened his big fat mouth and told my mom that Raine liked me. “Not Raine,” I say.

  “What happened?”

  “With Raine?”

  “She’s such a beauty.” Mom gets up from the table and walks to the fridge, takes out a jug of table wine. “And always so friendly. Did I tell you how she actually pumped gas for me—”

  “Yeah, you did,” I say, frustrated.

  She pours a big glass of wine and stands across the kitchen, sipping it thoughtfully. “Such a nice girl. Did you two have an argument?”

  No. She tried to steal my life force.

  “She’s just not my type.”

  “Shame, shame, shame.”

  “But I’m seeing someone else,” I remind her.

  “Do I know her?”

  This is getting annoying. And Mom is drinking, which makes it worse.

  Reminding me exactly why I don’t think this dinner is such a good idea.

  “No, mom, you don’t know her. But I want you to meet her.”

  Mom clucks. “I still think you and Raine could work things out.”

  “Did you not hear me?”

  “What?”

  “I told you she’s not my type. I don’t like Raine. She’s a bitch.”

  Mom’s expression grows stormy. “Do not speak like that in front of me. I’m your mother.”

  “You need to ease up on the table wine.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “No, excuse me.” I get up and leave the room. I go outside and just as I’m about to get in my car to drive around and cool off, I spot a familiar vehicle parked across the street, a few houses down.

  I recognize that car, I think.

  Derek.

  I wonder if he’s watching me. I pretend not to notice anything, instead getting in my car and slowly backing out of my driveway, taking my time. Then I come around and as I’m passing him, slow all the way down and stop.

  I roll down my window and wave at him.

  He rolls down his window.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” I say.

  “That’s not much of a greeting.” He grins, all smarmy and arrogant.

  “What are you doing in my neighborhood?”

  “Not much.” He shrugs. “Taking in the view. Pretty sweet place you got, Cam.”

  But then I notice which way his car is facing and how far it is from my house.

  “You’re watching Aiden, aren’t you?”

  His shit-eating grin fades for a moment, and it feels like I get a quick peak beneath the surface. He looks like a stone cold psycho. But then the smile comes back.

  “Don’t worry about what I’m doing, Cam. I’m on your side, buddy. Didn’t Natalia tell you how I showed her where to find you guys the other night?”

  “She told me you followed her and acted like a stalker, as usual. Yeah.”

  “Come on now, that’s no way to thank the guy who helped save your life.” His hand rests on the steering wheel. He’s chewing gum. “Of course, Aiden had it even rougher than you did.”

  “How do you know all this shit?”

  He smiles. “Now you know I can’t tell you that. And besides, you’re better off not knowing too much. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.”

  “Why are you spending time with Brody’s sister?”

  Now the smile really goes away and his teeth show, but it’s like a dog about to bite. “Who told you that?”

  “Ignorance is bliss, Derek.”

  He starts his car. “Well now that you’ve got that little piece of advice memorized, here’s another.”

  “Yeah?”

  “A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Very, very dangerous.”

  And then he speeds off.

  Chapter Five

  Natalia

  When I get to school the next morning, Hadley’s waiting for me in the front entrance of school, by the gym. Her hair’s in two pigtails, and she’s wearing knee socks and a pair of shiny black Mary Janes. She looks like a naughty schoolgirl. I look down at my own uniform, still a little rumpled, and try not to feel inferior.

  “Okay, so this is going to sound totally lame,” she says when she sees me, “But what would you think about having a sleepover?”

  “A sleepover?” I ask. For a second I wonder if she’s going to say she’s going to use her webcam to tape it and then upload it to one of those pay-per-view porn sites.

  That’s how sexy this girl is.

  “Yeah.” She pulls on the bottom of a pigtail. “Me, you and Adrianna. And if there’s anyone else you think we should invite, they can come too.”

  I hesitate. I’m all about sleepovers. I mean, what’s not to like? Snacks, makeovers, cheesy movies. But I’m supposed to be having Cam and his mom over to dinner this weekend. And even though we didn’t set a specific time, I’m thinking I need to keep my schedule wide open.

  Especially since Cam sounded a little weird about it on the phone last night. I just want to get the whole thing over with. How bad can his mom really be? All she has to do is come over, eat some dinner, and let my mom know that she’s not going to let us shoot up in the basement and/or have sex on the kitchen counter.

  “A sleepover would be fun,” I tell Hadley. “Except I have plans with Cam this weekend.”

  “What about me?” Cam asks, appearing behind us in the hall. He leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

  “I was inviting Natalia to hang out this weekend, but she was saying you guys have plans.” Hadley looks disappointed, which makes me feel bad. She’s nice. And it’s not her fault she’s gorgeous.

  “We have plans?” Cam looks at me, confused.

  “Oh. I mean, not definite ones. But I thought we were talking about doing that dinner with our parents.” I keep my tone deliberately light.

  “Oh.” An uncomfortable look passes over his face. “I didn’t know that was a definite thing.”

  “Well, it wasn’t,” I say. “I mean, the dinner is a definite thing. And I just thought that this weekend would make the most sense.” I also kind of told my mom that Cam and his mom were for sure coming over this weekend. I had to! After that whole scene at dinner, I wanted to alle
viate some of her fears. But I don’t mention any of that to Cam.

  “If you want to hang with Hadley, that’s fine,” Cam says to me. “You should.

  We can do the dinner another time.”

  I look at him incredulously. Do the dinner another time? What is he talking about? “No, that’s okay,” I say brightly. “We should probably just get it over with.

  Hadley understands, don’t you, Hadley?”

  “Totally,” Hadley says. I can tell she’s still disappointed, but she smiles anyway.

  “I mean, if you guys had plans….”

  “No way,” Cam says. “You shouldn’t be alone on your first weekend at Santa Anna.”

  She shouldn’t? Why not? Should I be concerned that my boyfriend wants to hang out with the new girl?

  “It’s fine,” Hadley says. “I don’t want to intrude. I’m sure you want to be with your girlfriend this weekend, Cam.”

  “Cam?” I ask, raising my eyebrows at him.

  He still looks uncomfortable, but he says, “Of course I do. So why don’t we all do something together? We can all go out, play pool or something.”

  Okay, my boyfriend did not just invite another girl on one of our dates. The three of us? Playing pool together? That sounds horrible. First, I hate pool. I’m horrible at it.

  And second, why do we want to spend our first full weekend as a couple with another girl?

  Then Cam says, “We could invite some other people, too. Maybe Lancaster and Adrianna?”

  “Adrianna’s over it,” I say. “But what about Aiden?” Yes! This is actually perfect. We’ll turn this into some kind of double date! The four of us. Me and Cam.

  Aiden and Hadley.

  “Aiden?” Cam asks doubtfully.

  “Oooh, who’s Aiden?” Hadley asks. “Is he another footballer?”

  “Hardly,” Cam says.

  “Cam!” I say. I turn to Hadley. “Aiden’s one of Cam’s best friends. He’s really sweet and nice.”

  “Is he cute?” Hadley asks.

  “Yes.” It’s not a lie. Aiden is cute. In fact, that’s the word I would pick to describe him. He’s not gorgeous or good-looking. He’s cute. Like a puppy.

  “Oooh, a set up!” Hadley jumps up and down, her pigtails bouncing. “I love blind dates. Does that make me weird?”

  “No,” I say. “I love blind dates, too.” I give Cam a pointed look. A pointed look that means if he’s not careful, I might be getting set up on some blind dates of my own.

  “Aiden’s not exactly in any shape to be going on a date,” Cam says. “He’s sick.”

  “It’s only Tuesday,” I point out, “He won’t be sick by Saturday.”

  “He might,” Cam says.

  “He won’t,” I say, a little more forcefully this time.

  Cam sighs. “Okay,” he says. “I’ll set it up.”

  “Great,” Hadley says. She claps her hands. “This is going to be so much fun! I can’t wait!” She bounces of down the hall, leaving the scent of some kind of fruity perfume in her wake.

  “So what was that about?” I ask Cam, deciding it’s better to just come out with it.

  After sneaking around for the past couple of weeks, now that we’re together and everyone knows it, I’m sick of keeping secrets and hiding my feelings.

  “What was what about?”

  “Not wanting to come over to my house? Not wanting to hook Hadley up with Aiden?”

  He shrugs. “It’s just a weird thing with my mom. And with Aiden.”

  I can tell he doesn’t want to talk about it, and so I decide not to push him.

  “Okay,” I say. “Fine. But you’re still going to bring it up to him, right? It’s still a plan? And we’re still going to find a time for your mom to come over?”

  “Of course.” He takes my hand and we walk down the hall toward his locker. I let him entwine his fingers with mine, doing my best to push the nagging feeling I have that there’s something he’s not telling me out of my mind.

  Chapter Six

  Campbell

  It’s probably not the best sign that I’m exhausted when Friday night rolls around and we’re all supposed to go out on a double date.

  But I do my best to snap out of it, take a long shower, dress up in a new button-down shirt and jeans, white Nikes. I check myself out in the full-length mirror in my room, spread some Crew hair wax in my hair and style it for a minute.

  “Not bad,” I say, taking the whole look in.

  When I get downstairs, Mom is at the kitchen table having a glass of wine and reading some magazine. She glances up at me and her lips tighten almost imperceptibly.

  We haven’t spoken much since our fight the other day.

  “Going out with some friends?” she asks in a fake interested voice.

  “Yeah.” I walk over to the table, suddenly feeling guilty about how I treated her.

  “Probably gonna play some pool at Flat Tops. Actually, Aiden’s going on a date with this new girl. She’s from England.” I laugh. “Can you picture Aid on a blind date?”

  “Mmmm….” She licks her finger and flips to a page with a headline that says

  “Picking an Inspired Color for Your Master Bedroom.”

  “Anyway,” I tell her. “I shouldn’t be home too late.”

  “Okay then.” She keeps her eyes on the magazine and doesn’t look at me.

  “Mom.”

  “Yes?”

  “Is everything okay?”

  She finally stops reading and looks up. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “I don’t know. You seem kind of weird.”

  “Everything’s fine, Campbell.” She takes another sip of wine.

  I sigh and turn around. “Well, see you later.”

  I head out to my car and then stop in front of Aiden’s, honking twice.

  I catch a glimpse of Aid in his bedroom window. He peers out and for a fleeting second I could swear he presses his face right against the glass. Then a moment later the light goes off.

  My phone buzzes. A text from Nat.

  U coming soon?

  I tell her we’ll be there in a few.

  The passenger door flies open. Aiden gets in, and I get a powerful whiff of some kind of cologne. “Dude, what the hell did you do—dump a bottle of Old Spice over your head?”

  He grins at me. “How’d you know I use Old Spice?”

  “Lucky guess.” I pull out of the driveway and start to head to Nat’s house.

  I glance at Aiden as I drive. He’s fidgety, almost hyper. Not all lethargic like he was the other day, so that’s good at least. But the smell of his cologne is almost making me gag. I roll down my window.

  Also, it seems like maybe he didn’t do such a hot job of shaving. He’s got a few strands of hair sprouting from his chin and jaw. “Feeling better?” I ask him.

  “Oh, definitely.”

  “That’s good. How come you weren’t in school again today?”

  He laughs. “Figured I might as well milk being sick for all it’s worth, seeing as I got a doctor’s note and all.” He drums his fingers on his legs. “So, you say this chick is really cute?”

  “Hadley?” I think about her. She’s definitely cute. Kind of hot, actually. But thinking that makes me feel kind of bad, like I’m somehow cheating on Nat. Which is ridiculous. I have no interest in Hadley. And it’s not like I can’t have opinions about other girls, right?

  “Well?” Aiden says.

  “Yeah, she’s cute. She’s plenty for you to handle. And she’s from England. Do you know much about England?”

  “Oh sure,” he says. “Crumpets, tea, Wimbledon, Parliament, all that stuff.”

  “All you did was just randomly list a bunch of topics.”

  “That’s all English stuff.”

  “And you can like hold a conversation about crumpets I guess?”

  “Oh, yeah. You’d be surprised what I can talk about. I’m good like that.”

  As the wind blows through my hair, and Aiden
continues to babble like a kid who just ate a pound of sugar, I can only hope that I’ve at least aired the car out a little.

  Because this could turn into a total nightmare.

  **

  The car ride to Flat Top Johnny’s has been painful. Pretty much how I’d imagined—only worse.

  Conversation has been spotty and awkward at best, and even Natalia and me are barely able to break the long silences in the car. She just grabs my hand and squeezes every so often, and we exchange horrified glances.

  Hadley is sitting in the back seat with Aiden, or rather—she’s about as far away as she can get without actually climbing out the window. He seems oblivious to her disgust, and keeps trying to make weird jokes.

  “Planning to go to Oxford and study law, Hadley?” he says.

  “Why would I do that? Because it’s in England?” She rolls her eyes.

  “You love England,” he replies. “I bet you eat tea and crumpets every morning.”

  “Oh, of course I do.” She shakes her head.

  “You coming to the football game tomorrow afternoon?” I ask Hadley in an effort to break the awkward conversation up a bit.

  Nat gives me a look but I’m not sure why.

  “I’d love to see a real American football game,” Hadley says.

  “Well, consider it an official invitation then,” I say, and feel another strong squeeze of my hand from Natalia. This time she digs her nails into my hand.

  “Hey,” I say.

  She smiles at me. “Almost there!”

  We park and walk into Flat Tops. The place isn’t too crowded for a Friday night, so we grab a high four top table near one of the pool tables.

  A waitress comes over and takes our drink orders. We can’t do anything alcoholic obviously, so everyone just gets sodas.

  I lean into Natalia and whisper in her ear. “Everything okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “You practically drew blood when you grabbed my hand a second ago.”

  “Sorry. It wasn’t intentional.”

  “All right, if you say so.”

  We look at the menus and decide to order some appetizers. Buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, and barbeque sliders.

  “Wot if I speak in Brittish accent?” Aiden says. “Would that make you like me better, aye?”