“Good grief, Channie, what the hell are you doing out there in the dead of night?”
“None of your damn business!” Channie jerked her arm out of Abby's clutches, climbed inside and shut the window. “What are you doing in my room?”
“I came to see if you were okay. How are you adjusting to your new power name?”
“Get that damn flashlight out of my face.” Channie wasn’t usually so short tempered. Was this just another manifestation of her new name?
Abby redirected the beam to the floor and sat down on Channie’s bedroll. “What Momma and Daddy did to you was dangerous. I was just worried, that’s all.”
It was risky to confide in Abby, but who else was she gonna talk to? Channie grabbed an extra blanket out of the closet and tucked it into the crack between the bottom of her bedroom door and the carpet then turned on the ceiling light. For some reason, the small act of rebellion against Daddy’s orders to not use electricity made her feel better. “What Momma and Daddy did to me was wrong, but what makes you think it’s dangerous?” Channie already knew her name was dangerous, but she wanted to find out what Abby knew about it. Maybe Momma and Daddy had let something slip in front of her.
“I’m afraid it’s going to change you.”
“Probably.” Channie already felt like a different person. “It’s nothing like Enchantment. It’s all prickly, like a curse. It even smells like one. And it’s hard to control.”
“So, it’s fully active now?”
Channie crossed her ankles and sat down in front of Abby, resting her elbows on her knees. She lowered her voice and said, “Promise not to tell on me?”
“Of course.”
Channie leaned closer. “I kissed a boy in the park and Chastity’s power-well sort of exploded on him.”
Abby's eyes widened. “Is he okay?”
“I think so. But, he took off before I got a chance to scan him.”
Abby smiled and said, “Did you enjoy kissing him?”
Channie grinned in spite of herself. “I would have enjoyed it a lot more if it hadn’t of scared the living daylights out of him.”
Abby giggled then slapped her hands over her mouth.
Channie held her breath until she was certain Momma and Daddy were still asleep.
Abby said, “Just wait ‘till you fall in love. You won’t believe how much you’ll enjoy kissing then.”
“Have you ever been in love?”
Abby's shoulders dropped three inches. “I still am.”
This was news. “Who are you in love with?”
“The boys’ daddy.”
Channie had always assumed the rascal was nothing but a passing fling since Abby didn’t even try to get him to marry her.
“Why didn’t you name the fella? Daddy would have made darn sure he stepped up and did you right by you.”
“Are you serious? Daddy would’a killed him.”
“Not if he agreed to marry you.”
“He’s magically disabled, Channie. How many times do I have to say it before somebody believes me?”
“The trips don’t act like Halfies.”
“You ever met any Halfies?” Abby narrowed her eyes when she repeated the derogatory term for mixed-blood people.
“No, but everybody says—”
“Magically disabled blood does not dilute power. My babies are proof enough of that. Besides, I got no reason to lie about it. You know how folks look down on mixed-blood people. Why would I want to burden the boys with that kind of prejudice if it weren’t the truth?”
“Well then, how come you didn’t lie about it the other way. You could have said their daddy was a mage instead of an Empty.“
“If I would’a done that, Daddy never would have stopped tormenting me about who it was until I told him another lie and named some poor mage. And then I would’ve had to marry him. And please quit calling the trip’s daddy an Empty. If you’re too lazy to say ‘magically disabled,’ call him an MD.”
“Sorry, it’s just a habit. I meant no offense. How did you meet him?”
“Me and Momma had gone into town. I smarted off about something and pissed her off. You know how she is. She made me sit in the bus while she went in to Wal-Mart. It got so damn hot, even with the doors open, I thought I was gonna die. I knew better than to go inside where it was air-conditioned after Momma told me to wait in the bus, so I went around to the north side of the building to get out of the sun and found a couple of boys leaning against the wall.”
Abby got a faraway, dreamy look in her eyes. “They worked at the McDonald’s next to Walmart and were on their lunch break. We started talking and one thing led to another and Diego...I mean...oh crap …”
Abby pressed her fist to her mouth and closed her eyes.
Channie reached out and touched her elbow.
“It’s okay, Abby. I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”
“I can’t believe I said his name. Five years and I ain’t never said his name in front of nobody. What the hell’s wrong with me?”
Channie waited a few minutes for Abby to calm down then said, “It’s an interesting name.”
“It’s Spanish.”
That explained the trips’ exotic good looks and dark coloring.
Abby picked a loose thread off the blanket. “Not much chance of you forgetting a name like that, huh?”
“No, but I already promised I wouldn’t tell anyone so quit worrying about it. What happened next?“
“He bought me a Coke-a-Cola.”
“Come on, Abby. You know what I mean. How’d you and Diego fall in love?”
Abby smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I went back to the bus as soon as I finished my drink, even though it was hotter than the gates of hell, and waited for Momma. I didn’t think I’d ever see Diego again, but the very next time we went to Walmart—there he was. I intentionally pissed Momma off so she’d send me back to the bus. As soon as I walked outside, Diego invited me to go to McDonald’s.”
“Wow. What’d he say when you told him you didn’t have any money?”
“He acted all insulted and said he’d never ask a girl out on a date and then expect her to pay.”
“So, what’d you get?” Channie had never eaten at a restaurant before.
“Cheeseburger, french-fried potatoes and a chocolate milkshake.”
“Was it good?”
“Oh man, Channie, you have no idea. If you ever get the chance to eat at McDonald’s, be sure you order those fried potatoes. You ain’t never tasted nothing so good in all your life.”
“So...How’d you get pregnant?”
Abby shrugged her shoulders. “Same as anybody else.”
“No, I mean you didn’t just...you know...do it right there in the parking lot. Did you?”
Abby laughed and shook her head. “No, silly. Of course not, and we didn’t do much more than kiss for the first couple of months anyway. But when the weather cooled off enough that the heat wouldn’t roast us like Thanksgiving turkeys, Diego borrowed his cousin’s pick-up and camper. Oh lordy, but we had fun in the back of that old truck.”
“In broad daylight?”
“We taped newspapers over the windows. Nobody knew what we were doing in there.”
Channie was willing to bet that Diego’s friends knew exactly what they were doing in there.
“What’s it like?” Heat spread from the base of Channie’s neck all the way to the top of her head. She dropped her gaze to the floor and watched a granddaddy longlegs slow progress as it crawled across the top of her left shoe.
Abby shrugged. “It’s not much fun the first couple of times, and the very first time hurts like a son-of-a-bitch. But it gets better with practice—a whole lot better.”
“Do you ever wish you would have waited? Until you were married?”
“Every day of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I love my boys and I can’t imagine life without ‘em. But it’s hard being somebody’s Momma when you’re only fi
fteen. Hell, it’s still hard, even at nineteen—especially with three of ‘em—but even if I hadn’t of gotten pregnant, I’d still regret it.”
“Because of the shame?”
“No. I ain’t ashamed of lovin’ Diego. But when you lie with a man, especially if you’re in love and it’s the first time for both of you, it creates a bond strong as any binding spell. It links your hearts together so tight that any separation feels like you’re being torn in half.” Abby folded her arms under her breasts and rocked forward.
Channie said, “Do you think you’ll ever get married?”
Abby sniffed and dabbed at her eyes with the edge of a blanket. “I don’t know. I don’t want to marry nobody but Diego.”
“But, you’re such a flirt.”
“It’s just an act. If everybody thinks I’m a good-for-nothing, boy-crazy whore, it protects Diego. But if I moped around all the time and acted like a love-sick innocent kid they’d never stop trying to find out who ruined me.”
Abby was a lot smarter than she acted.
“How come you and Diego didn’t just run off together?” That’s what Channie would have done.
“Diego’s daddy ran off with another woman two months before we met. The lazy skunk left his family high and dry with no way to support themselves. Diego dropped out of school and started working two jobs just to make ends meet. He can’t desert his momma and little brothers and sisters. They depend on him.”
“That sucks.”
“It sure does. Diego ain’t never gonna get to hold his babies or tell ‘em he’s their daddy or nothing. I wish to high heaven I would have had the courage to tell Momma and Daddy to just go to hell and stayed with Diego.”
“You’re an adult. Why didn’t you?”
“On account of the boys. Diego and I can’t support ourselves and three kids. Not while he’s also taking care of his Momma and little brothers and sisters.” Abby swiped the tears off her cheeks. “Everyone says listen to your heart, but that’s easy. You can’t help but listen to your heart—the damn thing won’t shut up until you do. I had to choose between the only man I’ll ever love and my babies. It was a hard choice, Channie. A damned hard choice.”
Chapter Two
JOSHUA
After Abby left, Channie couldn’t fall asleep. It had nothing to do with sleeping on the floor or worrying about Abby's sad situation, or even the trauma of a new power name...and everything to do with kissing that tall, skinny boy in the park. She didn’t even know his name.
Her heart raced just thinking about that damn kiss. She tried to convince herself she was just worried about him telling the other kids at school. It was a legitimate concern. The past ten years at Wisdom Academy of Magic and Modern Living had taught her just how fast a juicy rumor could spread. The Academy was a private school for mages but there was nothing private about it. She doubted the gossip mill at a public school would be any less efficient.
So, Channie began her first day at Monarch High School with her heart in her throat and her stomach tied in knots. She did not want to start school with a bad reputation on top of everything else. Maybe he didn’t even go to this school. It would simplify her life if she never saw him again, but she couldn’t deny the disappointment she felt when she considered that possibility.
The bike rack near the back door of the school was nearly empty. Two obviously expensive bicycles were stripped of front wheels and seats and locked up tight with metal bars that secured the frames to the rack. The only other bicycle looked like it was made out of scavenged parts from Pappy’s junk yard. Nothing matched and it was so small it looked like it belonged to a fourth-grader. It was also locked. Not that it mattered. No one was going to steal that piece of crap.
Channie didn’t have a lock for her bicycle. She considered pushing it into the bushes and casting a hands-off spell on the living plants to guard it, but Momma and Daddy had told her not to use magic at school. The chances of discovery were so low it was ridiculous. They had moved here specifically because there were no other mages in the area. Even if there were, they would have to discover Channie’s spell, trace it back to her, figure out Daddy was a wanted mage, and even then, they’d have to be an extraordinarily despicable character to rat him out.
A more likely scenario was for some stupid Empty to get zapped and think her bike was touching an exposed electrical wire or something and call the fire department. Not only would Momma and Daddy sell her bike, they’d curse her and take a belt to her backside for such blatant disobedience.
Channie removed the seat and put it in her backpack then went inside.
Channie noticed several cute boys in the halls, but most of them already had girls hanging all over them. Daddy was right about one thing. If it weren’t for loose morals, Empties wouldn’t have any morals at all. One couple even walked by with their hands in each other’s back pockets.
The first bell rang just as the woman behind the counter in the administration office handed Channie an admissions packet along with a map of the school and a yellow strip of paper with “Locker number A-27 Combination 35-17-32” typed at a slight angle along the top edge.
Channie peeked inside her packet and bit back a groan. She was dismayed, but not surprised, to see her name listed as Chastity Belks. The spell Momma and Daddy used to change her name, magically changed it on every one of their new documents as well.
The woman said, “Hang on a sec. I’ll write you a pass,” then pulled a small pad of blue paper out of a drawer, signed the top sheet and handed it to Channie. It was an excuse for tardiness. The only good thing about her family’s move was that it had happened before the fall semester started. Channie didn’t want to be late on the first day and wind up sitting on the front row for the whole year. She wanted to sit in the back where she could keep an eye on everyone else.
So—she used an itty-bitty little seeking spell to find her classroom. The spell was so weak all traces of it would be gone before lunch.
Channie tried smiling at a couple of girls on her way to class, but they were too busy talking to each other to notice her. She had a little better luck with the boys, but when they did notice her, it activated Chastity’s energy. She didn’t want to curse anyone so she avoided eye-contact and hugged the wall on her way to class.
The teacher was already seated behind her desk when Channie walked in. The woman looked to be about a hundred years old. Channie handed the enrollment packet to her, tossed the pass into the trash and took a seat near the back of the room just as the second bell rang. The teacher pursed her lips, pushed her half-moon granny glasses higher up the bridge of her nose and opened the attendance book.
Oh lordy, here it comes. Channie took a deep breath and stared at an ink stain on top of her desk, tracing it with a fingertip.
“Abrim, Joshua?” The teacher spit out each syllable as if the boy’s name left a bitter taste in her mouth.
“Yo.”
Channie glanced over her left shoulder and nearly fell out of her chair. Her eyes felt as if they were going to pop out of her head. Joshua Abrim was none other than the boy she’d kissed last night in the park.
He looked up and caught Channie staring at him. She whipped her head around so fast it shot a needle of pain down the side of her neck.
She didn’t need magic to know that Joshua was still staring at her. She read his energy field to find out how angry he was, but all she found was lust, anxiety and guilt. She was not surprised by the lust, he was a boy after all. She’d cursed him when they kissed so she understood his anxiety. But why on earth was he so full of guilt and remorse?
The teacher cleared her throat and said, “I expect my students to respond to roll call with ‘present,’ but if any of you find the pronunciation of more than one syllable at a time beyond your capabilities, you may simply say, ‘here.’ This is an advanced placement English Literature course. Surely, you have a basic grasp of the language or you wouldn’t be in my classroom.”
Cha
nnie was willing to bet her miserable life that this dried up old prune would insist on calling her by the name printed on her records every day for the rest of the year.
Sure enough. The teacher looked right at her. The wrinkled corners of her mouth twitched as she stabbed Channie’s enrollment papers with the tip of her fountain pen. She sniffed twice, wrinkling her nose like a nervous rabbit. “Belks, Chastity?”
The old biddy completely ignored the snorts, giggles and fake coughs that filled the room. She didn’t even flinch when some jackass shouted, “No way!”
Channie gritted her teeth. “Please, ma’am, just call me Channie.”
“I’m sorry, Chastity, but I do not allow slang of any type in my classroom and that includes nicknames.”
Humiliation and anger raised Chastity’s energy to dangerous levels. Channie focused all her attention on controlling her powers. If she let anything slip, there was no telling what might happen to the old crone. But once she calmed down to a safe level, she zinged her tormentor with a tiny little curse. She didn’t give Old Prune Face hemorrhoids. She just inflamed the ones she already had.
~***~
Channie’s day went downhill from there. She spent the entire first period trying to think of something she could say to Joshua, but all she came up with was… Sorry kissing me was such a horrible experience, but I needed a guinea pig to test out my new power name.
She’d just decided to avoid him altogether when she found her locker.
Were the fates aligned against her? Had someone cursed her? What were the odds that Joshua Abrim's locker would be right next to hers? At least he hadn’t spotted her yet.
Channie took two steps back, then spun around and ducked into the girls’ bathroom. She fled into one of the stalls when she heard someone come in. They were talking about her. She flinched when the door swung open and hit the wall with a bang.
“She has the most hickified, red-necked, southern accent I’ve ever heard.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Now stop interrupting.”
“Sorry.”
“Her name …” Channie squeezed her eyes shut. “…is Chastity!”
“No way!”
“Yes, way. But you are not going to believe this...Her last name is Belks!”