Silvery-Edged Black Cloud

Christian and I have been pretending to date for the past week, at least. Josh is insanely jealous. We make-out in front of him all the time, saying “I love you” occasionally to keep with the act. Seriously, it means nothing.

Alison’s still in her trance. It’s been close to two weeks now. I’m really worried. She’s been looking sick. I can hardly stand it. That’s why I sit down every time I see her.

I know. That was a lame joke.

“So, why are we doing this when Josh just keeps spreading rumors about you?”

“Because, he’s jealous. He’s had this coming since day one.”

“But wouldn’t it be more effective to date Kevin?”

“Yeah, but there’s three flaws to that. First, some of the rumors are about me cheating on Josh with Kevin.”

“Oh. Yeah, that would not help with that one.”

“Secondly, Josh would know it was fake, for the most part. Thirdly, but not finally, I could never get Kevin to do it. He’s more … kill Josh’s ass.”

“Yeah, he’s definitely strong enough to do that,” Christian says, laughing slightly. “Umm … hey, do you like football?”

“Last time I played football was before Jesse and Scarlett were born, when we all went to high school.”

“Cool. What’s your favorite sport?”

“Soccer. But, I play a lot of sports. I like speed over strength, too.”

“What kind of sports did you play?”

“All of them. Football, soccer, dance, tennis, golf, boxing, swimming, track, wrestling, baseball, and a lot more. What about you?”

“Mainly just football. I did a little baseball when I was younger. I also do track in my spare time. That’s probably why I’m so fast.”

“Cool. Hey, why does everyone call you Christian?”

“Because I was born a Christian. Sorta like Jake’s real name is Deangelo — he held me by my heel when I was born.”

“Wow. I was not expecting.”

“Most people don’t. Sometimes we call Rosie Hecate. But, usually whenever she’s grouchy or using a lot of magic,” Christian says, rolling his eyes. “It’s really how she just forgot about all of her magic. I think that vampire dude had something to do with it.”

“Donovan?”

“Yeah. Him. I don’t like him. The way he stares at Rosie isn’t right. It’s like he thinks she belongs to him.”

“That’s Al’s stalker. He’s absolutely obsessed,” I say, rolling my eyes. “You know Jesse and Scarlett? Those are his kids.”

“I hate him even more.”

“Join the club. Maybe you and Kevin could get along,” I say teasingly, rolling my eyes.

♠ ♣ ♠

I have to admit that Christian’s a really good actor. Sometimes I seriously have to stop and think, Okay, we aren’t dating? Right? We’ve made-out whenever Josh came by; whether it’s as we’re walking down the hall, at football or cheerleading practice, or just at Fallen.

Today, I’m going to his house. He’s going to help me with some witch-y research.

Speaking of witch-y: Alison’s still in her trance, which is stressing everyone out. What is she seeing? How bad is it? What should we be expecting? Those are the kinds of questions running through Fallen.

Anyway, I’m also meeting Christian’s parents — Alison’s aunt and uncle — Maggie and Joseph. Along with Jake, who I recently found out was older than Christian by a year.

“Hi, Melody, nice to see you’re feeling better,” Maggie says, smiling at me from where she sat at the kitchen table.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jones,” I say, smiling.

“Please, call me Maggie.”

“Hey, Melody,” Jake says, walking inside. “Hey, little bro.”

“Quit it,” Christian snaps, as Jake ruffles his sandy-blonde hair.

“Dad’s gonna be late. Some girls were talking trash about Rose.”

“Again?” I say, having flashbacks from when Alison got pregnant seven years ago.

“What do you mean?” Maggie asks curiously. I slap my hands over Jake and Christian’s mouths, giving them If you value your life looks.

“Nothing. I got involved with the wrong people for a period of time. They effected her, too,” I say, rolling my eyes like it was ancient history. I quickly drag the two brothers out of the room, where they immediately started dragging me.

“You’re insulting our intelligence.”

“Look, the less that know about it, the better. She’d set the fire if he wasn’t such a damned bastard who can kill everyone she ever cared about. Do you think she enjoyed those nine months? No. She would’ve much rather sat on a couch all day, eating potato chips, watching TV, with Martin —”

“Okay! We get it! Rose was pissed at Donovan for knocking her up!”

“Speaking of which, Al’s been in a trance for over a week. She’s pregnant, too.”

“Just get Martin to wake her up like it was just another day.”

“Seriously?!” I say, a little irritated that that was all we had to do.

“Now, what do you want to know about witches?” Jake asks casually, as he leans up against a wooden doorframe.

“What’s there to know?”

“You did not just say that to the King?!” Christian nearly yells, slapping a hand to his forehead.

“He’s not the King of anything. I know enough to know that if it’s anyone, it’s Martin,” I say, rolling my eyes like a know-it-all. “It was Hecate who started it, so it’ll be Hecate who finishes it.”

“Either way people have to respect me,” Jake says, smirking with over-the-top confidence. I roll my eyes, not willing to put up with this cocky-ass crap. I walk straight past him, into the room that he had decided to block from everyone else. It was a giant library, stacked high and low with books. It was so unbelievably huge! There were books of all sorts and kinds — small books, big books, tall books, old books, new books, hand-written books, and just pages of books!

“Well, lets get started,” I mutter, already beginning to pull out a book and start reading. This was going to be a long day.

♠ ♣ ♠

I’m not sure what to tell you at this point. I’ve been reading as many books as I could trying to figure out this whole witch-thing. I keep getting the same thing:

Hecate, our mother and goddess. Her family was unknown. All that was known was that she was the sister to Dione Ariadne, goddess of decisions, angels, demons, riddles, and the weather.

Dione Ariadne was the daughter of Zeus and Hera; often compared to Aphrodite because of her stunning beauty. She was nicknamed the

But, something would always stop me from reading. Like, I knew the ending already. It was odd, but I didn’t care.

My cell-phone suddenly rings, playing a song I hadn’t heard in a long time:

“I got a lil too prissy,
I didn't expect yall bitches to try to get me (U got me)
But imma need that, you can go and write your blog, i dont need your feedback (U got me)
See I was on the red carpet when I shoulda been in the studio laying down hot shit (U got me)
Madder than a motherfucker, I can't lie a bitch madder than motherfucker (U got me)
I'm badder than a motherfucker, been up all night like UPS trucker (U got me)
Back up on my job, Im back up in the trap
Shawty give me dap (U got me)
Back in my falsetto, got me taking off these 5-inch stilettos (U got me)
Back up out my phantom
Im back up in the jeep, back up in the streets (U got me)
Hey, hey, Im all fired up
And tell your informant Im all wired up (U got me)
Please no pictures (U got me), up off of my twitter (U got me)

“It’s Alison,” I say, pulling out my cell-phone and answering it.

“Where are you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I just woke up and Kevin says he can’t find your ass, duh.”

“I’m with Jake and Christian.”

“Oh.”

“Wait, why did you need to call?” The line went dead. Damn.

“Last night
I was pouring out my heart
Like a waterfall to you
And with one kiss
I was a runaway train
Flying off the track to you
I love you came flooding out
I couldn’t make it stop
I couldn’t shut my mouth.
I felt like a fool then lied and said I was sorry, but

“I unapologize
I meant every word
Won’t take back the way I feel about you
Can’t unsay what you heard
Cause you heard me right
And I won’t try to fighting back and hide my feelings for you
I unapologize

“You know people say a lot that they really don’t mean.
Last night I told a little white lie
Hoping you would forget the scene.
We’re feeling like a movie under bad porch light
Couldn’t help myself when you held me tight

“Said what I meant
Then I lied and said I’m sorry

“I unapologize
I meant every word
Won’t take back the way I feel about you
Can’t unsay what you heard
Cause you heard me right
And I won’t try to fighting back and hide my feelings for you
I unapologize

“There’s no time to be
Holding it all in and trying to pretend
That I don’t care feel anything
Oh, I shouldn’t have said I’m sorry
I meant every word
Won’t take back the way I feel about you
I can’t unsay what you heard
Cause you heard me right
And I won’t try to fight back to hide my feelings for you
I unapologize

“Cause you heard me right.
I unapologize.

“Damn,” I groan. “Hello?”

“Where the hell are you?!” Typical Kevin.

“Where the hell do you think?”

“Get your ass back up on this cloud.”

“Get your ass to figure out what the hell is wrong with Alison. She just called me to ask where I am.”

“Just get your ass up here.”

“Nope.”

“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!!!!!!!!”

“WHAT THE HELL IS UP YOUR ASS, KEVIN!!!!!!! UNTIL YOU GET YOUR DAMNED ACT TOGETHER I’M NOT SETTING FOOT ON THAT DAMN CLOUD OF YOURS!!!!!!!” I growl, hanging up. He still pisses me off. Jake and Christian give me odd looks, which I return with a sharp glare, making them look away uncomfortably. Gosh. Eavesdroppers.

“What was that about?” Jake asks, as I walk by him to get another book.

“Kevin. He just pisses me off.”

“You shouldn’t be so hard on him.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you think?” Christian says, rolling his eyes. “He can probably tell what you’re thinking or feeling. I’ve already met my soulmate, too.”

“Really? Who’s the lucky girl?” I say teasingly. Christian’s faces turned bright red, making me laugh at him. “Who is she?”

“He’s talking about Mirabelle. Martin’s older sister?” Jake says, rolling his eyes.

“What? Seriously?” I ask, shocked. “Mirabelle didn’t talk to any of us for like a year.”

“Told you she’s a loner,” Jake says, smirking. I whack him on the back of the head. Nobody talks about my non-related sister like that!

“No. She’s just shy. But, you like her?”

“Umm … yeah. Can you … umm … find out if she likes me, too?”

“Dude, you’re a warlock! You know how to make it happen.” Jake gets another whack on the back of the head. No wonder Alison never mentioned this cocky-ass.

“That’s not the meaning of love,” I say, glaring at him.

“It’s how he got Rosie to like him,” Christian says, rolling his eyes. “Rosie was practically untouchable back then. The closest he got was being her ‘best friend.’”

“Shut up,” Jake growls angrily, glaring at his little brother.

“Jake, you’d probably like CeCi,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Who’s she?”

“She has rainbow hair.”

“Her? Yeah right.”

“No, really. Her and Alison are pretty good friends. Cecilia can talk to people through thoughts, too.”

“Hmm … cool …”

“So, you’ll consider?”

“Please! Jake’s still got Rosie’s picture all over his room,” Christian teases.

“At least I don’t pretend to date someone while stalking her,” Jake snaps.

“The last thing Al needs is another stalker,” I grumble.

“Does … does Rose ever talk about me?” Jake asks awkwardly, as Christian stormed away embarrassedly.

“Alison never really talks about anyone,” I say quietly, knowing by his expression that he was hurt. “She’s very secretive. Likes to keep to herself at first. She has guards up, Jake, nobody can get past them. Except for Martin.”

“Yeah, Martin,” Jake grumbles. He obviously still loves her. “Hey, everyone can tell that you like Kevin. No matter how much he may piss you off.”

Crap, I think, Is it really that obvious?