The Witching Hour

The weekend flies by in an instant as though it were a visitor who stopped by for a brief moment before packing up and moving on. My own presence at home was a bore to me; I wasn’t accustomed to staying strewn across the couch all weekend. My family had left the house, for reasons I was not aware of, and having no car left me slightly deserted. And so, I relied on the services of Thora, who would phone every Saturday morning to set out for our arranged plans.
This weekend we had planned to get an early showing of the new Harry Potter movie to avoid the hectic crowds of crazed fans, but not one text was received by my phone, making me very curious about her. I wasn’t saying that it wasn’t okay for her not to phone; of course I knew she had other things to do. But when you don’t hear from your best friend after losing her at a fair and not having any communication with her for two full days – then you have the right to worry.
Her phone continuously kept going straight to voicemail, my e-mails were never replied, and when I called by at her house, her parents had no idea where she was as they thought that she was with me.
I wasn’t sure what to think of her mysterious absence, all I could hope for was that she would show up at school Monday morning and this whole problem would be explained for.

By recess on Monday, Thora is no where to be seen. After missing her favourite subject - art - and not showing up in maths my anxiousness about her increases to an entire new level.
“Have you heard from Thora?” our friend Kim asks, starting toward where I sit in science after recess.
Kim had lived a few streets away from me for years, if it weren’t for that I don’t suppose we would have spoken, but she had become friendly with Thora throughout a summer a few years back when I was ill with food poisoning and since then she had occasionally tagged along.
“No, I haven’t,” I say, taking my books from my bag. “Have you?”
She studies me curiously for a moment before adding, “Yeah. I’m surprised she hasn’t told you then.”
“Told me what?” I ask, leaning across the desk intently. I begin to wonder why Kim has had contact with Thora when they aren’t nearly as close as the pair of us are. Had I done something to upset her or make her angry? Losing each other at the fair wasn’t my fault it was just an accident, surely she couldn’t be annoyed at me about that.
“Um... I think I will let her explain,” Kim mutters, pointing toward the door.
My focus travels to the front of the class room where Thora now enters backward. She is bent over slightly, her face consisting of a pouting expression as her eyes widen with excitement. Her arms are out stretched -half in the corridor – as she tries to entice someone in.
“Come on,” she whines, taking several steps back. “You can sit with me.”
That’s when I see her hands. They envelop someone else’s as she attempts to drag them into the room. “Please.”
In strolls Leo with her, hand in hand, his eyes are soft with a slight smile in them as his gaze travels the room, searching each persons face swiftly, making various judgements on each student, before pausing on mine. I feel my face heat and pulse accelerate, my conscience urging me to break the lock. I pull away, looking back to Kim, who stares bewildered at Leo. “She said he was gorgeous, I just didn’t think anyone could be that gorgeous.”
“When did you talk to her?” I inquire, snapping my fingers in front of Kim’s face. I needed information and I needed it now. I didn’t understand what was happening. How was Thora so close with Leo? She hadn’t even said six words to the guy.
“Saturday morning I think.”
I grind my teeth together and focus on copying out the lesson objectives. Saturday morning she was meant to be at Harry Potter with me, not on the phone to you. I think in Kim’s direction as I allow my angered feelings to get the better of me.
“Hey Kala,” Thora says, bouncing in front of me. “Sorry I didn’t phone this weekend. I was a bit... preoccupied.” She says, peering at Leo who now takes Thora’s usual seat next to mine.
“Obviously you weren’t occupied enough seen as you managed to talk to Kim.”
Thora looks to Kim, who merely shrugs and mouths ‘Sorry’.
“Can I phone tonight?” Thora asks me, her face urging me to say yes. “I’ll explain everything then.”
“No.” I reply, glancing between her and Leo. “You can tell me now.”
Thora follows me out to the corridor reluctantly, as I shut the door behind us and turn to face her.
“Well?” I start, folding my arms across my chest, standing impatient and un-amused.
“Well...”
I study her long and hard for a minute before starting into a rant. “Where the heck did you get to after Death Spell? I waited outside the ride’s exit for ages after it finished and you never showed up! What happened? Do you possess some kind of invisibility superpower that no one knows of? And also, why is it that you had time to talk to Kim and not me?”
She remains silent for some moments as she stares blankly at the ground. “After the ride I got pulled along by a bunch of guys who rushed off to some other ride, as the crowd was that packed I couldn’t get out of it. When I finally managed to, I rushed to the toilets and then came back to meet you but by the time I got back you were gone.” She meets my gaze as I nod for her to continue and then adds, “I did look round for you for a while but I couldn’t find you anywhere. I figured you’d phoned a cab or something so I went on few more rides and then went back to the car, which wouldn’t start. I tried to phone a towing company but my battery ran out and I was left without anyway to get home.”
I could tell she was being truthful, and I felt ashamed at the fact I rushed off with Leo without giving her enough time to get back. “I’m sorry, ” I began, “I should have waited around for you longer.”
She smiles and waves her hand at me as to dismiss the matter. “No worries, now to the good part.”
I furrow my brow at her in question and then realise that she is referring to Leo. My anger brews back inside me as I listen to her talk.
“So... me and my car were stranded in the parking lot for about half an hour when Leo pulled up across the street on his bike. I asked him if I could borrow his phone to call for help but he offered me a ride instead and said that he would get it repaired and back to me first thing in the morning. How cool is that?” she asks with a Cheshire cat smile. I stiffly nod my head in agreement and go through the process of clenching and unclenching my fists.
“As promised he returned my baby back to me Saturday morning and then... well... we spent the day together and went to go and see the new Harry Pot-” She stops then, choking on her words, as she comes to realise that she was meant to see Harry Potter with me. “I phoned Kim the next day to tell her instead of you as Leo told me that he had driven you home too and I just knew that you would be jealous and pissed that I forgot about the movie...”
“I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous?” I ask, my voice coming off higher than I had hoped.
She gives me a ‘I think you know why’ look and says. “Because of your little moment with each other when you knocked into him.”
I scoff and recall the experience, “That was nothing. Not a moment at all.”
She studies my face for a moment, searching for clues of dishonesty. “Cool. So... you don’t mind that we are going out then?” she asks, standing on the tips of her toes as she swings from side to side in an endearing manner.
“No. Not at all.” I lie, heading back into the class room. “Come on. We’re going to be late.”