Blood Magic

Chapter Four
Inevitable

I couldn’t believe it was true, since that night I’d read Dean’s tarot cards I hadn’t heard from him or seen him. It was getting into the next month now and I was packing up my things after Social Studies. Mister Rusk stood behind his desk watching me.
“You don’t seem yourself Krissi, is something wrong?”
Mister Rusk asked as he approached me. I shook my head as if to shake off my sad expression or keep him from seeing it. I forced a smile looking back to him.

“I’m fine”.
I lied badly. So badly that I didn’t even believe me. Mister Rusk placed his hand on my shoulder making me look up at him. The expression on his face was full of concern and while I was grateful for that concern. It felt really inappropriate. I stepped back from his grip slinging my bag over my shoulder. Before He could speak I started again.

“Really I’m ok. Thanks for your concern”.
I said quickly before rushing out of the room. The rest of the day dragged on and I found that the pain in my chest only got worse. Like I was experiencing physical pain because Dean wasn’t around anymore. There was no sign of him or his siblings. As if the physical pain wasn’t enough the world just had to add emotional pain to the mix. I was on my way back to my locker after last bell when I heard the popular girls talking loud enough for me to hear. It was obviously their intent was to hurt me.

“I think Dean left because the freak show scared him right out of town”.
Lisa Donavan said laughing with Mandy and Lori. Mandy smirked as her eyes shifted to fix on me.
“I think she scared him off because she’s so ugly”.
Mandy laughed. Lori was next to speak.
“Either way, she’s scared away the hottest guy to ever live in Willows Creek”.
Lori said sounding more angry then mean. I kept my back to them fighting back the tears as I stuffed my things into my messenger bag. As I closed my locker the girls started laughing again and one of them stick out their foot managing to trip me. This made them laugh harder. I got up fast and ran as hard and as fast as I could from the building. As I ran across the parking lot I felt someone’s arms catch me before I could fall. I looked up to see Mister Rusk looking worried again.
“Are you alright?”
I pulled back quickly drying my eyes.

“I’m fine”.
I lied for the second time that day. Mister Rusk sighed ushering me towards his car. I looked up at him not sure what he was doing.
“Come on, you need to get out of here”.
He said. I frowned at him.
“I have my own car, I’ll be fine”.
Mister Rusk shook his head.
“You can’t drive home in your condition. You could run off the road”.
He said. Running off the road didn’t sound so bad. I got into the passenger seat of his car and kept my head down as he started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Mister Rusk kept his eyes on the road as he spoke.

“I’ll pick your grandmother up at the market and tell her what happened, then I’ll drive her to pick up the car. You can leave the keys with me”.
He said as he drove. I nodded, it was all I could do. Mister Rusk shifted his gaze to me.
“They’re just jealous you know”.
He said with a smile. I looked at him not sure what those girls could have to be jealous of. I was worthless, abandoned and undesirable. What is there to be jealous of in any of that? But I didn’t speak, I couldn’t talk without my voice cracking and I hated when that happened. We pulled into the driveway and I looked at Mister Rusk again to thank him for the ride when the question formed in my mind.

“How did you know Grandma would be at the market?”
I asked looking at him. Mister Rusk smiled at me.
“We run into each other there every other week.”
He said, it seemed a simple enough answer. But something didn’t feel right. I ignored the feeling giving him the keys to the station wagon. Then made my way inside. I dropped my things kicking off my booths and shrugging out of my jacket. I rushed upstairs to my room closing the door behind me and ended up braking down crying.

After what felt like hours of crying, I heard the door downstairs open and close again. Grandma’s energy filled the room as if letting me know she was home safe and everything would be alright. I dried my eyes quickly looking back as the door opened. Grandma frowned at me as she approached.

“Oh sweet heart”.
She said taking me in her arms. I hugged her tight and ended up braking down all over again. The combination of emotional and physical pain was too much for me to bare. After my second brake down I was all cried out. I started on my homework while Grandma got started in dinner.
“I don’t want you going back there until I get this sorted out”.
Grandma said in a firm tone. I knew she was going to raise hell down at the school after today. Grandma continued to cook I could hear her chopping onions. I kept my eyes on my work book as she continued.

“Or, we could move to Spain with your father”.
Grandma said. I looked up and smiled at the idea.
“You would do that?”
I asked. Grandma nodded smiling at me.
“I think it’s about time you and I leave this mean old town behind us. We are obviously not wanted here”.
Grandma said.

“We will figure it out, for now, I’m keeping you home until I give that school I piece of my mind”.
Grandma said. I looked back to my work book and finished all my homework. All I had to do was my interview with Dean. But he was avoiding me and I knew it. I supposed that this was inevitable. A beautiful rebellions guy actually caring about a loser like me. That just didn’t make sense.