chapter 3
" here ya go." ben said, placing a plate of steaming food in front of laura.
" thanks," she said, picking up her fork and poking at a stack of whole-wheat noodles.
" when's sam coming?" chris asked before shoving some food in his mouth.
" she's coming tomorrow.....i think about 5. her flight from california doesn't leave until the afternoon." cassy pulled out a chair and sat down. chris grinned.
" hey, where am i sleeping tonight?" laura asked suddenly. it just occurred to her that she couldn't sleep in cassy's and alex's apartment, because they only had one bedroom.
" uhhh.....well.....see, we were thinking about that." cassy said, waving her fork around while she talked. " you can't stay with us, or ben or chris, since we all don't have enough room. and as you know, daniel, has his own house. with an extra room." she added pointedly. daniel blushed. " so what do you say, daniel?" everyone looked at him expectedly.
" well, yeh, uh, i mean, i..." he looked down at his food.
cassy laughed. " don't worry, you don't have ta decide now." she looked at her watch. " you have three hours and 48 minutes."
" ok." daniel whispered.
" so....i like your new apartment." ben said loudly, breaking the silence that had fallen over the group.
" yeh, it's pretty good. the rent's low, considering the space we have." alex commented. everyone was quiet once again, until the phone rang.
" hello?" alex answered it. " yeh, here she is." he handed it to laura. " it's tara."
" hello? hey....how's the hotel? yeh? that's cool.......ok. yeh. ok. bye." she looked at them. " she said they couldn't join us. but they're gonna meet us tomorrow at noon for brunch."
" ok, sounds good."
" so, daniel, is laura staying with you or what?" alex asked later, when they we gathered in cassy's and alex's tv room.
" yeh," he said quietly.
" are you sure? i don't need to..." laura said, seeing the look on daniel's face.
" no, it's ok. really."
" hey, wanna play a game?" cassy asked, coming into the room. she sat down next to alex, whit a top hat in her hand.
" what game?" chris asked, eyeing the hat suspiciously.
" it's this game we used to play in high school. see this hat? everybody's name is in it, and it gets passed around our circle. everybody picks a name, and they ask that person a question. any question. the thing is though, you have to answer that question truthfully. nothing can get you out of it. " she grinned.
" who wants to go first?" alex asked. nobody volunteered. " fine, i'll go." he reached in the hat and pulled out a slip of paper. " i got ben. ok.......ben, if you had to make out with either cassy, laura, or sam, who would you pick?"
ben blushed. " ummm....i dunno. sam, i guess." chris shot him a dirty look. alex passed the hat to cassy.
" i got alex!" cassy exclaimed. " ok, alex, what do you wanna do tonight?" alex whispered something in her ear and her face lit up. " ben, it's your turn..." she passed that hat to ben.
ben grinned. " i got laura." he paused, thinking. " laura, who was your first time?"
" cassy, isn't it time for us to leave?" laura asked, panicking.
" nope!"
" crap....ok.....it was dave." she said, looking at her hands.
" dave?" alex exploded.
" yeh.....why? is that bad?"
" no.......it's just......when?"
" i was already asked a question."
" laura! come on......when?"
" alex, it's not a big deal."
" yeh it is! please? i wanna know...."
" i don't want to play this game anymore."
" yeh, i don't think we should." cassy said, looking at alex.
" fine. whatever." alex stood up and left.
" oh god...." laura sighed, burying her face in her hands.
" daniel? why don't you and laura go home? well meet you here around 11:30, ok?"
daniel nodded. " see you guys tomorrow."
after silently helping laura load her bags into the back of his jeep, he hopped in the drivers seat and waited for laura to get into the passenger side. he pulled out of the parking lot and drove towards his house.
" so, do like newcastle?" he asked her, his voice sounding too loud in the silence.
" i dunno. i haven't seen a lot of it." it was quiet again. finally, they arrived at his house. he helped her bring her bags in and carry them to a guest room on the second floor, next to his own. a bathroom separated the two rooms. fortunately, daniel had done a little cleaning, so it wasn't so bad.
" um, you can use this bathroom. i'll bring you some sheets." he paused for a second. " if you need anything, ask me ok?" she nodded. " k, i'll be right back." he disappeared into the hallway, then came back with an armful of bedding. "here ya go."
" thanks." she said quietly. " for everything." she added. he nodded, clearing his throat.
" i'll be in my room if you need anything."
"ok."
laura shut her door behind daniel, turned around and sighed. she lifted her suitcase onto her bed and started to unpack. it took her a little less than a hour to unpack, and she found herself standing in the middle of her room with nothing to do. she was really tired, but too wired up to fall asleep. suddenly, she had an idea to relax her. walking to the set of drawers she'd put her clothes in, she opened the top one and took out a few wide base candles. she set them in a circle on her floor, then went back to drawer, taking out a journal-like book. she lit the candles with a lighter and sat in the center of the circle.she closed her eyes and breathed in the relaxing scent of the candles. opening her eyes, she picked up the book and flipped the pages until she found the one she wanted. taking a breath, she chanted the words on the page until she felt her body relax. still chanting, she closed her eyes. she felt so relaxed.
daniel had been laying in bed for the past hour, listening to laura unpack in her room. it was quiet now, so he thought she'd gone to bed. he tip-toed out of his room and peeked into hers. she was sitting on the floor, and when he saw the candles and everything, he gasped. as soon as she opened her eyes, the candles flickered out.
" damn. " he hear her sigh. "daniel?"
" yeh?" he squeaked.
" are you ok?" she stood up and turned on the lights. " um, you might wanna let go of the door frame." smiling weakly,
he let go.
" what were you doing?"
" trying to fall asleep, actually. I’m a wiccan. that wasn't really anything, just a relaxation method that i made up. nothing big."
" you're a witch?"
" a wiccan. "
" oh. good night." he turned around and went back to his room.
" night..." she called out after him.
chapter 4
chapter 2
chapter 1
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