Finally, lunch time came and I was starving. I felt like I waited in line for hours. I found Damian was behind me in the line. Great. I gave him my phone number this morning in Lit. We were talking and he just asked for it.
We went through each picking out what we wanted. I didn't really want to have any type of conversation with him. We finally made it to the end of the line, it was my turn to pay the cafeteria lady. She had on a hair net, and a black apron on as well.
"Here let me pay," He said, handing the cafeteria worker the money for my lunch.
"Oh, it's fine I can pay for my own." I said with a slight smile.
"I insist," he stated. I just nodded my head at him.
If it meant that I had extra money for lunch I would take it. I just didn't know what his game plan was here. I mean we barely have conversations in English Lit, there wasn't much for us to talk about outside of class.
It's not like we were friends, but he was an interesting person. I'll give him that, traveling around, part of me always wants to ask him a bunch of questions when we do talk. He followed me to my table with Kat. She looked up at him, giving him the side eye.
"Can I sit with you both?" He gestured at the very obvious empty table.
I shrugged my shoulders, "I guess so," I put my tray down, and began opening the packaged fork and spoon.
I started eating my mashed potatoes. I wasn't a fan of the school cafeteria food. I know it is cliche, but seriously, it's disturbingly gross. Why would they want to put that in children's stomachs? Mentally barf. It was what they had, I mean at least we get to have different options unlike most schools.
So, that means I get to choose the least disgusting thing that they make here. You can taste the off brand in the food, and most of the time that is okay. I mean my dad's pretty cheap food wise, so we eat not the name brand stuff. There is,however, something different about the off brand food the school cooks, that doesn't pass. I keep wondering if they are going to have some sort of health violation.
The table was very silent, also extremely awkward as well. I mean we all just kept picking at our food. Occasionally, Kat and I would give each other looks. There were times when Damian kept trying to start a conversation, but neither Kat nor I would comment.
When I was done with my tray, I got up to take it to the trash can across the room. Of course, we would have to pick the table furthest from it. I walked over, dumped my tray and went to take it to the cleaning area.
I realized that my converse shoe was untied, so I bent down to tie it. I looked up, Kat and Damian seemed to be well in deep conversation. Weird.
The lights in the cafeteria started to flicker, also weird, I mean where we were having a power outage or something? The lights went back to normal. I went back to the table.
"What were you guys talking about?" I asked, looking directly at Kat.
"What are you talking about?" Kat asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I saw you two talking while I was over at the trash can," I said, pointing in the direction I came from.
"Oh, we were just talking about our history assignment." Kat replied, glancing at Damian. He arched his eyebrow.
"Yeah, Mr. Brown is a real doozy. He gave us an essay to write about the Holocaust." Damian said, leaning against his arm on the table.
"Yeah," Kat replied, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
They were lying. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. The question is about what. What could they possibly need to talk about?
The bell signaled that lunch was over, good thing Kat and I had the next class together. Once Damian was out of ear shot, I quickly took the opportunity to speak to Kat.
"You like him don't you." I asked, surprise clear in my voice.
Kat started to laugh, it became uncontrollable. "What?" I asked her.
"It's funny that you think I like him. Cas he isn't even my type." Kat said, still cackling.
"Oh," I replied, embarrassment displaying across my cheeks.
Kat then whipped around, and started to walk backwards.
"Well, do you like him?" She asked, curiosity crept into her voice.
"Absolutely not. I am done with men." I said, with a smile.
"So, what are you going to try out for women now? I didn't know you had it in you." Kat teased me.
"Haha, no, I am just saying I don't want relationships in general anymore. It wasn't a matter of who really likes him or not. We clearly both don't. It just looked like you guys were having a serious conversation." I said, with a quaking lip.
Kat looked down and then back up, "Cas, I promise you it was truly about our history assignment, nothing serious about it at all."
"If you say so," I replied.
"I mean it." Kat said, now a crooked smile playing on her lips.
"Okay," I said, with that we were at our class.
Something about their conversation kept bothering me though. I mean it is clear they are both hiding something. Now, what was it? I mean, they don't have feelings for each other.
It was clear that Kat didn't, I mean the way she had laughed like it was the best joke in the world. It just irked me inside. I didn't like it when Kat kept things from me.
We usually didn't keep things from each other unless it was absolutely important. Whatever secret she was keeping with Damian, was either life or death. It had to be, if it wasn't, what was our friendship even for?
In the class, I kept staring off into absolutely nothing. My mind kept wondering what Kat was doing talking to Damian. I could be completely ridiculous, and they could just be talking about the assignment.
Call it intuition, but just something about how the conversation was going, and the looks, no it was not about the assignment. I just needed to get them to trip up, spill something, and I could get Damian to do it. I mean he doesn't know my tactics like Kat does.
The lights flickering again. What was up with the lights? The power went off, and it stayed off. You would think the school had a backup generator, but it didn't.
We were all moved to the gym. In which, Max and Phoebe were in there. Max kept staring at both Damian, and me. The glances back and forth were unbearable. The silence was again present, in this group of mine. I didn't know if I could take it anymore.
"Guys, I know you two weren't just talking about the history assignment. Spill." I said, glancing at Damian.
Shock crossed his face, I knew Kat would be better at masking her face around me. Especially when she was hiding something. I looked over at her, and she was, that only confirmed it farther.
"I have no clue what you're talking about." Damian said, running his hand through his hair.
Another sign that they were in fact hiding something from me. I mean I know I don't have to know everything. You know when you just have that uneasy feeling? That was it, I couldn't fully describe it to you, but in a sense, I needed to know what was going on. On some level, I felt like it was about me. Both Kat and Damian looked at each other, Kat nodded at him.
Damian took in a deep huff, "Well we have been hiding something," he said, his voice in a somber.
"You two are dating." I started, crossing my arms.
Damian and Kat both started laughing, "Um, no, not that."
"Then, what is it?"
Damian looked at me, he put on his serious face, "Cassie, there has been something I wanted to tell you the past week that I have known you."
"Yeah? What is it?" I asked, arching my eyebrows at him.
"I am utterly and completely in love with you." He said, a grinning beginning to form on his face.
My heart dropped, "Damian, I am super flatter, but I just don't see you that way."
Both Kat and Damian looked at each other again, and started to burst out laughing.
"Am I missing something?" I asked.
"Yeah, your face, Cassie, I don't really have feelings for you. You don't just fall for someone in one week either way." He said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh." I said, a frown forming on my face.
About that time, Phoebe and Max came walking over to us. Uh oh. I wasn't going to like where this was about to head. Phoebe and Max were holding hands. Great. This was going to be such an awesome conversation we are about to have.
Kat and I exchanged looks. I looked down at my shoes, clearly not wanting to talk to them. Damian glanced over at me, and then backed up at them. Then, he understood something was going on. It was clear there was tension, I just didn't know if he knew what about just yet.
"Hi," Phoebe said, in the most cheerful and obnoxious tone.
"Hello." Damian said back, giving her once over look. Max made a face at him for it, but Damian didn't notice him.
"I am Phoebe and this is my boyfriend Max." She said, gesturing to Max who was next to her.
"I can see that." Damian sarcastically replied.
Phoebe cleared her throat, "So, you're the new foreign exchange student we got?"
"Yep," Damian replied, already bored of the conversation.
"Well, if you ever want to hang with our group instead of these two losers, you are more than welcome too." She said, eyeballing us.
Damian glared at her, "I think I would rather hang out with these two losers, then someone who calls them losers." He looked over at Kat and I, giving us a smile.
"If you insist, just know the invitation is always open." She said to him,
"Just know, I will never accept it." With that Phoebe scoffed, and dragged Max back over to where they were.
"Thanks for that." I said, nudging Damian.
"No thanks needed, people like that make me mad."
"Me too," replied Kat. About that time the principal made the announcement that we get to go home early. With that all the students left the building, the buses were leaving, and parents had come to pick up the students.
When I made it home, I heated up some leftovers and made my way to my room. I had a message from an unknown number. I cautiously opened the text up.
hey
oh it's damian btw
hey it's Cas, i forgot to text back earlier.
its cool
damian, why did you want my number?
were partners sort of
partners?
yeah
we only have english together? there's not much partnering in that class.
ok you caught me
i just wanted your number
why?
you seem like a cool person to be friends with
duh
oh.
oh?
yeah?
what about it?
nothing. nvm.
I laid my phone down on my bed. I needed a minute. I don't know what I was expecting. I guess we're friends now?
I just had a really weird day, and wanted it to be over with as soon as possible. I grabbed my laptop and started on one of my assignments. My phone was buzzing, it was my dad. He was calling me.
"Hey Cas, I was just letting you know I am going to be late for supper. Max and Billy will be joining us tonight."
"It's okay dad, I had some leftovers though. I think you guys will have a blast."
"You're not joining us for supper?"
"I think I am going to pass, I had a rough day today."
"Come on kiddo, eat with us, even if it's just a cookie."
He called me kiddo. Something was up, and I didn't want to find out either. He hasn't mentioned anything from when Max picked me up the other day, with Phoebe in the passenger seat of his jeep.
I am thinking that our dads want to talk to us, and a part of me wants to. Finally clear the air out with Max, and become somewhat friends again. The other part of me was too tired to want to bring this back up again, especially, after I started to move on .
"Maybe dad. Hey, I need to charge my phone. I'll see you when you get home, love you."
"Cassie, I love you too." With that I hung up the phone. We weren't the best at having conversations, not since my mom left when I was little. It just hasn't been the same.
Supper time came around and the Smith's came over. I decided to join them, I know my dad can be hard sometimes, and I know I didn't want to deal with Max either. I thought more about just ripping the bandaid off, and I did just that.
I sucked in a deep breath, and looked up at Max, "Dad, Billy, I just wanted to let you both know that Max and I broke up."
Both of our dads looked between us. My dad took a deep breath, then spoke, "I was wondering when you were going to tell us." Billy chuckled at that.
"Wait, you both knew?" Max asked.
"Of course we knew son, when Cassie stopped coming over, and when Kevin mentioned the other girl in your jeep. Well we took turns trying to figure it out. We assumed but didn't know for sure."
"We were hoping this dinner will help move things along for you guys to tell us what was up." My dad spoke.
Max and I just looked at each other, and then started to laugh. It was great. I mean after the past two weeks of everything, it was good to laugh with him.
It was almost like old times. Almost. After we ate, the Smith's left and I helped my dad clean up. Giving him looks prevents us from confessing. Then, I headed up to bed.
The next school day, things just kept getting weird. In PE, the ropes came crashing down. The sprinkler outside for the garden kept randomly going off, and not to mention the lights kept flickering. The school thought they had it fixed, I guess not. Weird things can't happen over and over. It was starting to become a habit.
I decided that I didn't want to go to school, and deal with all the weird stuff happening. Besides, the lights flickering in the school gave major horror movie vibes. I don't deal with horror movies.
Even staying at home wasn't helping either. I mean the cabinets kept opening and shutting. It was like the whole house was haunted. I needed to get out of the house. I was tempted to take my car, but with all this happening, I didn't want to risk it.
There's no telling, I mean my car stops in the middle of traffic. A shudder ran down my body. A walk will do fine, I will just stay on the sidewalk.
I started walking the path, until I came upon the Mason's Mansion. Shudders spilled down my spine. There was something off about that house, it didn't help that it started getting dark outside too.
I was about to leave until I saw a figure in the window. It was fast, but within a few seconds, we made eye contact. The figure had red glowing eyes, the kind of red you see on a Coca Cola can.
Another shudder escaped my body, more violent this time. Okay, I should just leave right? I know I am white, but I am not going into a known haunted house white. Especially, when there were stories of witchcraft involved there.
I saw the figure move in the window again. Cassie you aren't this stupid, especially with all the weird things happening. This is another sign to not go in that house.
Also, considering it would be breaking and entering too. Get. Yourself. Together. Cassie. I can totally do this, right? Oh, for sure. As I was gathering my courage, I made my way across the street over to the Mansion.
If I was in a horror movie, I know they would be screaming at the screen telling me to turn my ass around. I could just see it now. However, what they wouldn't know is that something was calling me to this place. It became stronger the more I went past it.
For all I know, I could be leading myself into a human sacrifice. Guess I am about to find out about it. I finally made it to the door, I took a deep breath, and with a shaky hand I opened the door.
It creaked open, as if the house didn't look creepy enough. Okay Cas, last chance to back out. I looked inside, and suddenly I was yanked in the door. What the hell? The room was spinning, and then the lights went out completely down the street.
I had hit my head, so there was a headache forming. It was intolerable, then, those red eyes peered at me from the hallway.
I decided that, yep, this is how I am going to die. I willingly put myself into a devil's trap. I scrambled to get off of my feet. I started to stumble backwards, and then a burst of wind knocked me down again. Oh no. This wasn't good, how was I going to get out of here?
The eyes appeared again to me, challenging me to follow. I stood up, and started running towards it. Now, I can just imagine the screaming in the horror film yelling at me. If there is one thing I am not and that is a bitch. I wasn't going to get spooked easily either.
I followed it to the back of the house. Just great. I kept thinking of all the ways these red eyes were going to murder me. Was I slightly regretting my decision? Maybe. Then, I couldn't move, it was like I had been stung, and suddenly my body wouldn't move.
I looked down, okay now I really was trapped in a devil's trap. The star is accurately drawn in a circle. Here we go, let the human sacrifice begin. I started to accept my fate at hand.
Out of the shadows, the glowing red eyes there appeared Damian. Alongside him, there was Kat.
Shocks rocked my body. All of a sudden, I had a million questions I wanted to ask. Then, it clicked, their conversation from a few days ago, my gut was telling me it had to do with right now.
"Damian? Kat? What are you doing here?" I asked them. I wanted to play dumb in case I stumbled upon something I shouldn't have. From the looks of it, I think I did.
Damian started to circle me, almost like a predator that caught its prey. I didn't like the feeling it was giving me. I glanced over at Kat, concern filled her eyes.
"We could ask you the same thing Cas." Damian said to me, still circling me. I kept my eyes trained on him, in case he tried anything I didn't like.
At that moment, I was glad my dad made me take a self-defense class whenever I was younger. So, I had some knowledge on what to do, or at least stall until I could get away.
"I was just in the neighborhood." I said casually looking at how fascinating my nails have become.
"Only in this neighborhood?" He asked me, glancing at my nails too.
"Yeah." I responded.
"It's kind of weird you happened to be walking down this road right?" He asked me, a smile playing on his face. Uh oh. That couldn't mean anything good.
"I needed a breath of fresh air." I replied, looking over at Kat. She had a large brown leather bound book in her arms.
"What about you Kat? What are you doing here?" I asked, in an accusatory voice.
"Damian, I think it's time she knows." Kat replied, looking directly at him.
"Know what?" I asked them.
"Cassie, you're a witch," Damian replied back to me.
I scoffed at him, "A witch? You two must be doing drugs, or something because I am not a witch."
"Well you are," Damian replied back.
Cassie rolled her eyes at the both of them. She started to get up from the floor, only to remember there felt like there was a barrier. The devil's trap.
Crap. She wasn't going to let them see the fear that began to course through her. She was trapped and didn't know how to get out of there.
She believed some witchcraft was happening here, but it wasn't her doing. Okay. Cassie, stop panicking this will be fine, I think. She started to puff out loud, and Kat took notice of it.
Kat came closer, waved her hand over the devil's trap, the barrier was gone. Cassie stumbled forward out of it. Kat shrugged at her, "Magic?" Kat arched her eyebrow at her too.
"You're a witch?" Cassie half screamed, surprise creeping into her voice.
"A witch in training," Kat winked at her.
Cassie started running her hands through her hair, and started to pace around the little room. Damian was in the corner, watching this all take place, no interest in the world. Suddenly, Cassie went over to him, finger pointing at him.
"What are you a warlock or wizard?" She asked, an accusatory present in her voice.
"None of those. I am a demon." Damian started grinning, his eyes started to glow red again. It was funny, she figured they would've maybe turned purple.
That would make sense, his cold blue eyes, mixed with the red. A shudder ran through her. Cassie casually backed away.
She wasn't going to panic just yet. There wasn't time for that. She needed to figure out how she was going to get out of here. I mean, according to them, she was in a room with a red-eyed glowing demon, and a witch in training. How the heck do you even escape that? She was beginning to question her luck, and her ability to not listen to her gut. She should've listened.
Kat went over to the staircase in the Mason's Mansion, and started to move her hand in an upwards and downwards motion, muttering something in latin.
What in the world was she doing? A yellow flame started to burst, then, it started to spiral into a green circle with a black hole in the middle. Kat looked back at Cassie and Damian.
"Well, aren't you coming?" Then, she stepped into the green madness, vanishing into thin air. What the actual heck is happening here.
Damian looked at me, and motioned for me to go next. I looked at the front door that I came through. It was so close, but so far at the same time.
If it was Damian who had knocked me off my feet, I wouldn't make it one foot. Damian stepped forward, and gave me a shove. I looked back at him, giving him a disdaining look. I rolled my eyes, and walked through it.
Is it weird to say I didn't feel anything. Nope. I should've known not to think that too soon, because my stomach was in knots. It felt like I had to vomit, and my ears were popping at the same time. It was horrible, I don't understand why they would willingly do this to themselves.
No sooner had I stepped into what I am assuming is a portal, had I breached the other side. Stumbling my way out, and falling flat on my face. Great. I should've at least tried to make it graceful, but honestly, what falls isn't graceful. It's either fake, or you just look ridiculous. I took the ridiculous route with mine.
I looked up to see Kat holding out her hand to me, and Damian standing right next to her. He was looking around, almost in a panic. I stood up and dusted myself off?
I looked like sand but felt like dirt, but it wasn't the same thing? My brain was having trouble trying to understand what was happening. When Cassie looked around, her breath got caught in her lungs. It was magnificent. It felt like she fell straight into Hogwarts. No, it wasn't a castle. The buildings looked to be built in the ancient times, thick and round, and heavy.
When she turned around, the portal disappeared and replaced it with this beautiful lake. In the back, you could make out just a little water fountain in the middle of it. When the water cascaded down the side, it bounced off colors of the rainbow.
Cassie's eyes started to brim with tears. It felt like she was in heaven. When she kept peeking around, it was like they were on lava, but it didn't burn.
All around, she was surrounded by these huge buildings, some with columns. Finally, she let out her breath, not realizing how long she had been holding it.
"Where are we?" Cassie asked, not taking her eyes off of the statue of a woman, holding a spellbook in her arms. On the front, there was a label of the statue.
As she started to read the statue label, Damian spoke, "Magic Academy Study of Naples." Cassie looked around some more.
"So we're at a magic school?" Cassie asked hesitantly. Kat nodded.
"What the fuck." Cassie whispered.