Page 26 of When Storms Awaken

“He’s in my first period now,” I teased.

“You can’t get these answers without me!” she pleaded, grabbing my arm. “I might not be the one with magic, but I still want to know what’s going on with my best friend and her oh-so-delicious crush.”

I gave her a nudge under the blankets and she laughed, squeezing my arm.

“You know I would never leave you out,” I assured her. “But we won’t get any more answers tonight, let’s get some sleep.”

The next morning Tess and I dressed in a whirlwind, having oversleptagain. We raced to school, the excitement of seeing Nik again pumping through my veins as if I’d had three cups of coffee. Tess and I parted ways for first period, and I took my regular seat in Mr. Sampson’s class at the back. I waited and waited, but Nik never showed.

The day slid by as if I wading through quicksand, impossibly slow and somewhat painful. I couldn’t wait to get to art class to see if Nik would show up, then. Maybe he had overslept this morning and was running late? It couldn’t be a coincidence that he was absent right after everything that had happened last night.

I could barely eat my lunch and when the final bell rang I practically sprinted down the hallway to the art room, trying to keep my excitement at bay. I had so many questions I needed to ask him, so many loose ends left untied. When class came to a start and Nik was still nowhere in sight, I could feel myself deflate. Was he avoiding us after last night? I could see the same question plastered all over Tess’ face.

I wished I had his number and I could text him. Where was he? My last hope was that he would show up at school tomorrow because I couldnotgo the whole weekend without knowing more about being a witch, and what this meant for me.

I was too nervous to try any new magic after what had happened with the feather catching fire, so I stuck to opening and closing my locker when nobody was looking. I reveled in the feeling of energy swelling up inside me like a tidal wave and then releasing in a rush as the magic left me. That feeling of bottled-up emotions had to have been my magic trying to get out, just as Tess had said. How many others were there like us? How could I learn to control this magic, and what were its limits?

The entire drive home from school and the remainder of the afternoon was spent lost in my own thoughts. I was daydreaming of what it might be like to move things from one place to another, or starting a fire without a match. What else could I do? There were practical uses to this magic like turning the TV on without having to get up, but what other spells was I capable of casting? Nik had said this magic could be dangerous, is that what he meant? That there was a side to this magic that I didn’t even know about?

I busied myself with making dinner and cleaning up, heading up to my room early, unable to focus on any homework.

This news had turned my entire world upside down and I felt both elated and exhausted at the same time. How many times had I pretended to be a witch with my friends when I was younger, and wished that I had magic? I couldn’t even count.

Were Jake and my mom like this, too? Did it run in the family? And why had it taken so long for my magic to manifest? Nik had said that being around another magic wielder could awaken my abilities, did that mean that Mom and Jake both didn’t have magic? If that was the case…where did this magic come from? Had I inherited this from my dad? He had been so serious and practical, I couldn’t imagine that he had been hiding a secret like this that I hadn’t known about.

I was able to calm my thoughts enough to drift off, my eyes heavy. Waffles curled up on the duvet next to me, purring softly. I was moments from sleep, my thoughts filled with magic and wolves, when I heard a faint scratch on my windowsill that sent chills down my spine.

Whatonearthwasthat?

I lay flat, completely motionless, afraid I had imagined the scratching outside my window. Moments passed in silence until I heard it again, a faint scratching against the back windowsill.

Was someone out there? Or was it a tree branch moving in the wind? When I heard the noise a third time I quietly peeled back the flannel covers and padded to the window on my tiptoes. I tried my hardest not to creak any of the worn, wooden, floorboards. I carefully peeled back the curtain to peer outside.

At first I couldn’t see anything except the glare of the moonlight against the window, but as I pulled the curtain back further, I could see someone crouched on the narrow piece of roof that hung over the deck. I startled, moving back from the window and letting the curtain fall back into place.

“What are you doing?” I hissed softly, “Are you insane? You scared the living daylights out of me.”

“Are you not going to let me in?” the voice that was becoming all too familiar replied. I let out a frustrated breath before pulling the curtain aside again, Nik’s face now in full view outside the window.

“How did you even know this was my room?” I pointed out in a whisper.

“Lucky guess? Open the window,” Nik urged.

After a long moment of debating why this was a horrible idea I unlocked the window, sliding it open and stepping aside to allow him room to come in. This wasdefinitelya horrible idea, and if my mom heard us, I would never hear the end of it. I could kiss the possibility of ever leaving the house again before graduation goodbye.

“What are you doing here?” I asked as he climbed through, his boots hitting the hardwood with a sound that made me cringe. He turned to close the window softly behind him.

“I wanted to talk to you.” He shrugged, as if crawling through my window in the middle of the night was a completely normal thing to do.

“And it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” I asked rubbing my eyes and shaking my head, I had beenthis closeto finally quieting my restless mind and falling asleep.

“I felt bad about leaving you high and dry at school today, I know you were looking forward to seeing me.” He nudged me in the side as he made his way towards the bed. The house was quiet, and his whisper rolled over my skin like silk. Somehow, it felt more intimate in the cast of the moonlight shining through the window, his face dipped in shadow. His skin felt smooth against mine as he moved past me, his jacket sleeves rolled up past his elbows.

“You have to be quiet, my mom is down the hall.” I motioned with my finger over my lips. “If we wake her up, I will never see the light of day again.”

“She’s still mad about the whole glass incident?” He laughed softly. “How did she take the destruction of her carpet?”

“She doesn’t know about that yet,” I whispered, folding my arms across my chest. I had gone to sleep in an oversized shirt and shorts, only now realizing I wasn’t wearing a bra. I immediately felt a wave of embarrassment roll over me, but Nik wouldn’t be able to see the blush rising to my cheeks in the darkness. He walked past me and sat at the edge of my bed, taking his jacket off and making himself comfortable.

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