"Hmm Gavin. Is that his name? Your boyfriend I presume?"

"Umm. Not exactly."

She bit the round fruit. "Oooh this sounds juicy. Do tell." Her smile was sinister.

Slouching on a nearby ornate bench, I sighed. I don't know why I even contemplated confiding in her, maybe because she was dead. How much harm could it possibly cause? And if I was lucky, she might have a solution. "Gavin, the guy you tried to dispose of. We're...close."

She tossed the half-eaten fruit aside and sat beside me. "You have the hots for him. Yeah I got that part."

I narrowed my eyes at her. This might not have been the best idea I'd ever had. "Well recently thanks to you I figured out about the dreamscape thingy. Turns out I've been doing the whole dream sharing for a long time. With another guy... Lukas."

"Ooh, the plot thickens," she cooed. "Let me guess. Lover boy isn't overly thrilled that you have been merging dreams with another guy."

"Bingo. That and the fact that I stumbled into Lukas in real life," I added.

"Boys. They can be so irrational. Boy witches worse. What does this Lukas mean to you?" She was totally loving this.

I shrugged. "I don't really know. I always thought he was just a figment of my imagination. Now that he is not, I don't know what to do about him."

"Being a witch has its advantages. There is a spell for everything. If you really want to know where your heart lies, it's simple magic."

Her advice sucked. "Simple magic huh? It just so happens that I am not that educated in simple magic." I picked at the chipping paint on the bench arm.

She tsked her tongue. "We're going to have to change that." The smile she aimed my way reminded me of the Cheshire cat.

Suddenly, I had an overabundance of teachers. For seventeen years witches were something only in fantasy books for me. Then in a just a few short months I found myself surrounded by the real deal.

But could they all be trusted?

Chapter 7.

I WOKE UP MONDAY MORNING before my alarm with a mother of all headaches. The icing on the cake, dark circles under my eyes. I felt like I'd been sucker punched. This dreamscaping stuff sucked. It took the regenerating energy my body needed from sleep. It was like being up all night partying and waking up with one killer hangover.

Not that I would know how that feels, but I figured this was pretty darn close.

Forcing myself to sit up, I waited for my head to stop spinning. G.o.d, I thought it was going to split open. I needed drugs. Strong ones.

Stumbling to the bathroom, black dots swirled behind my eyes. I braced my hands on the sink and took long deep breaths, praying the pain would subside for just a moment. Filling a gla.s.s with water, I downed two aspirins. Now I just had to wait for the relief to kick in and standing wasn't helping.

Crawling back under the covers, I threw them over my head hiding the sunlight that began to stream through the widows. The darkness didn't seem to aggravate the pain as much, though it was only a matter of time before my alarm started buzzing in my ear.

Or Lunar purring.

No sooner had I pulled the covers over my head did Lunar poke under them snuggling against my neck. I groaned. His incessant purring was normally comforting. Today it was driving me absolutely nutty.

"Lunar hush," I muttered.

Luckily for me he was a lazy kitty. Before long his purring stopped and he was fast asleep. I on the other hand, was counting the beating throbs drumming at my temples.

By the time my alarm finally rang, I was semi-functional again. The pills had worked a little magic of their own. There was still a dull ache but nothing compared to earlier. Now that the pain had mostly subsided the events of yesterday came rushing back. The headache might be gone but the hole in my heart was still there.

How was I going to face him?

What did I say to him?

All I knew was I needed to talk to him. I needed to tell him about the dream last night. That wasn't an ordinary dream, but what she said... was it true? One thing I was certain, Gavin would know. Now all I had to do was figure out how I was going to get him to give me the light of day.

Pa.s.sing my reflection in my mirror, I gasped. What I really needed was to learn some beauty spells for sprucing or at least something so I didn't look like death. At this point I was beyond helpless. I made a metal note to ask Sophie to teach me and grabbed my bag off the floor. She never looked like c.r.a.p.

Then my gaze past over the circular hole beside my door, and my heart cracked all over again like the plaster on the floor. d.a.m.n. I was going to have to do something about that after school before my aunt saw it.

Dragging a.s.s, I arrived at school knowing that this was going to be a h.e.l.lish day. I wasn't sure I had it in me to see the condemnation in Gavin's eyes, especially while not in my best form. Even on a good day that would have been difficult.

Sliding behind my desk in first period I wished I had thought to wear sungla.s.ses, something to hide my bloodshot eyes. Austin sat down at the desk to my right looking swag and cheerful, everything I wasn't. It made me grumpier than I already was. I hated him.

Well, not really. Didn't the world know I was dying inside?

He gave me a once over. Keeping his voice low he asked, "What were you and dreamy doing last night? You look like c.r.a.p-b.a.l.l.s." Leave it to Austin to be brutally honest and point out the obvious. Not to mention, kick me when I was feeling down.

"Not everyone can look like a diva all the time," I snapped.

"Ouch. Touchy and b.i.t.c.hy. Well aren't you just a bowl of sunshine this morning. Did you forget your Wheaties?"

I gave him a droll look, but he was right. It wasn't his fault. He didn't need me taking it on him either. "Sorry," I sighed. "Gavin and I had a fight."

"Oh I see. The first official fight. Was it that bad?"

"The pits," I said tapping my pencil on the desktop.

He pushed his chic gla.s.ses back in place, edging to the end of his seat. "I am just having a hard time imagining lover boy mad at you."

I propped my chin on my hands. "Believe it."

His eyes zeroed in on my face. "I don't like knowing that my friend cried herself to sleep last night without calling me." His eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with worry. It was nice having friends that cared.

I started playing with my pencil just for something to do. "I was a sticky, hot mess. I just needed to be alone and wallow in my tears."

"Well the heavens must have felt your misery. It poured all night. A scary a.s.s storm."

The pencil I'd been twirling fell out of my hand and shot across the aisle smacking Dominic Jones in the back. Just peachy. Little did Austin know, that scary a.s.s storm had been me.

An aggravated Dominic turned around and glared my way. "Sorry," I mouthed.

Austin stared at me with sympathy and looked to be contemplating whether I needed an intervention.

By the time chem came around, I was fidgeting in my chair like a two-year old pumped on sugar. Prior to third period I had been anxious to see him. Time flew by. My stomach turned and I was plagued with questions.

Was he still mad at me?

Would he even talk to me?

Look at me?

None of it mattered, the seat beside me stayed empty like my heart. I felt hollow inside knowing Gavin hadn't shown up for cla.s.s. I guess I had my answer.

He was furious. He was hurt. Sneaking a peek at my cell phone revealed he was also not responding to any of my messages.

Rejection stung like a dagger. The remaining of the cla.s.s was a blurry muddle. I comprehended nothing and time stopped. A part of me wished that I had stayed at home. The only reason I had dragged my scrawny b.u.t.t from bed was that maybe, just maybe I would get the chance to try and make amends.

That was crushed to dust.

By lunch I knew I wasn't fit for company, just as I knew Gavin had never bother to come to school today. I wanted to hide away and lick my wounds. I couldn't deal with the crowded chaos of the lunchroom. Or the questions. Austin and Tori would be full of them, though I knew they were only truly trying to be a friend.

So, I went to the one place I could be utterly alone. The library. At this time of day the library was vacant. Ours was small and hardly anyone ever ventured down that way when there was greasy pizza on the menu.

Sophie found me hidden in a corner surrounded by the wonderful smell of dusty books. It was a relaxing smell. The room was quiet and deserted, just the way I wanted it. I knew it was her without ever looking up. The tingle of magical presence fringed down my spine.

I was afraid to look at her. Afraid she would be angry at me. There was only so much I could take.

"Everyone is wondering where you are," she said. Her voice was lyrical like a song and there wasn't any criticism that I could hear. Everyone really meant just Tori and Austin.

I risked a glance up into her enchanting blue eyes. "Did Gavin tell you?"

She shook her head looking puzzled. "Tell me what?"

Awkward. c.r.a.p. Me and my big mouth.

"What is going on? Why are you in the library instead of sitting with us? And why is my brother skipping school? Something is fishy and one of you better fess up." She put her hands on her hips, waiting. Her floral skirt swished with her movements.

Thank goodness there wasn't anybody here to overhear what I had to say. They wouldn't have believed it anyway. "Is he okay?"

"Define okay. All I know is that my brother came home moody. I a.s.sumed the two of you had a disagreement or that my brother was just being a jerkwad. It really isn't that uncommon you know."

Those troublesome tears welled in my eyes. I did that. I caused him pain. "I'm sorry Sophie. I never meant to hurt him."

She sat next to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Hey. Don't cry. My brother's an a.s.s. Whatever he's done, he doesn't deserve your tears."

That only made it worse. She had it all wrong. The roof of the library pattered with the heavy drops of rain. A strike of lightning lit the darkened sky, flashing across the floor. There I go again. I really needed to learn to get a grip on my magic it was out of control. And a nuisance.

She looked outside the library windows. "Wow. You're like a walking weathervane."

I laughed on a sob.

"You ready to tell me what's got you so upset? I promise not to be biased." She smiled gently at me, her dark hair pulled back in a low ponytail. "He might be my brother, but you're my friend too. And I hate that the two of you are having a tiff."

A tiff was putting it mildly.

The guilt wasn't any less when I told Sophie. I felt like I had betrayed one of my best friends, though I had to give her props. She handled it a thousand times better than Gavin, and she kept her promise. She didn't condemn me on the spot and looked at it from a less emotionally involved perceptive.

I needed that.

"Wow. I wasn't exactly expecting that. There is more going on here, I can feel it. Did you wonder why he never told you what you were?" she asked about Lukas.

Sniffling, I wiped my nose with the back of my sleeve. "He said that he didn't think I would believe him. And he was probably right."

"But you believed Gavin," she countered.

"That's true but he wasn't what I thought of as a figment of my dreams. I didn't think Lukas was real," I defended.

"Do you trust him?" she asked.

At one time I would have answered the question without hesitation, but I didn't know then what trust really was. Since meeting Gavin I can say I trusted him inexplicitly. But you hadn't trusted him to tell him about Lukas, nagged a voice in the back of my subconscious.

My subconscious lately was a real downer.

"I don't know." I finally admitted.

Her feet swung under the table. "Do you trust my brother?"

"Of course," I answered immediately. Didn't that speak volumes? "Sophie can you just let him know that I'm sorry. More sorry than he will ever know."

"You know that he is just jealous. Once he realizes that you are interested in only him, he'll come around," she a.s.sured.

My eyes must have deceived me as I didn't jump to agree. Truthfully, I was an emotional wreck. I nodded meekly.

She lightly nudged me. "Give him a little s.p.a.ce. He'll miss you in no time. I guarantee it. He won't give up that easily." She was a better friend than I deserved.

If the roles had been reversed, I would have probably lost my temper and struck something with a bolt of lightning. "I hope so," I said, sounding not nearly as convinced she was. It turned out that Sophie might have underestimated his anger.

I didn't see Gavin once all week. His absence left a gaping hole in my heart. He filled such a huge part of my life that I never knew was empty.

I missed him miserably.

And I desperately wanted to tell him about Morgana possibly being my great (however many greats) grandma.

Chapter 8.