Cate Tiernan: Book of Shadows

"I guess you're just picky," Robbie said.

My dad wandered into the kitchen again, got a pen from the pen jar, and headed out again.

"Okay," Bree said, opening the back door. "I better get home before Chris freaks out." She made a face. "Where have you been?" she said in a deep-voiced imitation. She rolled her eyes and left, and moments later we heard her temperamental BMW, Breezy, take off and chug down the street.

"Poor Chris," Tamara said. Her curly brown hair was escaping from her headband, and she expertly twisted in back underneath.

"I think his days are numbered," Robbie said, taking a sip of soda.

I pulled out a bag of salad and ripped it open with my teeth. "Well, he lasted longer than usual."

Tam nodded. "It might be a new record."

The back door flew open and my mom staggered in, her arms full of files, flyers, and real estate signs. Her jacket was wrinkled, and it had a coffee stain on one pocket. I grabbed the stuff from her hands and set it on the kitchen table.

"Mary, mother of God," my mom muttered. "What a day. Hi, Tamara, honey. Hey, Robbie. How have you two been? How's school so far?"

"Fine, thanks, Mrs. Rowlands," Robbie said.

"How about you?" Tamara asked. "You looked like you've been working hard."

"You could say that," my mom said with a sigh. She hung her jacket on a hook by the door and headed to the cabinet to fix herself a whiskey sour from a mix.

"Well, we better head out," Tamara announced, picking up her backpack. She kicked Robbie's sneaker gently. "Come on, I'll give you a ride. Nice seeing you, Mrs. Rowlands."

"See you later," Robbie said.

"Bye, guys," my mom said, and the back door closed behind them. "Gosh Robbie's getting tall. He's really growing into himself." She came over to give me a hug. "Hi, sweetheart. It smells great in here. Is it chicken Morgan?"

"Yep. With baked potatoes and frozen peas."

"Sounds perfect." She drank from her glass, which smelled sweet and citrusy.

"Tiny sip?" I asked.

"No, ma'am!" Mom replied, as she always did. "Let me change, and I'll set the table. Is Mary K. here?"

I nodded. "Upstairs with some of the Mary K. fan club."

Mom frowned. "Boy or girls?"

"I think both."

Mom nodded and headed upstairs, and I knew that the boys, at least, were going to get the boot.

"Hi. Can I sit here?" Janice asked at lunch period the next day, pointing to an empty spot on the grass of the school's court yard next to Tamara.

"Of course," Tamara said, waving a handful of Fritos. "We'll be even more multiculti." Tamara was one of the very few African Americans in our overwhelmingly white school, and she wasn't afraid to joke about it, particularly with Janice, who was sometimes self-conscious about being one of very few Asians.

Janice sat down cross-legged with her tray balanced on her lap.

"Excuse me," I said pointedly. "Is there any interesting…news you'd like to share?"

Confusion crossed Janice's face as she chewed the school's version of meat loaf and swallowed. "What? You mean from class?"

"No," I said impatiently. "Romantic news." I raised my eyebrows.

Janice's pretty face turned pink. "Oh. You mean Cal?"

"Of course I mean Cal!" I practically exploded. "I can't believe you didn't say anything."

Janice shrugged. "We just went out once," she said. "Last weekend."

Tamara and I waited.

"Can you embellish, please?" I pressed after a minute. "I mean, we're your friends. You went out with the single best-looking guy on the planet. We deserve to know."

Janice looked pleased and embarrassed. "It didn't really seem like a date," she said finally. "It's more, like, he's trying to get to know people. Know the area. We drove around and talked a lot, and he wanted to know all about the town and the people…"

Tamara and I looked at each other.

"Hmm," I said finally. "So you're not hooking up or anything?"

Tamara rolled her eyes. "Be blunt, why don't you Morgan?"

Janice laughed. "It's fine," she said. "And no. No hooking up. I think we're just friends."

"Hmmm," I said again. "He is friendly, isn't he?"

"Speak of the devil," Tamara said softly.

I looked up to see Cal ambling toward us, his lips curved in a smile.

"Hey," he said, crouching on the grass next to us. "Am I interrupting anything?"

I shook my head and drank my soda in an attempt to look casual.

"Are you getting settle in?" Tamara asked. "Widow's Vale is pretty small, so it probably won't take you long to figure out where everything is."

Cal smiled at her, and I blinked at his supernatural face. By now I expected to have this reaction when I was around him, so it didn't bother me as much.

"Yeah. It's pretty here," Cal said. "Full of history. I feel like I've gone back in time." He looked down at the patch of grass, absently stroking a blade between his fingers. I tried not to stare, but I found myself wanting to touch what he touched.

"I came over to ask if you guys would come to a party this Saturday night," Cal said.

We were all so surprised that we didn't say anything for a second. It seemed gutsy for a relative stranger to throw a party so soon.

"Rowlands!" Bree called from across the lawn, then came and sank down gracefully on the grass next to me. She gave Cal a beautiful smile. "Hi, Cal."

"Hey. I've been going around inviting people to a party this Saturday." Cal said.

"A party!" Bree looked like this was the best idea she'd ever heard. "What kind of party? Where? Who's coming?"

Cal laughed, leaning back his head so I could see the strong column of his throat, with its smooth tan skin. In the vee of his shirt hung a worn leather string with a silver pendant on it, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle. I wondered what the symbol meant.

"Well the weather's all right, it will be an outdoor party," Cal said. "Mostly I just want to have a chance to talk to people, you know, not at school. I'm asking most of the juniors and seniors-"

"Really?" Bree's lovely brows arched.

"Sure," Cal said. "The more the merrier. I figured we could all meet up outside. The weather's been beautiful lately, and there's this field right at the edge of town over past Tower's market. I thought we could sit around and talk, look at the stars…"

We all stared at him. Kids hung out at the mall. Kids hung out at the movie theater. Kids even hung out at the 7-Eleven when things got really slow. But nobody ever hung out in the middle of an empty field out past Tower's market.

"This isn't the kind of thing you usually do, is it?" he asked.

"Not really," Bree said carefully. "But it sounds great."

"Okay. Well, I'll print up some directions. Hope you guys can come." He stood smoothly, gracefully, the way an animal rises.

I wish he were mine.

I was shocked that my brain had formed the thought. I'd never felt that way about anyone. And Cal Blaire was so out of my league that wanting him seemed stupid, almost pathetic. I shook my head. This was pointless. I would just have to snap out of it.

When he was gone, my friends turned to each other excitedly.

"What kind of a party is this?" Tamara wondered out loud.

"I wonder if there'll be a keg or something," Bree said.

"I think I'm going out of town this weekend," Janice said, looking half disappointed, half relieved.

The four of us watched as Cal approached Bree's other friends, who were hanging out on the benched at the edge of the school grounds. After talking to them, he headed to the stoners clustered by the doors to the cafeteria. The funny thing was, he looked just like each crowd he spoke to. When he was with the brains, like me and Tamara and Janice, he was totally believable as a gorgeous, brilliant, deeply inquisitive scholar type. When he was with Bree's friends, he looked cool, casual, and hip: a trendsetter. And when he was standing next to Raven and Chip, I could totally imagine him as a stoner, smoking pot every day after school. It was amazing how comfortable he was with everyone.