Chapter 252: Graduation
Book Seven: Flesh and Blood
"Say cheese!"
The witch behind the camera smiled encouragingly as I bent my body into contorted shapes in order to look 'normal' for my grad photo. And while her smile was lovely, I had no doubt mine was strained and uncomfortable.
No doubt.
It would have helped if this whole grad thing was my idea. I'd made it through the majority of my last year in high school without so much as a peep from Mom about the fact I'd be graduating only a month and a half from now. We'd had a nice, quiet fall, winter and spring since the Gate incident, though Gram remained absent, Uncle Frank's search turning up nothing.
I blamed my grandmother for my present position, half falling from an uncomfortable stool all in the name of posterity. Mom was clearly looking for some way to distract and amuse herself from the fact Gram was still missing and refused to be hunted down. Nothing like a graduation of twisted witch proportions to throw a veil over Mom's worry. Yet another thing for Gram to pay for when I saw her again. Right along with putting a spell on me the last time we saw each other.
Not cool, Gram. Not cool at all.
"Syd," Remmie, the photographer witch Mom chose, said, "maybe a hair more of a smile?"
Oops. My line of thought wasn't making this any easier. I automatically widened my smile as ordered and could tell from the expression on Remmie's face it was most likely I looked like someone on the most wanted list.
Remmie hid her frustrated sigh so well I almost missed it. "Okay, great."
I'd obviously broken her at last. She was giving up. I sucked.
"Now, tilt your head a little further to the right."
I obeyed, feeling a crick start in my neck. Blinding light flashed in my eyes. This was actually all Beth's fault. If she hadn't shown up at the house with one of her own pictures as a gift for me, I'm sure Mom would have gone on blissfully unaware. But Beth was so excited about graduating, she filled Mom in on all the pertinent details. And while my mother was aware of prom, since I'd gone last year with my old boyfriend, Brad, she had no idea graduation was such a huge thing for normal teens. She herself was educated as a witch, and never experienced the frenzy of graduation.
I'm not sure why the idea of it became so romanticized for my mother beyond her need to find something to keep her from running off after Gram again, but from the moment Beth's bouncy excitement hit her, Mom went nuts.
Honestly. Maybe if I still had the craving to be normal I would have been more behind the whole craze, but I'd chosen to accept my life with the coven, to take my place as Mom's heir to the family magic.
She, however, had stars in her eyes and a melodramatic need to give me the best graduation ever.
Translation: her best graduation ever.
While Mom bopped off to talk to Erica about the items required, Beth happily filled me in on her news.
"A full scholarship!" She gripped my hands over a cup of tea at our kitchen table, late spring sunlight pouring over both of us. "And best of all, it's to state college, the same school as Tim." Beth blushed, a sweet rose flush rising to her cheeks.
She'd confessed to me in the fall at the beginning of our last school year her father had lost his job. Her parents were forced to use her college fund to keep the family afloat. I, naturally, couldn't let that go.
"That's fantastic," I said, wanting to smile, but knowing if I did I might give something away with my tingling enthusiasm. I had a pretty good idea where the money came from.
"Funny thing, though." Beth's color faded as she frowned a little into her drink. "I don't remember applying for it."
It was so hard to keep from grinning. "Really?"
She bobbed her head, glossy hair swinging. "The Katherine Brindle Award for Excellence in Women. Quite the mouthful, isn't it?"
Was it ever. And with good reason. Mom wasn't the best at naming things. After I'd filled her in on Beth's predicament, she'd gone all witchy mysterious on me. Which, I knew, meant she was taking care of things. For once, I was happy she didn't fill me in. Hearing it from Beth was so much more entertaining.
"But the best news," Beth gushed, leaning forward with a sparkle in her eyes, "Dad found a new job! A start-up hedge fund, Dad's specialty. They called him out of the blue and offered him the management position. He's in charge of the whole thing!" Beth sat back, breathless. "My parents are so thrilled."
Mom again, I was sure of it. I was just happy my friend's troubles were so easily taken care of.
If only I could be so lucky. When Beth left that Saturday morning, Mom returned with Erica in tow. They both studied me with an odd kind of insane frenzy I found a little frightening. From that moment on, my entire life was about graduation.
Case in point. Here I was, only two days later, doing the photo thing. I'd already witnessed Mom and Erica choose my ring, my dress, my shoes, what I would wear to the ceremony, talk about hosting a party... I kyboshed the party idea immediately. First off, I didn't really have anyone to invite anymore, aside from Beth and my friend Liam. And second, I could only imagine the pair inviting the whole school, meaning the party would either be a total embarrassing bust or turn into a rapidly spiraling disaster of jock and cheergirl torture proportions.
I didn't have the patience or the nerve for either.
I heard Remmie sigh, louder this time, and I echoed her. I'd been here at least an hour, while she took shot after shot. I'd always considered myself reasonably photogenic, but posing was clearly not my strong suit. Model, I was not.
Couldn't we just be done?
She forced another smile and leaned back from her tripod-mounted camera, rubbing her lower back. Her short, spiky blonde hair looked mussed, probably from wanting to tear it out. I didn't mean to be the cause of her stress. I winced. Of course she was stressed. Mom was her leader. Remmie would do anything to try to make Mom happy.
I wasn't helping any.
"One more?" I couldn't let Remmie down. This wasn't her fault and maybe I hadn't been putting a full effort into it. All we needed was one shot, after all. I could do that.
My demon huffed her frustration, Shaylee giggling while I did my best to focus. "Sorry to be such a pain."
Remmie's smile came right back. "Not at all, Syd." Her eyes lit up as I actually paid attention. "Hold that!" She dove for the camera. "Smile a little more?" I did my best as the flash went again. "Perfect!"
She backed away, looking relieved. "That's the money shot, Syd. Great job."
Finally. I shucked the school robe and left it on the stool. "Thanks, Remmie."
At least one of us was happy.
I headed out with her waving me off, my backpack over my shoulder, shaking out the curls my hairstylist carefully created for the shoot, happy to be able to scratch my scalp. Hairspray always made me itchy.
I was only a few blocks from home, but I had one more stop to make before I could wash my hair and the makeup from my face. Liam was waiting for an answer and I couldn't put it off any longer.
He'd really been the only person I hung around with since Alison left for New York to be with her parents. Beth and Tim tended to travel in his friend's circles, the normal people circles. I was okay with that. At least Liam knew everything about me, and had as complicated a life as I did. As the Keeper of the Sidhe Gate under Wilding Springs, he knew all about me and my family. For the first time, I had a friend who I could talk to about magic and not have to censor myself or lie to protect our weirdness.
I steered my Cooper Mini toward town hall while admitting to myself how much I missed Alison. She emailed every once in a while, texted. But she'd made new friends according to her sporadic and sometimes cool-toned communication, even went back to school for the second semester in New York. She sounded happy. Like she didn't need me anymore. As much as I was glad she'd moved on from what happened between us, it still hurt.
I saw her for a few hours over Christmas, but that was it. It seemed like both of us were drifting away. She had her life, I had mine, Liam nicely filling the gap, as guilty as that made me feel. Until I remembered she started it.
Sigh.
And while I wished things could be different, I was just happy to hear she was pulling her crap together. When she'd left Wilding Springs the fall before, she was a shattered, brittle, suicidal mess.
I pulled up outside town hall, parking Minnie close to the side door before heading inside. As my skin came in contact with the door handle, I felt a shiver as the Gate's magic welcomed me. It reminded me of Liam, and the question to which he waited for an answer.
Which made me think of Quaid. My hand jerked free of the green Sidhe power trying to draw me, or rather Shaylee, inside. But I immediately deflected thoughts of my absent boyfriend. I couldn't go there, couldn't worry about him. I hadn't heard a word from him since the night I found Celeste in my bedroom, on my computer. As long as the connection between us remained, I knew he was alive and well.
Or that's what I told myself. He made his choice, set off on his revenge vendetta against Batsheva and Dominic Moromond, using his family, the Dumonts, as a means to reach them. Pretending to still be hand fasted to the icy cold Ameline Benoit, friends with the disgusting brothers, Jean Marc and Kristophe, Odette's grandsons, playing his role as a happy member of that most despised of families. It drove me crazy, wondering how he managed it. I would never have been able to pull it off. Not after Ameline almost got Uncle Frank killed after altering my ex-friend Page's memories. I'd have had to hurt someone by now with that much ready access to Jean Marc who almost raped my best friend. Not to mention his vile younger brother.
I hadn't been able to stop Quaid. So as much as worrying was natural, I found myself more often than not growing angry to hide my fear from myself.
I shoved all of that down and smothered it in resolve as I reached for the handle again. I had a choice to make, pretty sure I'd already made it. Liam asked me to prom. As a friend. I hadn't been able to give him an answer, holding out all these months, just in case Quaid came home.
Which he never did. And I was tired of using him as an excuse. It was time to let go of that hope, to live my life and let Quaid live his. I jerked the door open and entered the building, heading for the back hall stairs and the cavern underground, actually smiling at the thought of seeing Liam and telling him what he wanted to hear.
My friend deserved an answer.
***
