Enchanted Chaos (Enchanted Chaos 1)

It takes her a raindrop of a second before she drives forward into the night.

Strangely, the farther away I get from the house, the more unsettled I feel, as if some unseen force is begging me to go back. But I’m not ready to face any of them yet. Not until I process what I just heard. So, I ignore the inkling. Just like I ignore the lightning in the sky. Lightning not being caused by me.

Chapter 17

“So … do you want to talk about what happened?” Nina asks after a few minutes of silence.

The windshield wipers work to keep the rain off, but the storm is coming down so heavily that visibility is limited.

I reach to turn up the air. “It wasn’t anything major,” I lie. Always lying. All the time. “They’re just jerks. Well, some of them are.” Honestly, most of them aren’t, but I don’t know what else to tell her. “I just needed a break. Plus, they’re really … weird.”

She laughs softly, cranking up the defroster as the windows fog up. “Sky, you do realize you’re weird, right? Not that I don’t love you any less.” She downshifts and slows down for a turn. “How could I when I’m just as big of a weirdo?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” God, I hate lying. Will there ever be a time when I can just tell the truth? Tell her about my powers?

Doubtful, especially with the wall that’s blocking me. Unless the wall is down now … I’m unsure if the spell worked since I passed out.

“Cheer up, buttercup,” she says when she notices my frown. “We’re going to have fun tonight.”

I eye her over suspiciously. “Wait … You have that tone.”

Her eyes glint mischievously. “What tone?”

“The one you get when you’re about to do something potentially illegal and try to convince me to do it with you.”

“Don’t pretend like you actually care about doing illegal stuff.”

“I don’t to an extent.” I frown as she grins. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing.” Her grin suggests otherwise. “Gage and I are just having a little get-together. That’s all.”

“So, a party.” Because Nina never has get-togethers. They’re always parties.

She shoots me a playful, scolding look. “Don’t pout. It’s going to be fun. I promise.”

“Why’d you guys decide to have one tonight?” I ask. “And what about school tomorrow?”

“Our school’s on winter break right now, remember?”

“Crap, I forgot. The new school I’m starting isn’t on break yet.”

“They do get a winter break, though, right?” she asks, and I shrug. “Well, shit.”

“You can say that again,” I mumble, folding my arms over my chest.

“Well, shit.” She smiles, and I can’t help smiling a bit, too.

But the party has me on edge.

“So, who’s all coming to the party? And are you having it at Gage’s or your house?”

“It’s at mine. My mom’s out of town, so I thought: why not?” She shrugs, then glances at me. “Just a warning. It was already going on when I left, and things were getting a bit crazy.” When my lips curve into a frown, she adds, “Dude, chill. We’re going to have fun.”

I put on a smile, but the truth is that I’ve never been into parties. There’re always too many people there for my liking. And with the mood I’m in, I am betting I’m going to be a party pooper. Not that I’m ever the life of the party.

I guess I’ll just have to suck it up. After all, Nina did drive all the way out to the Everettsons’ house just to pick my ass up.

Speaking of the Everettsons …