At that, Ryan smiled proudly. He stuck his cleared leg out in front of him, as if his friend could see through his loose sports pants. “Good so far!”
“Good stuff. Who’s this?”
“This?” Ryan glanced back at me with my hand reaching for the doorknob. He took a deep breath. “This is Lu.”
His friend blinked tiredly, sticking his hand back into the family-sized chip bag. “Oh. Hey … Lu?”
“Hi. That would be my name, yep.” I stared at Ryan. “We’re going to be late. You do not want to meet the wrath of overly involved witches when you are late.”
“Good point. See ya, Trev.”
“See you whenever, I guess.” Trevor raised a fluorescent-orange cheese-stained hand, still watching the two of us before we made it out the door.
Ryan tugged it shut behind by the brass handle.
“Trevor’s a pretty good guy,” Ryan said nonchalantly. He reached out, however, before I made it to the sidewalk, taking a right toward town. “I heard it might rain later tonight, so I figured we could drive if we’re out that long before getting back to campus.”
For some reason, I wasn’t thinking about getting back to campus. Usually, when I had a meeting at Gertie’s, I automatically stayed the night with her afterward, not wanting to traverse back to campus alone. Only I wasn’t going to be alone this time around. Ryan was going to be with me.
Another strange, uncomfortable feeling rose through my stomach and toward my chest at the re-realization of just exactly what I was doing. I was bringing Ryan directly into the hellfire of Gertie and the rest of the nosy coven. We were falling directly into their clutches. They were going to make much more of it than it was. Ryan and I were … friends.
Sort of friends?
Whatever we were, all I needed was for them to mess up whatever it might be. He was coming not only to a coven meeting, but also a holiday. Even Vadika had only come to May Day my first year and made an oath to never again after we all got a little too rowdy with dancing around our makeshift pole and the dandelion wine that Ana and Faith had had the bright idea of trying to make and succeeding all too well.
It had been a good night. Like with Vadika though, I wasn’t sure what Ryan would think if things got a tad out of hand, if I sank into my true colors—if I could manage to relax enough at the sudden understanding weighing on my shoulders. I felt like I was bringing Ryan home to meet the parents.
Gods, I was giving myself a headache.
“You all right there? You look nervous.”
Instead of lying, I didn’t say anything at all. Ryan led me to his car, still parked up along the curb. He opened the passenger door and waved an extravagant arm for me to get in.
Wrinkling my forehead, I ducked down into the seat and pulled the door shut behind me by the time he made it around to the driver’s side. With a flick of his key, he revved the engine to life and smiled, getting himself situated.
“Ah, how long it has been since I’ve driven without feeling like I was squished in here with that awful brace and those stupid crutches.” Ryan smiled again with boyish pleasure. He strummed his fingers on the wheel. “You’ll have to give me directions. I have no clue where I’m going.”
I shook my head as if I should’ve realized. “You can just go straight from here into town and across the Riverwalk Bridge.”
The old Riverwalk Bridge, of course, wasn’t much of a bridge. It was really just a rusted blue-green metal crossing that led toward what everyone considered the isle. The bridge also made new drivers swerve, for fear of being too close to the shallow edge when sharing what should truly be a one-way lane.
When it was dark and rainy out, going toward the isle also gave the appearance of doom and gloom. Heavy cloud cover formed a thick haze, as if a river monster was bound to make an appearance tonight under the bright moon. The lunar light peeked out between dark-gray swaths.
Ryan made it across the bridge with ease. No one else was out on the small-town roads as I directed him to keep going straight before making a single right until we were at the end of the road, in front of the looming Victorian.
I unbuckled, waiting for Ryan to cut the engine. “Coming with or deciding against it?”
He seemed to understand then. “This is it?”
“This is it.”
“Whoa. I mean, I’ve passed this place before, but for some reason, I never thought anyone actually lived in it,” said Ryan, pulling the key out of the ignition and unbuckling himself by the time I was already waiting outside the car in the damp air. He carefully shut the car door behind him, as if apprehensive about disturbing anyone on this side of Barnett with the noise.
“Just wait until you get inside,” I said, pushing past the front iron gate and up the path to the front door.
Voices were already teeming inside the house. They echoed gleefully through the hallway, where I could glance into the living space, where the altar was already lit. The space was draped in offerings from coffee to apples and pine cones to still partially green leaves, kept far from any tiny flames, captured in mason jars for extra safety.
“We were wondering when you’d ever get here!” cried Estrella from behind the front door. “I said I would stand watch. Faith said you were bringing a boy for some reason. She wasn’t lying, which I find exceptionally out of character, but here we are.”
