The Witch and the Boy who Loved Her

Week 5+ School

The next morning Peter and I were up early for school. The smell of bacon and eggs from the kitchen had my mouth watering. Walking past the guest room where Peter was staying I noticed the door was ajar. A quick glimpse inside showed me a shirtless Peter. As he pulled his shirt down over his head I could see he had a couple tattoos. A large back piece. It was all dark and the sun behind him silhouetted him and all I saw was outline. Then an arm piece. Again the sun behind him was too bright to see detail. How had I not noticed the arm tattoo yesterday? Before he spotted me staring I shuffled off down the stairs. I wasn't one for makeup or doing my hair so getting ready was quick for me. I had just thrown on an old band t-shirt and a pair of boot-cut jeans with converse tennies.

Down the hall and through the door to the kitchen the smell of food was overwhelming. I hopped up on the bar stool located at the island in the middle of the kitchen. Grandmother served me 2 eggs over-hard and 3 strips of bacon, orange juice and coffee. The best breakfast ever. As I was digging in I saw Peter come in the kitchen.

"Good morning Peter, I hope you slept alright." Grandmother may have been odd but she was always polite.

"Yes ma'am. Breakfast smells amazing!" He hopped on the stool next to me and grandmother slid him the same set up. It felt almost surreal having him here. I still couldn't believe it. The boy I had loved as a child was back in my life.

"Hurry up, I don't want to be late after what happened at school yesterday." Peter whispered in my ear. I quickly wolfed down the last of my food. I grabbed Peter's plate and mine to rinse them in the sink before loading them in the dishwasher.

"Hey, I wasn't finished!" Peter protested.

"We don't want to be late right?" I laughed. He rolled his eyes at me. "Thank you for breakfast." Peter smiled at grandmother as he walked out of the kitchen to grab his bag.

"You two be careful. There is something not right about what we saw yesterday." Grandmother's warnings were always ominous but I knew to listen. With a nod of my head I headed out of the kitchen and to the front door. Grabbing my bag I made my way outside.

Peter sat astride his beautiful motorcycle. A smile crossed his lips as I walked up to him. He held out his helmet to me. "Here, you are going to need this."

"Wait, what? You want me to ride this? With you?" I wasn't too sure about this.

"Well, you do trust me, don't you?" s**t, he had me. I do trust him, but I have never ridden a motorcycle before.

"Yes, but.."

"Well, then, jump on! It'll be fun!" He smiled as he started the bike. The growl of the engine vibrated through to my heart. Adrenaline rushing through my veins I climbed on board.

"You know I could just shimmer us there, right?" I had to yell over the rumble.

"Yeah, but I know your grandmother wouldn't be happy about that." He didn't even let me argue with that. He lifted the kick-stand and off we went. The sudden jolt of moving startled me and I almost fell off the back.

"Wrap your arms around my waist!"

"Okay!" I wrapped my arms around his waist. The feeling of the wind in my face and my body so close to Peter's was euphoria. He really was such a smooth driver. I had expected the ride to be more wobbly but boy was I wrong. I was not ready to be at the school. As we pulled into the parking lot students were already staring. As he parked I hopped off the back and went to hand him his helmet.

"Don't be so worried, Layla." He strapped his helmet into his left saddle bag and grabbed his back pack out of the other side.

"They are already staring."

"What do you expect when you pull up on the back of a badass motorcycle with the hottest guy in school?" I mean, he is right. He is the hottest guy in school. That does not mean I need to stroke his ego.

"How do you know you are the hottest? You didn't even stay for the first day of school."

"Trust me, I know. I'll walk with you so they aren't just staring at you, okay?" He offered me his arm and I took it gladly. As we walked up the stairs to the school all eyes were on us. I have to admit it felt awkward and good all at the same time. I was never the center of attention but now I was.

"Hey, what class do you have first?" He asked as we approached my locker.

" History, you?"

"I don't know yet. I didn't stay for the first day, remember." He said jokingly. I hope we have class together.

"You want me to walk you to the office?" I really wanted him to say yes.

"No, I'll find it. I will walk you to class though." I smiled. I grabbed my history book out of my locker and shut it. He smiled and offered me his arm again and we strolled off through the halls to the history room.

We rounded the corner to the room and there they were. All the cheerleaders. The girls I had been avoiding since, well, forever. I could hear their whispering, see them snicker. Peter squeezed my arm gently.

"Good morning, ladies." He gave a half smile as we approached.

"Good morning." The leader of the b***h squad says with a sly smile. "What's your name, sexy?" Peter just smiled as we walked into my class.

"Don't freak, ok. Just go with it." He whispered in my ear right before he leaned in and kissed me. Stars erupted in my vision. I felt suddenly dizzy. I sat down at my desk before I passed out. "I'll see you after class, babe." He gave me his dimpled smile before gliding out of the class room. Reveling the kiss, I hadn't realized I was blushing.

"Wipe the drool off your chin girl!" I was brought out of my haze by the sound of Ashley's voice.

"What? Oh s**t, yeah I'm sorry."

"Alright, spill!" There was Katie's voice coming in over the chatter of the room.

"What are you talking about?" I don't think they believed my faked innocence.

"What! After yesterday, ypur forget to call me. i showed up to pick you up for school.. Gran says you already left!! Then you stroll in here with the hottest guy any of us have ever seen arm in arm like you're together. He walks you to class, cold shoulders the head cheerleader, and then lets not forget that kiss!! Who is he!" She was practically screeching in my ear.

"Yeah, about that.." I was interrupted by Curtis coming in behind me.

"Hey, I saw you with that guy. What happened yesterday. I see you leaving bawling your eyes out and then you come to school with that guy?" He sounded irritated.

"Oh, you missed the kiss then!" Katie did not hesitate.

"What! You kissed him too?"

"Ok, if you will all let me explain! His name is Peter."

"Wait, you mean the Peter?" Ashley had heard me talk about him before.

"Yes, the Peter. I knew him when I was a child. He moved back."

"And your what, dating the guy now?" Curtis' voice was a little shitty sounding.

"No, I don't know.." I didn't have time to finish. The teacher came in and announced the start of class.

After the grueling hour of listening to the teacher blabber on about some dead guys the bell rang. As I walked out of the classroom with Ashley, Katie, and Curtis I had forgotten Peter was to meet me till I saw him. Casually leaning against the wall opposite the door of the classroom. He had someone with him. A guy everyone knew was a trouble maker. Willy. He was always getting into trouble, throwing parties, and had slept with most of the girls in school.

"Hey, who are your friends?" Peter asked with a smile.

"Oh yeah, the is Ashley, Katie, and Curtis. My best friends and they play with me in my band." I smiled as I pointed to each one. Ashely and Katie both smiled while Curtis was a little hesitant. "I see you met Willy. The resident playboy." I tried to smile but I wasn't a fan. I had attended a foot ball game once. Willy was pretending to be nice to me. He asked me to follow him down an alley. He wanted to show me something. Yeah, he wanted to try to shove his tongue down my throat. I had kicked him in the nuts and ran off.

"Yeah, he invited me to a party after school. I thought we could go." He smiled as he offered his arm to me. "Come on, you can think about it. I'll walk you to your next class." I took his arm a little reluctantly.

"What's your next class Peter?" I had this bad feeling.

"Well actually, Willy and I are gonna step out for 2nd period, but I'll be back to walk you to your next class Babe." He flashed me that dimpled smile again as we set off. I felt pretty pissed. I know I didn't have the right to be mad. He could do whatever he wanted. I mean at least he wasn't going off with the cheerleaders.

"Hey man hurry up, Becky and the b***h squad won't wait forever." Willy turned and walked off. So there will be girls. He thinks he is going to pretend to be my boyfriend at school and sneak off with other girls.

"Hey, Layla, what's wrong?" I could hear Peter's voice but I couldn't see him any longer. Suddenly I felt the room shake and then I heard screaming. I looked around and saw Ashley's face pale. She was looking at me. I looked down and saw my hands clenched. The arm around Peter's was tight. I followed it up to his face. He was pale. More than pale. He was looking horrified at his arm. Black lines had started to spider up his arm, to his neck, and across his face. I barely registered his choking sound before I released his arm and grabbed for his jacket. He collapsed to the floor and I felt myself screaming his name. Hands grabbed me from behind and pulled me off of him. As soon as our touch was broken he started gasping for air. The black lines receded. I heard someone screaming my name. What was going on. I didn't know what was happening but I knew it was my fault. I didn't stay. I turned and ran as fast as I could away from Peter. I was hurting him. I needed to get away. I ran till I was out of sight. I hoped I was anyway. With the crowd that I had to fight through I didn't think anyone followed me. As soon as I was out of sight I shimmered home.

"Haven't I told you not to shimmer!" I heard my grandmother's voice. My whole body was shaking. What had I done? I had almost killed him! Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. "Layla, what is going on?" I could sense the concern in her voice.

"Grandmother, I...I...I almost killed him." A sob racked my body as I spoke the words. I had wanted him to come back for so long and on the second day I nearly kill him.

"What are you talking about? Who?"

"Peter. I don't know what happened. One minute I am holding his arm and he is walking me to class, then I felt jealous that he was sneaking off with other people, and then he's choking with black lines crawling up his arm and neck." I was uncontrollably sobbing at this point. My grandmother rushed to my side. With her arm around me she guided me up the stairs and into the house. She guided me down the hall and into the kitchen. I sat down at the table as she started some tea. She was silent for a moment while I sobbed at the table. Then when she finally spoke her voice was ominous.

"Has this ever happened before?" I shook my head. "Ok, well I would say this is why Sharon took him away from here. This also further concretes the thought that she placed the spell we found at the house. I know he said she would never, but I am sure she would do anything to protect her son."

"What do you mean protect?" My voice was weak from the crying.

"I believe there is dark magic afoot. The black lines you describe make me think of a curse. I thought I had done my part to protect you from any dark magic, but it would seem I failed."

"What do you mean?"

"I know you were told your parents died in a car accident. However.."

"Wait, let me stop you right there! Are you about to tell me the most tragic event of my life was a lie!" I couldn't tell if I was shaking from the previous events or the anger that now coursed through me.

"Dear, I wanted to tell you. Unfortunately, you believed in the crash before you got here. I didn't want to further upset a small child. What was I supposed to do?"

"I dunno, maybe tell me the truth!"

"Layla! The truth! The truth is I wasn't sure until now! I was told about the crash too. I wanted to tell you about the possibility of being cursed. Your parents had made enemies with the wrong people. With you showing signs of being cursed that would only mean my suspicions are correct."

"Well, tell me about this stupid curse already! I am tired and I would really like to go lay down!"

"Young lady you will watch your tone with me!"

"Sorry Grandmother."

"Ok so all I know, is that your parents pissed of the dark witch of the wood. I've only heard about this happening one other time. She cursed the couple's child. The child would grow, fall in love with a non-magical human, and then be the death of them. Cursed to always mourn the lost love." I saw a single tear roll down my grandmothers cheek.

"No, there has to be something we can do? Can't you reverse the curse?"

"I am afraid not dear. Only the witch that cast the spell can do that, if you can even find her."

"Where do we start?" I hadn't even heard Peter come in. How long had he been standing there?

"You have to get out of here Peter! I almost killed you!" I was beginning to get hysterical again.

"Layla, I am not leaving you. You are not going to kill me." His voice was smooth and even. He crossed the kitchen and approached me.

"Peter, don't touch me. I'm not mad any more, but I don't want to risk touching you." I almost jumped out of my chair when he reached out to touch me any way.

"Layla, I...I..I'm sorry. You know I would never have done anything with her right? Any of them. They were just coming along with Willy." He sounded sincere but how was I supposed to know.

"Peter, it doesn't really matter." I was still hurt. I waved him off and went up to my room. Why did I keep doing this. Running away from him. He was here. Right in front of me and I just keep running away.