Under the Moon - Book 1 in the Bewitching Moon Series

Chapter 4

School was as boring as it could get on a Tuesday, the only thing that seemed to be interesting to everybody else, was that video of me that had gone viral. Everybody kept staring at me. A few even decided to come up to me and talk to me about it, saying I was super cool and whatnot.

The only person I could put up with at the moment was Aiden. He knew I didn't want to talk about it, so we didn't talk about it.

The whole day was a drag, but eventually, the end of the day came around.

"Hey mom, I'm home!" I say as I walk in through the front door.

"Honey I'm in the kitchen," she called back, "I have someone who I think you should meet."

I walked into the kitchen, I never really knew mom to have visitors so this surprised me.

At the kitchen table sitting next to mom was a guy with black hair like me and piercing green eyes.

"Marabella, this is Derek, I've been dating him for the past couple of months."

"Really mom, that's amazing!"

"Sweetie, you're leaving out the best part," Derek says to my mom before turning to me, "I had just proposed to Gwen...to your mom last night. We're engaged."

"Really! I'm so excited for you two." I really was. It's just been me and mom since I was little and I am happy to see her happy.

"Thanks, honey," my mom says with a big smile on her face, "We're engaged to be married in the summer, and until then Derek will be moving in with us."

It took almost all my strength to keep the smile on my face. I doubted that Derek knew I was a witch, this meant I would have to keep my powers hidden at home as well.

"That's amazing," I say, "Well mom, I'm heading off, I promised that I would meet a friend after school, It was nice to meet you, Derek."

"Bye, sweetie."

"See you around Marabella."

I couldn't get out of there quick enough. I needed to clear my thoughts. I was happy for my mom, I truly was. But now I would have to hide my powers at home as well. It was already hard enough hiding them at school. Once Derek moves it, the only time I would be able to use my powers was at night on the beach, and I didn't even go there that often. Especially with winter coming up, it would be too cold to go out at night.

I felt bad lying to my mom about meeting a friend, but I needed to clear my thoughts. I made my way down to the cave although it wasn't quite dark yet. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any people on the beach.

I sat down on the sand and closed my eyes, focusing on my magic. Once I was sure I was calm enough, I opened my eyes. I was surprised to find it dark already. The moon reflected off my eyes and I could feel the transition from my hazel eyes into liquid gold eyes.

I spent a little longer in the cave collecting pebbles and making them float around me like Saturn's rings. Eventually, I went home, my mind clear and ready to process information once again. Although a good night's rest would be nice.

***

"Where have you been?!" Mom said as soon as I came through the door, looking genuinely worried.

"Sorry, I've just been down at the beach."

"You had me so worried, it's almost midnight." This shocked me. I looked over to the clock and sure enough, it was 11:55 pm.

"I'm really sorry mom, I lost track of time."

"It's fine," Mom said with a sigh, "you should go to bed, you have school tomorrow."

"Ok mom, good night."

"Good night sweetie."

***

I felt drained walking home from school today especially since I stayed up so late last night. I really should have been better at keeping the time.

The day seemed to go by so slow, I just wanted to get home and get more sleep.

"I'm home," I called out before slowly making my way up the stairs and to my room, passing out literal seconds after my face hit the pillow.

***

When I woke up it was around 5 pm. I got out of bed and started my homework, grateful that there wasn't too much. I didn't want to spend the whole night doing it.

When I finished I went downstairs to find something to eat. As I reached the bottom of the stairs I heard talking coming from the kitchen.

Mom was there, talking to Derek. It was after I processed the fact that he was here, did I process the fact that there was a suitcase next to him, and boxes littered the table.

"Sweetie, you're awake," Mom said, "Derek came with his stuff just a little while ago."

"Hey, Derek," I said. Derek gave me a slight wave as a response before he and my mother resumed their conversation."

Not wanting to bother them, I grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry and made my way back upstairs to my room, where I spent the rest of the night, listening to moving boxes before the whole house was quiet.