Shadowbook

Chapter 2: Across Night's Threshold

"How are you going to get your foster mom to agree to let you come to my house overnight?" Sasha asked.

Instead of answering, I dived into the pool, quite gracefully if I do say so myself. I was using the pool at the local rec center to practice before trying out for the swim team. I hadn't practiced diving in ages! It felt fantastic to be back in a pool again. Water made me happy, and diving felt like flying, like having power. I broke the surface of the cool water, scattering droplets, nearly splashing Sasha.

"Hey! Watch it!" She cringed away from the water droplets. "And you didn't answer my question."

"Oh." I climbed out of the water and made my way back to the diving board. "Maybe I'll just lie and say I need to work on a school project."

Sasha kicked her feet in the water absentmindedly. "You sure that'll be enough to let you come overnight?"

"Maybe? Uh... if it's due the next day?"

"Why don't you just be honest?" Nicole was lying on a nearby lounge chair, tapping on her phone.

"Yeah, sure," I scoffed. "She'd totally let me come if she knew we were going to be doing black magic..." I tried a backwards dive. Not bad, for being out of practice.

Noire continued as I climbed out of the water. "I didn't mean you should tell her everything. I meant that you should say you have friends and want to sleep over. Isn't that a good thing?"

"Oh, she'll come up with a reason why that's bad. Even without mentioning all the spooky stuff. I guess I could try, though." I imitated a high, pleading voice. "'Ms. Cross, I promise I'll be good if you let me go to a sleepover!' Never mind. That's way too sickening."

"Well, this is as close to the full moon as I could get, so if we're going to attempt something it should be tonight," said Sasha. "How did you get her to agree for you to join the swim team?"

"She agreed I needed exercise." I walked to the edge of the diving board again. "And since it's a school thing, she assumed it would be a safe thing for me to do, instead of 'wandering the streets doing who-knows-what.' Or black magic. Right?"

I dove again. When I surfaced, Nicole asked, "Hey Alexandra, do you have a crush?"

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, sounding a little more defensive than I'd meant.

"I'm using the horoscope app to assess couples' compatibility based on their star signs, and I've already done everyone else I know."

That's really dumb, I thought, but I said nothing. I dove off the board once again. Honestly, I'd never really been in love. I hadn't had many romantic relationships, and the ones I had didn't last long. They were mostly just a way of spiting my foster parents, being edgy... I surfaced. "I try not to have relationships."

Nicole looked down at me. "You can have a crush without being in a relationship."

"I know, but it's not worth it. I never stay in one place very long. I mean, I'll have to leave you guys eventually." That got too heavy. "I mean... I... I guess I should probably take advantage of the time I have with you. Sleeping over, and... stuff."

"We're happy to have you, Alexandra," said Sasha.

A thought struck me. "Sasha... do you have a phone I could use?"

"Yeah, sure. Why?"

That was all the incentive I needed. "Can I use it when I come to your house?"