Visions (Forest Secrets Book 1)

Chapter 2

It was six forty-five, and people were starting to arrive in twos and threes. By seven fifteen, the place was packed, with the occasional late invitee. There was music blasting, food making its first evolutionary leap into air, and Annie staring wide eyed. She started crying when she saw that all the glass and crystal were gone, and it took a while before she heard the explanation that Christine and I put it away right before the party started. At that, she gave me a grateful hug and said, “I didn’t listen to you. You told me not to sign up and I didn’t listen to you.”

            “It’s okay Annie. Why don’t you take a break? Don’t worry, Christine and I will handle the party and make sure it doesn’t get too out of hand.”

            “No, thanks, but I’ll just…I’ll guard the knife drawer.” She walked off, and I felt the back of a hand lightly slap against my arm. “Jenna, is Annie okay?”

            “I’ve got to be honest. She’s off hosting parties.”

            In the background, Carter Hill yelled, at the top of his lungs, “Who wants me to take my pants off?”

            “WE DO!” everyone girl screamed.

            Christine and I turned, faces matching in our amused bewilderment.

            Carter Hill stood on the raised platform in front of a – thankfully – inactive fireplace. He had on his green football jersey, dark jeans and scuffed up white sneakers. His dark brown hair was just the right amount of messy, his face a deep, golden tan that made his white teeth shine brighter, and his blue eyes jump out. Carter unzipped his pants and bent over while he pushed them to his ankles. He stood straight and turned around, revealing The Incredible Hulk underwear. All the girls screamed and the guys laughed.

            I shouted, “It’s The Incredibly Hulky Ass!”

            Carter looked back at me from over his shoulder, winked and said, “Don’t make him angry. You won’t like him when he’s angry.”

            I doubled over laughing and felt Christine’s hand on my back and heard her laughing too.

            “Maybe it’s time for the divination stuff. You know, if someone gets bad news, it might calm everyone down a bit,” Christine said as she sobered up a bit.

            “Yeah, sure,” I said, my smile still stretching far across my face.

            “And you didn’t do the love candle thing for me like you promised. So do that first.”

            I stood straighter and realized that the girl next to us had heard the conversation. She was smiling excitedly. The people in this town looked way deeper into this stuff than they should. Honestly. It was just a game.

“OK,” I said as I lit the match. It burned bright in the dim room. “What do you want to know about your love life?” I touched the lit match to a red candles waxy wick and then blew the match out. The lit candle gave the small, dim room a whole new atmosphere. Christine squirmed in her seat, blue-gray eyes intent on the golden drop of light flickering on the red candle. She stared like she was mesmerized.

            I waited for three minutes, but her gaze never wavered from the candle.

            “Christine…?”

            “What’s going to happen this summer?”

            “I thought you wanted a love life.”