Air

Boiling

"I want to explode. Watch me."

-Uh Huh Her, "Explode"

Today, James and Arielle are at my house. We are currently relaxing in my room with Sarafina. James plays with my hair as I read my "Book of Shadows." Arielle cuddles Sarafina close to her. She looks at her seductively, like she wants nothing more to roll around in a king sized bed with her. And surprisingly, Sarafina doesn't seem to mind it. She just smiles at Sarafina, and rests her hand on her leg. 

"What are you two cuddly love birds up to?" James asks Arielle. 

Arielle laughs, but not too hard. She lets out just a sweet, sexy laugh I wish I had. Her laugh is soft and quick. I'm sure many people find it appealing. My laugh is gross. Mine is loud, long, ugly and unpleasant.   I hate it.  

"We're not love birds, you stupid," says Arielle. 

"Okay, sure, whatever," says James. 

"We aren't!" Arielle protests angrily.

I put down my reading. It seems to me that a quarrel between 2 best friends is heating up. This is interesting, and I would like to hear it. I'm not even sure why I am finding this fight so intriguing. I guess I just am. 

"Arielle and Sarafina, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G," James teases. 

Arielle grabs a blue throw pillow from Sarafina's bed. She chucks it at James as he scoots away. But Arielle is too good of a thrower to miss her target. The pillow ricochets and lands on Jame's head. 

"You're mean," Says Arielle in a teasing voice.

"Love you too, girl!" Says James.

We all break out into laughter together. The moment is warm and cozy. I really, really like James and Arielle. They are some of the kindest and most entertaining people I have ever met. I feel like, as different as we are, we can really connect on some deep, energetic level. Maybe it's because all three of us are witches. I'm not sure. But I never thought I would feel this close to anyone.

Arielle and Sarafina sit up. Arielle starts to braid Sarafina's hair. Sarafina smiles and looks at me, like she is in some kind of complete bliss. Maybe she's falling in love for the first time. Maybe she has genuine feelings for Arielle. It would be interesting, seeing them as a couple. I'm sure they'd look lovely together.

"So, how often do you and Arielle hang out?" I ask James.

"Almost everyday," He replies.

"Outside of school?" Sarafina asks.

Arielle and James nod in unison. 

"Wow, that's a lot," Says Sarafina. 

"I agree," I say. "How do you make that work? How do you two see each other everyday? Do you live in the same neighborhood?"

"Yeah," Says Arielle, "We both live on Berry Drive. I usually walk over to his house and he lets me in right away. Sometimes, I don't even have to knock."

"I wish I was that close to someone," Says Sarafina. 

"Are you sure?" I ask her, "I mean, sometimes getting up close and personal can be a really bad thing. I mean, look at what happened with James and Aria. They used to be really close, but now Aria is manipulating them and other people as well."

Arielle lets go of my sister's hair. Her shoulders drop, and her jaw goes down as far as it can. Her body looks limp. Her facial expression looks horrifying. Clearly, she's offended I know all these things about a girl in her coven.

"You told her?" Arielle says to James. "WHY?"

"She asked me why I didn't get along with Aria, Arielle. I thought I may as well be honest," Says James. "She is my girlfriend, after all."

My heart does a tiny little flip. Sure, the air in the room is filled with tons of negative energy. Of course, Arielle doesn't like that I know what happened with Aria. But one good thing happened in the midst of so much bad. James called me his girlfriend. He has never done this before. I am so proud of him, I just want to kiss him! Now isn't really the time for that, though.

"We agreed not to tell anyone that Aria practices dark magick," Arielle says angrily. "We will get into lots of trouble, and people will find out about our coven and think that everyone does dark magick. We'll be persecuted, James. We will be put down for our beliefs by the majority of society!" 

James shakes his head. "I only told one person, and that was Anna. It's not like Anna is going to blab to anyone."

Oh, no. My teeth tremble. My shoulders shake involuntarily. I tap my fingers on my mattress and look up at the ceiling and then at Sarafina. Her eyes are wide, and she is biting her lip. She's nervous they will find out I told my whole family about Aria's curses and threats. I can tell, because I am too.

Sarafina looks up at Arielle, who kneels right behind her. "You have a coven?" She asks. 

Arielle nods. "Yeah," she says. "We meet at Shell Beach and practice magick rituals together. We're also Pagans. Your sister probably knows something about us. Isn't that right Anna?"

I sigh. What a bitch. What a freaking bitch. I can't believe she is trying to tell my sister I'm in a coven! Sure, I've said a lot about Aria, but I've never once mentioned the Pagan coven I am a part of. I am not ready to tell anyone in my family about this. I know it will be a huge bombshell. Everyone will go crazy just from hearing the news. Their insanity will be all my fault, and I won't ever be able to live with knowing such a thing.

Sarafina looks straight at me. Her eyes pierce mine. "Anna," she says, "What is Arielle saying? Are you a part of a Pagan coven?" 

Another sigh leaves from my mouth. "Well, I showed up for one meeting, but..."

"But what?" Yells Sarafina. "You joined a coven and you didn't tell me? You should be lucky I don't plan on telling Mom. She raised you Wiccan. She won't be happy you converted."

"But I didn't know they were a Pagan group until they told me!" I yell. 

"Fine," says Sarafina. "Whatever."