Malefica

Chapter Two- A Friend, A Secret, A Warning

After a week of living in Malefica, the James family had already unpacked, and begun settling into their new home. Max's mother had started work after being there for three days, and Max's father had locked himself in his office, totally engrossed in his new book. And Max...well, she was alone until Monday, when school started.

She was sitting in her room, reading some stupid romance novel she had bought at the bookstore down the street. It was on the "sale" rack...the main reason she had purchased it was because it had only been 50 cents. She became too disgusted by the plotless "I love you's", and had to get out of the house, just for a little while. She scribbled out a "Went for a walk," note, and left it on the table, knowing that her father would more than likely not even notice she had left.

The world outside her house was pristine-sparkling cement, emerald lawns sparkling with morning dew, almost gross in it's perfection. She walked along the sidewalk, and watched the children play, surrounded by people on lunch breaks walking to and from the diner, cell phones and coffee and ice cream cones floating by. It was...disturbing. Movie-like. Everything smelled fresh, like flowers and sunshine.

"Hey!" a voice called. She assumed that it must have been directed to someone else, and kept walking. "NEW GIRL," the voice persisted. She stopped in her tracks, and turned around.

"What do you want?" she snapped, and he tilted his head to the side. He was cute. Chubby, with a happy smile, and a flop of brown hair.

"No need to be snappy," he laughed. "I just...I wanted to say welcome to Malefica," he smiled. "I'm Daniel...you can call me Dan," he said warmly.

"Oh um...thank you," she said, arching an eyebrow. She was a skeptic at heart. "I'm Max."

"Short for Maxine?" he asked.

"No, just Max."

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the library," he said, smiling warmly. "I'm meeting my girlfriend there, and listen...I know what it's like to not have friends in this town. It's the worst...everyone here is just so tight-knit. I guess because it's such a small town. Everyone seems to have grown up together...it's sort of cliquey, ya'know?"

"Yeah...I guess," she said.

"So, are you coming to the library?" he asked earnestly.

"Sure, yeah, I need something new to read anyways," she said softly.

"Okay, follow me," he said, leading her down the sidewalk, towards a gathering of buildings. The entire time they walked, he babbled on and on about his favorite TV shows, and his favorite comics, and Max listened. "You don't talk much," he noted as they rounded a corner, revealing a street lined with older looking buildings. Law firms mingled with southern boutiques and restaurants serving fried chicken and Italian.

"Here we are," he chirruped. The library looked like a library. A medium sized stone building, with large windows revealing a two-story room full of books. When they walked inside, it smelled like heaven. Coffee and paper. A small cafe was set up beside the checkout desk. The rest of the room was a cavernous expanse of bookshelves and careful labels advertising different sections. Several teenaged kids hung out at one of the tables, smiling and laughing. Max was afraid for an instant that that was where they were heading. Anxiety fluttered in her chest, but Dan led her back through the maze of books, until they landed in a section full of used textbooks.

A girl sat in the floor, two coffees in hand. "Danny, you took forever," she said, standing up. She was petite, probably not even 5 feet tall, and thin. Not unhealthily thin, just thin. She was wearing a shirt advertising some band that Max had never heard of tucked into a pair of short denim shorts, and a pair of black high-top converse. Her red hair was cut off at her chin. Her entire body was smattered in freckles, and her eyes shown like the emerald grass. Unnatural. "What took you so lo-Oh, new girl, hi!" she said cheerfully, practically throwing her coffee cup at Dan to extend her hand.