A Brown-Eyed Girl

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

He was amazed when she took his hand, although it barely counted as holding. One stubbed toe, and the contact between them would be broken. It was only the very tips of their fingers which were linked. Yet, warmth flowed through him. It was a small step, a sign he had gained the slightest measure of her trust.

He couldn’t help but notice Kelsey’s unease as she lead him out of the house. She was walking in front of him, and he used the advantage to study her. Her cheeks were twin spots of pink, her gaze downcast. Were their touching hands that embarrassing to her? A part of him hoped so.

He was so lost in the ramifications of their contact, the question of what he was going to do didn’t hit him until they were actually outside. Kelsey led him out the back door and down concrete steps into the most barren backyard he had ever seen. There were no plants, no decorations, just a wooden privacy fence running around its edges. The grass was pitiful, hardly qualifying as a lawn.

Once they had gone a few steps past the bottom of the stairs, she dropped her tenuous hold on his fingers and looked away. “Well, this is it,” she said quietly.

His mind raced. He wanted to do something impressive, something that would eradicate all her doubts. The only thing he could think of was starting up a wind. But that seemed so cliché, like a scene from a corny TV show. The sparsity of plant life wasn’t helping his dilemma either. Why couldn’t she have a big oak tree or even flower beds? Whatever he cast was going to have to require only a small amount of energy.

He caught Kelsey watching him from the corner of her eyes. It was only for a moment but their tortured look was evident. This inactivity wasn’t doing anything to convince her, just the opposite. After promising a display of magic, he was standing, locked in indecision, doing nothing. That was far from reassuring. He couldn’t blame her for misbelieving.

Mind still racing, he singled out the largest, healthiest section of grass and strode to it. He wanted to project confidence. For whose sake, he wasn’t even sure. On reaching the spot he had picked out, he pivoted so he was facing her and crouched down. An idea had finally come to him, something Darren had been drilling him on for weeks. He spread the fingers of both hands wide and pressed his palms against the parched blades.

Looking up at her, he winked. “Are you ready?”

He meant the words to be teasing, but her face fell. After a moment, she nodded. Her reaction sobered him quickly, and he refocused on the task at hand.

As he summoned what energy he could through the tawdry grass, the familiar glow filled him. He pulled on it, gauging the power available. When he finally felt sure of what he was doing, he checked on Kelsey one last time. Her whole posture spoke, no, screamed, of uncertainty. Her shoulders slumped and her palms rubbed against her black sweats.

His eyes closed. He reached deep inside, directing the light inside him so it could be shaped into what he wanted. Casting required a combination of will power, visualization, and partly subconscious control. He had worked to master it his whole life. Still, there was a moment when he thought he had miscalculated, that the grass just couldn’t yield enough. Then everything fell into place, although not as strongly as he would have wanted.

Satisfied, he opened his eyes, searching for her reaction. They were now a glowing green, one much brighter than the dying grass.

She was panicked, that much was clear. He stood slowly, holding both hands in front of him, trying to show her it was safe.

“Kels, it’s ok. Really. Just breathe,” he soothed.

“You-yo-you-you’re invisible,” she said faintly. She was frozen, one hand having stilled on her thigh, the other dropped to her side.