Witch in Hiding (#1 in the Witches Trilogy) (EDITING)

Ten: At Least I'm Too Bad Of A Liar To Be Evil

There are some classes you don't like. There are some teachers you don't like. And then there are those amazing, life-hates-you, did-I-step-on-a-crack-or-break-a-mirror-or-see-a-black-cat moments when you hate both.

Hence the cheering when we hear that our Geography teacher's broken her leg.

The phones and laptops are whipped out. Headphones plugged in— I catch the opening notes of an old One Direction song from Van. I fiddle with my phone, wondering if Ver is online, but then Gale, next to me this time, pulls out a white card and leaves it on her table. She's rummaging through her file, probably finding something, but the card looks weirdly familiar. The calligraphy, the flowers...

ONE YEAR LEFT. AETERNUM VALE.

I Googled it—farewell forever.

Oh my god.

"Gale." I pluck the card off her table. "Can I see this?"

She frowns. "Don't read it."

I don't need to. The front says Happy Birthday Gale, but other than that, it's practically the same. I get the photo from my phone just to be sure. Yes—the style is exactly the same. "Where'd you get this?" I ask casually. "It's really pretty."

"Essie gave it to me, the day they celebrated my birthday. I forgot I left it in here."

Right.

I sneak out of class and find her in the art room. She's going through a stack of paintings. One of Rae's is on an easel, unfinished. I get a jolt—it's the boy from her drawing. She does her commissioned work in school? Then again, the art teacher loves her. I wouldn't be surprised.

"Vinni, yours is at the bottom." Esther says all of a sudden, making me jump. She turns around and hands me a poor piece I had to give in for compulsory art. An artist I am not. Vera, on the other hand, is probably some Monet in the making.

"Uh, thanks."

"Sorry," she says. "Do you come in here often?"

My painting (which got an all time high of B-) should be enough answer to that question, but I shake my head anyway. "I was looking for you. Did you give Gale a hand-painted card?"

"Uh... on her birthday, yeah. Why?" She periodically glances between me and her paintings.

"Did you send me a card last year?"

"Uh... noooo." She looks at me weirdly. I suddenly feel awkward. We were hardly friends last year, we just saw each other around. Why would she send me a birthday card, much less one threatening to kill me?

"Oh." My words come out in a rush, trying to cover. "I, uh, got a card from someone I didn't know last year. For my—birthday. And, uh, it was the same as the one you gave Gale. So I thought maybe..."

She laughs. "Oh. I do commissions. Sell some of my stuff. Off my blog, you know. I can give you the link if you want. Here." She texts it to me. It's a Tumblr link. "Weird coincidence though."

"Yeah. Sorry."

"It's fine!" She's holding back a giggle. "I think free period's almost over, you'd better go."

She's right. I leave the art room, only to run—literally—into Jess on the way back. "Vin!" She laughs, grabbing my arm, steadying both of us. "I was looking for you!"

Deja vu much.

"So we were thinking," she says, clearly excited about something, "about you, training with your mom, and we thought, you should train with us! It'll be more fun!" She spreads her hands, grinning. "Come over today and we can start."

I hesitate. Rae's coming over today, to practice telekinesis on multiple objects. "Uh... not today. Maybe Friday?"

She frowns. "What do you have today?"

Jess knows my after-school schedule better than my mom does. Although, given, it's not hard, since I don't particularly have a life outside of school. "Relatives coming over," I say. "Surprise visit. My mom only told me this morning."

She folds her arms. "You're already training with someone, aren't you?"

I almost drop the bad painting. "What?"

"Who is it?"

It's hard to lie to Jess, but as much as I don't want to, I promised Rae I'd keep her a secret. As though on cue, Rae herself walks by in the background. I take a deep breath. "I can't tell you."

"Someone I know?"

"Not really."

She purses her mouth. She's pissed. "You could've just told us, you know. Instead of the whole stupid 'training with my mom' thing." Even her quotation marks, made with sharp finger gestures, are angry. "It's not like it's some big secret."

"I'm sorry. My mom wanted me to keep it lowkey."

"Your mom again?" She says sarcastically. "Gee, can't go against the person who introduced you to the magical world, right?"

Ouch. "Jess—"

She holds up her hands. "Have fun. Doing... whatever you won't tell me you're doing." She offers me a sardonic smile and stalks off.