There's Witches In Those Mountains

f i v e

*****************AUTHOR'S NOTE*****************

Here's a link to a playlist that accompanies this entire story, updated DAILY.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/40fNHonHOnIPYwby75jhmH

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Lydia opened the front door. "MawMaw, you don't have to prepare a big dinner tonight. A friend is coming over tonight and they are bringing pizza."

Her grandmother appeared out of nowhere. "Who is this friend?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "His name is Jacob. He's just helping me with my biology and he's bringing dinner. Don't make it a big deal."

"Don't make it a big deal?" she repeated. "Lydia, my sweet love. He's a boy. I don't care that you have a new friend, just be careful." She leaned close to her and whispered, "And he has a penis, and those things are DANGEROUS."

"MAWMAW!" Lydia exclaimed, laughing. "I know how to take care of myself, it'll be fine. Don't be so hard on him when he gets here. It'll be around 6 or so." Lydia walked away from her grandmother and up the stairs. She quickly washed the school makeup off and started putting on new makeup, something that made her feel more comfortable. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She truly felt beautiful.

She changed from her school clothes into more comfortable clothes and sat on her bed, waiting for the time to come. She got a text from Jacob saying he was on his way, and she went to the altar to cast a spell for inviting learning into the house. She walked downstairs and set up the dining room for him.

Her grandmother and grandfather walked in and sat down at the table and Lydia looked at them, confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked them.

"Is he bringing enough food for all of us?" her grandfather asked, making himself at home at the table.

"PawPaw, it's a pizza." Lydia scoffed, setting cups down at the table. "I'm sure he's not only gonna bring just a couple of slices. He isn't that inconsiderate." She went to the kitchen and started putting a salad together. She didn't know exactly what Jacob would like, but figured it would fill everyone else up.

She heard a knock at the door. She pulled her phone from her pocket and saw that he had texted her a few minutes prior that he was getting ready to pull up. She went over and opened the door.

Jacob stood in front of her wearing a nice shirt and khakis, holding a box of pizza from the Dairy Bar, somewhere she had just been earlier in the day. He wore a smile that told her that he was going to behave himself around her grandparents, but misbehave once they got alone. It made her blush a little, and Jacob saw this and did not react, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to her.

"Hi," Lydia greeted him, opening the door a little more. She stepped aside for her. "Come on in."

Jacob stepped into the house and leaned over and kissed Lydia's cheek. This made her blush and Jacob laughed softly. They both heard silverware falling to the floor and a plate break on the hardwood out of nowhere. Lydia ran into the dining room to find her grandmother shaking uncontrollably, broken out in a sweat with a face like she had seen a ghost. Her grandfather stood beside her and held her close, comforting her.

Jacob followed Lydia into the dining room. "Are you okay, ma'am?" He sat the pizza box down on the table. "How can I help?"

Her grandmother quickly composed herself, shooing her husband away. "I'm alright, young man. Thank you for offering, though."

This immediate switch confused Lydia, but she tried to not let it bother her. She would ask her grandmother about it later. They all sat down at the dining table and Jacob opened the pizza box. Her grandfather passed a bowl of tossed salad around and they all dug in to the food. The room was silent the entire time, which bothered Lydia deeply.

She cleared her throat. "Jacob, why don't you tell MawMaw and PawPaw about yourself, since it's so quiet in here." She shot her grandparents the most respectful dirty look she could, but they didn't seem to notice.

Jacob looked at her before looking at her grandparents and cleared his throat. "Well, um, my name is Jacob Finley and I live in downtown Betsy Layne. My dad is a doctor and my mom teaches at the elementary school. I have two older brothers and one younger sister."

Her grandmother looked up at him. "Well, that's really nice. What's your mother's name again?"

"Mornie, ma'am. Mornie Finley. Thomas is my father."

Her grandmother looked pale again, just as she did before, like she had seen a ghost. Her grandfather reached over and grabbed her hand, comforting her.

"Is everything okay, Mrs. Whitt?" Jacob asked, unsure of what to do in that situation.

Again, her grandmother snapped out of her trance, wiping the sweat from her forehead. No broken plates this time. "I'm fine, thank you, though."

Lydia had seen enough to know what was happening with her grandmother. She sat her salad fork down and put her napkin over the salad bowl. "MawMaw, PawPaw, can Jacob and I be excused to go work on our homework?" Jacob looked over at her like he was afraid of what just happened. "We'll take the extra pizza upstairs. I'm sure MawMaw needs to some rest, don't you?"

Her grandmother nodded. "I think I need to go sit in the armchair and read my...book. Ronan, can you help me to my chair and fetch me a glass of water?"

Her grandfather nodded and helped her up out of her chair. Lydia grabbed Jacob's hand and practically ran him up the stairs. Jacob was thankful that he grabbed the box of pizza before she took off with him, or he would have had to go back down the staircase.