Luna's Awakening

27

The next morning, I woke to Johnny hovering near the ceiling. He grinned when he saw I was awake.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he said and lowered himself so he was standing at the foot of my bed.

"Morning," I said and sat up. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and stretched. Luckily, I had slept well that night. "Where were you and Helen yesterday?"

A dark look passed over his eyes briefly but it was gone in an instant. He shrugged. "We wanted to get away for awhile. Don't worry, we didn't go very far."

I could tell he wasn't going to elaborate on what he and Helen had been doing, so I didn't ask.

I swung my legs out of bed. "You two missed out on something big."

"What?"

I frowned when I realized Helen wasn't around. "Where's Helen?"

"She went to handle some personal business."

I waited for a moment for him to elaborate, but silence reigned between us. I knew he wasn't going to answer me.

"Madison got kicked out of her house yesterday," I told him and stood up, stretching some more.

"Seriously? That's so messed up. Where is she staying?"
"Here?"

"Seriously?" he said again, shocked. "Your mom and Marie allowed that?"

"Yeah," I said and began picking out my outfit for the day. "Grandma was actually really nice and understanding about it. She's not letting Madison stay permanently, but it's until she can contact someone and stay with them."

"What about you using your magic? And the basement with all the books? What if she finds them?"

I stiffened. I hadn't thought about that.

"I'm sure Grandma thought of something," I said distractedly, praying that Grandma Marie did have something planned.

"So why did her parents kick her out?" Johnny asked. He laid back on my bed and crossed his arms behind his head and crossed his ankles together. The pattern of my sheet was visible through his transparent form.

"She said they got in some kind of argument and they kicked her out," I said. I grabbed my hairbrush and began brushing the tangles out of my hair. "She didn't really explain, she was crying too bad to even talk."

I checked the time on my phone and saw I was running a little behind.

"Shit, I need to get a move on."

"I'll let you get dressed," he said and disappeared.

I dressed in casual blue jeans and a plain black t-shirt, not feeling like dressing up in something super flashy or cute today. I slipped the amulet over my head and checked Ed's book, making sure he hadn't written another message or anything. There was nothing in there, but it was always good to check. I got my backpack ready and walked out of my room.

I stopped by Madison's door and knocked. I wanted to check on her before leaving for school.

She opened the door and peered at me through bleary eyes.

"Good morning," I said with a cheery smile. "How'd you sleep?"

She groaned and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands. "Terrible. I didn't sleep a wink last night."
"I'm sorry about that."