Heart for Three

3

"Okay." I muttered to myself, scrutinizing my outfit in the mirror once again, as I tried to tamp down the butterflies in my stomach.

I had styled my hair this morning, actually taking my time to work with it rather than letting it be the naturally curly mess it usually was. Now my curls were well defined and shiny, framing my face nicely and I had a small amount of make up on.

I had tried winged eyeliner but after several attempts and the corners of my eyes turning sore from wiping it off so many times, I gave up. I'd never be as good at it as Leslie was. Instead I had settled for some eyeliner, mascara, and defining my eyebrows. At least I was good at that. I arched a perfectly sculpted brow at my reflection to prove the point.

It was hot out, so I opted for another pair of denim cut-off shorts, exposing my long tanned legs. I paired them with a three quarter sleeve, olive green button up shirt, tied at the front, letting a small strip of my midriff show, but nothing inappropriate. Even though this wasn't my natural eye color, the green complimented the brown I hid my real color with, making my eyes pop. I finished the outfit off with a pair of white Nikes. I had played with the idea of wearing sandals, but decided to stay in my comfort zone, so sneakers it was.

"You look fine. Vanity is a sin, Ava." Zoey said from where she was perched on my bed, doing the classical cat-loaf while she watched me fuss over my reflection.

"Ok, demon." I said, sending her a glare before grabbing my backpack and opening the door.

A small gasp left my mouth as I nearly ran over Lily. She had a dazed look in her eyes as she frowned down at her hand. I knew immediately she had touched my doorknob, causing her to forget what she was doing.

I cleared my throat and she looked back up at me. She gave me what looked like a forced smile and took a step back so she wasn't so close to me.

"Do you want a ride to school?" She asked. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and she started stammering.

"Just- uh, I have the car and um-"

"I'd appreciate that, thank you. I was just planning on catching the bus." She snapped her mouth shut and gave me what looked like another painful smile.

I followed her down the stairs, watching as she paused to scratch Salem on the head before we left the house.

We circled around the back of the house, and a silver Acura beeped when she hit the unlock button on her key fob.

"Nice." I said as I slid onto the leather seat.

"Thanks, my dad gave it to me." I nodded silently and she continued. "Not that like, we're rich or anything, he works at an Acura dealership so he-"

"Chill Lily," I smiled at her. "It's a nice car." She smiled before schooling her features and letting her bored look show again. I had a feeling that once I got through to this girl, I'd actually start to like her.

A small vial in the change pocket caught my eye.

"What's this?" I asked, picking it up and looking at it in the sunlight.

"Protection spell." She said bluntly. "Salt, powdered eggshell, a quartz Chrystal and a rune for good travels and protection."

I hummed in response, surprised that it was correct. Although I doubted that she had powdered raven eggshell in there.

She backed out of the driveway and left the neighborhood.

It only took about fifteen minutes before we were turning into the student parking lot of South Texas University. I would have to memorize the way she took for future reference. I didn't have my own car yet, but that was next on my list as soon as I found a part-time job down here. I had almost enough saved up.