Unbound (Unbound, Book 1) ~Formerly Casting Power~

Chapter 3

"Come on, Jason." Nancy coaxed him as she held his free hand to guide us through the crowd as his arm hung over my shoulders to keep his balance. "Let's go out front and then we can see what Nora can do."

"Why not"—Jason hiccupped— "here?"

"Well," Nancy said. "There are too many people, Jason. Remember? If you want to see Nora do a magic trick, we have to go where nobody else can see us."

Nancy looked at me, holding my gaze for a few moments before concentrating on getting us to the back door of the house so that we could navigate our way to the front yard. I knew she'd gotten ahold of my mom the moment she'd reached the table and suggested that we go somewhere private. Jason, still not sober enough to catch on, followed, albeit not silently. Nancy had managed to keep him from inviting others by keeping him distracted.

"Nora?"

"Yes, Jason?"

"Are you really going to do magic?" he asked, suddenly sounding sad.

"I'm sure you will think it's magical," I said, smiling.

"I can't do magic, you know," he continued. "I want to. It'd be so cool. Can you imagine how many scouts would come to see me next year if I knew how to do something to help my game? It'd be crazy."

"It'd be personal gain," Nancy said, rolling her eyes. "Don't feel bad. I can't do it, either. Nora—"

"Nora is forced to learn about it all the time. That's the problem with having my mom as a live-in tutor," I said, cutting her off. I squinted her way and nodded to Jason, hoping she'd clue in not to say anything about my inability to do something or else we'd never get him away from the party-goers.

"Oh, look!" Nancy opened the front door and we finally made it to the lawn. "We're outside. Nora, are you ready to do your trick?"

"Uh, I think I'll have to get ready first." I looked around, searching for my mom's car. "Prepare or whatever. Why don't you sit with Jason while I figure something out?"

Jason plopped down as soon as I stepped away, an oomph escaping as he contacted the ground. Then he rolled to his side and started laughing. I opened my mouth but didn't say a word. Shaking my head, I turned to face Nancy with a what-the-hell-were-you-thinking-asking-me-to-give-him-a-chance look.

Seriously.

What the hell had she been thinking?

"My bad?" Nancy asked, raising her eyebrows.

"You think?" I rolled my eyes and turned to face the road to wait. "You weren't even drinking when you told me he was worth giving a chance, Nancy."

"I know!"

"Whatever. Is my mom coming?"

"Yeah, she said ten minutes."

"Are you going back to the party until your dad comes to pick you up?" I asked, looking at her out of the corner of my eyes. "You didn't drink too much, and we've only been here a couple of hours."

"Uh, yeah, I'd like to stay. Dad will pick me up later. Are you going to stay?"

"Nope," I said, popping the P. "You go ahead, though. I'll wait here for my mom. Jason is too drunk to pose a danger to anyone except for himself."

"I can wait."

"No, you go." I nodded over my shoulder toward the front door. "Sing until your throat hurts, Nance. It's Friday night and we have finals next week. Might as well blow off steam while you can. I'm burnt out. If I stayed, I would be a bore. I promise it's okay."