Shadow Magic

Chapter Two

The next day of classes flew by and I checked the time on my phone every few minutes. I hardly paid attention in class and my professors seemed to notice but didn't say anything. I almost forgot about a quiz in my last class of the day, but luckily remembered during lunch and snuck in some study time.

I got home at 3 pm and played with the kids for an hour to try and distract myself. My mind kept wandering into different scenarios of how the evening would go. Some were great where I met amazing new friends and others were scary where it was all a trick and I embarrassed myself.

When Gwen got home from work, she made a spaghetti dinner and encouraged me to eat. I agreed and ate the noodles, but after a piece of garlic bread, I realized in horror that my breath would smell and ran from the table to brush my teeth, twice. I put on the outfit that Gwen had suggested and did my make-up. I checked the time and there were still 45 minutes on the clock until I needed to leave to get there one time. I groaned and laid on my bed to stare at the ceiling.

Making friends was always a painful process for me. I had a few close friends in High School that I still talked to, but they went off to big universities while I stayed home for community college. I tried not to feel left out, but it was inevitable. Moving to Washington was supposed to be a fresh start and I needed to be open to making friends if I wanted anything to change.

With a hopeful mindset, I grabbed my purse and went downstairs. I borrowed Gwen's car to drive out to the waterfront. The drive was easy and quick, but my nerves grew at every turn. Once I parked I noticed there were no fire pits from my viewpoint. I got out of the car and started walking towards the water. The area was beautiful with large rocks lining the glittering water. The sun was setting and the sky was filled with shades of warm tones.

I saw a flash of light to my right from a fire that was suddenly lit. It was inside an alcove just up the path. My eyes found the back of Devin's curls which I recognized from many days in class staring at them. Relieved they were easy to find, I corrected my steps and made my way towards the group. Devin was surrounded by four other people, all about our age. One of the females noticed me first and she hopped up from the log she was sitting on to greet me.

"Are you Cady? Wow, your aura is gorgeous!" She exclaimed as she closed the distance between us with a warm hug. She was shorter than me with long chestnut brown hair pulled into a loose braid. Her smile was huge and her brown eyes were sparkling with personality. I hugged her back and felt my body warm from her touch. I felt as if she and I were meant to be friends, something clicking inside me that I could trust her.

"Cady, thanks for coming, it's good to see you," Devin started, their voice sounding shaky. Were they nervous to see me? They made to stand, but a girl was sitting at their legs leaning against them. She had black hair that was in a messy bun on her head and a dark coat that made her look intimidating.

"I'm Violet, it's nice to meet you," the girl who hugged me said, pulling my attention back to her. She took my hand and led me towards the log she was sitting at, gesturing for me to join her. I put my purse on the ground and lowered myself to sit next to her.

"That's Astrid in the red jacket and Maura over there," she pointed out. Astrid looked up from poking a stick into the fire to give a smile. She sat on the other side of Violet from me on a log. Maura, who was sitting against Devin's legs, didn't smile and instead watched me with intense grey eyes framed by an eyebrow piercing. I greeted them then followed Violet's finger as she landed on the person in the group.

"And that's Maura's brother Easton, he doesn't talk much," Violet finished. Easton gave me a slight head nod, his eyes glinting with curiosity. He sat furthest from us with a cooler in his lap and a reusable bag filled with snacks on the ground next to him.