Chapter 12

Jess dithered at the front of the queue, taking in what remained of the school's meagre offerings with an audible grimace. A pile of green beans, steamed fish portions and some grain that was probably quinoa. It was always quinoa.

She grabbed a banana from the fruit tray and placed it on her tray beside her apple juice.

'A healthy meal indeed,' she thought.

Out of habit, Jess scanned the cafeteria for a vacant table before remembering she had a group to sit with now. Walking over to their table, she almost tripped when Ricky threw his hefty arm into her path.

"Sit here," he grunted, kicking out the plastic chair opposite.

Jess felt the eyes of his friends sizing her up as she slid into the chair. She tried to ignore them, concentrating on the tiny meal in front of her. Every move she made felt deliberate and robotic, as though she were under scrutiny; a bug beneath a microscope or fish floating in a tank. When she peeled back the banana and raised it to her lips, she found her intuition was en pointe as the lads stared at her, smirks on their perverted faces.

Tutting, she took the smallest bite possible.

"Put the whole thing in," Ricky teased with a grin.

For whatever reason, call it bravery or desire to be accepted by these jerks, Jess thought deep throating the banana would be a good move.

As one of the lads spat out his cola and the other cheered, Jess caught the eye of her arch-nemesis, Catriona. Her former bestie's eyes were fixed on her, her expression dull and shocked. Jess sitting at King Ricky's table was the last thing anyone would have expected.

Catriona broke the staring contest, smiling as she looked down at her plate.

'What the hell?' Jess frowned. 'Did she seriously just smile at me?'

It seemed unlikely, given their history. The girls had been the best of friends since childhood until the horrible day they weren't.

It happened after their regular Friday night sleepover. Cat had left without saying goodbye and been unreachable for the entire day, which was odd for Cat. The following day the police had arrived at her doorstep, arresting her older brother on charges of rape.

After months of defending himself in court, Johnny was cleared of all charges, but Cat still insisted the assault had taken place and managed to convince the entire student body her warped version of events had transpired.

"She was only your friend to get to me," Johnny had informed her. "And when I rejected her, she couldn't take it."

Life had been hell for her brother and remained unbearable for Jess... until recently.

She made a mental note to thank Damien. If it weren't for his invitation to join the Hexers, she would still be eating at a table alone or hiding in the toilets.

To be fair, sitting with Ricky's gang wasn't much of a step up. The lad made her feel nervous and on edge, like walking on eggshells. That said, the butterflies flitting about her tummy were an improvement on that dead, empty feeling of loneliness.

When the bell rang, she accompanied Ricky to English as most of his mates were in the lower tier. They veered off in the direction of Mrs. White's classroom, leaving the unlikely couple alone.

"Come on, Juliet. I bet we start practicing today," he smirked.

"Oh yay," Jess gave a sarcastic cheer.

"Come off it. You know you're desperate to kiss me," Ricky teased.

"Yeah right," Jess cried and jabbed him in the ribs in a rare moment of bravery.

"Oh, you wanna go?" Ricky asked with a grin. He fell into a lazy fight stance and started throwing light jabs at her belly and sides. It tickled more than it hurt, but her inability to block him threw her off center, making her cringe away from him.

"Stop, Ricky, stop it!" she cried between fits of laughter.

Eventually, he let up, giving her one last jab as she entered the classroom. As she recoiled, Jess fell into one of the tables on the first row, and as luck would have it, the table happened to belong to Cat.

As their eyes locked, both wide in shock, Jess muttered an apology.

"It's okay." Cat smiled. "I feel like Ricky was to blame."

Jess blinked away the shock as she stumbled into her own seat by the window.

'Cat is speaking to me like I'm an actual human being?' Jess thought. 'But... why?'

Caine leant over her table as she took the seat next to her.

"I think somebody is smitten with you," he whispered.

"What? Ricky?" Jess said a little louder than she'd intended. A sly glance in his direction confirmed her fears—he'd overheard and was looking over at them with his patented scowl.

She shook her head at Caine, unsure what to say to that, but he continued to stare into her eyes, expecting some form of response.

Miss Day saved her, distracting the room as she dropped her bag onto the table at the front of the classroom.

"Right, today we'll start practicing our rendition of Romeo and Juliet. But first I'd like to take a moment to talk to you about current events," Miss Day began. She circled in front of her table and perched against it.

"You mean the riots in America?" someone asked.

Miss Day nodded.

"I think it's stupid. I mean, what is burning stuff down going to achieve?" A girl called Enid piped up. She was always the first to speak up in any form of debate.

"Tell that to the suffragettes," Damien said. "You think women won their right to vote by smiling sweetly and asking nicely? Or that men gave it freely of their own accord?"

"Erm," was all Enid had to say in response to that.

"Do you have any thoughts, Ricky"? the teacher asked.

"Why Ricky?" someone asked in a sly voice.

"Is it cuz I iz black?" Ricky asked—an apt and impressive impersonation of Ali G.

"What do you think about what's happening?" Miss Day persisted, ignoring the chorus of laughter.

Ricky shrugged. "It doesn't affect me."

"You don't notice any difference in the way people treat you?" Miss Day asked.

"Do grown men cross the street when they see me coming? Sure. But whether is that because of my skin color?" Ricky shrugged. "Or because they're beta males."

"You know, the whole Alpha male, beta male thing was disproven by the very same person who proposed the theory," Miss Day challenged him.

"I'm not talking about wolves. I mean the guys who like to sit there and watch their woman get dug out by another man. Beta cucks." Ricky smiled.

"Okay—" Miss Day waved her hand to shut him up. "That's enough of your opinions. Grace, do you have anything to add?"

Everyone turned to Grace. Since Kiaan's public shaming she'd either been absent, silent, or hiding out behind the old science labs.

The girl shook her head and averted her eyes.

With that, the teacher returned to class to its regular schedule, going over the lines of Romeo and Juliet. Ricky surprised her by reading with enthusiasm and confidence. He fumbled the words on occasion, but nobody dared snicker or pick fault.

Jess, figuring she had nothing to lose, emulated his style. She felt herself drifting above her body as the words flowed from her lips like water, silencing the class.

"Beautifully read," Miss Day said after she fell silent and dropped the book to her knees. Turning to Ricky, she added, "You picked well."

Were it literally possible to burst with pride, Jess would have exploded with the force of an atom bomb. Being a mediocre student with no discernible talents or abilities, she had never been singled out from the class before today.

Now, feeling all eyes on her, Jess felt special. Like she could be somebody other than the ostracized sister of a 'rapist.'

Was it the spell? She pictured Damien's magic working behind the scenes, weaving her wishes into reality with the fine point of a master calligraphers pen.

As she went to leave the classroom, hurrying toward the science labs she felt a familiar little tug on her sleeve.

"Cat?" she asked. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you after school? Our old meeting place?" Cat asked, fidgeting with a strand of her blonde hair.

"Okay." Jess nodded.

It took her a while to get her feet to move. Miss Day noticed her lingering and approached, asking if she were okay.

"I'm... great," she replied honestly.

"You should consider joining the drama club. With a performance like that, you'd blow them away," the teacher said before returning to her lesson notes.

Jess decided it didn't matter whether it was fate, Damien's magic, or Ricky's influence. The end result was the same.

'Things are finally looking up.'