Scary Cool (The Spellspinners) Read Online Free Page A

worse.
    Tres is great, and he’s probably even good-looking, but I just don’t think of him the same way he obviously thinks of me. So I pulled the ugly apron on over my new school clothes and struck a silly pose.
    It’s times like this when I wish I could just use the freakin ’ P ower. I’ve never tried to defuse social situations with it, but I bet I could. Briefly, anyway. Long enough to skate me past the awkward moments.
    Unfortunately, you can’t use Power that way. It’s not tame. You can’t pull it down off your shelf and play with it like a toy. I mean, you can, but there’s always some major cleanup to do afterwards, so you better think things through before you get cute with it. And social dynamics never give you time to think things through.
    So I helped Tres water the flats and the flower six-packs, and told him about my day. I didn’t mention Lance. Tres is a good listener, but I didn’t think he’d want to list en to me talk about another boy.
    And s peaking of that other boy, the whole time I was with Tres , trying to relax and get back to normal, Lance was whispering my name. The air around me pulsed with a voice that only I could hear.
    I ignored him, of course, on general principles. If there’s one thing Lance Donovan has got to understand, it’s that Zara Norland is not at his beck and call. I firmly shut the door o n him and concentrated on Tres .
    I t wasn’t easy.
    I hung out and helped Tres close at 6:00, then crossed Cha pman Road and went around back to our kitchen. Good dinner-y smells were emanating from the oven and wafting through the screen door — which banged shut behind me, announcing my arrival even before I yelled, “I’m home.”
    “Okay.” Nonny’s voice floated down the hall from wherever she was. “Set the table, hon.”
    “Okay.”
    I turned to head for the silverware drawer and stopped dead in my tracks. Lance was there, hands shoved in his pockets, leaning lazily against the kitchen counter. He smiled when he saw my expression, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile.
    “You know, you really should lock your doors. You and Nonny .”
    “From now on, we will.” I yanked the drawer open and grabbed the tray. “I f Nonny sees you here, she’ll freak. ”
    He didn’t move. “Let her .”
    “ I think you’d better leave.”
    “I will, if you ’ll meet me later.”
    “I don’t want to meet you later.” I slapped forks and spoons down on the table.
    “You should, Zara. Because if Nonny sees me here, she’ll freak.”
    I shot him some choice thoughts. He smiled blandly and shrugged. “You shouldn’t ignore me, cupcake. I’ve been trying to get through to you for hours.”
    “ I heard you. And stop calling me ‘cupcake.’ You are such a creeper. ”
    “ Town square. Gazebo. I’ll be waiting. Come on, it’s a public place.”
    A door shut in the distance. My anxiety level shot through the roof. Lance felt it, of course, and his smile widened. “Yes or no, babe. It’s not a hard question.”
    Footsteps on the hardwood floor. I swore under my breath.
    “ All right, yes. Now go.”
    He slipped through the screen door like a ghost, remembering to catch it with his hand so it didn’t bang. That’s Lance. He never misses a beat. I almost had a heart attack, though, because his fingertips were still visible when Nonny walked in. If she’d looked at the door, she’d have seen him.
    She didn’t though. That’ s the thing about grownups . They mostly see what they expect to see.
    Maybe it was the cookies and maybe it was nerves, but I wasn’t very hungry.
    Lance had been back in my life for what, ten hours? Already it felt like he’d never left. I spent too much of last summer sneaking around behind Nonny’s back—and sometimes Meg’s—seeing Lance on the sly. No way was I falling back into that pattern.
    No. Way.
     

 
    Chapter 3
     
    I had to go , of course. But I had to wait until Nonny went to bed, because if she called to me or, God forbid,