It was a dark, misty evening—typical weather in Ipswich, Massachusetts. I stood on a cliff with my older brother, Caleb, and our best friends, Pogue and Tyler. A wild party in full swing was down below us, and as soon as our friend Reid appeared, we'd go and check it out. We could hear music playing in the distance and could see the orange glow of several bonfires, but the swirling fog prevented us from learning more. I pulled my blue hoodie tighter and went to the edge of the cliff, squeezing myself in between Tyler and Pogue. Behind us, Caleb muttered something and snapped his phone shut.
"No answer. Reid can never be trusted."
"Aw, Reid's been that way for as long as we can remember. He doesn't even know his own phone number," scoffed Pogue.
I laughed. "We'll give him five more minutes, then I'm going."
"Not alone, you're not," said Caleb, draping an arm over my shoulder.
"Lay off, Caleb," I groaned. He was very protective of me—they all were—and they decided that my being the youngest gave them the authority to be in charge of me. Caleb was the worst, but in some ways it was understandable. I was the first girl in the history of our families that was born with the Power, and it was very strange and foreign to us. We didn't know how this would affect me, or our families, but for now, everything that had happened to me was normal. Aside from that, Caleb's birthday was a few days away—his eighteenth. He would ascend soon, and I knew that the burden of being the first was weighing heavily on him, more than he let on.
"Yeah, Caleb, lay off!" said Pogue in a high voice. He batted his eyelashes and swatted Caleb like I had.
"Shut up, Pogue. Is that the best you can do?" I asked.
He was about to respond when a voice came from behind us.
"What's up, fellas?" Reid said, oblivious to the fact that he'd kept us waiting nearly twenty minutes longer than planned.
"Where were you?" asked Tyler, punching his arm. "I stopped by to give you a lift."
"Had things to do," he said.
"Sure, ditching your friends was number one on your priority list," muttered Caleb.
Reid turned. The wind blew his blond hair around and he grinned. "Hi to you too, Caleb. Hey Charlotte," he added.
"Hey Reid," I grinned. It was hard for people to be mad at him, though Caleb might be an exception. His hazel eyes, identical to mine, glowered at him.
"Chill, Caleb," said Reid, pulling out one of his many innocent faces.
Caleb's glare deepened. Reid didn't seem to mind, because he turned to Pogue and Tyler and joined them at the edge.
"How's the party?" he asked.
"Dunno. Haven't been here for very long," responded Pogue, looking down.
"Hell, boys," said Reid, kicking some loose stones over. He turned to use, and his eyes began to shift. An orange flash made its way across, and within seconds, his eyes were pitch black. "Let's drop in." He leapt casually off of the cliff.
My heart rate sped up. I loved being able to do this. I was aware of the powers and how seductive they were, and for the most part, I avoided using them for fun, courtesy of Caleb. That made times like this exciting.
"Oh, yeah!" Tyler said before going down back first.
"Tyler!" exclaimed my brother. I rolled my eyes. He never liked us using the power unless it was a life or death situation, and so far, we'd never been in a problem like that.
I knew Caleb would try to hold me back so I allowed myself to go down without giving any warning. My eyes went dark and I flipped off of the cliff.
"Charlotte!" I head him yell, but I was already on my way down. I briefly heard Pogue laughing before I was too far down. I landed easily, and I saw Tyler and Reid looking at me with admiration. I may be younger, and a girl, but I was just as good as jumping off of cliffs as they were, and I think they realized it then.
Behind us, Caleb and Pogue came down. Caleb looked at me, and I knew he was not happy. When we started walking, he pulled me aside.
"Don't do that," he said, in older brother mode now.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"You know what," he said. "You know what can happen."
"Yeah, I do, but it's every once in awhile. Don't worry about it. This is a party. Don't wanna show up looking like this," I teased.
He smiled reluctantly and ruffled my hair. I dodged out of his way before he could do any more damage, throwing my hood over my hair and racing up to squeeze in between Pogue and Reid. Reid draped an arm over me and Tyler reached over and pulled a lock of my hair that had escaped from my hood. I stood contentedly in the middle, Tyler and Reid to my left and Pogue and Caleb on my right. The party came into view, and I slipped my hood off.
The party was going strong. People were dancing and talking, laughing and singing along to the music that was blasting from the speakers set up near one of the huge, roaring bonfires. As we came into view, people turned to look at us. Some saw us with clear eyes, others through foggy, intoxicated vision. We always earned stares. Many were directed at me, standing in the middle of four tall boys. They all knew that I was Caleb's younger sister, but no one really came to talk to me, mostly because those four boys would come and give that said person hell if they came too close. I rolled my eyes and Reid's arm tightened around me as one boy looked me up and down. Reid stared the boy down in a murderous glare. As we entered the circle of teenagers, whispers followed us. I ignored them as best as I could.
Soon, my friend Kate came into view. A blonde girl who I didn't recognize stood next to her. Both were smiling and turned to face us. Kate ran up to Pogue and threw her arms around him.
"Hi! You're late," she said.
"Had something with the family," he responded. "Who's this?" he asked, looking at the blonde girl.
"This is my new roommate, Sarah," Kate said. "Sarah, this is Pogue Perry, Tyler Simms, Charlotte Danvers, Reid—"
"Garwin," finished Reid dramatically. "Reid Garwin. Good evening."
"Good evening," Sarah responded, matching his teasing tone.
"You know, Sarah's my grandmother's name—" Reid began.
"Caleb Danvers," my brother interrupted smoothly. "And you don't bring my grandmother to mind in any way." He grinned at her.
She smiled back. "Sarah."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kira Snider, a girl who always seemed to have a new boyfriend whenever we saw her, coming towards us. She'd liked my brother for as long as I could remember, and she and I hated each other with a passion. I groaned.
"Hey Caleb," she said, throwing herself in front of Sarah and practically on top of my brother.
"Hey Kira," he responded. It was only out of his goodness of his heart did he reply in kind tone. I rolled my eyes. Reid and Tyler exchanged amused glances and Pogue and Kate looked at Caleb with sympathy. He'd never liked Kira, but still acknowledged her whenever she demanded his attention.
"How was your summer?" she asked in a smooth voice.
"Um," Caleb looked over at Sarah, and Kira followed his gaze.
"I'm Kira," she said, sticking her hand out to Sarah.
"Sarah," she responded, taking her hand, oblivious to Kira's reputation and intentions.
"Oh, right, from the Boston Public. Tell me, how does one go about getting into Spencer from a public?" Kira asked, a mockery in her voice.
"Why don't you give it a rest, Kira?" advised Caleb.
"Why don't you give it a rest?" interjected Aaron Abbot, the biggest jerk at Spencer, and Kira's current "boyfriend." He got up in Caleb's face, though he was a good five or six inches shorter than him.
"I don't want any trouble, Aaron," Caleb said.
"I'm sure you don't," Aaron shot back. He noticed me then. I stood my ground as he looked me up and down. "Hey Charlotte," he said.
"Aaron," I muttered, hating to have to acknowledge him. He'd liked me ever since I'd first started going to Spencer but I detested him. His arrogance and his belief that he could get any girl he wanted made him unbelievably disgusting to me. Not to mention he was known to treat any girl stupid enough to be his girlfriend like dirt. I was one of the few girls who resisted his advances, though that only made him try harder.
"You know," he said, his attention entirely on me, "you really shouldn't hang out with boys like this."
Caleb took a step towards him and Tyler and Reid were eyeing Aaron's friends on either side of him.
"Yeah, sure," I said, rolling my eyes. "Whatever you say."
"You should come spend some time with me, baby," he said, taking a step towards me and touching my arm.
"Get your hands off of her!" Caleb yelled, truly pissed off now. I snatched my arm back and glared at him, fighting the orange glow that threatened to flash across my eyes.
Reid stepped in front of me to stand next to Caleb, and we all tensed.
"You owe my sister an apology," hissed Caleb.
Aaron looked at me and then shoved my brother back.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said a short, muscular boy with sandy hair, separating my brother and Aaron. They stepped back, but they continued to glare at each other. Aaron was breathing hard.
Seeing a fight wasn't about to break out, Reid's eyes quickly became black. Seconds later, one of Aaron's friends threw up—directly onto him.
Reid and I burst out laughing as everyone else shrieked in dismay.
"Hey, hey guys!" The DJ's voice boomed out of the speakers, "just got a call. There are three cop cars coming up the road."
Exclaims of "Let's go" spread like wildfire among the group of teens and we all ran into the forest where all of the cars were parked.
"Need a ride?" asked Caleb to Kate.
"No, Sarah drove us over," Kate responded.
"I could use a lift," said the sandy-haired boy, appearing next to me. He smiled at me.
"Sure, no problem," Kate said.
"Chase," he said to everyone. "That guy's puking sure came at an opportune time," he laughed.
"Didn't it though?" chuckled Reid, ruffling my hair.
The cars came into view including Tyler's enormous black Hummer.
"Bye Sarah. It was nice to meet you!" I called over.
She flashed me a smile. "You, too, Charlotte! Hope to see you later." I grinned at her again before reaching the Hummer. Pogue crawled into the back first, then me, and then Caleb. Before he shut the door, I noticed how he continued to watch Sarah. She saw him looking at her and smiled and waved. Pogue noticed, too.
"Sarah wants you, man," Pogue laughed when Caleb squeezed in next to me.
Caleb grinned and I giggled. I liked Sarah. Up in the passenger's seat, Reid scowled.
"That's a load of crap," he muttered.
"Whoa, now, don't be jealous, Reid!" Pogue admonished him.
"My car won't start!" I heard Sarah's voice calling to us.
"Hop in with us," Tyler yelled.
"I can't just leave it here!"
"I can fix it for you," Reid called.
"Reid—don't," Caleb said.
"It's not over yet boys," Reid grinned slyly before slipping out of the car. He lifted the hood of her car and seconds later, the engine turned on. Reid flashed her a grin as she thanked him before turning back to the Hummer. I could hear sirens coming closer.
"Move over, Ty," Reid said, opening the front door.
"But it's my car!" protested Tyler.
"Move over, baby boy," I said. "Now!"
We pulled out with a lurch and soon the red and blue flashes of a police car's lights were behind us. Reid and Tyler guffawed.
"No sweat!" exclaimed Reid joyfully, and for the next few minutes we turned and swerved and jerked as we tried to lose them.
"You gotta stop," Caleb said, seeing them close in on us.
"Oh, you wanna stop?" asked Reid. "That'll impress Harvard."
"Come on, Caleb," I said, excitement filling my tone.
He sighed in surrender. "Oh, what the hell. Let's lose 'em. Cut across there. Might as well have some fun while we're at it."
We began to lead the cops on a long, confusing trail while we laughed until our sides hurt inside. Before long, the fog grew thicker and I knew we were approaching the cliff. Reid knew as well.
"Alright guys—" he started.
I made a point of clearing my throat loudly.
"And girl," Reid added, grinning in the mirror at me. "You ready?"
My brother looked hesitant. "Come on, Caleb," said Pogue. "It's gonna take all of us."
As we grew closer, we heard annoyingly long honks from the police car. They didn't think we knew about the cliff. Boy, were they in for a surprise.
Reid ignored the honks and stomped on the gas. We went even faster and adrenaline rushed through my veins. One by one, our eyes became pitch black as we waited for the land to disappear from under us.
The police gave one last honk before we were airborne. I screamed and giggled as the boys roared with laughter. We flew up high, flipped over before landing with a thud behind the police car.
The officers had gotten out and were looking over the cliff. Our landing made them jump, and I briefly saw their bewildered faces before we drove off with in a burst of laughter.
After our little game, we noticed it was close to midnight and we started for Caleb's and my house. Ten minutes later, we pulled up at the end of the long dirt driveway that led to our place. Pogue got onto his bike while Reid and Tyler stayed in the Hummer. Caleb and I jumped out, waved good-bye before the three of them took off towards Spencer. Caleb and I let ourselves in thought the huge, intimidating iron gate before beginning to walk up the winding driveway. My adrenaline had worn off and I shivered.
"Cold?" asked Caleb.
"I-I'm o-ok-kay," I forced out through chattering teeth.
"Here," Caleb said, taking off his coat and draping it over my shoulders. I smiled gratefully.
"Did you have fun?" asked Caleb.
"Except for the pervert touching me, I had a blast," I said.
"He won't to that again," Caleb promised.
"Don't worry about it," I said easily.
Caleb humphed, as if to say, we'll see about that. We were on the stone step now, and I stepped aside to let Caleb open the door. It creaked open and I winced as we stepped inside.
Caleb eased the door shut as I listened, hoping we hadn't awakened Mother. I smelled a whiff of fresh cigarette smoke and I knew she was still up. Caleb and I exchanged a knowing glance as we walked towards the stairs.
"You're home early." Mother's voice made us walk across the hall into the living room. She was sitting in her favorite chair, a bottle of alcohol on the table next on her. She'd been drinking again. Ever since our father had "died," she'd been frequently downing glass after glass of alcohol to help her pain over losing who he truly was now, and the handsome, strong, kind man he'd never be again. Sure enough, a picture of our father on her left. She exhaled, sending a cloud of blue smoke into the air.
"It's after midnight, Mother," I said, crossing the rooms and sitting down beside her. "What are you still doing up?"
"Thinking about my baby boy turning eighteen this week," she responded, looking over at Caleb, who stood in the doorway. "You look so much like him in this light."
I glanced at Caleb. He was frowning slightly. I turned back to my mother. Her eyes were a little clouded and bloodshot, the way they always were when she drank too much. She stroked my hand lightly. "You know he was a year younger then you when we met…did I ever tell you that?"
"Yeah, you've told us," Caleb said.
"Let's get you up to bed, Mother," I said, straightening up. I hated seeing her like this.
"So handsome," she continued, as if I hadn't said anything. "He was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen." She looked at the picture, then back at Caleb. "I'm so afraid I'm going to lose you like I did him."
Caleb crossed the room and stood next to me. "Char," he murmured so that Mother wouldn't hear—though she was immersed in the picture again—"you go up to bed. I'll stay down here and get her settled in a little while."
"You sure?" I asked. I didn't want to leave him alone with her for who knows how long.
"Yeah, you go on. It's late."
"Alright. Night Caleb."
"G'night, Charlotte."
"Night, Mother," I added hesitantly.
Her cloudy eyes turned to me and she smiled softly. "Good night dear."
I walked quietly out of the room and across the hall to the main staircase. When I got to the second floor, it was dark. I walked slowly, flipping lights on as I went. My room was at the end of the hall, across from Caleb's, and I walked in and closed the door gratefully. Our family knew first-hand what the Power could do. Sure, it was cool, and it did come in handy, but it also was seductive and dangerous if you abused it. I brushed my teeth, shivered into my pajamas and got under the cold covers. As soon as the light was off, my mind began to wander—Caleb's birthday was in just a few days...
