Chapter One

Photograph/The Fight

Kit Rodriguez drummed his fingers on the arm of the loveseat on his front porch, idly tapping his foot against the coated oak planking, waiting. He checked his watch, wondering if it was fast, if it was slow, or if his best friend was just running late. Heaving a sigh, he watched the morning sun peer above the lone tower of the Empire State Building and wondered how long he had missed her by, or how long it would be before she got here. He idly fingered the necklace she'd given him the day of his fifteenth birthday, and thought of how long it must have taken her to construct the beads. He listened to the robin he'd talked to the other day begin its daily serenade of how wonderful summer was...

A bike flashed by, and there was a squeal of both brakes and tires as its rider braked hurriedly and spun the bike around to face him. Smoke pluming from the rear tire as a result of her hasty fishtail, Nita Callahan jumped off the bike and tossed her helmet onto the seat. Shaking back long wavy auburn hair, she blinked at Kit and smiled ruefully. "Sorry I'm late. Dairine again..."

Kit shook his head and grinned. "I figured. What'd she do this time?"

Nita rolled her eyes. "Three guesses."

"Awright, then. Uhhh, another upgrade for Spot?"

"Well, that too..."

"Does this have to do with a computer?"

"Surprisingly, no."

"What'd she set fire to this time?"

"Bingo. She tried making brownies with wizardry...I barely got the kitchen door shut in time."

Kit winced. "Oooooh. How hard is it baked on?"

"Hard enough to need a pant chipper to flake it off."

"Oh, boy."

"Yeah. So, whatcha need?"

"Don't you remember? We gotta help S'reee with the mines."

"Ummm...oh, yeah, huh."

Kit moved over slightly. "Sit down."

Nita stepped up onto the porch and plopped down beside him.

"What?"

"Would you like to go to a movie sometime tonight or tomorrow night? You know...if it's alright with you."

Nita considered that.

"What time?"

"I dunno. Whatever...er ...whenever you want."

"Hmm. Seven today sound good?"

"Yeah."

"Matter of fact, I was thinking of having a 'tag team' night...we'll just hang out."

"I guess so. Today?"

"Oh yeah. After the movie, I guess."

"Awright. Sounds good."

Nita checked her watch.

"So what time did S'reee want us down there?"

Kit blinked.

"Ten thirty."

Nita sighed.

"Those mines. Hey, we got a bit more than an hour. Why'd you call me over here so early?"

Kit very casually draped an arm around her shoulders.

"Guess."

Nita playfully resisted for a while, then gave up and let Kit pull her close to him. She nudged him gently, inquiring, "What do you wanna see?"

Kit was about to answer when the screen door banged open, and Nita quickly pulled herself away from Kit and busied herself reading a book as Dairine, her younger sister and fellow wizard came out. She was thirteen, and a rather powerful, if inexperienced wizard, but that didn't stop her from being a real pest every other millisecond. This was proven too true as she pointed a finger at Nita and, a grin spreading across her face, said in her best I'm-going-to-blackmail-you voice: "You two are so busted."

Nita glanced up from behind her book. "Huh?" she asked in a perfectly innocent tone.

Kit raised an eyebrow. "Dairine? You feeling alright?"

Dairine waved a Polaroid photograph in front of Nita's nose, and she snatched it out of her hand. Her jaw dropped and she went white, then blushed. "You wouldn't dare..." she growled.

Dairine shrugged, plucking the picture back out of Nita's hand. "Alright then. Hey, DAD!"

Nita went white again. "Alright, alright," she hissed. "Whaddya want?"

"Five bucks."

Nita felt like decking her younger sister. But the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs sent her into a panic. She dug into her wallet and tossed Dairine a five. Dairine Frisbeed the Picture at them and, tucking the bill into her pocket, proceeded to show their dad a fantastic new plant in their backyard- a huge ragweed. Kit glanced at the picture, clearly taken by Spot not five minutes ago. He shook his head after Dairine and whispered to the fuming Nita, "Whaddya say we...get even?"

Nita was biting her lip so hard it was starting to bleed. "How?"

Kit grinned. "I have my ways..."

Nita made a face, and he laughed.

"Let's head down to the beach," he suggested.

Nita tossed a transit circle onto the ground, and with a tiny thunderclap, disappeared.

Kit sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, watching Nita flip through Stephen King's Christine, gripping the book so tight her knuckles were white. Her eyes were wide as she read line after line, and Kit chuckled softly.

"Bit scary, Neets?"

She gasped and jumped, looking around wildly.

"Kit! Oh, geez, you scared me."

She took a few deep breaths, and as soon as she regained her composure, asked carefully, "You wanted something?"

"How scary?"

Nita shrugged.

"Not too bad...."

She caught Kit's raised eyebrow and smiled ruefully.

"Pretty gruesome in some areas. It's one heck of a page turner."

Kit grinned hugely.

"That's good, 'cause we're probably seeing that movie."

Nita threw a rock at him.

"Kiiit!"

He dodged it and laughed.

"Alright. We'll just go see Dreamcatcher..."

"Kiiiiiiit!"

He laughed harder.

Nita shook her head, wrung the last of the ocean water from her hair, and continued reading.

Kit smiled and just stared out over the horizon.

By the time six thirty rolled around, Nita was at her nerve's end. She had finished Christine, and was more than just plain scared. She was half panicked, and watched every passing car nervously, so realistic was the way Stephen King wrote. She jumped more than once, and Kit had to clap a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming as someone asked them for directions. By the time they reached the theatre, Nita was pretty unnerved- note the was- until a red-and-white '68 Fury pulled up beside them. The driver, a middle-aged man, raised an eyebrow as he watched Nita slip out from behind Kit, totally white, and dash into the post office next door. The driver looked at Kit, who shrugged, and they both burst out laughing. The man, grinning, called out the passenger window, "Just read Stephen King, didn't she?"

Kit nodded. "Yeah. Christine."

The man shook his head. "Yeah, this baby wouldn't hurt a fly. Besides, nothing's stock but the lights."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

The light changed, and the Fury pulled away, the man waving as the car disappeared down toward the waterfront. Kit sighed and went to se what he could do about Nita.

Nita, her face still white enough to be seen in the darkness of the theater, whispered, "So run that by me again?"

Kit sighed and dutifully repeated himself for the eighth time. "The car was just the same year and color as the one in Christine. Nothing bad..."

"Awright. Sorry. I...just freaked."

Kit shook his head, smiling, and turned his attention back to the movie.

Nita sat on Kit's bed, watching reruns of Lord of the Rings; the radio tuned to some country station. She was bored with the movie, having already seen it eight times over, and was more interested in the radio, in which some female singer was singing a rather slow love song.

Just when I think I'm under control

I think I've finally got a grip.

Another friend tells me that my name is always on your lips.

They say I'm more than just a friend

They say I must be blind

But I admit I've seen you watch me from the corner of my eye.

A/N: So Complicated, by Carolyn Dawn Johnson

Nita frowned, struck by the exactness of how the song Kit and hers relationship. And she had seen him watching her, on many occasions-the latest being three minutes ago. She shook her head. They had a perfectly normal relationship, neutral in all ways...right? But did she want it to be that way?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Kit came in the door with a bag of Warheads, a jar of Pixie Sticks and two bags of popcorn. She shook her head and commented, "Geez, Kit, you know we're gonna get on one heck of a sugar rush..."

He raised an eyebrow.

"We?"

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'm gonna get on one heck of a sugar rush. You know me."

Not well enough, Kit thought, and instantly flushed as Nita's gaze flicked from the floor to his face.

"Not well enough?" she inquired.

Only Kit's quick thinking saved him from total embarrassment. "Huh? No...I thought the-er-movie didn't express the book well enough," he stammered.

Nita gave him a look that was filled with unspoken questions, but she turned back to the movie. Kit breathed a silent sigh of relief and popped a Warhead into his mouth to take his mind off Nita. Unfortunately for him, Nita was always there-occupying quite a few of his thought topics, and his mind eventually wandered back to her. He mentally scolded himself after one such period, telling himself, Kit, you just spent ten minutes checking out your best friend. Get a grip! But then, a tiny part of his mind said quietly, But she's cute. And you know you want her. And she has told you on various occasions that she wanted you...

Nita glanced at Kit, who seemed to be very absorbed in the computer terminal, his eyes slightly glazed and strangely empty. She turned her attention back to the movie, but her mind was elsewhere. She absently tore open a Pixy Stick and poured it into her mouth, wondering what Kit was thinking. Secretly, she hoped he wasn't thinking about her relationship with Ronan, which he had discovered five weeks ago when he caught her daydreaming. A fight had followed, and Nita distinctly remembered yelling into his set face, 'Get off my back! Damn, I hate it when you're this protective, can't I have more than one relationship? We're going to break up eventually, you know!' She winced as she recalled the instantaneous feeling of huge guilt and Kit's final two statements to her for the entire month of June, his voice calm and level, but hurt and icy in tone. 'Fine. Of course we'll break up later. Why didn't I think of that? Maybe...I should just...terminate our wizardry partnership.'

She had almost cried at those words, but she was too angry for that to stop her. 'I don't give. Go ahead. Terminate it.'

She had almost jumped as she glimpsed the anger and pain behind Kit's perfectly straight face as he had told her coldly, 'Fine. I'll go see Tom and Carl tomorrow evening. Don't expect me to help you with any more wizadries.'

And with that, he had turned on his heel and, dropping a transit circle, vanished.

To what would have been her horror if she knew, that argument was exactly what Kit was thinking of at that moment.

They had made up the other week, Tom and Carl wisely telling them to stay together, and Nita had made him the guilty one by rendering him speechless with the query- "Isn't it all right to have one or two friends?"

He still hadn't thought up an answer.

"H'lo! Earth to Kit..."

"Huh?" Kit snapped out of his reverie and looked at Nita.

"Hmm?" he asked.

She looked somewhat amused. "I asked you a question. "

"Oh. Sorry. What's up?"

Nita took a breath before continuing.

"Okay. Kit, exactly what is your definition of love?"

Kit rolled his eyes. "Oh, Neets, if this is about Ronan again..."

Nita suddenly wanted very badly to stuff a pillow in his face. She managed to contain her temper and said very calmly, "Kit, shuttup. No, it's not about Ronan. Just answer the question please."

Kit shrugged nonchalantly. "I dunno. I guess to, uh, care very much about, have a large amount of affection towards." He looked at her closely, trying to figure out why she was asking. "Why?"

She waved Kit's face away. "No real reason...just curious."

Kit rolled his eyes again. "Uh-huh. Nita, you're lying, and that is just too obvious. What do you really want?"

Realization dawned on him, and he looked at Nita, who grinned sheepishly at him. She tilted her head every so slightly to the side as Kit moved closer...

Bang!

Nita jumped and exasperation danced in both her and Kits' eyes as Dairine brushed herself off. Nita lost her temper at her sister's display of innocence and demanded angrily, "Dairine, what the hell are you doing here?"

Dairine appeared slightly amused. "Language, Neets. Tom and Carl said to check on you, as there was a major power rating jump in both you guys' profiles."

Nita gritted her teeth to keep from blowing up, then glanced over her shoulder as Kit laid a hand on it.

"We're fine, Dair. Go back to Tom and Carls'."

Dairine smirked. "What were you two doing?"

Kit's left eyebrow twitched. "What do you think?"

"Making out?"

Kit casually held Nita back as she strained to get at Dairine. "No. Now go back to Tom's, or I'll tell..."

That did it. Dairine dropped a transit circle and vanished in an implosion of air. Nita stopped struggling, but she was still fuming. Kit pulled her back toward him with surprising strength, and he put a pillow on top of her face until she stopped grappling with it. She pushed it off her face and glared up at Kit. Still ticked, Nita let air out through her front teeth in an annoyed hiss. "I swear, she can annoy the hell out of anyone..."

Kit grinned behind Nita's back as she ranted and raved about her demonic little sister for a good five minutes before tiring of the one-sided conversation and falling asleep in Kit's easy chair.