"Beware the mage, and bid him well, for he has powers beyond your ken."
Years from now I'll look back and remember today as the day i met her. I'll look back and remember the exact moment my life began to include him. I will remember it forever.
I wore a green tie-dye T-shirt and jeans. My best friend, Debby Warren, arrived in a peasant shirt and a long black skirt down to her violet toenails, and of course she looked beautiful and sophisticated.
"Hey Junior," she greeted me with a hug, even though I'd just seen her the day before
"See you in AP calc," I told Janice Yutoh, and met Debbie halfway down the front steps. "Hey," I said back. "It's hot. It's supposed to be crisp on the first day of school." It wasn't even eight thirty, but the early September sun was burning whitely, and the air felt muggy and still. Despite the weather I felt excited, expectant: A whole new year was starting, and we were finally upperclassmen.
"Mabe in the Yukon Territory," Debbie suggested. "You look great."
"Thanks," I said, appreciating her diplomacy. "You too."
Debbie looks like a model. She's tall, five-nine, and has a figure most girls would starve themselves for, except Debbie eats everything and thinks dieting is for lemmings. She has minky dark hair that she ussually gets styled in Manhattan, so it falls in perfectly tousled waves to the base of her neck. Where we go, people turn there heads to look at her.
The thing about Debbie is that she knows she's gorgeous, and she enjoys it. She doesn't shrug off compliments, or complain about her looks, or pretend she doesn't know what people are talking about. But she isn't exacttly concieted either. She just accepts what she looks like and thinks its cool.
Debbie glanced over my shoulder at Widow's Vale High. Its redbrick walls and tall palladian windows betrayed its former incarnation as our town courthouse. "They didn't paint the woodwork," she said. "Again."
"Nope. Oh my God, look at Raven Meltzer," I said. "She got a tattoo."
Raven's a senior and the wildest girl in our school. She has dyed black hair, seven body piercings (that I can see, anyway), and now a circle of flames tattooed around her belly buttong. She's amazing to look at, at least for me-Ordinary Girl, with my long, all one length, blond hair. I have blue eyes and a nose that could kindly be described as "strong." Last year I grew four inches, so im five-sic now. I have broad shoulders and no hips and am still waiting for the breast fairy to show up.
Raven headed to the side of the cafeteria building where the stoners hung out.
"Her mom must be so proud," I said catily, but inside I admired her daring. What would it be like to care so little about what other people thought of you?
"I wonder what happens to her nose stud when she sneezes?" asked Debbie, and I giggled.
Raven nodded to Ethan Sharp, who already looked wasted at eight-thirty in the morning. Chip Newton, who's absolutely brilliant in math, way better than me, and our school's most reliable dealer, gave Raven a soul handshake. Aiden Dennison, my best friend after Debbie, looked up and smiled at her.
"God, it's so weird to see Mary K. here," said Debbie, glancing around and running her fingers through her wind-tossed hair.
"Yeah. She'll fit right in," I said. My younger sister, Mary Kathleen, was headed toward the main building, laughing with a couple of her friends. Next to most of the freshman, Mary K. looked mature and together, with grown-up curves. Stuff just comes easily to Mary K.-her hip but not-too-hip clothes, her naturally pretty face, her good but not perfect grades, her wide circle of friends. She's a genuinly nice person, and everyone adores her, even me. You can't help it with Mary K.
"Hey baby," said Chris Holly loudly, coming up to Debbie. "Hey, Spencer," he said to me. Chris leaned down and gave Debbie a quick kiss, which she caught on her lips.
"Hey Chris," I said. "Ready for school?"
"Now I am," he said, giving Debbie a lustful smile.
"Debbie! Chris!" Madison Duarte waved, gold bangles clinking on her wrist.
Chris grabbed Debbie's hand and pulled her toward Madison and the other usuals: Sherry Ruiz, Matt Adler, Justin Bartlett.
"Coming?" Debbie asked, falling behind.
I made a wary face. "No thank you."
"Spencer, they like you fine," Debbie said under her breath, reading my mind as she often did. She'd dropped Chris's hand, waiting for me while he went on ahead.
"It's okay. I need to talk to Tamara, anyway." Debbie knew I didn't feel comfortable with her clique.
She paused another moment. "Okay, see you in homeroom."
"See ya."
Debbie began to turn away but stopped, her mouth dropping open like someone in Acting 101 doing "dumbstruck." I turned and followed her gaze and saw a girl coming up the steps to our school.
It was like in a movie when everything goes into soft focus, everyone becomes silent, and time slows down while you figure out what you're looking at. It was just like that watching Ashley Davies come up the broad, worn front steps of our school.
I didn't know then that she was Ashley Davies, of course.
Debbie turned back toward me, her eyes wide. "Who is that?" she mouthed.
I shook my head. Without thinking, i put my palm to my chest to slow my heartbeat.
The girl walked up to us with a calm confidence i envied. I was aware of heads turning. She smiled at us. It was like the sun coming out of the clouds. "Is this the way to the vice principal's office?" she asked.
I've seen good-looking girls beofre. Raven, as i said before, is really good-looking. But this girl...breathtaking. Silky brown hair with red bangs looked as if she paid a cleberity hairstylist styled it themselves. She had a perfect nose, beautiful tan skin, and riveting, ageless, chocolate-colored eyes. It took me a second to realize she was speaking to us.
I gazed at her stupidly, but Debbie sparkled. "Right through there and to the left," she said pointing to the nearest door. "It's unusual to transfer as a senior, isn't it?" she asked, studying the piece of paper she held out to her.
"Yeah, the girl said. She gave a half smile. "I'm Ashley, Ashley Davies. My mom and I just moved here."
"I'm Debbie Warren," Debbie gestured to me. "And this is Spencer Carlin."
I didn't move. I blinked a couple of times and tried to smile. "Hi," I finally said in a nearr whisper, feeling like a five-year-old. I'm never good at talking to new people, especially ones as attractive as her, and this time i felt so overwhelemed and shy that i couldn't function at all. I felt like i was trying to stand up in a gale.
"Are you seniors?" Ashley asked.
"Juiors," Debbie said apologetically.
"Too bad," Ashley said. "We won't have classes together."
"Actually you might have some with Spencer," Debbie said with a cute, self-depreciating laugh. "She's taking senior math and science."
"Cool," Ashley said, smiling at me. "I better check in. Nice meeting you. Thanks for your help." She turned and strode to the door.
"Bye!" Debbie said brightly
As soon as Ashley passed through the wooden doors into the school building Debbie grabbed my arm. "Spencer, that girl is a godess!" she squealed. "She's going to school here! She'll be here all year!"
The next moment found us surrounded by Debbie's friends.
"Who is she?" Madison asked eagerly, her dark hair brushing her shoulders. Suzanne Herbert jostled her, trying to get closer to Debbie.
"Is she going to school here?" Nell Norton asked.
"Is she straight" Justin Barlett wondered aloud. He had a right to ask though. Half of the girls in our school were gay or bi or bi curious. It was easy on the girls, not so easy on the guys.
I glanced at Chris. He was frowning. As Debbie's friends reviewed the meager info, i stepped back, out of the crowd. I drited to the entrance and put my hand on the heavy brass handle, swearing i could still fell the warmth from Ashley's touch.
A week passed. As usual, I felt a tingle in my chest as I walked into physics class and saw Ashley there. She still looked like a miracle sitting in a dinged-up wooden desk. A godess in a mortal place. Today she was focusing her beam on Alessandra Spotford. "It's like a harvest festival?" Up in Kinderhook?" I heard Ashley asking her.
Alessandra smiled and looked flustered. "It's not till October," she explained. "We get our pumpkins there every year." She tucked a curl behind her ear.
I sat down and opened my notebook. In one week Ashley had become the most popular girl at my school. Forget popular; she was a celebrity. Even a lot of the guys liked her. Not Chris Holly or any other guy or girl whose boyfriend or girlfriend was salivating over Ashley, but most of the others
"What about you, Spencer?" Ashley asked, turning to me. "Have you been to the harvest festival?"
Casually i flipped to the current chapter in our textbook and nodded, feeling a rush of giddiness at hearing her say my name. "Pretty much everyone goes. Theres not a lot else to do around here unless you go down to New York City, and that's two hours away."
Ashley had spoken to me several times over the past week, and each time it had gotten a little easier for me to reply to her. We had physics and calculus together everyday.
She turned in her desk to face me fully, and i permitted myself a quick glance at him. I don't always trust myself to do this. Not if I want my vocal cords to work. My throat tightened right on schedule.
What was it about Ashley that made me feel like this? Well, she was gorgeous, for one obvious thing. But it was more than that. she was different than the other girls I knew. When she looked at me, she really looked at me. She wasn't glancing around the room, chckiing for her friends, or trolling for prettier girls, we all found out she was a lesbian the first day of school, or sneaking quick glances at my breasts--not that i have any. She wasn't self-conscious at all, and she wasn't keeping score socially the way everybody else does. She seemed to look at me or Tamara, who had advanced classes, too, with the same frank intensity and interest that she looked at Alessandra or Debbie or one of the other local godesses.
"So what do you do for fun the rest of the time?" she asked me.
I looked back down at my textbook. I wasn't used to this. Good-looking girls usually only talked to me when they wanted a homework assignment.
"I don't know," I said mildly. "Hnag out. Talk to friends. Go to movies."
"What kind of movies do you like?" she leaned forward as if I were the most interesting person in the world and there was no one she would rather be talking to. Her eyes never left my face.
I hesitated feeling awkward and tongue-tied. "Anything. I like all kinds of movies."
"Really? Me too. You'll have to tell me which theatres to go to. I'm still learning my way around."
Before i could agree or disagree, she smiled at me and turned to face the front of the room as Dr. Gonzalez walked in, thumped his heavy briefcase on his desk, and began to call roll.
I wasn't the only person Ashley was charming. She seemed to like everbody. She talked to everyone, sat by different people, didn't show favorites. I knew that at least four of Debbie's friends were dying t go out with her, but I hadn't heard of any siccess so far. I did know that Justin Bartlett had struck out.
