Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff.
Part III
Will groaned and tugged at her turtleneck. She really hated wearing them, but it was the easiest way for her to hide the offending hickey on her neck. The previous evening had gotten out of hand—up until Will's mom came home. And then, quick as a flash, Caleb had disappeared back out the bedroom window.
"Will, are you ready? Irma's here."
"Coming," sighed Will as her mother pushed the door open. The older woman nodded and left the room. It was fortunate that it was currently winter outside, or else Will would have a lot of explaining to do.
Will grabbed her bag for school and went out into the living room where Irma was patiently waiting. The two girls quickly left the apartment and began the slow walk towards school.
"Corny called last night," announced Irma after a while. Will groaned. She had momentarily forgotten about the blonde. "I take it she called you too, huh?"
"You have no idea," murmured Will. "She was whining—I never know what I'm supposed to say to her when she's like that."
"Yeah, well, she called me looking for Caleb. I guess she had been trying to call him all evening, but he wasn't home. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"
"Makes you wonder what?"
Irma glanced at her friend inquisitively before continuing her line of thinking. "Makes you wonder if Caleb really does have another girl on the side. One who isn't at all like our Corny. Someone with a little more substance."
"You're not telling me that you want Caleb to date someone else, are you?" demanded Will stopping in her tracks. Irma paused and shrugged nonchalantly.
"Why not? Caleb and Corny are always at each other's throats! So, who do you think the other girl is?"
Will tugged at her turtleneck, feeling the hickey on her throat burning as unbidden thoughts crossed her mind. Thoughts of how it had felt in Caleb's arms, with his lips on her neck. "I don't think I really want to know," she croaked out, her face turning a bright red.
"What's wrong with you? You like you swallowed a chili."
"Something like that." Will breathed in relief the second Taranee and Hay-Lin came bounding up to join the duo the rest of the way to school.
Hay-Lin was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. "Guess who's on a rampage today!"
"Corny?" asked Irma with a snicker. Hay-Lin's face fell.
"How'd ya know?"
"Lucky guess. Plus she called me looking for her boy-toy."
Taranee chuckled. "Cornelia thinks Caleb really is cheating on her now. He's refusing to speak to her."
"Great," mumbled Will as the school came in sight. She tugged at her turtleneck once more; the burning sensation was getting more painful by the minute.
Taranee took notice of her friend's discomfort and frowned. "You all right, Will? You don't look so good anymore."
"Fine." Will scrunched her face in pain.
"Is your neck bothering you?" asked Irma.
"Nuh-uh." Will lied through gritted teeth.
"Lemme take a look at it," said Hay-Lin grabbing Will's turtleneck, "Grandmother has all sorts of home remedies."
"No!" But Will's protest came a second too late. Hay-Lin had already exposed the hickey on Will's neck for all her friends to see. The girls gasped, but Will was breathing in relief. The burning sensation was finally going away.
Irma was the first to speak. "Omigod! What the heck have you and Matt been doing lately?"
Will clamped a hand over Irma's mouth, muffling the brunette's exclamations. "It's not from Matt. You can't let him know about this! You guys have no idea how much trouble I'm in!"
"Will, what's going on? If that's not from Matt, then who is it from?" demanded Taranee suspiciously.
Hay-Lin's eyes widened as she slowly put two and two together. "Caleb!"
"What about Caleb?" questioned Cornelia walking up to the group.
"Nothing!" chorused the girls, quickly stepping in front of Will.
"R-r-right. Hey, Will," Cornelia peered around Taranee to talk to the petite red head, "I tried taking your advice, but Caleb wasn't even home last night. I don't know where he was, but he is seriously avoiding me now."
"I'll say," muttered Irma under her breath.
"Huh?"
"Irma thinks Caleb might be out—writing a letter back home!" gushed Will. "You know, since he's homesick and all."
Cornelia frowned but quickly shrugged. "Maybe. You gotta come with me after school to find him. You and Caleb are like brother and sister—he'll listen to you."
"Ew!" squeaked Hay-Lin. Will glared at her, and the Asian quickly shut her mouth.
"Okay, you guys are all acting kinda weird right now. I think I'm gonna head to class. I'll see you after school, Will." Cornelia gave her friends another quizzical glance before heading off into the school.
Taranee took the opportunity to grab Will by the arms and shake her. "What the heck is going on?"
"I don't know!" cried Will. She broke free from Taranee's hold and sighed. "It's all so confusing."
"Yeah, right. Why don't you try explaining it to us, huh?" suggested Irma crossing her arms.
Will gulped and tugged at her turtleneck nervously. "First off, this is all Caleb's fault. He suggested he needed practice and somehow I got roped into helping him out."
"Wait, wait, wait. Practice? Practice what? Giving each other hickey's? Does Caleb have one too? Is that why he's hiding from Cornelia?" Taranee shook her head in confusion.
"Kissing. It was supposed to be one stupid, innocent little kiss, because the moron was worried about being a bad kisser on his dumb date with Cornelia!"
Hay-Lin giggled. "That's so lame."
"No kidding," agreed Irma slapping a hand to her forehead. "You are so screwed when Cornelia finds out about this."
Will shook her head. "If she finds out. And she won't find out, will she?"
Irma, Hay-Lin, and Taranee exchanged looks but finally all shook their heads no. Each knew what would happen if Cornelia found out that Will was the other girl in Caleb's life.
"You guys are the best. Now, here's the deal. I don't know what's going on with me and Caleb, but I think it's safe to bet that whatever it is isn't natural."
Irma snickered. "Yeah, it's called chemistry. That's science."
"No, I mean…last night when Caleb came by to talk about the…you know, from earlier, we were, I dunno…drawn to each other. As soon as we got within a certain distance of each other I totally went blank. Next thing I know, my mom's calling out that she's home from her date and Caleb was out the window faster than the speed of light. There's something fishy going on here."
"You mean like a Phobos and Cedric deal?" murmured Hay-Lin narrowing her eyebrows in deep concentration. Will nodded.
"It's possible," started Taranee rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "I mean, they are capable of this stuff. Especially with Elyon ruling, and them being exiled. They have the most cause for revenge. I mean, this is all Will's fault."
Irma nodded. "That last battle—I remember seeing something, like a purple dust, hit us when Cedric was doing that snake thing."
"You think they're trying to put a spell on Will and Caleb?" wondered Taranee out loud.
"Like you said, it's possible. Of course, I can't think of a single reason why."
Will groaned as the school bell rang. "Great, and yet, I have to go with Cornelia after school to find Caleb. There's no way this will end on a good note. I am so dead."
"Don't worry, I'll find Blunk and send him to warn Caleb," soothed Hay-Lin as she linked arms with Will. The girls began the slow walk into the school building, each burdened with a sickening feeling.
The last battle against Phobos hadn't gone according to plans. He had seemed to come back from the dead, and this time was out to kill Elyon for taking his place as ruler of Meridian. Unfortunately, Will and the others were somewhat out of shape, having not been in training lately. They hadn't thought Phobos and Cedric would come back to try and finish them off a second time. So the girls of W.I.T.C.H. had been caught unprepared, unaware, and way off-guard.
And Phobos was stronger than ever with a new army of demons at his back. With Phobos back in the picture, Caleb had decided to stay on Earth longer to help out the girls. Oh no, this was definitely not turning out to be the start of a good school year. Everything was happening at once, and for once, it looked like it just might be more than the girls could handle.
"Hey," called out Will as they entered the building, "anyone wanna trade lives today?"
A/N—This one took a while, but I'm starting to actually formulate a plot. I'm a little rusty on the history of the show, so if I get something REALLY wrong, just correct me, otherwise, I think it's safe to say this a bit AU. Anyway, I'll try to update soon, but applications galore…sorry.