Chapter 3
"What the Hell was that?" Melinda asked as she looked around at her surroundings. She was standing next to Priscilla in a back alley behind the movie theatre.
"Well, I know how much you wanted to see this movie," Priscilla answered. Melinda simply looked at her.
"I figured that if we just orbed, we could make it on time," she continued, starting to feel a little unsure of herself. Priscilla stared at her cousin and tried to read her. Like her mother, Priscilla was gifted with the power of empathy but Melinda was very hard to read lately. So many emotions were tangled up inside of Melinda, that Priscilla doubted even Melinda knew what was going on inside.
"Unbelievable," Melinda muttered as she started to walk away from her cousin.
"Wait!" Priscilla cried. "Where are you going? The theatre is the other way!"
"I'm not going to the movie. I didn't ask you give me a ride, you didn't even ask if I still wanted to go." Melinda called without looking back.
"What are you going to do, walk back to the beach?" Priscilla asked helplessly.
"No, I think I can probably find a taxi to take me there so that I can pick up my car."
Melinda glanced back at her cousin. Priscilla looked hurt and confused, and Melinda couldn't help but feel guilty. She turned around and wrapped her arms around her cousins neck.
"I'm sorry, Sweetie," Melinda said softly. "I'm just having some issues right now and I didn't mean to take them out on you. I just need some space right now is all. You understand, right?"
Priscilla pulled back enough to look at Melinda. She sighed and nodded her head, even though she didn't really understand. She watched as Melinda walked away, waited for her to hail a cab, and then decided that something needed to be done. Melinda was certainly on a road to self destruction if something wasn't done soon.
When Melinda arrived back at the manor she found that the driveway and the street were littered with her extended family's cars. Suddenly, she remembered that they were having a family BBQ today. She cursed herself for forgetting, but inwardly she really wasn't in the mood to socialize. She knew that as soon as she walked in the door everyone would look at her as if she had two heads, and she would surely be attacked after her many outbursts in the short day.
The smell of charcoal and mesquite filled her senses as she got out of her car and walked up the porch steps. The sound of the radio, idle chit chat, and laughter wafted from within the house as she opened the door. Quietly, she pushed the door shut and tried to tiptoe upstairs without being seen.
"Heard you had to catch a taxi back to your car. Sucks you can't orb."
Melinda inwardly cringed, but she tried to ignore the voice behind her. She tried to continue up the stairs without acknowledging the voice behind her.
"Awww, come on take a joke." Melinda closed her eyes and took a deep breath and persistented up the stairs. Suddenly, her cousin Henry materialized in front of her.
"Get out of my way, Henry." She said.
Mocking a look of disappointment, Henry held his heart. "Oh, you hurt me Cousin. I'm just playing. Aren't you going to come and eat?"
"No," she said trying to side step him.
"Fine, I'll bring some food up to you," he said sincerely. "Would you like that? I heard what happened and I know you probably don't want to be around people."
Melinda paused and looked at her cousin trying to figure him out. She decided that he really cared and she nodded. "Yeah, I would like that thank you."
"Okay," he said.
As she reached the top of the stairs she stepped in a plate overfilled with potato salad. Laughter rang out from the bottem of the staircase, and she looked down to see Henry holding himself up on the banister to keep from falling over.
"Dammit Henry!" she shouted. With a flick of her wrist, Henry went flying across the room slamming into the old grandfather clock. The laughter in the other room ceased and everyone came running into the foyer. Paige hurried to her sons side and examined him thoroughly.
"Melinda!" Piper exclaimed. "What has gotten into you?"
"I'm tired of his crap," Melinda said calmly as she leaned down to pick up the plate of potatoe salad.
"He's 15 years old," Chris told her.
"So?" Melinda asked her older brother.
"So," Leo said to her, "We don't use our powers to hurt family members."
"Tell that to him," Melinda said, pointing at the whimpering Henry sitting on the floor.
"I didn't hurt you," Henry said weakly.
"You did so!" Melinda shot back.
"Somebody needs a time out," Wyatt said jokingly trying to lighten the situation.
"Quit treating me like a child!" Melinda screamed.
Wyatt visibly flinched and looked at his sister. Without missing a beat Chris was up to the top of the stairs and two inches away from Melinda's face.
"If you don't want to be treated like a child, then quit acting like one!"
"Get out of my face, Chris." Melinda seethed.
Chris backed off and stood aside so that she could walk past. Melinda tried to maintain her composure. She knew that Chris was right, she had been acting like a spoiled brat, but she couldn't control herself. She tried to hold her head high as she walked to her room and slammed the door. She heard her mother saying goodbye to her family, and her father apologizing on her behalf.
As she lay on her bed, trying to hold back her tears, she heard the voice again. 'You're better than this. You can be so much more.'
"Go away," she mumbled into her pillow. Someone knocked on her door, giving her a start. She ignored it, but she heard the door open anyway.
"Mom, not right now. I'm sorry, okay. I really am and I don't know what's wrong. I just need some space."
"Well, I'm glad to hear that you're sorry," a familiar voice replied, "But I'm not your mom."
Melinda looked up to see Billie standing in the doorway. She had an air of confidence and stubbornness that stopped Melinda from sending her away. Billie's eyes were filled with love and compassion and she boldly walked in and sat at the foot of her bed.
"So, I'm guessing that you're having a few issues right now. Something along the lines of, you feel lost, you don't fit in, you don't know who you are… am I on the right track?"
Although she wasn't blood related, Billie was as much a part of the family as anybody was. She always knew the right things to say at the right time. Even though she wasn't even 40 years old yet, Billie had somehow accumulated the wisdom of a woman who had lived many lifetimes. Melinda was taken aback by Billie's insight and felt a new wave of tears coming on; all that she could do was manage a meek nod.
"I bet you're pretty annoyed that your brothers won't let you go kick some demon ass with you too, huh?" Phoebe's voice came in softly from the doorway. Melinda and Billie looked up.
"I thought you left," Billie said to Phoebe.
"I was going to, but I figured I'd stay here and help clean up. I overheard your conversation, thought maybe I could help here first." Phoebe said smiling. She crossed the room and sat on the foot of the bed with Billie.
Melinda sighed and looked at the women in her room. She looked at her bedroom door, and closed it telekinetically so that they wouldn't be disturbed.
"How did you guys know that's what I was feeling?" She asked.
Phoebe and Billie looked at one another and smiled.
"Well," Phoebe said. "Many, many years ago I had a vision of a daughter that I would have in a demon free future. I got so obsessed with finding the father of that child, that I misused my active powers and had them taken away from me. After that, your mom and Aunt Paige always made me stay behind because it was too 'dangerous'. It infuriated me."
"But I have my active powers," Melinda said. "That doesn't stop Wyatt and Chris from holding me back."
"That doesn't stop them from wanting to protect you, though." Phoebe said gently. "But, I do agree, they need to loosen up a little and let you take on some of the action. The problem is, not only are you the youngest, but you're also the only girl."
"Yeah, there's that and I can't orb." Melinda muttered.
"Oh!" Billie exclaimed. "Is that the problem? Well, I can fix that… well you can anyway."
"What?" Melinda asked, her curiosity picking up.
"When I was your age, I had just come into my powers. That's how I met your family. Anyway, I asked your family to train me, since I didn't have anybody else. As far as I knew, I was the only witch in my family. Anyway, I needed a way to get to and from places in a hurry. I found a potion that helped me out and I always had a vial or ten handy."
"Where is the recipe?" Melinda asked excitedly.
"I think I found it in a book at magic school," Billie said thoughtfully. "I really can't remember. It may have been one of the books up in the attic."
"Is it in the Book of Shadows?" Melinda asked.
"I guess you can look," Billie said.
"But," Phoebe added, "Your brothers will never let you go along until you start acting your age. Your whole life you've been the pampered one that gets everything handed to you." Melinda rolled her eyes and threw herself back on her bed. "Now don't go getting all cranky, young lady. You know as well as anyone that it's true. You're going to have to prove yourself to your brothers."
"I know," Melinda conceded. "But how do I prove it to them? What do I have to do?"
"The same thing I had to do to prove myself," Billie said. "Study, and study hard."
