Ashley

I feel like the fattest man in the world has body slammed me. My head hurts and my arm feels like hell. I'm supposed to follow this girl to the nurse, but obviously she has other plans.

And that comment Madison made about her? I don't understand, but I don't really care about it either. All I know is that she is kidnapping me somewhere except I'm willingly following her. That's not really kidnapping.. hmm. Whatever.

I want to ask where she's taking me but I want to try and remember the name Mr. Smith called her. I was sort of in Ashleyland because the whole disaster made me feel like I was watching it from the outside and it wasn't affecting me at all. I'm used to freaky stuff happening to me which is why I'm so emo about my life. I move constantly because something is always happening and we have to move. Two years is the longest I've ever stayed in one place. My dad always says that it's a fresh start. The problem is, I don't want a fresh start. I want to belong in one place. We have had so many problems over the years. The most recent one was that my father hurt his leg permanently and now he can't do what he does best. Play music.

My mother has had her disappointments too. She had so much bad health over the years and each illness seems to be getting worse. And the hospital bills aren't helping. She doesn't have any work-related skills, but she's good at ordering people around. That's called.. leadership right?

The girl is leading me out of the school and I start to focus a little bit better. I notice that she is very attractive. She has long blonde hair that ends at her mid-back. When I look lower, I see that her skirt is high, but not as high as mine of course. It is high enough to see that she has the most beautiful legs you would ever lay eyes on. However, she has pasty skin, almost like she's anemic. Her body makes up for it though.

Spencer. Score! That's what Mr. Smith called her. "Hey" I call.

She stops and turns around. "Yeah?"

I shift the rag around my arm. "You're supposed to take me to the nurse."

She looks at me like I just need to shut up. "I know a better place. Just follow me."

I instantly grabbed her hand so she turns around again, losing my bandage in the process. She gives me a glare, and then she sees the bandage on the ground. She lets go of my hand and I lose the warmth I felt, only so she could get the rag from the ground.

"I'm taking you to see my grandmother" she says.

"Is she a nurse?"

"She's better."

Oookay. As if that was enough explanation. We start walking again. We shove our way through trees and bushes until we reach the main road. We follow this road for awhile before we turn right into a rainforest. This rainforest is on a mountain which is really steep and now I understand why she has such gorgeous legs. Today was so not a good day to wear heels.

I feel like we have been hiking up this mountain for forever. "Where does your grandmother live? At this rate, I could be dead before we get there."

She turns around and gives me that glare again which I find really sexy on her. "If you're still bleeding, apply pressure. I'm sure you'll be just fine."

I see that she glances at the wound and winces. I guess the wound was deeper than she thought. She grabs the rag and makes it tighter. "Thanks Spencer." We lock eyes and then I feel a sensation my head that is hard to describe. "Shit, what was that?"

She turns around and starts walking again and I catch her say "You don't know?"

I reply, "If I knew, would I be asking?"

She slows down and I catch up with her. "What do you think it was?"

"I don't know. I only know that it doesn't feel right."

Spencer looks down and her feet. "Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"You'll figure it out."

The rest of the walk is silent. Well it is till we get to a plantation, which I'm guessing is her plantation. "So, what does your grandmother do?"

Without hesitating, "She's a witch."

"Are you off you meds?" A witch? HA! Yeah, and I'm Mandy Musgrave.

I think she realizes she didn't really mean to say that, because she starts stuttering. "Pl-please don't tell anyone I said that. I just, well, I just know that you're different too."

What the fuck? Now my opinion about her has defiantly changed. "What? So you are telling me that your grandmother can do black magic and all that stuff and that I might be able to do it too?"

I stare at her and she gets defensive. "Julia would never do anything to hurt anyone. She's a healer." I guess she sees my stunned expression because she starts to explain. "Look, I wouldn't be telling you this but I believe that you have the gift too. I can see that you don't know anything about it which is why I'm so surprised. But you have to understand. If you can manipulate the weather like that, then you must be really strong and that can be dangerous."

I stare at her even harder. "So are you a witch too?"

She smiles and says "You could say that."

"That's impossible. Witchcraft doesn't exist."

Her smile falters. "It exists."

Righttt. "I think I'm just going to go back to school and find that nurse."

"Wait", she practically yells, "I'm sorry if I scared you, but I really will help your arm. You could really bleed to death before you get to the school." She runs over and grabs my hand and I feel the warmth again, despite her delusional mind. "It's not far now. Julia really is a good healer. It'll be fine."

I reluctantly follow her. Damn. She really knows how to convince someone.