Chapter 3: Invitations

The next week, when she finally felt well enough to go back to school, Holly was the last in line to receive the biology exam, but she was the first to complete it.

Cas, who was accustomed to finishing anything long before Holly had, was astounded when Holly stood up right as Cas was turning to the last page of the test booklet. All he could do for a full five minutes was stare at his best friend. His immediate thought was that she had simply plowed through the test, heedlessly filling in half-baked answers for each question and not even trying in the slightest. Cas struggled to get his mind back on biology and finish his own exam. Then he did a double-take. Holly seemed to have lost all of her freckles overnight!

Holly noticed Cas staring at her strangely, but more importantly, John and Philippa were also gaping, but in quite a different way. They seemed to know something... more about what was going on. Holly turned slightly pink and went back to her seat to bury her nose in a chapter book.

"You said you weren't ready for that final, Hol," Cas said accusingly after they were released from the biology room.

"I wasn't," Holly replied honestly. She really had no idea what was going on. Cas squinted at her suspiciously.

"Did you blow off the exam?" He asked dubiously.

"No!" Holly said loudly. Then, more quietly, she continued. "If I was going to blow it off, then I would have just skipped class. I do have a legit excuse, after all." She tapped her front teeth with her fingernail, or what remained of it: what with the stress caused by her sudden and mysterious knowledge, the upcoming exams, and anxiety over what she still believed to be nothing more than an extremely audacious hallucination, Holly's habit of biting her fingernails had increased tenfold.

"Mm hm." Cas replied doubtfully. "Hey, look. There's John and Philippa. You can ask them about your dream."

"You're right! Come on!" Holly grabbed Cas's wrist and dragged him down the hallway towards the Gaunts.

"Hey, John!" Cas called to his other friend. "Wait up!" John and Philippa turned and stopped to wait for Holly and Cas.

"Hi," Holly panted when she came within talking distance. "Random question: Do you happen to have an English uncle named Nimrod?" John and Philippa exchanged a knowing glance before Philippa answered.

"Yes, we do."

Holly was dumbstruck momentarily. Then she shouted "No way! That's crazy- I've got this insane story to tell you at lunch, then. You'll never believe it!"

Several members of the stream of passing students looked askance at Holly, and hurried down the hall slightly faster.

John and Philippa exchanged another knowing glance, accompanied by a pair of small, slightly smug smiles.

"Oh! That reminds me, John, didn't Uncle Nimrod tell us we could each bring a friend with us to London this year?" Philippa turned back to her twin brother.

"Yeah? So?" He replied, nonplussed. Philippa elbowed him in the ribs.

"So, we've only really each made one really good friend each this year." Philippa nodded pointedly at Holly and Cas, and John seemed to catch on.

"Oh, yeah!" he said. Philippa sighed.

"Holly, Cas, do you two want to come to London with us this summer?"

"England? Well, uh... I'm not quite sure if my parents will allow me to..." Holly began, but Cas interrupted her.

"We're so there!" He said, grinning at the twins, who smiled back.

"Cas!" Holly protested, "There's no way that my father and stepmom will let me go to London without them along!" Cas rolled his eyes.

"Can her brother come?" He asked the Gaunts impatiently.

"Mark?! Really? I'm not sure if that's a wise idea-"

"I don't see why not. Uncle Nimrod will be delighted to meet him, I'm sure." Philippa smiled.

"Is he good at keeping a secret?" John asked.

"What kind of question is that?!" Holly retorted indignantly. "Of course he can!" Cas laughed at his friend's frustration.

"Okay, ask your parents, both of you. We'd love to have you along." Philippa said, still smiling with suppressed mirth.

"Will do," Cas said cheerfully, and steered himself and Holly down the crowded hallway in the direction of their English class.

"Bye Cas! Bye Holly! See you in class!" Philippa called after them, lagging behind to speak privately with her brother.

Holly finished her English exam a good few minutes before Cas or Philippa had as well. After she had completed the test and handed it in, Holly surreptitiously took her smartPhone out to text Mark, who had his lunch hour at about this same time of day.

Holly: m. You wanna go to London this summer?

Mark: U serious?

Holly: dead.

Mark: OF COURSE! wait... ur playing me ain't you?

Holly: nope. we just have to convince los padres

Mark: y?

Holly: my friends john & philippa want to take me & cas

Mark: what about uncle bob?

Holly: what about him?

Mark: mayb we can visit

Holly: mayhap

Mark: ;) consider the convincing done how'd you do on ur finals?

Holly: really well, sofar i think i aced em

Mark: thts great news, kiddo!

Holly: you're a great big bro, m.

Mark: u know it!

Holly smiled and slipped her phone back into her pocket and continued to read her chapter book. Half an hour later, the bell rang for lunch, and Holly, Cas, and Philippa met each other outside the door.

"Mark wants to come." Holly announced to her friends.

"You were texting?!" Cas asked in mock alarm. Holly laughed uproariously at his tone.

"It's a secret to everyone, though!" She replied, eyes still twinkling. Cas snorted. Then Philippa dropped the (figurative) bomb.

"Holly, have you noticed that your freckles are gone?" she asked. Holly immediately stopped laughing and felt her face. Holly had loathed having freckles, ever since she was a child. She thought they made her look really ugly, especially being as abundant as they had been before.

"No- really? D'you have a mirror I can borrow?" Philippa produced a small compact mirror and handed it to her friend. Holly looked at her reflection in disbelief. Every single one of the freckles that had plagued her was now gone. "Oh my gosh. The little diablos are gone! I don't believe it!"

"I think you both have gotten taller, too." Philippa continued.

"Really? What makes you say that?" Cas asked her.

"Because," Philippa explained patiently, "yesterday, Holly and I were exactly the same height. Today, she's at least two inches taller!" Holly looked down at Philippa and saw that it was true. And Holly was wearing ballet flats that day.

Cas opened his mouth, about to say something, when he noticed a group of girls waiting several yards in front of them. "Uh-oh," he said, frowning, "here come Terri and her posse of zombie clones."

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill." Holly sighed, and linked her arm through Cas's. Terri Alumina was one of those really irritating girls that no school seems to be without. Her 'posse,' as Cas so eloquently put it, was a group of about 4 other girls, all of whom had dyed their hair a brummagem buttery blonde to match Terri's. It didn't help Holly's, Cas's, and Philippa's already low opinion of them that all five of them were absolutely obsessed with Cas. Which was why, whenever they caught sight of Terri and her posse, Cas and Holly pretended to be dating each other. It deterred many of their comments, either flirty ones with Cas, or incredibly rude ones to Holly. Either way, it was a means to get rid of them.

Holly, Cas, and Philippa walked bravely towards Terri's crowd, not being the least surprised when Terri greeted them with a too-nice, forced smile.

"Hi, Cas," she said, batting her mascara-heavy eyelashes. Cas frowned more intensely.

"It's Castiel." He told her flatly.

"Oh, right," she giggled, evidently oblivious to Cas's stormy attitude towards her. "So, Castiel," she continued, still batting her eyelashes furiously, as though she was under the impression that looking like she had something stuck in her eye seemed charming, "what are you doing this summer?" Cas spared her one, irritated glare before sweeping off, tightening his grip on Holly's arm and pointedly not answering Terri's question.

"She makes me so mad!" Holly hissed at her best friend and Philippa when, at last, they were out of Terri's earshot. Cas and Philippa both nodded sagely.

"I know. She reminds me of Lilith de Ghulle, this one girl I met at a book launch. Ugh, she was awful. And she was only there because her mom made her go, too!" Philippa agreed sympathetically, but Holly wasn't done ranting.

"You know, I really do wish that those loathsome brats would leave us well enough alone in the future! Life is difficult enough as it is!"

Philippa frowned. "Careful what you wish for, Holly-" Philippa was interrupted by Cas suddenly falling to his knees on the hard linoleum floor.

"Cas!" Holly said, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Cas grunted, taking Holly's hand and picking himself up off of the floor. "Just peachy. Only, I felt kind of weird just now. Like something... left me. Or I just ran a marathon. I'm fine now, though."

"It's beginning." Philippa muttered to herself. Holly turned to face her.

"What'd you say, Phil?" Holly asked her friend curiously.

"Hm? Oh, never mind for now. You'd think I was loony." Philippa replied, quashing any more questions, but not Holly's and Cas's curiosity.

"Probably," Cas joked, still subtly trying to get Philippa to divulge something. Then, less subtly, added "But you should tell us anyway."

Holly, realizing that this was a useless endeavour, changed the subject. "So, anyway, Philippa, when are we leaving?"

"Any time you like. But I was thinking, oh, two weeks from today. How's that sound? You probably have to update your passports, but we'll pay for that, don't worry."

"Say what?" Cas asked her incredulously.

"We're paying for most everything else, too. Tomorrow we're booking five seats in Club Class on British Airways. I mean, you are our guests, after all." Philippa smiled.

Holly looked at Cas in stunned amazement. "Hey, Cas?" she said, a slow grin spreading across her face. "I think we ought to make friends with rich kids more often!"

Cas laughed.