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  Lily looked at Sophie, whose eyes were still lowered. “Sophie, maybe you should explain to her why you said that in the first place,” she suggested.

  Sophie glanced up to meet Lily’s understanding expression, and then looked at me with an apologetic frown.

  “I’m so sorry I even said anything. I really didn’t mean it. I know Ana is good—she’s one of the best. I know that. I guess…I guess I was just jealous,” she said. She looked so sad I couldn’t stay mad at her.

  “Why would you be jealous?” I asked, my voice softer.

  She breathed a heavy sigh. “I know I shouldn’t feel like this, I know it. But sometimes I can’t help it. It’s just that, well, I hate being poorer than everyone else. And my dad works so hard, and I know he and my mom love me so much. It’s just hard sometimes being surrounded by people who have so much money…where everything seems to come so easy for them. It’s a struggle for my parents to even pay for my school. Dad had to take on extra shifts to cover the tuition. I guess sometimes I just wish it was easier, you know? And it gets really frustrating when I know I have the power to change things and I can’t.”

  She looked down again, her face woeful and ashamed. “I don’t blame you for thinking less of me…I know I must sound greedy and ungrateful…”

  “Sophie, stop it,” I interrupted, saddened by her confession. “Please don’t think that way. I know how you feel. Honest I do. And I don’t blame you at all. It’s totally normal. I understand.”

  She lifted her head and smiled cautiously.

  “Really,” I said, thinking of my father and his struggles and sacrifices. “Remember, I wasn’t raised here with all of this. In fact, we were always this close to being homeless.” I held my thumb up close to my forefinger. “Sometimes, I had to get food from the local shelter because we were so poor. The first brand-new clothes I ever got were the ones Ana gave me. Countless nights I shivered myself to sleep because we didn’t have enough money to pay for heat. We had to move four times in five years because Dad couldn’t keep a job, and we couldn’t pay the rent. Don’t you think if I’d known there was some way of using magic to change all that, I would’ve? In a heartbeat!”

  Sophie gave me a wobbly smile. “Thanks for understanding. I really do feel terrible about what I said earlier. I didn’t mean it.”

  “Forget it,” I said, wrapping my arms around her and giving her a hug. “And just so you know, what’s mine is yours. Anything...I mean it. Mi casa es su casa,” I added with a grin. And I did mean it. What good was having all this luxury if I couldn’t use it to make someone happy?

  “You’re so sweet—such a good friend. The truth is I am happy with my life, most of the time. I just have my moments, you know?”

  I nodded. I knew all too well how she felt, and I didn’t blame her one bit.

  “But,” she continued with her adorable grin, “I will be borrowing this blouse sometime.”

  Chapter 14. Trinity

  We went to my room to watch a movie. Sophie and Lily propped themselves up on the enormous bed, while I rested on the lounge chair in the corner. After the heavy conversation earlier, I was glad we’d turned our attention to more lighthearted activities. I wanted to feel like a normal teenager, not just a witch. Of course, hanging with Sophie and Lily made it seem possible to be both, as Lily had turned on the television with a wave of her hand, and was now changing the channels with a slight flick of her finger.

  “Never anything good on,” she grumbled.

  “I haven’t even watched this TV set yet,” I admitted. But that was due more to a lack of time than with displeasure over the choice of programming.

  “I only really like the reality shows with the dancers,” Sophie said. She had her knees pulled to her chest, and was changing the colors of her toenails with a light tap of her fingers. Now they were bright green. “I wish I could go on one so bad, but of course I can’t.”

  “Why not?” I asked her. “You’re so good!” It was true; I’d seen her practice with the dance team after school the other day. She was easily the best one.

  “Well, that’s the problem—sort of. When my powers started developing, a side-effect was that if I’m not paying attention, I sort of have a hard time obeying the laws of gravity.”

  “What—you mean you can fly?”

  “The beginnings of it, yes. For now I just sort of float. I can go higher than anyone else and stay in the air longer. The problem is, this particular power just sorta showed up out of the blue one day, right in the middle of rehearsal.” She shuddered, just thinking about it. “Mom had to come down and do a quick memory spell on the whole class. I felt terrible.” She tapped her toenails again, turning them pale pink.

  I laughed and shook my head. “You mean you were just dancing around and floated up in the air?”

  “Something like that. Anyways, it was awful. And the Council found out, ‘cause Mom had to do a memory spell on humans, and of course we had to report it. I almost had to quit dancing all together until I was able to prove to them I could control it. I do okay now, although it sometimes makes dancing harder and not as fun. The best is when I’m in my room at night…then I can really let loose. But they would never let me be on TV…”

  “What’s the Council?” I asked.

  “Who,” Lily corrected. “They’re basically a small group of high-ranking, powerful witches who are sort of in charge. They keep an eye on things and try to keep the peace between the separate covens and with humans, and make sure magic is not exposed.”

  “They’re like our version of the government or royalty, but without all the corruption,” Sophie said and smirked. “They make sure everything is running smoothly and there are no real problems. If there are, then they take care of it.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yeah,” Lily added. “The funny thing is, no one but the Council themselves knows who they are. They’re protected by a magical cloak that disguises their faces and voices. That way they’re free from harassment or coercion if someone isn’t happy with a decree or something.”

  “If you do something that’s out of line, or dangerous, the Council hears about it. Always. Don’t ask me how, but they know.” Sophie seemed impressed. “They have eyes and ears everywhere. It’s sorta creepy, actually. I had to stand before them when I testified about my incident…it was weird how familiar some of them felt. I wish I knew who they were.”

  “It’s for the best that we don’t,” Lily admonished. “It’s been the system for hundreds of years, and it works for a reason.”

  “I suppose,” Sophie sighed. “Now are we gonna watch a movie or what?”

  *****

  By the time the movie was over, Lily and I were yawning, but Sophie was still wide awake.

  “Let’s try something,” she suggested. “Unless you guys are too tired...”

  I sat up and struggled to suppress another yawn. “I’m not tired,” I lied. It was after midnight, and usually I’d be asleep long before now. But we were having fun, and I wanted to do more magic.

  “Lily?” Sophie asked.

  “I’m up. What’re you thinking?”

  “Well...” Sophie had her mischievous grin again. “If we really are Sisters of the Star, then there’s something we should be able to do. I want to see if it works.”

  “What do you mean ‘Sisters of the Star’?” I asked her, fighting back the drowsiness that threatened to consume me. “I thought we were Morningstars.”

  “Sisters of the Morning Star…that’s what we are, Morningstar witches…maidens. If we really are a true Morningstar Trinity, then we’ll be able to become really strong and do powerful magic together.”

  “Ana mentioned something about that. But what if we’re not a fit? I don’t want us to not be friends if something goes wrong!”

  They both laughed. “No, it’s not like that,” Sophie reassured me. “We’d still be friends and be a group; we just wouldn’t be able to do certain things. Plus, Ana has the Sight. If she said we?
??ll form a Trinity, she’s probably right. And my mom said the same thing, too, which is why I brought this…” She walked over to where her overnight bag lay on the floor and retrieved a piece of folded up paper.

  “What’s that?” Lily asked.

  “Smuggled spell from our family’s Book of Shadows. It’s supposed to be pretty advanced, but I know we can do it,” Sophie said with a coy smile.

  “I don’t know about this…” Lily began.

  “Come on, it’ll be fun. It’s harmless, I promise.”

  “What is it, exactly?” I asked, silently agreeing with Lily’s reservations.

  “Trinity-Talk. It’s our own mind speak. We’ll be able to talk to and hear each other just by using our minds. No one can hear us. It’ll be great!” she enthused.

  I wasn’t sure how keen I was about letting the other girls roam around inside my head; there was more than enough confusion in there already. Plus, if they had any idea how much of my brain space was already being consumed with thoughts of Nicholas, they might think twice about wanting me in their group.

  “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” I said hesitantly, not wanting to hurt Sophie’s feelings. “It’s just that minds are funny, you know? What if I’m thinking something that I can’t control, or I’m picking up on someone else’s emotions and you hear it and get mad at me or something?”

  Lily nodded in agreement.

  “No, no – it’s not like that. We can only hear what the other person wants us to hear. You’d have to say something to me, and I’d respond. We don’t just have open access to each other’s thoughts. It’s just like talking, only it’s in our heads and we’re the only ones who can hear it.”

  “What if something goes wrong?” Lily asked. “Internal spells are the hardest to do…”

  “There is a reversal spell in the Book if something goes really wrong. Plus, Ana’s only a few minutes away. But nothing will go wrong, you guys…come on,” she pleaded.

  Part of me was apprehensive about Sophie’s idea, but a bigger part was intrigued.

  “I’m in,” I said. We both looked at Lily.

  “Well of course I’m in too,” she said with a grin. “What do we do?”

  Sophie bounced off the bed and started walking around the room gathering up several candles. “Nice of Ana to supply some of these…”

  She placed five white pillars in a wide circle on the floor. “Now, we need to sit in the center of this circle and hold hands,” she instructed.

  We took our positions, forming a triangle and holding hands. “Good,” Sophie said. “Now we need to synchronize our breathing. When we’ve reached the same place, the candles should light up. That’s when we know we’re ready to begin.”

  She waved her hand, and the overhead light in my room turned off. The three of us sat there in the quiet of the pitch black room.

  We sat like this for several moments, each of us slowing our breathing and concentrating on connecting with the others. Just when I thought nothing was going to happen, the candles suddenly flickered and came to life.

  “We’re ready,” Sophie breathed. She placed the piece of paper in the middle of the circle facing toward Lily and me. “I’ve already memorized the chant. We need to say it over and over until we’ve said it at least three times in a row in perfect unison.”

  The dim light of the candles barely cast a soft glow on the paper, but I could see the words perfectly. We began to chant:

  When one and one and one are Three,

  We come together in Unity.

  When each will be what the others See,

  We bind in perfect Harmony.

  Three Sisters as One,

  And so it is done,

  Our minds are Free in our Trinity.

  After the first few verses, our voices became indistinguishable from one another; after repeating the chant five times, a warm buzz flowed through my arms sending soft shockwaves down to where our hands met. Each of us let go at the same time.

  “Did it work?” Sophie asked. Although her mouth had not moved, her voice was loud and clear in my head.

  “I think so,” I thought back.

  After a few seconds of silence she spoke. “I think it worked—I felt something. Could you guys hear me?”

  “Yes,” Lily replied, and I nodded.

  “I thought back to you—you couldn’t hear me?” I asked.

  “No, but you need to specifically direct the thought to me and Lily if you want us to receive it. Otherwise it’s just your own thoughts and we can’t hear those.”

  “Is this better?” I focused my words to Lily and Sophie.

  “Yes, I can hear you now.” Even in my head I could hear Sophie’s excited giggle.

  “This might take some getting used to.” Now it was Lily.

  “That’s why we need to practice,” Sophie thought.

  Suddenly, I burst out laughing. The three of us, staring at one another intently, but saying nothing...

  “What’s so funny?” Sophie asked silently.

  “I just think we look sorta strange right now…Lily looks practically constipated.”

  Lily feigned offense, but then she started laughing, too. “I guess I might be concentrating a little too hard.” She sat back and relaxed her scrunched face.

  “We’re just new at it,” Sophie said in her regular voice. “It’ll take a bit to get used to but it should be second nature in no time. Mom told me if you do it too much at first you can get a nasty headache, so let’s start off slowly for now.”

  I let my mind relax and realized how drained I felt – like I’d just taken a really difficult exam for class. “Yeah, my brain already feels like scrambled eggs.” I yawned.

  “Plus, we’re all kinds of tired…that makes it harder,” Sophie added. “But wait and see. Soon it’ll be really easy and normal.”

  After we brushed our teeth and put on our pajama’s, Sophie and I crawled into the monstrous king-sized bed, and Lily made herself comfortable on the daybed we’d moved in from my spare room. The room was dark and still—for a moment. Then Sophie’s stage-whisper interrupted the quiet.

  “So, do you like Justin or what? He’s totally into you, I can tell.”

  I thought about her question for a moment before I trusted myself to answer.

  “I don’t know. I mean yeah, he’s hot—and very sweet. He does try to talk to me whenever he can, and I catch him looking at me in photography class a lot…”

  “But…what is it? Is it Savannah?” The voice came from Lily’s bed.

  “No. I mean of course I don’t want her hating me, but that wouldn’t stop me from going for him if I wanted to.”

  “Well then, what’s stopping you? What if he asks you to the Winter Ball?” asked Sophie.

  I was relieved that she had framed her question into two parts; I could still answer her while ignoring the ‘what’s stopping you?’ I wasn’t ready to admit, even to myself, what was holding me back…let alone tell them of my delusions about Nicholas.

  “I don’t think he’ll ask me, but if he does, it might be fun. I’ve never gone to a dance before.” I was suddenly nervous at the idea.

  Lily’s voice floated over from the daybed. “I’ve gone to a few with my parents at the country club, but they aren’t the same thing. Still, it’s great fun to get all dressed up fancy for an evening.”

  “I went to a few crappy ones in junior high, but they were a joke,” Sophie scoffed. “No boy-girl slow dancing, and everyone wore jeans. Totally lame.”

  “If he did ask me, I wouldn’t want to go by myself. I’d only go if you guys were there also,” I said to the darkened room.

  “Ooohh, that was a good one.” Sophie’s voice was muffled.

  Huh?

  Before I had a chance to ask Sophie what she meant, Lily said, “I’m pretty sure that Roman will ask me. Well, he wants to anyways. I can feel it every time I walk past him in the hallways.” Roman Banks was captain of the school soccer team and easily the most p
opular boy on campus.

  “Wow, he’s hot! I didn’t know you guys had something going on,” I said at the same time Sophie exclaimed, “Wow, two at once…make two wishes!” and giggled.

  “Sophie, stop being rude. Callie, we don’t have anything going on, as he has yet to muster the courage to even speak to me other than to say ‘hey’. But I’m sure he will soon, and I admit I wouldn’t mind getting to know him a little better.” I could almost hear the blush in her voice.

  “Well, you can’t really blame the guy for being shy around you…you’re drop-dead gorgeous. I’m sure he’s just intimidated—” I was interrupted by Sophie’s loud gasp.

  “Oh my, God—this is awesome! I knew it was peaking tonight, but this is crazy! Are you guys at least enjoying this while you babble on about silly boys?”

  “What are you going on about, Sophie? Enjoying what?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m watching, I’m just not being a complete spaz about it,” Lily teased. “I am capable of looking and talking at the same time, you know.”

  Were they both crazy? The room was pitch-black. What could they possibly be looking at?

  “What are you guys talking about?” I asked impatiently.

  “The sky…the stars. It’s the tail end of the Somanite Comet. That’s why there are so many shooting stars…like this right now,” Sophie explained, followed by, “Oooh…whoa… now I think our Mother Nature is just showing off for us.”

  I propped myself up on my elbow, hand under my head. “Okay, are you guys on drugs? Seriously.”

  “Oops, we’re doing it again,” Lily’s voice came from somewhere in the darkness.

  “Sorry, Cal, wasn’t trying to be rude,” Sophie said. “I just keep forgetting you’re new.”

  I felt her sit up in the bed and lean back against the headboard. “We can see the sky,” she said simply.

  “What do mean you ‘can see the sky’? Are you seeing it right now?” I asked.

  “Sure, and you can too. It’s brilliant actually – one of my favorite things about being a witch.”