Five minutes later, the ghost gone, Kylie walked up her porch steps and turned to say good-bye to Burnett behind her.
He studied her with compassion. He hadn't apologized for being so hard on her, and he probably wouldn't. No doubt, he thought she deserved it. And in a way, she guessed she did.
Burnett reached around her and opened the door. "Promise you'll go to bed and not try to wander off again?"
"I promise," Kylie said.
"And try to trust me," he said.
"I do."
"No, you don't," he said, sounding defeated. "If you trusted me I wouldn't just now be finding out about Hayden."
"Someone made me promise not to tell," she said. "If you had promised someone something, wouldn't you try to honor that?"
He sighed, probably offering her the best understanding he could. "But you need to be careful what you promise people." He glanced around, looking a little leery. "Is she still gone?"
Kylie knew who he meant by "she." She looked left and then right. "I don't see her anymore." But deep down she worried the spirit wouldn't stay away too long. Tomorrow she needed to confer with Holiday about how to get rid of the ghost permanently. Holiday was right. Kylie had no reason to help someone so evil.
"Do you know what she wants? Or who the head belonged to?" Burnett asked.
"I don't know. It could have happened years ago for all I know. But as for what she wants, yeah, I sort of know."
"And that is?" he asked.
"She wants me to kill someone for her." Kylie was too tired to put the sarcasm in her voice.
Burnett scowled. "Who?"
"She hasn't made that clear yet," Kylie said.
"They don't ever ask too much, do they?" he said, but sarcasm rang in his voice. Obviously, he wasn't as exhausted as she was.
Kylie shrugged. She went to step back, but this time it was Burnett who surprised her, when he moved in for a hug. It was short, but sweet, and she realized she needed it.
"Do you want me stay a while?" he asked, looking awkward after the show of affection.
"No," Kylie said, letting him off the hook.
"Do you want me to get Holiday?" he asked. "I will."
"No, I'm fine. I just want to go to bed." Her gaze cut to the sky; it was almost morning. She reallyneeded some sleep. And she was exhausted, physically, but the walk back had kick-started her brain again. Touching Hayden's phone in her pocket, she remembered she also wanted to call her mom. She moved up the porch, looking back once to see Burnett standing at the steps, gazing at her with parental concern.
She remembered her grandfather saying Burnett had stepped into the role of a father, and in a way she supposed he had.
"I'll be fine," she assured him. Not that she felt all that certain.
"Promise me you won't leave the cabin," he said again.
"I promise." She shot him a half-faked smile and shut the door.
Once she heard his footsteps leaving, Kylie leaned against the door and just stood there. Then something caught her eye at her bedroom door. Her heart sank when she saw the steam billowing up from the slit at the bottom, telling her she had company.
Oh, boy. Had she brought more show and tell? What body part had she dragged along this time?
But damn, Kylie didn't want any company.
Or at least not that kind of company. She needed a friend. She needed one of her best friends. She looked over her shoulder at Miranda's door. No steam was billowing out from the bottom.
Turning around, she opened her friend's door. It was early, but something told her Miranda wouldn't complain.
A much-needed smile bubbled up inside Kylie at the sight of the sleeping witch wearing her smiley pajamas and spooning a huge teddy bear like it was her lover. Kylie took in the witch's blond hair with streaks of pink, green, and black scattered over the pillow, and just like that she felt her heart lighten at the sight of her good friend.
As she took another step, the wood floor creaked as if announcing Kylie's presence.
Miranda's shoulders twitched, but she didn't roll over. "I thought we were going to wait to have sex,"
she muttered.
Kylie's smile widened. "I think that might be wise. I'm not sure our relationship could handle it right now."
Miranda swung around, bringing the teddy bear with her. Her sleepy eyes now popped wide open.
"Besides," Kylie added, "I think you and the teddy bear might have already done the deed."
Miranda squealed, threw the bear at Kylie, and bolted out of the bed. "I thought you were Perry."
Giggling, the girl wrapped her arms around Kylie extra tight. "I can't believe you're home. I'm sooo glad you're back." She released Kylie, took a step back, and looked at her as if half afraid she wasn't real.
"You are home, right? This isn't a dream?"
"It's not a dream," Kylie said, though part of her wished most of the night had been.
The witch's smiled faded and she stomped her foot. "Do you have any idea how miserable I've been?
First you up and leave me and then Della runs off to play superhero! I should be furious at you and not happy to see you."
"No, don't be mad. Let's just be happy that I'm back." Kylie snagged the three-foot bear from the floor and tossed it back on the bed.Miranda gave her an evil look. "Are you back to stay? No more running off on me?"
"No more running off," Kylie said.
"Pinky promise?" Miranda asked, and held out her pinky.
What was it with everyone wanting promises? Kylie looked at the girl's little finger, which was a witch's weapon. "I don't know if it's safe to pinky promise you when..."
"It's safe. It's a promise between witches. And since you are part witch, it's the most unbreakable promise you can make."
"Fine. I promise." Kylie held out her pinky to make the promise valid. And in spite of it being a silly gesture, the moment their little fingers locked, a surge of emotion filled her chest. Maybe pinky promises between witches were more than just a childish gesture. Or maybe she was just so damn happy to be home.
"I missed you so much!" Kylie reached out and squeezed the girl's forearms.
"Me too." Miranda bounced back on her bed. "Now, sit down and tell me everything that happened."
She squinted her eyes and checked out Kylie's pattern. "You're back to being that strange pattern again."
"I think that strange pattern is a chameleon." If Kylie was the least bit paranoid, like ninety percent of the other chameleons, she should be trying to hide that pattern. But it was a little late for that, wasn't it?
Too late to start pretending to be something she wasn't? Everyone here had seen her. And for that matter, could she pretend? Sure, she'd been able to change the pattern a couple of times, but how did one maintain it? According to what she'd learned, most chameleons weren't able to do that until they were in their twenties.
And by God, she wasn't going to let anyone lock her away until her pattern quit misbehaving. Her heart went back to Jenny and the other teens at her grandfather's place. Suddenly, Kylie got a feeling that helping the young chameleons was part of what she was meant to do. But as Hayden had said, convincing the chameleon elders seemed impossible.
"But you can transform yourself into most anything, right?" Miranda's question drew Kylie out of her thoughts.
"Sort of," Kylie answered, and tried to keep her mind back on Miranda. "But it's still kind of tricky."
"What crazy stuff can you do now?" Miranda asked. Her green eyes glittered with excitement.
Kylie shrugged and dropped down on the bed beside Miranda. "Nothing new, just a little more control over what I can do. Oh, wait, there is one thing. I can make other people invisible."
"Seriously? Make me invisible now. Do it. Do it."
"Please, not now. I'm exhausted. Plus, I'm not sure ... I mean, it's still kind of scary to do it." She remembered being scared shitless at the thought that she'd somehow lost Derek in the invisible world tonight.
Then, almost wanting a distraction from talking about herself, she reached for the bear and hugged it.
"So you and this bear have a thing going, huh? It looked pretty serious when I came in here."
Miranda smiled. "Perry gave it to me to keep me company when he wasn't here. Though this guy's not nearly as good of a kisser as Perry."
Kylie smiled. This was what she had missed. Just having someone to talk to, to giggle with. "That's sweet," Kylie said.
"Yeah," Miranda said, and then asked, "Can you glow anytime now?" She pulled her knees up to herchest.
"No," Kylie said. "That only happens when I heal people." Or pull them from the dead, she thought.
Realizing the crazy powers that seemed to come and go, it all scared her. She really hoped Hayden and Burnett could work out their differences. It would really be nice to have Hayden here to help her if things went wonky again.
"Too bad, the whole glowing thing was totally cool. I mean, I can make myself glow, but it's not as cool as when you did it. I don't know why, but it's different."
Kylie shook her head. "It wasn't that cool, believe me."
"Yeah, it was." Miranda made a funny face. "Everyone agreed that you looked like an angel. They were even wondering if maybe you didn't have a little angel in you."
"I'm no angel." Just ask Burnett.
"Everyone is still talking about it," Miranda said.
Great. But even at the thought of being everyone's topic of conversation, and getting all the awkward stares from some of the other students, she didn't dread it as much as she would have before. Face it, she was thrilled to be back, even if it did mean she was still considered a bit of a freak.
Pushing all that aside, she focused on Miranda again. "So what have I missed since I've been gone?"
"Everything. It's been crazy. Oh..." A frown appeared in her eyes. "Did you hear about Helen?"
"Yeah." Kylie nodded. "Holiday promised me she's fine."
Miranda made another face. "Did you hear who they think did it? That Mario creep was seen-"