Wiccan, A Witchy Young Adult Paranormal Romance by M. Leighton Page B

capisce and marron.
    As for the tattoo, Billie has an
ingrained rebellious nature that was bound to rear its ugly head
eventually. No matter how strict her parents were, nothing could’ve
prevented that. I was just surprised that it had taken this long to
manifest itself.
    “ Where is it?” I
whispered.
    Billie pulled the waistband of her
shorts down about two inches and there, a couple inches below and
to the left of her navel, was a small tattoo of the comedy tragedy
masks. It was tastefully done and very colorful, much like Billie
herself. I instantly approved. With Billie’s bright personality and
her flair for the dramatic, they suited her to a tee.
    “ I love it. Just be careful
who you show.” I winked at Billie.
    “ The man who gets to see
this will be having the best day of his life,” she teased. At least
I think she was teasing, but knowing Billie...
    “ So,” Billie said, hopping
up onto the counter. “Where are we going?”
    “ A TKE party.”
    “ We-he-hell. Look at you,
Miss Cool and Popular. Attending a frat party two weeks in? What
has gotten into you ?” Billie frowned and turned her head to look at me from the
corner of her eye. “Who are you and what have you done with my best
friend?”
    I simply smiled. Billie’s imaginings
would be far more interesting than anything I could even dream of,
so I left her to it. I didn’t want to burst her bubble with the
truth about my fairly lackluster life.
    While I finished getting ready, she
regaled me with tales of wild speculation about all the things she
thought I might’ve been doing in the last month. As usual, she was
way off target, but her guesswork was very entertaining
nonetheless.
    When I was finished in the bathroom, I
walked to the closet and pushed my feet into the platforms that I’d
picked out to go with my chocolate mini skirt and creamy camisole.
Billie whistled when I stood in front of the mirror that hung on
the back of my closet door, surveying my reflection.
    “ You’ll be killin’
him.”
    “ Killing who?” I
asked.
    “ Whoever the guy you’re
trying to impress is,” she replied.
    I looked away from the knowing gleam in
her eye and muttered, “I sure hope so.”
    “ Alright, let’s go,” Billie
said abruptly, taking my wrist in her hand and pulling me out the
door. “You can tell me all about him on the way.”
    And I did. Not because it was such an
incredibly exciting or romantic story or because Jake and I were
dating and I had to spill it or choke on it. No, it was because
Billie hounded me relentlessly until I told her—as
usual.
    By the time we’d arrived at the TKE
party, Billie was on a mission to find an interesting specimen to
entertain herself with for the night. I just wanted to spend a
little more time with Jake. He could be a nice way to begin my
college experience.
    The party was so packed we had to park
along the street almost two blocks away. When we reached the TKE
house, there were dozens and dozens of people littering the lawn
and loud music was spilling out from all the open doors and
windows.
    I quickly realized that I
didn’t want to see Jake this badly.
    I looked skeptically at Billie. This
had never really been my scene, but she was practically vibrating
with excitement. She was an unstoppable force of nature, so I knew
there was no point in trying to get her to reconsider. As I’d done
a thousand times before, I let her drag me into a situation that I
really didn’t want to be in and really didn’t feel comfortable
with.
    She bounced to the beat of a Lady Gaga
song as we made our way through the bodies on the lawn, up the
steps and into the white plantation-style house. She weaved and
dodged her way from room to room, tugging me along behind
her.
    “ Let me know when you see
him,” she said over her shoulder as we moved into what I guessed
was once a dining room.
    When I said nothing, she pushed her way
through the throng of bodies into the kitchen. Just then, a voice
rang above all