Earth Read Online Free PDF Page B

treat.”
    “Yeah, I’ll pick you and Jodi up at, what,
seven?”
    “Yeah.”
    “’Kay, call Jodi for me.” I hung up and
shoved my phone back into my back pocket and shimmied back down the
tree.
     
    Dinner was at a rundown café on Main St. with
a decent comfort food menu at cheap prices. Despite the nine hours
of sleep I’d managed to get, that didn’t make up for the missed
sleep over the course of the week so I threw back my fair share of
cream and sugar coffee while we ate. I knew when Steven called Jodi
after speaking to me this afternoon our dinner conversation was
going to be comprised totally of my recounting, detail for detail,
what happened between me and Nick last night. I was careful to give
them too many details so they wouldn’t hound me about it and
recounted the whole five-minute episode that somehow took ten times
as long to describe.
    “So I told Tracy to take the jerk-off to the
hospital.” I shrugged as I finished the tale and signaled the
waitress with my coffee cup for a refill.
    “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to
call on my energy that easily.” Jodi stared at me wide eyed after
the waitress scurried away.
    “Easily? Are you kidding? I was exhausted.” I
shook my head at her and took another sip of my extra cream and
sugar coffee. “And remember, earth can be more tangible than air.
It’s easier to summon up the faith that its there for the
taking.”
    “Still though, that’s pretty impressive,”
Steven agreed with Jodi.
    “I wasn’t trying to be impressive.” I was
glowering and I knew it.
    “No, I mean that you were able to do that
without Tracy realizing what was going on. She’s been insisting
there was a freak earthquake last night.”
    “What?!” I spilled some of my coffee, burning
my hand and coughing on the sip I was in the middle of taking.
    “Calm down!” Jodi hissed at me, shoving
napkins at me. “She hasn’t even mentioned you were there. People
just think Nick tripped and fell on that crack you made and that
Tracy’s trying to make something up to help him save face for being
so clumsy.”
    “Oh. And people are buying that?” I
asked.
    “Obviously, no one’s gone to check out her
story. They’re really just brushing her off.” Steven shrugged at
that last part. “But no one really believes he was mugged, I mean
look how big he is!”
    “Hmmm…. Oh well, can’t ask for much more than
that.” I wadded up the ruined napkins and shoved them to the end of
the table. “So, how high was Prince Charming’s B.A.C.? Is he
grounded for life? Kicked off the team? What?”
    “Actually no,” Jodi sighed, rolling her eyes
to the ceiling and holding them there for a moment. “I guess Tracy
did like you told her to do but his mom was so upset about his
clavicle that they didn’t really even pay attention to the fact
that he was obviously drunk and stoned.”
    “Are you freaking kidding me!” I lost control
of my voice and startled the waitress behind the counter. I shot
her an apologetic look before whispering back at Jodi and Steven,
“Nothing? He’s off scot-free?”
    “Pretty much babe.” Steven shrugged again,
shoveling the last few bites of his strawberry shortcake into his
mouth. I sat there fuming for a few quiet moments, gripping my
coffee cup until I felt the ceramic start to shake under the
pressure and set it down carefully.
    “That is utter bullshit.” They both nodded
slowly at me. “Well then I’m glad I included a binding and
banishing on that creep in the spell tonight. Maybe when Mr. Right
shows up to sweep Tracy off her feet it’ll be in a way that
humiliates Nick.”
    “Terra…” Steven gave me a warning tone with
one raised eyebrow, using my elemental name for emphasis; we all
knew once you started casting for revenge it was a slippery slope
that many people couldn’t recover from. You’d find yourself asking
for things you knew you shouldn’t, even for personal gain, which
just opened a flood gate for karma