The Hidden

Ben came over just in time to hear the last part. “I’ll go find him,” he said, his tone menacing.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Beth said suddenly. Pushing herself away from me, she stood up straight and fixed her hair. “I don’t need him. I’m going to call Lewis.”

Before I had a chance to stop her, she was pulling out her phone from her bag. She turned away from me, and I could hear her talking. A minute later she turned back and snapped her phone shut. “Great. Lewis can’t come. He’s home with his sick little brother and can’t leave him.”

She looked so miserable that I wanted to do whatever I could to make it all better. I glanced over at Ben. “Can you call the limo company?”

“Yeah, sure.” He pulled out his phone. “On it.”

After ten minutes of waiting, Ben finally talked to someone and made arrangements for the limo driver to come back early.

“We’ll all head out now,” I said. Then I looked at Ben. “Unless you want to stay?”

“I can’t let you guys leave your senior prom early because of me,” Beth protested. “I’ll be fine. I can just get a ride back on my own.”

I shared a glance with Ben. “I’ll go with her,” he said automatically.

Beth started to protest again, but I wouldn’t let her.

“At least you stay, then, Abbey,” she said, “so Ben can come back and you guys can have fun.”

“No. I-”

“Please?” She looked heartbroken, and I couldn’t help but give in.

“Okay. Fine. Whatever.”

“Okay, good.” She wiped the tears off her face.

Ben’s phone vibrated, and he looked down at it. “That’s the limo company. They’re here.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked Beth again.

“I’m a little embarrassed, but I’m fine,” she said. “You stay here. Have a good time.” She gave me a hard look, then suddenly hugged me. “Take care of yourself, Abbey,” she said quietly. “Okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” I pulled back from her. It was a strange thing for her to say, but she was already turning toward Ben. “Ready?”

He held out his arm, and she took it.

“Try not to take advantage of her tonight, okay, Ben?” I said with a smile, watching them go. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“I’ll be an absolute gentleman,” Ben called back, with a roguish wink. “See you in an hour.”

Beth waved at me, and they disappeared through the doors.

I was still on the dance floor when the next song came on. Within seconds My Chemical Romance’s “The Ghost of You” was playing.

I stood there, the bass growing louder, the beat growing harder. The lyrics were haunting, and they echoed in my ears as my eyes closed. The song took over, and I found myself swaying in time to the music as I sang along. “At the end of the world, or the last thing I see … You are, never coming home, never coming home … Never coming home, never coming home.”

It was then that I realized I was crying. Swiping both hands across my cheeks, I rubbed away the tears, and bits of my makeup, before going back to the table where my purse was waiting. I wanted to go home. Caspian was there while I was here, and it was almost … I glanced down at my phone. Almost midnight.

I shot a quick look around me, but I didn’t see Cacey or Uri to ask if they could give me a ride, and I wasn’t about to hang around waiting. I didn’t know how long Beth and Ben would be. Maybe I can walk.

Putting my phone back into my purse, I was pulling my hand away from it when all of a sudden it buzzed. I didn’t recognize the number.

“Hello?”

“Abbey? Hey, it’s Cyn. I know this is kind of weird, but … were you just going to call me?”

A creepy feeling settled at the back of my neck. I laughed weakly. “Are you stalking me, Cyn? I was just trying to see who I could call. I need a ride home from the dance.”

“I’ll explain everything when I get there,” she said. “Wait outside.”

While I waited for Cyn, I texted Ben that I was getting a different ride home, and she pulled up in a silver Audi about five minutes later.

“New car?” I asked, one eyebrow raised. “Holy crap, Cyn. You were holding out on me.”

She unlocked the passenger side. “It’s not mine. I … borrowed it. For the evening.”

I climbed in. The interior was all sleek black leather and chrome gadgets. She gunned the motor, laughing as I frantically scrabbled to grab hold of the seat belt. “You really do have a thing for cars, huh?” I said.

“You don’t know the half of it. It’s sort of a hobby of mine.”

I slid a hand over the smooth dashboard in front of me in awe. “Seriously, Cyn. Where did you get this? Is it rented?”

“No. It’s not rented. I told you, I borrowed it.”

The way she said “borrowed” made me feel unsettled. “We’re not going to get pulled over because we’re riding in a boosted car, are we?” I said seriously. “I really don’t need that right now.”

“There won’t be any cops.”

I shot her a look.

“Trust me,” she said. “I do this sort of thing all the time.”

“You steal cars all the time?” I knew my jaw was hanging open.

“Not steal. Okay, technically, steal. But I see it more like borrowing. I always return it in the morning. And they never know.”

“They never know? You wouldn’t happen to be friends with Kame, would you? Or Sophie? What about Cacey and Uri?”

“Who?” She frowned, and I tried to read her face. Tried to see if she was bullshitting me. “I don’t know any of those people.”

I looked at her closely.

“Honest. I really, truly don’t,” she said.

“Then, what do you mean, ‘they never know’?”

She shrugged. “It’s sort of a gift that I have. I tell someone that I want to borrow their car, and they give it to me. Then I tell them that I’ll return it in the morning, and they don’t remember a thing. It just kind of … works.”

My life was getting entirely too complicated for this new piece of information. “Are you casting some sort of spell on them?” I joked.

She gazed at me. “If I said yes, what would you think?”

“Honestly?” I looked out the window before I answered. We were almost to my house. “I’m surprisingly open-minded.”

“I don’t really know if that’s what it is,” she confessed. “A spell, or whatever. All I know is that I get these feelings. Like the one tonight, to call you. That, and the fact that plants seem to like me. Maybe I am a little bit witchy.”

My house came into sight, and I was completely relieved. Normally I would have been happy to stay and talk to her about the freaky thing she had going on, but right now all I could think about was Caspian.

She pulled into the driveway and put the car into park. I unlocked my door and put one hand on the handle. “If you want to talk about it later, just call me. I’d stay now, but I have … something else that needs to be taken care of.”

She glanced at the house. It was dark, except for a single light in the kitchen, and then she nodded. I opened the door and got out of the car.

“Thanks for the ride, Cyn,” I turned back to say.

She winked at me. “Have fun, Abbey.”

I was left standing there with what must have been a confused look on my face as she pulled away.