Heavenstone 01 - The Heavenstone Secrets

have more important things to do, Daddy,” she said. No one dared ask what was more important.
    As soon as we got into the car, Cassie let me know her opinion of my outfit. “You might as wellwear a sign around your neck,” she said, “a sign that says ‘I’m looking for trouble.’”
    “Why? Mother thought it was nice, and Daddy loved it.”
    “Of course, Daddy loved it. He’s a man, too.”
    “What do you mean, Cassie? He’s my father, our father.”
    She looked at me and shook her head. “A man is always a man first, whether he is a father, a brother, or an uncle. Don’t think I’m oblivious to the way Daddy looks at me, too,” she added.
    I felt a cold, electric sizzle around my heart. What was she saying? The way he looks at her too? She glanced at me and saw the look on my face and certainly, as always, read my thoughts and feelings.
    “Don’t look so worried. It’s all only natural. Remember what I told you about willpower? Well, it certainly applies to men as well as to women, Semantha. A father, brother, or uncle has to depend on it as well, and most of them are usually successful. Of course, most of them don’t have attractive and competent, mature daughters, sisters, and nieces to tempt them.”
    We pulled into the school parking lot. It was jammed with cars. She stopped near the entrance. I opened the door slowly, still confused by all that she had just said.
    “Now, go have a good time,” she told me, “but remember, you’re a Heavenstone.”
    “Thanks, Cassie.”
    She leaned over to hold the door open so she could call out to me as I walked toward the gym.“We’re sisters, Semantha. What happens to you happens to me!” she cried.
    I didn’t turn around. I kept walking, even though I didn’t feel my feet hitting the ground.
    A cheer bursting from the overflowing crowd washed it all away as I opened the door and began what I hoped was to be an exciting night.

The Game
    T HE MOMENT I entered the gym, I saw Kent waving madly from the stands. Although the crowd was beyond capacity, with throngs of adults and students rushing in to grab whatever seats remained, he had obviously been watching and waiting eagerly for me. The roars of the crowd were already loud enough to drown out your thoughts. It was impossible not to be immediately lifted into the excitement.
    I saw that Meg Stein had somehow wangled a seat just behind him and was leaning over to whisper in his ear. She pulled back as soon as he spotted me. The cheerleaders came out, and the fans on our side began to chant along with them as I made my way up to the row and squeezed in between Noel and Kent. I glanced at Meg, who looked pretty unhappy that I had shown up. I deliberately smiled at her to force her to smile back.
    “Wow, you look great,” Kent said.
    “Thank you.”
    “My father will be waiting for us outside after the game. Eddie has about thirty coming to his party. His parents paid for all the pizzas, and DustinDylan has already set up his DJ equipment in the house.”
    I nodded. It was exciting to me. It would be the first real party I had been to without adults looking over our shoulders, but I couldn’t shake off the feeling that Cassie was looking over mine. Even here, even in the gym, the feeling was so strong, in fact, that I actually looked for her somewhere in the crowd. What if she had lied to me and remained for a while to watch me? However, the moment our team took the court, all those feelings flew away. The anticipation was too great, and I was determined to have a good time.
    I hadn’t attended many basketball games, but this was the most nerve-wracking I had seen. The lead kept bouncing from our opponent to us right up until the middle of the fourth quarter, when our team seemed to get a surge of new energy and pulled ahead by nearly eight points. When the final buzzer rang, we had won by three, and the cheers threatened to lift the ceiling off the gymnasium. Everyone was hugging and kissing. Kent embraced me and kissed me full on the mouth, and then he and Noel hugged. I stood there dazed for a moment. When I turned to Megan to hug her, too, she looked as if she would burst into tears. I just smiled at her.
    “Wasn’t that great?”
    “Yes. Have a good time,” she muttered, and rushed down the stands to leave. The kiss had apparently convinced her that she had no chance to steal Kent away.
    But I thought the kiss had been so quick and so short that it almost didn’t seem to have