Whispers at Moonrise

there for her.
    “Just what time did you get home, young lady?” Kylie asked in a teasing voice.
    “Early. I swear.” Miranda giggled. “Early this morning.”
    “Details. I want details.” Kylie rubbed her hands together, mimicking Miranda.
    “Don’t get too excited,” Miranda said. Then she sighed. “We didn’t … you know. But we did … well, you know.”
    Kylie let the riddle roll around her sleep-dazed mind and shook her head. “I think I get the first ‘you know,’ but I’m lost on the second ‘you know.’” Still feeling the cold on the bottom of her feet, she pulled her legs up on the mattress. The darkness in the room felt lightened just by Miranda’s presence.
    “We kissed, we made out.” Miranda’s grin widened, and then she got that sappy lovestruck look on her face. “We fell asleep in each other’s arms down by the swimming hole. He held me all night long, and I think I’m in love for real. It’s like I know I belong there. In his arms.”
    Kylie remembered the times she’d fallen asleep in Lucas’s arms. Awesome didn’t begin to describe it. But had she woken up knowing for sure that he was the one? She couldn’t remember ever feeling that way.
    Then, realizing this was Miranda’s moment, she pushed her self-indulgence away. “Well, I’m thrilled for you.” And Kylie was. Even if she was just a tad envious, too.
    “I know you are.” Miranda’s smile faded. “I don’t think Della will feel the same way.”
    “Of course she will,” Kylie said. “She just has a hard time showing it. Remember how she kept encouraging you to make up with Perry when you were mad at him?”
    “I guess,” Miranda said, not sounding convinced. “I mean, I feel as if I can’t say anything about Perry around her now. I get that she’s hurt about Lee and I don’t want to make her feel bad, but I also want to be able to talk to her about what’s going on in my life. And right now what’s going on in my life is all about Perry. Seriously, I don’t want to have to walk on eggshells around her.”
    “And I think you’re just worrying too much. Believe me, in a day or two things will be back to normal and you guys will be threatening to rip each other’s limbs off for a reason that has nothing to do with Perry.”
    Miranda exhaled. “You make it sound like we argue all the time.”
    “Not all the time,” Kylie said. “Just most of the time.”
    Miranda shrugged. “Anyway, do you think you can help me snag Socks so I can see if I got the spell right? Perry listened to me practice for an hour. I want to fix this.” Miranda frowned. “I feel like a screw-up.”
    “You’re not a screw-up.” Kylie looked down at the floor. “Come here, Socks. Come here, baby.”
    Miranda fell back on the mattress. “I feel like one, especially when my Wiccan sisters tease me about it. I suck at being a witch.”
    “They tease you about Socks?” Kylie asked.
    “Yeah, not that I blame them. I messed up.”
    “Screw them,” Kylie said. “You should figure out how to curse them with a dose of dyslexia and see how they deal with it.”
    “They’re really not being mean,” Miranda said.
    “But it hurts you.” Anger for Miranda burned Kylie’s chest. She hated bullies. Hated people who put other people down so they could feel better about themselves.
    Miranda popped back up. “But they’re just teasing.” She knelt and tapped her fingers on the floor. “Here, kitty, kitty.”
    Miranda’s words seemed to be sucked up by the shadows in the corners of the room. Kylie lowered her foot from the bed and swiped her heel against the bed ruffle.
    She waited to feel Socks attack her ankle. The only thing she felt was an icy cold leaking from beneath the bed skirt. An icy cold that gave Kylie a bad feeling.
    She looked at Miranda. “Why don’t you go outside and I’ll … I’ll bring him to you. He’ll probably come out when you leave.” For some reason the room seemed to grow darker. Kylie hoped Socks was all that would come out.
    Miranda stood. “I don’t know why he doesn’t like me,” she muttered, and walked out.
    Kylie cautiously stood and stared down at the bed ruffle. “Socks? Kitty?”
    No little skunk came scampering from beneath the bed. No soft meow whispered from beneath to let her know he was okay.
    Taking a deep breath, she got on her hands and knees and stared at the unmoving ruffle. She fought the temptation to breathe on it. For some odd reason, she wanted to