Cal seemed aware of our surprise, but he didn't look embarrassed or self-conscious. In fact, he plowed on. "See, usually on Mabon you have a special circle," Cal continued, crunching into an apple. "You give thanks for the harvest. And after Mabon you start looking forward to Samhain."

"Sowen?" Jenna Ruiz said faintly.

"S-a-m-h-a-i-n," Cal clarified. "Pronounced Sow-en. Our biggest holiday, the witches' new year. October 31. Most people call it Halloween."

Silence, broken only by the crackling of the logs as they burned.

Chris was the first to speak. "So, what, man?" he said with a nervous laugh. "You saying you're a witch?"

"Well, yeah, actually. I practice a form of Wicca." Cal said.

"Isn't that like devil worship?" Alessandra asked, wrinkling her nose.

"No, no. Not at all," Cal responded in a way that wasn't the least bit defensive. "There is no devil in Wicca. It's about the tamest and most inclusive religion there it, truthfully. It's all about celebrating nature."

Alessandra looked skeptical.

"So, anyway, I was hoping to find a few people to make a circle with me tonight."

Silence.

Cal looked around, absorbing the surprise and discomfort in almost every face but showing no sign of regret. "Listen, it's not a big deal. Making a circle doesn't mean you're joining Wicca. It doesn't mean you're going against your religion or whatever. If you're not into it, don't worry about it. I just thought some people might think it's cool."

I looked at Tamara. Her dark brown eyes were wide. Bree turned to me, and we shared a whole conversation's worth of ideas. Yes, we were both surprised and a little skeptical, but we were both intrigued, too. Bree's look told me she was interested, she wanted to hear more. I felt the same way.

"What do you mean, a circle?" It was a few seconds before I recognized the voice as my own.

"We all stand in a circle," explained Cal, "and join hands, and give thanks to the Goddess and the God for the harvest. We celebrate the fertility of the spring and summer and look forward to the barrenness of winter. And we was in a circle."

"You're joking," Todd Ellsworth said, sipping his beer.

Cal looked at him evenly. "No, I'm not. But if you're not into it, that's fine."

"Jesus, he's serious," Chris said to no one in particular.

Bree deliberately shrugged his arm of her shoulders, and he scowled at her.

"Anyway," Cal said, standing up. "It's almost en. Anyone who wants to stay is welcome, but you're also welcome to leave. Thanks a lot for coming and hanging out, either way."

Raven stood up and walked over to cal, her dark, heavily outlined eyes on his. "I'll stay." She turned a disdainful face to the rest of us, as if to say, "You wankers."

"I think I'm gonna go home," Tamara whispered to me, and stood up.

"I'm going to stay for a while," I said softly, and she nodded, waved good-bye to Cal, and left.

"I'm outta here," said Chris loudly, throwing his beer bottle into the woods. He got to his feet. "Bree? Come on?"

"I came with Morgan," Bree said, moving closer to me. "I'll go home with her."

"Come with me now," Chris insisted.

"No, thanks," Bree said, meeting my eyes. I gave her the slightest smile of encouragement.

Chris swore, then crashed of through the trees, muttering. I reached over and squeezed her arm.

I cast a glance at Cal. He was sitting with his knees bent and his elbows resting on them. There seemed to be no tension in his body. He just watched.

Raven, Bree, and I stayed. Ben Reggio left. Jenna stayed, so of course Matt stayed, too. Robbie stayed: good. Beth Nielson stayed, and so did Sharon Goodfine and Ethan Sharp. Alessandra hesitated but stayed, and so did Suzanne and Todd.

When it looked like everyone had left who was going to, there were thirteen of us standing there.

"Cool," Cal said, standing. "Thanks for staying. Let's get started."

While we milled around uncertainly, Cal took a stick and drew a large, perfect circle in the ground around the fire. Before he joined the two ends of the circle, he gestured us inside, then closed the circle as if he were shutting a door. I felt a bit like a sheep inside a pen.

Then Cal took out a bow of salt and sprinkled it all around the drawn circle. "With this salt, I purify our circle," he said.

Bree and I glanced at each other and smiled tentatively.

"Okay, now lets join hands," Cal said, holding out his hands. A wave of shy self-consciousness washed over me as I realized I was standing closest to his left hand. He reached for my hand and held it. Raven went to Cal's other side, taking his right hand firmly.

Bree was on my other side, then Jenna and Matt, Beth, Alessandra, Todd, and Suzanne. Sharon, Ethan, and Robbie made up the other side, and Robbie held Raven's other hand.

Cal lifter my hand, and our arms were raised to the narrow patch of clear sky above us. "Thanks to the Goddess," Cal said in a strong voice. He looked around the circle at the rest of us. "Now you guys say it."

"Thanks to the Goddess," we said, though my voice was so low, I doubt I added anything. I wondered who the Goddess was.

"Thanks to the God," Cal said, and again we repeated it.

"Today day and night are balanced," Cal continued. "Today the sun enters the sign of Libra, the balance."

Todd chuckled, and Cal slanted his eyes at him.

I seemed to grow a billion extra nerve endings in my left hand. I tried not to think so much about whether I was holding Cal's hand too tightly or loosely, whether my hand was clammy form nervousness.

"Today is the autumn equinox. It's the time of harvest, when crops are gathered. We give thanks to the Earth Mother, who nourishes us." He looked around the circle again. "Now you guys say 'blessed be'.»

"Blessed be," we said. I was praying my hand didn't all out start sweating in Cal's. His was rough and strong, gripping mine as hard as possible without hurting it. Did my hand feel pathetically limp in return?

"It's the time to gather the seeds," Cal said in his calm voice. "We gather the seeds to renew our crops for next year. The cycle of life continues to renew our crops for next year. The circle of life continues to nourish us." He looked around the circle. "Now we all say 'blessed be'.»

"Blessed be," we said.

"We give thanks to the God, who will sacrifice himself in order to be reborn again," Cal said. I frowned, not liking the word sacrifice. He nodded at us.

"Blessed be," we said.

"Now let us breath," Cal said. He bowed his head and closed hie eyes, and one by one we did the same.

I heard Suzanne drawing exaggerate-sounding breaths and opened my eyes a slit to see Todd smirking. Their reactions irritated me.

"Okay," Cal continued, opening his eyes after a few minutes. He seemed either unaware of or was deliberately ignoring Todd and Suzanne. "Now we're going to do a banishing chant, we we'll more widdershins—that means counter-clockwise. You'll catch on."

Cal's body pushed me gently counter-clockwise, and two seconds later we were all doing the Wiccan version of ring-around-the-rosy. Cal chanted, over and over so that we all learned it and could join in: