“Actually, it’s exactly what I was going for.”

“Really?” She eyed me, waiting for an explanation.

I thought of Ethan’s minimalism excuse when he dropped his clay. “Yeah, I was going for the skewed perception of beauty in today’s society.” I wasn’t sure where I’d pulled that from, but Ethan walked over and nodded.

“I totally see that. Nice work, Sam.”

That was all it took. Ms. Matthews smiled. “Well done, Sam.”

When she walked away, I turned to Ethan. “I didn’t think I could pull that off.”

“There’s nothing to it. Pretend everything you do is entirely on purpose.”

My mind was swimming with thoughts. How could I turn this conversation into a casual inquiry about my existence? This was so much harder than I thought it would be.

“It’s pretty cool how you can bring something to life, isn’t it?”

He raised an eyebrow. “You can hardly call making a clay pot bringing something to life.”

This wasn’t going well. “I don’t know. It starts out as a lump of clay. It’s nothing. Lifeless. And then you mold it and turn it into something that’s full of life.”

“Have you been eating the school meatloaf or something? You’re acting weird.”

I sighed. It looked like Nora was going to get her way. I couldn’t figure out how to get information out of Ethan without sounding like a total nutcase. If only Ethan knew Nora was a witch. Then asking about what he’d done to bring me back might not seem so strange. Both were supernatural, right?

“Hey.” I put my hand on his forearm for no other reason than I wanted to touch him. I was trying to memorize everything about him. His smell, the feel of his skin, the shape of his face. Every detail. “I wanted to let you know I worked things out with Nora.”

“Nora?”

“Yeah, that girl I told you about. The one from the diner.”

He wrinkled his forehead. “Is she the one who skipped out on her bill?”

“That’s her, but it was a misunderstanding. She paid the bill, and she’s been really nice to me ever since. We’ve even talked about hanging out sometime.”

“That’s great. I’m glad you’re making friends. You should invite Beth along, too. She really likes you.”

Too bad Beth was too perceptive for her own good—and my own good.

“Nora’s kind of weird around people she’s never met. She’s home-schooled.” I didn’t know what made me say that, but it seemed like it could be true. She didn’t go to our school, so either she attended some fancy private school, which I doubted, or she was home-schooled.

“That’s got to get lonely.” Ethan squeezed my hand.

“I think that’s why she comes to the diner every day. To be around people.”

“But you said she’s shy around new people.”

“She is. That’s why I think it’s good that she’s trying to be more social. She talks to me every time she’s there.”

Ethan gave me a puzzled look. “Did you say she comes to the diner every day?”

“Uh-huh.”

“How have I never seen her?”

“You work in the kitchen now. You’re not on the floor with the customers.” I shrugged. “I can introduce you today if you’d like.”

“Sure. Call me out from the kitchen when she gets there. I’d like to meet her.”

I debated telling him right then that she was a witch, but when I looked up, Beth was staring at us. It probably wasn’t a good idea to mention the witch thing with her trying to listen in.

Beth didn’t say anything to me for the rest of the class, but near the end of lunch, she finally said, “I was thinking of stopping by the diner tonight.”

“Oh, yeah?” I tried to act casual, but I didn’t want Beth around when I was talking to Nora.

“Do you mind?” She eyed me over her chocolate milk.

“Not at all. I’ll buy you a piece of Gloria’s famous peach pie.”

“I don’t eat peaches, but thanks for the offer.”

I nodded, trying to be polite. I was probably being paranoid, but Beth made me jumpy. “Well, then you can choose the dessert.”

“Sounds good.” She got up to throw her lunch away, and I was relieved to be rid of her.

In my afternoon classes, I realized I hadn’t had an attack in over a day, and I hadn’t had a vision about Rebecca either. Draining the life and power from a witch was sustaining me so much better than I could’ve hoped. But I also noticed the feeling of bugs crawling under my skin had completely faded. Was that a sign? Was Rebecca’s magic wearing off?

I made sure no one was watching, and I texted Nora.

Magic is gone. Think I might have another attack later today.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity. Where was Nora? I watched the clock on the wall tick the seconds away. How could time seem so slow and so fast at the same time? Waiting for Nora to respond was taking an eternity, but knowing Ethan was dying made each passing second fly by.

Finally my phone vibrated in my hand.

I’m on it.

I breathed easier knowing Nora was taking care of things. I wondered who the next witch would be, and I couldn’t help wondering if Shannon was on Nora’s list.

We got to the diner a few minutes late thanks to a bus breaking down in front of us. Gloria was making a fresh pot of coffee when I stuffed my purse behind the counter and reached for my apron.

“You’d think a school that operated on bells would let the students out on time,” she said. As nice as Gloria was to Ethan and me, she could really attack people she didn’t know. She’d even fired the new dishwasher after one morning.

“They did. There was an accident, and we got stuck behind it. What do you need me to do? Take over your tables? Finish the coffee? You name it, I’ll do it.”

She turned around and stared at me. “Are you feeling okay? You’re all fired up.”

I realized my pulse was racing. What was that about? “I’m fine. I guess I had too much soda at lunch.”

“Caffeine. It’s wonderful in an exhausting, exhilarating way. You know what I mean?”

I gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah.”

I hoped Nora would come in soon. My body was behaving strangely, and I couldn’t help thinking it was some sort of withdrawal, maybe from the magic.

I zipped around the diner, handling my tables and Gloria’s. After a while, she sat down and let me have at it. I didn’t mind. I couldn’t stand still. Nora didn’t show up until seven.

“What took you so long?” I asked, the second she sat down.

“I had a little trouble with your next…” She paused as the door opened behind her. “Coffee, please,” she said, turning over an empty cup on the counter.

Beth walked in and came right up to the counter. “Hey, Sam.”

“Hi.” I poured Nora a cup of coffee and held the pot up to Beth. “Want some?”

“No, thanks. I’ll take a ginger ale.”

“Sure.”

Nora kept her eyes on her coffee, but Beth turned to her and stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Beth. You must be Sam’s friend Nora, right?”

Nora’s eyes widened. I knew Beth had been eavesdropping in Sculpture. Why did she have to be so nosy? I opened my mouth to say something, but Nora smiled at Beth.

“That’s right, and you are?”

“Beth. I go to school with Sam and Ethan. You must be home-schooled. I haven’t seen you around.”

I saw Nora smirk, but Beth didn’t seem to notice. Was it possible she had actually missed something for once? She might lose her reputation as Little Miss Observant.

“I do study at home, so yes, I guess you could say I’m home-schooled.”

I smiled. If only Beth knew what Nora studied. Witchcraft wasn’t exactly on the curriculum at our school.

“How long have you known Sam?” Beth continued with her line of questioning.

I wondered how long Nora would let her go on before she put a silencing spell on her. Was there even such a thing?

I gave Nora an apologetic look before returning to my other tables. Beth yammered on for an hour while Nora drank her coffee. I was so wrapped up in the two of them sitting there together looking like the odd couple that I forgot Ethan had said he wanted to meet Nora.