Chapter 9: 9. Not So Secret Crush

It was about five minutes to four when I felt my phone start buzzing in my hoodie pocket. It wasn't a call, it was the alarm I'd set earlier. I quickly placed the two books I was holding away on the shelf, but the others on the cart would have to wait till Monday.

I grabbed my backpack and jacket then hurried over to the librarian's office and said, "Ms. Sutton? I'm sorry but I have to get going, there's a club meeting in a couple minutes."

She looked up at me over the edge of her glasses and smiled, "Of course dear. You run along, enjoy your meeting. And have a good weekend."

"Thanks Ms. Sutton," I smiled back at her. "You too. See you Monday!"

I turned and hurried out of the library and down the hall towards Miss Hawthorne's classroom.

Today was the last Friday of November, and basically a full month had passed since I accidentally joined the club. And got turned into a girl, and found out I was a witch and magic was real and all that stuff.

It was probably the most amazing month I'd ever had in my life.

When I came back to school after that first weekend, nobody freaked out or anything. Thanks to the magic the others did on Samhain, everyone thought I was always Cass. Ms. Sutton was one of the only people who actually knew me, and apart from giving me a slightly surprised look that first day back four weeks ago, she just accepted me for who I was. She kept calling me 'dear' same as before, and I kept spending most of my spare time in her library.

Gym was probably the only other class that would have been really awkward. Like that's about the only class where it actually mattered if you were a boy or a girl and I wasn't sure how folks would deal with me going to the other change room. So I kept skipping it and spent that time in the library, like I'd been doing all along.

Even stuff with my parents worked out ok.

They both accepted me as a girl and were really supportive and everything, but that first week was kind of busy and awkward since I needed to get more clothes and stuff, and both my mom and mum were excited to teach me about make-up and everything. There were also some awkward conversations about women's health stuff, plus we had to have The Talk all over again to cover the stuff I needed to know about as a girl.

"Hey Cass!" Kaylee smiled at me as I hurried into the classroom.

I smiled back, "Hi Kaylee, hi everyone! Sorry I'm late."

The others were already there waiting for me. They had about two dozen little tea light candles set up on the desks in a big circular shape. The candles were already lit, and the other girls were all sitting at desks in the middle of the room inside the ring of candles.

I moved to take a seat with the others, and like usual I picked a spot right next to Kaylee.

Once I was seated Brooke nodded to Paige, "Now that Cass is here, would you prepare the circle please?"

The tall athletic brunette started at the north-most part of the room and began making her way around the circle, moving clockwise as she quietly chanted.

They had to wait till I was here to do that, because for some reason any time I tried to cross a circle it got broken or dispelled or something. Nobody seemed to know why that was, since the rest of them could cross back and forth through it. And as one of them, I should have been able to as well. Or if I wasn't one of them, then the circle should have blocked me and kept me out. It was yet another little mystery nobody had been able to solve yet.

Once she'd finished the circle Paige sat down at her seat again, and everyone looked to Brooke for her to start the meeting.

"So normally we'd start things off by reviewing our last meeting and our last project," the tall attractive blonde began, "But I think we can gloss over that? We all know how it went."

Everyone glanced at me and I blushed and shrank slightly into my seat. Normally Club Luna met once a month, a day or two before the full moon. Last month the full moon was on a Saturday so they met on the Friday, and this time it was early Monday morning so once again we were meeting on Friday after school. We also had an extra meeting two weeks ago to help continue my witch training and stuff, but this was the first regular meeting since I'd joined.

Brooke continued, "Apart from all the excitement we had with our newest member last month, we also had a fairly successful ghost hunt. Two of three spirits laid to rest for sure, with the third was possibly taken care of by Cass. Either way, that's off the agenda till next spring when the weather's nice enough to go for another late-night stroll through the conservation area."

After a pause the club leader stated, "So first order of business, May asked me to remind everyone to be extra cautious about working magic leading up to the full moon. Magic begets magic, and after the big ritual last month there's a chance we might have an increase in supernatural stuff around here this month. So keep your eyes open and be careful."

She paused again, then admitted "That's actually the only thing I have on the agenda for today. Does anyone else have any new stuff for us to cover?"

"I do," Marissa announced in an excited tone. The outspoken young blonde grinned, "We've got a werewolf to investigate!"

Brooke Paige and Kaylee all rolled their eyes, and Kaylee groaned "Not this again."

"It's happened three months in a row!" Marissa insisted. She opened her notebook and flipped through a couple pages then stabbed at some notes with her forefinger, "September eighth, first day of school. I overheard Gordon Potts telling a friend in the cafeteria that the preceding Wednesday his dad found one of their sheep was killed by a predator. The full moon peaked at about one thirty that Wednesday morning."

She continued, "Friday October second, I overheard Gord saying his family farm lost another sheep the night before. Coincidentally, there was a full moon on Thursday October first. And most recently, Monday November second I overheard Gordon saying that they'd lost a third sheep over the weekend. And as you all know, the full moon was Saturday night, Samhain, when we were all doing that big ritual for Cass over at May's place."

Marissa looked at our club leader and stated, "That's three full moons in a row, three sheep murdered under mysterious circumstances. How can you say it's not a werewolf?"

Paige sighed, "Because most werewolves buy their meat at the grocery store like everyone else? Because the ones who don't are smart enough not to keep poaching the same farm? And because everyone knows coyotes have been a problem in this area for the last five years?"

"It could be a rogue wolf," the brash young witch stated. "Maybe he's decided fresh live prey is better than what he gets at the store. Maybe he's using the coyote problem as a cover for his violent deeds. Or maybe he's a new werewolf who doesn't know any better. Or..."

Brooke interrupted, "Or maybe it's coyotes. We've talked about this Marissa, and I get that there's a coincidence with the full moon, but there's other animals being killed throughout the month that are definitely by coyotes. There was one in the paper just last week, some old lady up on Town Line ignored the warnings and lost her shitzu to the coyotes."

Kaylee teased, "How is it you keep 'overhearing' this stuff from Gord anyways? You're not into him are you? Trying to get closer to your secret crush?"

That made me blush slightly as I glanced at the cute redhead, I suddenly wondered if she noticed I was always staying close to her whenever I got the chance.

"Ha," Marissa rolled her eyes. "The first time was coincidence. Now I make a point of eavesdropping whenever he's talking to his buddies after a full moon."

"Fine," Brooke sighed. "Look, the rest of us don't believe it's got anything to do with a werewolf. But if you're so sure, then you do your eavesdropping thing next week and see if Gord's family loses another sheep. If so, then maybe we'll go have a look."

I finally spoke up, "Um, have a look at what? You mean the dead sheep?"

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Kaylee shook her head, "We don't need to see the carcass. All we need to do is visit the area where it died, then we can use magic to look for any trace of the supernatural. Brooke's pretty good at that kind of divination? If a werewolf or some other kind of supernatural beast was there, she can probably get a feel for it."

"What do we do if it really is a werewolf?" I asked nervously. "We're not going to like, hunt them or anything are we?"

Brooke shook her head, "We don't do that Cass. I mean, not hunt as in trying to hurt them. We'll try and figure out who it is though, then May will try and talk to them."

"I think it's Gord," Marissa said.

The other three girls groaned and rolled their eyes again, but the small blonde insisted "That's why it keeps happening at his family's farm! I think he was turned over the summer, and whoever did it has just left him to cope with stuff on his own. He might not even know what's happened to him."

Kaylee teased, "That confirms it. You're obviously into him, that's why you're so obsessed with this stuff."

"Ew," Marissa made a face, "I'm not into him Kaylee. And if I was, I'd just go ask him out. I wouldn't need to waffle around looking for excuses to hang out with him."

She was looking at me when she said that last part, and it left me blushing once more. It made me wonder if the others knew I was still crushing on Kaylee. Though what she said about just asking him out if she wanted, that got me thinking about something else instead.

I'd never actually seen any of the other members of Club Luna going out on dates, despite all of them being attractive.

Except I had a feeling I knew why guys weren't lining up to date Marissa. She had the looks to be popular, but I remembered overhearing a couple boys talking about her back in September. According to them she was too brazen and outspoken, and tended to be a troublemaker. They thought she was hot, but they also thought she was too much of a headache, so neither of them wanted to ask her out.

On the other hand, Brooke and Paige were both popular as well as attractive. They were both athletic, tall, and pretty. Neither of them had Marissa's punchy attitude. Yet I couldn't remember ever seeing either of them going out with guys. In fact they tended to just hang out together a lot, even though Brooke was a year older and in grade twelve.

I looked over at Kaylee as I wondered about her next. I thought she was the prettiest girl in school but I had to admit she dressed kind of frumpy so her beauty wasn't as obvious. Plus she seemed like a bookworm and a loner like me. So I wasn't too surprised I never saw her with a boyfriend. I certainly never worked up the courage to even talk to her before, let alone try and ask her out.

And even though I'd been a girl for the past month, I was still shy like before. I was quiet, stayed at the back of the class, and kept out of people's way same as always. I knew I was kind of cute now, but at the same time I was happy I didn't have any guys trying to date me.

Eventually I noticed Brooke was talking and realized I'd got lost in my own thoughts again while I was looking at Kaylee. I blushed as I turned my attention back to the club leader.

"...nothing else on the agenda, so I guess it's going to be a short meeting. Unless anyone else has something to add?" Brooke asked as she glanced around at us.

Kaylee suggested, "We should probably spend some more time teaching Cass magic? She's done pretty well learning the basics, maybe it's time we tried teaching her a couple spells?"

Marissa grinned, "You two outta work on that together. The rest of us would just get in the way I think."

I felt my cheeks going red, and Kaylee's were as well for some reason.

The cute redhead pushed her glasses up slightly on her nose and looked at me, "So um, what do you think Cass? Wanna do some private study work with me? You could come over to my house, we'll get pizza or something, and I can tutor you?"

Brooke and Paige were both grinning now too, but I wasn't sure why.

My cheeks remained bright red as I sighed, "I'd really like that Kaylee, but I actually have to get home tonight? It's my mum's birthday so..."

"Aw," Kaylee actually looked disappointed, like she was really looking forward to teaching me some spells. Then she gave me a hopeful smile, "How about next Friday? You and me can get together after class, we'll go back to my house and do some training and get delivery for dinner?"

"Ok," I nodded. "Next week for sure."

That was about it so Brooke wrapped up the meeting. Paige dismissed the circle, and the five of us gathered up our stuff and got ready to head home for the weekend.

Brooke and Paige left together, and Marissa went with them since Brooke offered to give the younger blonde a drive home. Meanwhile me and Kaylee walked out the back door of the school together. Neither of us lived that far away and we both were in the same neighbourhood, so we could walk most of the way home together.

As we cut across the schoolyard towards the ravine she asked, "Any plans for the weekend? I mean apart from your mum's birthday stuff tonight?"

"Just studying for Monday's math test," I sighed. "Well, and doing all the regular homework too."

She grimaced, "Leave it to Mr. Guthrie to decide we needed to wrap up November with a mini-exam."

It was one of the classes that I shared with both Kaylee and Paige, since all three of us were in the same grade. And it was a small enough school, we all had a few classes in common.

On the other side of the ravine our houses were in opposite directions, but before we split up she said "Text me or something ok? And I'm looking forward to next Friday already, but we don't have to wait that long. If you get some spare time over the weekend or something, maybe we can meet up?"

"Ok Kaylee," I smiled. "I'll be in touch either way. See you later."

She smiled back, "See you. And tell your mum happy birthday for me."

"I will, thanks!" I grinned.

We ended up standing there finding different ways to say 'bye' for another five or ten minutes before we actually separated. It was kind of funny, but I enjoyed spending the time with her even if all we were doing was standing on a street corner being silly.

Even wasting time felt special, when I was wasting it with Kaylee.