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  THE TEEN WITCH: REBIRTH

  The Teen Witch Chronicles PREQUEL

  Laura Marie

  THE TEEN WITCH: REBIRTH

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  Copyright © 2018 Sable Syndicate.

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  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  This book was previously published as My Secret Magic in the Teen Witch Chronicles.

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  For information contact:

  [email protected]

  Facebook.com/LauraMarieAuthor/

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Also by Laura Marie

  Afterword

  Newsletter

  Paranormal Author

  LAURA MARIE

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  1

  I used to like long drives in the car, winding through the countryside for hours with nothing but the radio in the background and my thoughts to keep me busy. But that was when I knew where we were going, when we hadn’t packed up our whole life to start over.

  This time, the long drive across country was nothing but stress.

  When we finally arrived in Safety Beach, I was tired of my mom’s off-tune singing along with the radio the whole trip, and I was stiff from sleeping with my head against the window.

  “I think you're going to love it here, sweetheart,” my mom said, getting out of the car and looking up at the house she’d rented.

  “Honestly, I always thought this place was a fairy tale,” I said.

  My mom smiled at me. She had talked about Safety Beach, Virginia, since I could remember. It had been the place of dreams, the place where romance was born, where everyone was allowed to be themselves.

  But now that we were here, the place just looked like another regular old town to me.

  “Do I have to go to school tomorrow?” I asked.

  “We’re not talking about this again,” my mom said.

  I’d been arguing with her about starting school right away since we had left California. But I wasn't just a spoilt brat. I didn’t want to go to school here. Everyone seemed to think I was a freak back home. I didn’t want that to happen here, too. I just wanted to be like every other sixteen-year-old and blend in until I disappeared.

  “But Mom,” I started. My mom already had her I’m-done-talking face on, but the conversation was interrupted by a car pulling up.

  “Maggie!” my mom cried out and flew into Maggie’s arms as soon as she stepped out of her car. “This place is fantastic.”

  Maggie laughed. She had lived here her whole life, and she was my mom’s only friend. She had convinced my mom to come back here. I’d never seen Maggie, only heard of her. It turned out she was as real as this place was.

  “Emily, look at you, you’re practically an adult,” Maggie said to me. “The last time I saw you, you were in diapers.”

  Thanks for that. Why did adults always say that? I looked her up and down. Maggie was an eccentric lady with layers of clothing, despite the heat, and fiery red hair that curled over her shoulders.

  I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

  “Let me show you around,” Maggie said, leading the way to the house.

  Safety Beach High was the only high school in town. So, I was spoilt for choice.

  I stood in front of the mirror and looked at myself. Skinny jeans, Sketchers, and an oversized hoodie weren’t exactly what would make me a part of the in-crowd, but I didn’t want to stand out. I wanted to blend in.

  “Are you ready?” my mom asked, coming into my room.

  “I guess,” I said and pulled up my shoulders. I tied my hair up in a bun and grabbed my bag.

  “Maggie is going to drop you off.”

  “What?” I asked. “You’re not taking me?”

  My mom shook her head, and I realized she was still wearing her slippers. “I have a couple of things to do around the house. These boxes aren’t going to unpack themselves.”

  My mom was a pain in my ass. It was my first day at a new school in a new town that, until yesterday, I was sure was just a figment of my mom’s imagination. And now I had to go with Maggie, who was apparently real, too.

  The doorbell rang.

  “That’s her. Grab something to eat on your way out,” my mom said and disappeared into the bedroom.

  I didn’t bother taking food. I walked to the front door and pulled it open.

  “Morning,” Maggie said brightly.

  She wore yoga pants that were a little too tight for her age and a tie-dye shirt that looked like it had escaped from the eighties. She wore running shoes that looked like they hadn’t run once, and her red hair was on fire in the morning sun.

  “Hi,” I said tightly.

  “Come on, let’s get you to school. It’s so exciting. Are you nervous?”

  I shook my head and followed Maggie to her car. It was green with brown leather seats, and it quite possibly came with the tie-dye shirt.

  When we were in the car, Maggie turned the ignition, and the car sputtered to life. She twisted backward and pulled out of the drive. I watched her as she moved, tapping her hands on the steering wheel to the rhythm of a tune in her head, glancing in the rearview mirror from time to time.

  There was something different about the way she moved. Something about her seemed off, like she was trying very hard to look normal, but she wasn’t.

  I turned my head to the window and watched the town slide by.

  Safety Beach was a small town. The properties were all large with houses at the back, away from the street. The town was all holiday vibes as if it was an eternal spring break, but the people I saw on the side of the road were carrying on with business as usual. Still, the town was the kind of place I would want to go to for a holiday.

  If it didn’t feel like it had popped out of a storybook.

  “Why is everything here so shiny?” I asked.

  “What do you mean?” Maggie asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. It looks like it should all be on a postcard.”

  “Wish you were here,” Maggie said with a smile.

  I didn’t answer her. I wished I wasn’t here. I wanted to be back home. But what good would that do? Home wasn’t home anymore. They were all scared of me now. My friends all acted like I was the bogeyman, no matter how many times I told them it had been a prank.

  The principle had expelled me because of my dangerous prank. But he hadn’t seen it. He didn’t know that the fire hadn’t been started with a science experiment like I’d told Mr. Hargrave when he’d put out the fire. Only Karen and Maya knew that the fire had come from my bare hands.

  “What’s bothering you?” Maggie asked.

  “I guess I’m nervous, after all.”

  “Don’t let thoughts about your past ruin your fut
ure, dear,” Maggie said.

  I frowned. “How would you know that?”

  Maggie looked at me with a blank expression. “Know what?”

  “That I was thinking about my past. Why would you say that?”

  Maggie hesitated. The pause was so swift I could have imagined it. But I didn’t.

  “It’s normal to think about your old life when you’re moving on to a new one,” Maggie said with a smile. “Lucky guess!”

  Right. There was something weird about Maggie. But it wasn’t like I was normal anymore.

  “Have a good day, Emily,” Maggie said. I nodded and got out, slamming the car door behind me. I walked up to the school. The schoolyard was filled with students standing in their little circles, talking.

  It was just like home, I thought. They were grouped together according to what they wore and what music they listened to. They glanced at me as I walked past. This place was so small, they all knew I was the new kid.

  Perfect. There was nothing like being the center of attention because I was the odd one out.

  As I walked past the groups, eyes slid to me, looking me up and down, deciding who I was before they even knew me. I shivered. I felt their stares like a physical touch, like something brushed up against my body. I rubbed my arms, trying to shake the feeling.

  What the hell was that?

  I was relieved when I found the office. I walked to the reception desk.

  “I’m a new student,” I said and showed the woman behind the desk my transfer papers.

  She smiled at me. Her face was hidden behind large glasses, her skin ghostly pale, her blonde hair almost too light. She looked like a mirage.

  “Let me see,” she said, holding out her hand. When I handed her the papers, her fingers brushed against mine. Her skin was cold and wet. When I wiped my hand against my shirt, I realized my fingers were still dry.

  Maybe I wasn’t as much of a freak as some of the other people here.

  “This all looks good,” she said when she looked up at me again. “This is your locker code, and this is your class schedule.” She offered me a handful of papers. “And I’ll get someone to take you to your homeroom. School is about to start. Being on time is such a good trait.”

  Thanks for the life lesson. I nodded dumbly and looked at my schedule without seeing anything. I felt out of place, and I wanted to go home. Not to the house Maggie arranged for us, either. I wanted to go back to California, to the life I used to know.

  But that life was gone now. Because I couldn’t keep myself in check. Because I was the weirdo that screwed it up.

  “Mr. O’Neal,” she said when someone walked past behind me. I felt his presence rather than saw him. “Will you take Miss Frank to her class?”

  “Sure, Coral,” he said. When I turned to look at him, green eyes pierced my soul.

  “Come on,” he said with a smile. “We don’t want to be late.”

  Right. Being on time was a thing here, apparently. I nodded and walked with Green Eyes to the corridor.

  “Is her name really Coral?” I asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “It suits her, I guess.”

  He nodded and shuffled his backpack. It sounded like he had a lot of stuff in there that weren’t books.

  “I’m Reece,” he said, once we were alone. “Your name? I’m not going to keep calling you Miss Frank.”

  I smiled. “Thank you for that. Emily.”

  Reece had an easy way about him. It made me feel right at ease. He was a lot taller than I am and built like a football player. His sandy hair flopped over his eye, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off his teeth.

  “Let's see your schedule,” he said, taking the paper from me without waiting for me to hand it to him. “Oh, you have Craven. Tough luck.”

  “Is he bad?”

  “He can be a pain in the neck sometimes. Don’t make eye contact.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked.

  Reece shrugged. “Who is, around here?”

  I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  “Do I have you in any of my classes?” I asked.

  Reece shook his head. “I’m a year ahead of you. You’re in luck; you won’t have to deal with me in class.”

  Dealing with Reece seemed like something I would want.

  “Where are you from?” he asked.

  “California.”

  Reece whistled through his teeth. “Long way from home.”

  I sighed. “You have no idea.”

  “This is you,” Reece said, stopping in front of a class. He looked through the glass window. “And Craven is already in. Good luck.”

  He was leaving me here. My throat suddenly closed up. I wasn’t ready for this. I’d been thrown into coming to a new school right away, and Maggie and the town had distracted me. Reece had distracted me. But now he was throwing me to the sharks.

  “What’s this?” someone asked behind me, and I turned around.

  “Chloe,” Reece said. “You’re heaven sent.”

  “I knew it,” she said, jutting her hip out to the side. “What did you find?”

  She was talking about me like I wasn’t a person.

  “She’s new. All the way from Cali.”

  Chloe looked me up and down. Her eyes were a pale blue, her pupils dilated even though it was bright in the hallway.

  “Craven will eat you,” she said.

  The way she said it didn’t sound like it was a joke.

  “Luckily, she’s in good hands, right, Chloe?”

  Chloe nodded with a smile. “The best.”

  Reece reached out and put his hand on my shoulder. “Good luck. I’ll see you around.” He walked away. Chloe stared after him. It gave me a chance to study her.

  She had long black hair that hung straight down her back. She was one of the it-girls. It wasn’t hard to see. If the low-riding jeans and the tight top didn’t give it away, the makeup caked on her face did. Chloe swallowed hard, opening and closing her mouth as if she was thirsty. She turned her head to me.

  “Let’s get in there,” Chloe said, and walked in first with swinging hips and confidence that seemed just a little forced.

  It was all horrible. Craven clearly wasn’t a favorite. He made me stand in front of the class, and I wished the earth would open up and swallow me whole. But then it was all over. I was allowed to choose a seat, and the one next to Chloe happened to be open.

  “Lucky you,” Chloe said with a smile when I sat down.

  She’d saved me a seat, and I was glad about it. I noticed that the other girls didn’t sit close to Chloe. They all wore the same type of preppy look-at-me outfits, but Chloe wasn’t one of them. She glanced over at them now and then, but she turned to me when Craven left the classroom.

  “Look, I know it’s pretty crap being the new kid and all, but you’ll realize it’s not so bad.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “Seriously, don’t look so nervous. We’re all weird, here. Chances are, we’ll like you.”

  I wasn’t so sure of that. As long as I could keep my curse under wraps, I guessed I would be fine. But no one wanted to see the new girl light something on fire. It wasn’t going to shoot me to the top of the popularity list.

  As I thought it, my palms started burning.

  Shit. It was happening again. I rubbed my hands furiously on my jeans.

  Chloe reached out and put a hand on mine.

  “Relax, Em. It’s going to be fine.”

  The heat died down. I looked at my hands, lifted my palms. They looked like normal palms. My skin wasn’t red, my hands were cool.

  I glanced at Chloe, who pulled up one shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. Maybe I was going to fit in here better than I thought. I already felt at home. And Chloe, despite her weird little mannerisms and her don’t-care attitude, seemed nice enough.

  2

  How was school?” my mom asked when I walked into the house.

  “Fine,” I said.

  My mom
came down the stairs. Her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she had a smear of paint on her cheek.

  “I forgot to get milk from the store. Before you get comfortable, will you head out and grab it for me? My purse is on the counter.”

  I pulled a face and moaned. “I just got in, Mom. I’ve been at school all day.”

  “And I’ve been unpacking and painting all day. It’s not going to kill you, hon. I only have a few days to sort out this place before I start work at the salon.” My mom was a beauty technician. She could work anywhere, which was why it had been so easy to move.

  I groaned and dumped my bag on the kitchen floor, fishing money out of my mom’s purse.

  “Can I take the car?” I asked. I had gotten my license a few months ago.

  “You can take the bus. This town is small enough that you can walk through the length of it and not break a sweat.”

  I rolled my eyes and left the house. What a crock.

  The bus system was simple. There was only one main line through town and a few smaller lines that I didn’t bother with because they didn’t go through our neighborhood. I got on the bus and hopped off again at the convenience store. When I walked in, I grabbed milk and walked to the front of the store to pay. Maggie was at the till.

  “Emily,” she said, smiling when she saw me. “Exploring the town?”

  “Buying milk,” I said, holding up the carton.

  “How was your first day?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “It was okay.” School would never be my favorite place to be.