As soon as we got home, Grandma began interrogating Tim about my ring. “Tim, I really need to know how you came upon this ring. Emily says it has been in your family for a very long time?”

“Yes, Ma’am, it has been passed down to the oldest female in each generation. I know that there is a kind of prophecy about it that I’ve always thought was just a fairy tale, but now I know that magic is real, so perhaps the prophecy is as well.”

I came into a well lit house, and everyone was up, watching a DVD. As I walked in, Mom saw the mess my tears had made of my face and makeup, and she quickly wrapped me in a hug.

"Are you all right, honey?”

“It’s been an interesting night, Mom. Very interesting.” I giggled as I tried to wipe off my makeup with some tissue.

Grandma smiled, and I knew she had been probing. I really do need to learn how to shield.

“I know that look, Mom. Emily, what happened after you left?”

Tim was waiting for me at the gate to the parking lot, and he walked me back to my truck.

“I’ve got to get a couple of quick things done for Dad, then get home, clean up, and pick up this extremely pretty lady I’m taking out tonight,” he said, then he kissed me. “I’ll see you around 6:30?”

“Uhmm...yeah, that works. I’ll send my other boyfriend home, and then wait for you.” I said, looking innocent and sweet.

Nothing cool happened at school today-whether that’s a good thing or not kinda depends on your circumstances, I guess. I did experiment a little with my telepathy, but there were really no great secrets, just a lot of normal teenage considerations.

The pain was the first thing I noticed. I was afraid to open my eyes because the light already hurt, even through my eyelids. I had the most incredible headache, kind of like brain freeze multiplied a hundred times. My tongue tasted kind of like I had spent the night mopping the floor with my tongue, and every sound seemed to make my brain pound. I sort of wanted to puke, and I think every part of me was in pain.

I guess I wasn’t feeling so hot when I picked Debbie up at her house, and she quickly picked up on that.

“Are you all right, Em? You seem very...distant, almost upset. Did I piss you off somehow? If so, I apologize, but please talk to me, please?”

“Oh honey, it’s not you. I just got some interesting news last night, and I’m not sure how I want to handle it.”

“Is there anything I can do to help, somehow?”

“I honestly don’t know, Deb. Mom and I were doing some testing to find out where my affinities lay, and, well...”

“I have to say, this is quite a different way of dressing for you.” Mom said, very calmly. “So, I take it that this means things have changed?”

“Yeah, it’s time Emily started to live a real life. I have to face it, Mom; I’m never gonna be ‘me’ again.” I found that I didn’t have any tears left to cry. I was kind of numb, now, and it surprised me that I almost didn’t care anymore.

Mom hugged me, and smiled with wet eyes. She just held me for a long time without saying anything.

This is a bit rougher than my usual story, and it's not what I had planned to put in here. This part came to me while I was in the hospital. I don't plan to keep it this rough, but...

I was sitting on our sofa, in the dark. Mom’s candles burned on the mantle, giving a golden light to the room. I felt very good, and my date was busy, her head bobbing into my crotch, my right hand pushing her down on my cock.

I was trying to work out the best way to talk to my parents about my greatest secret. I had been about to start talking to Dad, when Mom and Grandma got home. Oh, joy...

“Umm, Mom? I guess I need to talk to the whole family if I could?”

Mom looked at Dad, who shrugged his shoulders. Grandma looked at me with concern, and then suddenly seemed to smile a little.

“Let’s go into the living room and get comfortable, okay?” Mom said.

We found comfortable seats, Mom and Dad on the sofa, Grandma and I sat in the comfortable chairs, and I tried to find the best way to start.

This is a long chapter, because I haven’t posted for a few days

I fingered my amulet, unable to get this influence crap out of my head. What bothered me most was the “why?” question. I mean, whoever had done it had made me happy, for crying out loud, which just made no sense.

I want to title this one “I believe”. I’m going to just take a minute to say some things.

I’m laying in my bed, thinking about my date last night, and what my life has been like for the last couple of weeks. Yeah, I’ve been a girl for a less than a month, and in that time I’ve gone from a depressed Junior Varsity quarterback with a broken heart to a fairly happy witch, dating (and maybe even in love with) the Varsity quarterback.

Wow, when you think about it that way, it really sounds like I’m some kind of a slut.

Grandma made a telephone call to Debbie’s Mom. “Gwen said that Debbie came home light-headed and confused. She was surprised at our theory of the girls being influenced, but she agreed that it was a definite possibility.”

Meanwhile, Mom was doing her best to talk me down. I was so angry I was shaking. It was a serious crime to use magic to “influence” someone, but the fact that we had no way to track the culprit made me even angrier.

Who knows-that person or persons could be working to re-establish control at this very minute! How did we stop it earlier?

At last! It was Friday, the day of my date with Tim. Every time I thought about him, every time I pictured his smiling brown eyes, I got a flutter in my gut, like flocks of butterflies, and a very nice warm feeling in my heart (yeah, I know what YOU were thinking. Tsk Tsk!).

I looked for Tim in school today, and I might have seen him, but I was too far away to be sure. I was disappointed, but I still had time.

I noticed Debbie seemed to have issues when I saw her in the school hallways. There weren’t as many of her “admirers” dogging her around, and she seemed distracted. Something was really bugging her.

When we got to Mrs. Andrews house, she asked a question even before we’d said a greeting.

My mom woke me before my alarm went off, and after a few minutes of brain rebooting, I staggered into the shower, then got dressed for the day. Mom had laid out a sundress for me, but I really wasn’t ready for that. I don’t know if I ever will be. I wore a pair of light tan jeans, with a light red (no, it’s not pink-I don’t care who says it is) t-shirt. My usual ankle socks and trainers, of course, and I put my hair into a nice ponytail.

“Okay, Mom, I’m awake. Now can you tell me why I’m awake at 5:30 in the morning?”

I was so confused. If I told Deb my secret, how would she handle it? Could I trust her? If the secret were revealed, even by accident, it would be disastrous. It would affect many people, including my family. How could we explain it? I just didn’t know what to do.

It all came down to two things. Did I have faith in the secret, or faith in Debbie? To tell the truth, I wasn’t comfortable with either one. My head was spinning with worry. If I did tell Deb, how would I do it? I could just see it now…

I’m in my bed, just staring at the ceiling. I have a lot going through my mind, and it’s very confusing. School seems to have gone much better than I expected, which really makes me happy. The touching responses of my classmates in regard to my “death” was a big ego boost. Now I’m going to have to find a way to get my ego back in check. I have to get this head through the doors. Then there’s Debbie’s accident. I kind of don’t know how I feel about it, but I guess I’m glad she’s okay. Last, but very definitely not least, there’s my feelings about the magic.

I was a fairly happy 16 year old. Okay, my family wasn’t rich, and maybe my job was a bit less than completely satisfying, but I had my Dad’s old green 1979 Chevy Stepside, and a small loft apartment over my parents garage, so I thought was doing pretty well. I really had nothing to complain about.