Page 19 of Hex You

“Lies!”Amphitrite swarmed the boy. “It’s that witch. That Hunter. She made him do it. Made him hit you.”

The boy’s chest swelled, and his chin lifted. “You did it on purpose.”

“I was distracted.” Jax’s brow furrowed, and he tucked his phone back into his pocket. “Why would I run into you on purpose?”

“She’s made him hate you. All of you.”Ocean waves crashed as Amphitrite whispered.

The boy pulled on the collar of his shirt, suddenly drenched with sweat and stinking of the sea. “You think I have shit for brains?”

“Hunter Goode is a witch. A spawn of Satan. This is her doing.”

Jax took a step back. “Dillon, chill—”

“This is because of that witch.” His shoulders seemed to harden as he inched closer to Jax. “Kirk was right all along.”

“She wants you all gone. To bring forth the devil and take this town as their own.”Mist collected around Amphitrite’s formless being and twinkled in the afternoon sun like a star.

“She’s made you her bitch.” Dillon spat the words like a threat.

“Seriously, man, it was an accident. I don’t know why you’re freaking out.”

Jax turned to leave, and Dillon struck out, nearly shoving Jax off his feet. “Hey, asshole!” Dillon fisted his hands. “Tell your little witch girlfriend that she can’t hide behind you forever.”

Jax took a deep breath and clenched his hands into fists before relaxing them. “Whatever, Dillon,” he mumbled, and jogged back to the track.

“Hunter Goode is a witch.”

Dillon stood on the field, body stiff as a corpse, a puddle forming around his feet as the great goddess of the sea flooded the mortal with wrath.

“And that witch needs to burn.”

SEVEN

Hunter sat in the red laminate booth at Shake It, debating whether to order curly or regular fries. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she envisioned the complexities of dunking a corkscrew-shaped fry into her shake without getting her fingers sticky. She wrinkled her nose.

Alex Feretto, Hunter’s locker mate since freshman year and the newest Shake It employee, set two chocolate shakes on the table before tucking her blond hair behind her ears. “Straight fries make for the best dunking,” she said, her cat eyes creasing in the corners with a grin. “And I don’t know how much you want to mix Old Bay with chocolate.”

“You totally solved my problem.” Hunter returned Alex’s friendly grin with one of her own, although she was positive that it didn’t reach her eyes. “Straight, unseasoned fries it is.”

With a nod, Alex scribbled the order on her notepad. “Always happy to help out a fellow Mustang,” she chimed, tucking her pencil into her black server apron before heading to the POS.

If only Hunter possessed half of Alex’s kindness toward her fellow students.

Hunter pushed the menu in front of the silver napkin holder and sagged against the puffy booth. She dug her phone out of her back pocket and scrolled through her texts with Jax.

Skipping practice. Need to talk. Meet at Shake It after school.

Hunter checked the time. Maybe he’d decided to go to practice after all.

A bead of water slid down the old-school milkshake glass and joined the ring pooling around its base.

If she continued to hold in all her lies, she would spare her friends. Sure, the guilt would eat her alive. Hell, it might give her an ulcer or two, but at least she’d still have friends. That wasn’t too unhealthy, right?

She stifled a groan as the door chimed and Jax strolled in.

He waved to Alex and a couple his mother’s age lunching at the counter before seeing Hunter and rushing over, his cheeks plump with the crooked-toothed grin that had already begun to lose its catawampus-ness thanks to his Invisalign.

Hunter set her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in her palms. Guilt burned in her throat, and the syrupy scent of the melting milkshakes made her stomach lurch. She had to tell Jax all the unfortunate decisions she’d made. It was the right thing to do.