“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.
“Nora.” I walked up to the end of the counter so Nora could turn to face me with her back to Beth. It wasn’t exactly privacy, but it was the best I could hope for right now. “Ethan said he wanted to meet you. I’m going to get him from the kitchen, okay?”
A strange look flitted across her face so quickly I couldn’t figure out what it was. Most likely she’d had enough meeting people for one night after having to listen to Beth for the past hour.
I reached for her arm, touching it briefly. “Sorry, I know it’s getting late, and you probably have to get going. This will only take a second, though. I promise. And you’ll love Ethan.”
“I’m going to run to the bathroom really quick while you get him,” she said.
“Okay.” I headed to the kitchen and found Jackson at the grill alone. “Where’s Ethan? There’s someone I want him to meet.” I motioned to the dining room.
“He’s in the walk-in, looking for more frozen patties.”
“Oh, well, can you ask him to come out when he’s done?”
Jackson nodded. “Sure thing, sweetheart.”
I went back to the counter and refilled Nora’s coffee. I debated asking Beth if she wanted another ginger ale. I was kind of hoping she’d ask for the check.
“Ethan’s never met Nora? That’s strange.”
“Not really. He doesn’t come into the dining room much since he switched from busboy to assistant chef.”
“He used to bus tables?”
“Yeah, when we first got hired, but Jackson said he could use an extra hand in the kitchen.”
“Huh, seems like he would’ve known that when he was hiring.”
“Maybe he did. The sign in the window just said ‘Help Wanted.’ It didn’t list positions, and Ethan never mentioned any cooking skills. He helped Jackson out one night in a jam. We were packed. He’s been there since.”
Nora came back from the bathroom. “Sam, I really need to get going. I have to check on something.” I knew she was talking about the witch she had lined up for me.
“Oh, okay. I guess Ethan is still looking for those patties in the walk-in. Sorry you didn’t get to meet him tonight. Maybe tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Call me.” She left off the “if you need me,” but I understood.
“Bye.” I watched her go, wishing it was Beth walking out of the diner instead.
“She’s interesting,” Beth said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean she’s not exactly normal.”
Who was she to judge? “I like her.” I took Nora’s coffee cup and dumped it into a bin of dirty dishes.
“Well, yeah she seems to like you, too, but she’s a witch. Like a real live witch.”