Chapter 16

Kelly woke on Tuesday morning to the bright sun streaming through her bedroom window. It just happened to land on a pristine carpet. All remnants of Donnie's visit had been cleared away. Nothing remained of him, but his scent that still lingered in the air. She could still smell the faint hint of his Italian cologne in her adjacent bathroom.

Ever since he'd been given the protection charm he'd been couch surfing with various friends and she missed him terribly. There she said it. She never had a sibling or even a close friend. Are you kidding: sleepovers were a no go in her household.

She missed out on the normal childhood experiences of staying up late with a friends and talking all night, building forts with sheets and whispering with flashlights in their hands so they could still see well into the wee hours of the morning.

Her anger floated to the surface. The anger she normally kept buried deep inside flared up, and she squelched it back down. One day she'd have to let it go, but not today. Today she needed to . . . oh sweet baby Jesus . . . she spotted the time on the clock . . . if she didn't get out of bed now she'd have to go to school without her face on, and the likelihood of that was slim to none.

She bound out of bed to race to the shower, but before she could even made it there the bedside phone began to ring. She was tempted to let it go to voice mail, but the only one who ever called her private line was the only person she couldn't ignore.

So she dove back across the room and snatched it up in her hand, "Hey Penelope, What's up?"

"As of yesterday I would have said definitely not your career, but things are looking up child." Her rep's sarcastic drawl drifted across the line.

Kelly rolled her eyes. Yeah things had been quiet on the modeling front lately and that was mostly due to her recent distraction. She usually did a great deal of self promotion on her end. Her agency was great, but they had hundreds of clients. They didn't focus their energy entirely on her. So some self-promoting was necessary. But the last few weeks she'd had a bit of a dry spell. Usually she booked two to four shoots a month. And now that she thought about it there hadn't been anything so far for the month of October.

She was shocked she hadn't even noticed. Her career came first -- always had -- always would.

Her rep's voice broke her from her revelry, "Kelly sugah are you still there?"

Wow! Where was her head these days? "Yes I'm here sorry. Things have been hectic. Family issues."

It was the only excuse she could think of at short notice.

"Kelly it's not like you to let any distractions get in the way. Are you all right, Sugah?"

Kelly sighed and looked at the clock before saying," Is there a point to this call Pelly, I'm going to be late for school." Kelly's rep was the only one in the industry that knew her true age. Everyone else thought she was years older.

"Well my dear if you got yourself a cell phone like every other damn teen I'd be able to get in touch with you at a normal damn hour." Her rep complained from across the line.

"Not happening . . . those things give you brain cancer."

It had been her excuse from the start. Which sounded paranoid to the extreme and made her sound crazier than a betsy bug, but the truth was even crazier.

"Oookay," Her rep said incredulously.

Frankly she knew her rep had never bought her excuse, but she went along with the ruse, anyway.

"Guess Jeans wants you in New York tomorrow morning for a shoot, and I don't think I have to tell you how huge this is. The current spokes model quit. Apparently she met the man of her dreams and she's going off to make beautiful sheik babies in Dubai."

Kelly was speechless. This was the break she'd been waiting for. Some of the biggest and brightest names in the industry had had their start in Guess Jeans: Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell, and Kate Upton to name a few. They had all made a name for themselves with the brand and it had launched their runway careers. She couldn't say no.

"Look Kel I know you have school and you never book during the week but this is a career maker for you."

Her rep didn't have to convince her of the magnitude of the situation. It was just that tonight was the Samhain Ball and she had promised to go with Donnie, but this was her career, she couldn't say no. The agency might even drop her if she did.

Try getting another agency to pick you up after one has dropped you. Agencies can be cattier than high school girls. It might be a career ender if she refused.

Kelly grabbed the bridge of her nose and said, "I'll be there. Just give me the address and I'll leave tonight." Kelly went to grab a pen out of her pocket book, but only the magical one was available so she wrote the address down in mid air so she could copy it later.

"Great I'll email the standard licensing and release forms to their advertising rep this morning. Kelly we're all very proud of you here. Don't let us down."

No one with half a brain needed a decoded for that comment. She was telling her not to embarrass them.

Kelly ended the call with a halfhearted, "Thanks," before flopping back down on her unmade bed.

The texts started flooding in then. Everyone was curious about the New York address. Kelly responded with a vague:

Sorry grabbed the wrong pen. K

She wanted to explain it to Donnie in person not announce it by group text.

A brief look at her bedside clock radio confirmed the worst. There was now no time for a shower or breakfast, and she'd be lucky if she had enough time to slap a bit of mascara on her lashes and some gloss on her lips.

She ran for the bathroom and performed the miraculous ritual of every late woman throughout history; she was ready in less than five minutes.

As she raced to the elevator and her parked car, she mulled over the possibility of taking a red eye flight, but it still wouldn't allow her enough time.

The Samhain ball started at midnight and went until three am, which was crazy to the extreme, but that was the magical world for you. This was no semiformal. This was a magic ritual that celebrated the thinning of the magic veil between the living and the dead.

The only way she'd be able to do it was if she knew someone who could open a portal for her. And she was sure le Fay wasn't that generous. Lauren's powers didn't stretch all the way to NY. So she was stuck travelling the human way. Finally, Kelly had to admit it -- no matter how much she wanted to be there, she just couldn't.

She drove out of her underground parking garage to find that thick clouds had smothered the bright sun and rain way drizzling down on her windshield – The sudden turn of atmosphere seemed to mirror her mood, and as she weaved through rush hour traffic she prayed there weren't any delays ahead because of the slick roads.

When the rain started pouring out of the clouds heavy enough to require the fastest setting on her wipers, she turned on her favorite country music station to find that Blake Shelton was singing "Some Beach". And who could resist singing along with that song?

After a time it gave her comfort to know that like her, even the sexy Blake Shelton has off days. Oh yeah he was granddaddy hot.

She pulled into an empty spot closest to the school, but the rain had collected there in a deep puddle which of course she didn't notice until she stepped out the car and went ankle deep into the dirty water right on up to the top of her new suede ankle boots.

"This day just getting better and better," she groaned and threw her bag over her head to sprint to the front door.

The parking lot was deserted which could only mean one thing she was late for Knight's class and that could only mean one other thing DETENTION.

At that thought, she took the front steps two and three at a time and raced down the hall slipping and sliding on the linoleum floor, she careered around the corner and crashed into her homeroom just before the last bell that would mark her late.

But she was sliding on her high heels with no chance of stopping before she careened into the far wall . . . that was until Donnie with his lightening fast reflexes cut her off at the pass and caught her in his arms, firmly stopping her progress.

She blushed when their eyes met and laughed off her clumsiness, as he gave a soft chuckle in reply and said, "Cara I think you will be more graceful tonight," and winked at her jovially.

Oh dang, she was going to have to tell him, but not right now not while Knight was breathing down their necks. The ancient knight seemed to relish handing out late slips and she had just robbed him of the privilege with her clumsy last minute entrance.

"Ms Armstrong , Mr. Alfero I hope you don't mind me breaking up this romantic tête-à-tête, but if you could please take your seats it would be greatly appreciate."

Kelly cringed when the class snickered over his sarcastic remark, but Donnie just gave her one of his sexy smiles before he left her side and went back to his table.

Kelly's heels squeaked all the way over to her seat in the back of the classroom, and she cringed at every step. She'd find time later to tell him all about her new plans, she hoped, as she sat down and removed her damp books from her wet bag.

That sucks! Kelly's not going to be able to go to the ball with Donnie.

How do you think she'll tell him and how do you think he'll react?

Tune in tomorrow to find out.