Free Enchanted, A Paranormal Romance / Fantasy (Forever Charmed) by Rachel Wells

cover this up. She tried to fill her head up with anything besides witches and weird letters and headstones. She thought about work tomorrow. She thought maybe she would see if Ally wanted to do something. She should try harder to make friends before school started. School. Another feeling of dread filled her up. She’d be the new girl. Yes, she decided, she had better try harder to make friends now. She thought about the group of kids she had hung out with. That seemed like a million years ago when really it was only a few hours ago. They weren’t so bad, really. Mandy started to feel sleep closing her lids finally. Then one face drifted into her mind on a cloud. Lucas. He had stared at her so oddly, so openly. She was going to have to ask Ally what was up with him. She tried to focus on what his problem with her could be but she couldn’t concentrate. A deep sleep over came Mandy and she sank into the pillow, blissfully unaware for the time being of anything real or not.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
    The harsh, high-pitched beeping of the alarm clock screamed in Mandy’s ear, jolting her awake. She fumbled around groggily for the snooze button wondering how it could possibly be 7 a.m. already. Suddenly the terrifying images from her dream swept through Mandy’s mind, causing her to shudder. She shook her head, trying to clear it, and reluctantly got out of bed. She grabbed her pink polo shirt, the standard Dew Drop’s attire, and a pair of jeans and headed to the shower.
    Mandy got ready quickly, pulling her wet hair back into a messy bun at the nape of her neck. She couldn’t be bothered to blow it dry like some girls. It was too time consuming and it didn’t ever come out looking the way she intended anyway. She found her mother downstairs scrambling eggs.
    “Hey sweetie. Did you manage to fall back asleep o.k. last night?”
    “Yeah, Mom,” Mandy nodded at her mother.
    “So, did you ever remember what you were dreaming?” her mother pressed.
    “Um, not really. It was dark. I don’t know. I was in a weird place. I can’t really put it altogether,” Mandy tried to sound nonchalant, hoping her mother would drop the subject.
    “Oh, well, here Hon, have some breakfast.”
    “Actually I’m not really hungry. I think I’ll just grab a granola bar and bring it with me for later.”
    “You sure? You should eat something,” Mandy’s mom declared, pasting her worried look on and surveying Mandy suspiciously.
    “Mom, I’m fine. I’m a big girl now, remember? I’ll eat when I’m hungry. But I gotta go or I’ll be late,” Mandy threw a half smile at her mother, trying to look reassuring.
    “Okay, Hon. Well tell Nana I’ll be in in a little bit.”
    “’Kay.” Mandy grabbed the key to the boat off the hook by the door and slipped out, breathing a sigh of relief. She felt like she had escaped, but only for the moment. Soon she would be at Dew Drops, facing another day of the curious and the weird. Mandy sighed again, this time in defeat.
    She parked around the back of the store and took a deep breath. I will get through this day . She told herself. Her favorite saying came to mind. This too shall pass . This too shall pass. Mandy seemed to always be telling herself that. Anytime she had to do something she didn’t particularly like or feel like doing, or that made her uncomfortable, she took comfort in those words. They rang true every time. Besides , she told herself, you have to get through today so you can get home and finish reading those weird letters!
    Mandy could see the old-fashioned script staring up at her from the crackled yellow papers, almost beckoning to her. Okay, so she would suck this up. Go do her job, pretend she was Teen Barbie or something and be outgoing and spunky and friendly… okay, maybe just friendly… and then she was going to go home and figure out those notes. It would all make sense, and then she could forget about all this weirdness that was probably all in her