Chapter Seventeen

"H i y a," I said slowly, slipping onto the couch in my father's room. It was a study, warm and cosy with a mahogany desk and papers stacked up all around the edges, shielding his face from view.

"Hello, Aidan." My father's voice was crisp and sharp. He had always been like this, I was pretty sure he was nicer before my bio mum had left. Now, he was always locked away in his study, as if it were his own little home and he didn't need to leave. To be honest, I wasn't sure what my step-mum saw in him. To me, he was a cold, insensitive parental unit. "How was school today?"

I bit my lip. It would be really reassuring to discuss this whole witch thing with someone who's experienced and close to me. But I wasn't sure if my dad was a witch. It was either him or my mother and I wasn't sure. But my dad has never shown any knowledge of the magic.

I decided to test him. "Pretty good." I leant forward, and rested my chin on my hand and my elbows on my knees. "We're doing Greek Mythology in History."

He didn't even look up, but I had the chance to study his face for signs of reaction. I had taken most of my facial features from my mother. He had dark, short black hair that was now becoming grey with time. He had a narrow, gaunt face and these dislikable, small pale grey eyes. He was almost the opposite of my freckles, emerald eyes and wild hair.

"Oh really? That's cool." He said, in a bored tone. He shot me a tight lipped smile, then I realised it. He wasn't a witch. He never was and he never would be he would have let me know what being a witch was and about the community since birth. I felt a shiver of disappointment, but I realised that I suspected that he didn't know. He probably wouldn't have just left me in the dark if he did. It was definitely my mother's dominant genes.

"Oh yeah," his fingers drummed on the desk. I gritted my teeth. It was an annoying tick of mine and it was extremely frustrating. "Your Nana P is coming across from New York later today. I hope you remembered."

"Oh yeah!" I said, jumping to my feet. My dad peered at me through his narrow glasses that rested on the tip of his nose.

Nana P was a no-nonsense lady. She was coming up to be 70 soon and still did all of the things, if not more, than a middle aged person could do. She came from my mother's side, so she had a 'take no bull from anyone' attitude that I loved. She adored Milo's quirks and loved having debates with me about interesting topics, like of Jaffa Cakes were cakes or biscuits and if green Skittles were the demon or not. She usually won these arguments; but it was fun nether the less.

"Ok right, I remember. We were going to go to TGI Fridays with her, right?" I brushed a strand of hair from my eyes and rose to my feet.

"Yes. Be ready to go out at 6:30." His voice is held a not of finality to it, so I ducked my head and disappeared out of the room.

***

"Nana P!" Milo shrieked, tumbling down the stairs unceremoniously like a hoard of elephants.

I smiled endearingly at my little brother as he wrapped his skinny arms around Nana P.

"Milo! My favourite grandson!" She cried, lifting him up in the air momentarily, before gravity came back and she had to put him down. He backed off, a massive grin on his face.

"Aidan." Nana P chuckled, and I smiled, wrapping my arms around her neck.

"Hi, Nana," I said softly, pulling back so I could look at her face. Old age had certainly been kind to her. She had a few smile wrinkles, but not too many to make her face hidden. Her eyes were the green that mine used to be before they were enhanced, but with crinkled crows feet around the edges. Finally, she had her signature Nana P Dimple, small and on her left cheek.

"You look well," she said, cupping my cheek. I smiled and pressed my hand on top of hers.

Her eyes sparkled, but seemed to have something to else hidden behind. I peered at her, curiosity sparking in my chest, then fought myself to walk backwards when I realised that it was worry? Apprehension? Nervousness?

Then it struck me. I was almost 100% certain that my mother was the witch in the family, so wouldn't it make sense it most of my mothers family was too?

As I looked at her again, she pulled a face that seemed to me as if it said "I need to talk to you". Excitement rose and I licked my lips, excited to talk about this whole bloody thing with someone I was close to.

I pulled away from her with a beam on my face, as my step mother and my father exchanged greetings with Nana P.

I pulled on my blue, button denim jacket over my shoulders and grabbed my khaki green sneakers. Once on, I helped Milo zip up his bomber jacket and we all piled out of the house and into my dad's new Audi.

***

Just as we stepped into the restaurant the smell of grease hit my nose like a slap to the face. People were sitting, eating and chatting, waiters were running too and fro, and music was quite loud in the air. Nana P sighed.

"Oh no!"! She said, chasing her cheeks with her hands and I raised my eyebrows. "I forgot my bag!"

"Oh, I can go back it's no big deal." My step mum said, stepping back. But Nana was having none of it.

"No, no, I couldn't possibly." A waitress was heading towards us. "Just give me the keys and I'll go back. Aidan will come with me."

My step mother and father received a glance, and I wondered what Nana P wanted to talk about. My mum dived into her purse and drew out her keys, handing them to Nana P.

The old lady turned and dragged me out of the restaurant.

There was a tense silence hanging between us, so thick that I could probably slice it with a butter knife. My shoes slapped against the concrete and I shoved my hands into my jacket pockets.

I realised that I was going to have to start the conversation. I glanced at Nana from the corner of my eye, and spotted that she was looking at me too.

I was almost 100% certain that Nana P was a witch, so I started the conversation.

"We're doing Greek Mythology in school." I cleared my throat and kept walking, averting my gaze with pink ears.

She tensed, her expression forming into one of curiousity. "Oh really?"

"Yeah."

The silence was awkward again. I needed to take the plunge. Besides, if I was wrong, surely I could just wipe her memory or something. I drew in a breath and brought the red into me, feeling my confidence grow as the energy rushed into my veins and a low buzzing filled my ears. Despite this, my chest still felt constricted.

"Nana. I'm a witch. Mother was a witch and father isn't. You are my mother's mother so I'm pretty sure you are also a witch. If you're not, I don't know what I'm going to do. I just really need to talk to someone who understands what I am going through." I trailed off when I realise what I had said and how much I was rambling.

I released the energy back into the world and closed my eyes momentarily. The tension was so thick I couldn't even catch my breath. Nana P didn't reply, but I could feel her gaze boring into my skull. We were nearing my father's Audi, it was at the end of the street. I went to quicken my pace - A, to get to the car faster, and B, to get away from Nana P so I didn't have to gage her reaction.

Instead, one of her soft, well worn hands brushed my palm and she suddenly grabbed it. I jolted from the sudden movement. She stopped and I turned to face her, finally searching her eyes for some sign of how she would take the news. Was she even a witch? I had taken a risk. And I didn't know if it would pay off.

Her light green eyes were wet with unshed tears, and were full of... relief? "Thank goodness." She pulled me into another tight hug. "I've been so worried about when you were going to find out, and how you would react. You don't understand how tense and nervous I've been."

A small smile graced my lips and I closed my eyes. This was it. Relief bubbled up and filled my body, telling all of my tense muscles falfl limp. For some reason, at that moment, I felt like everything was okay.

A/N: GaH. I'm so sorry that this was so poorly written I just needed to get it out the way before I get onto the main plot. Had some writers block but I plowed through it and that's why it's trash. Better chapters coming soon.
Peace out!

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