Cursed (Old Version)

Cursed: Chapter 14

Chapter 14

I close my eyes tight and feel every cell in my body begin to react, moving in unison with my breath, my voice, and my every thought. Everything feels completely...in control. Strength rises within my body, and the curse builds upon this with a forceful push, making it seem like I'm...like I'm invincible. For only a brief second, I hear the lessons from the magic giving my body wisdom and instructs it on how to react. Things I never noticed before become so clear as my eyes quickly, and naturally, zone in on weak points while I move gracefully within my mind. Then suddenly, my bedroom door swings open and Nene bounces inside, shattering the space of peace I had created to practice in, and making me fall off my bed in shock.

“Oh CRAP! I didn't know you were practicing! Sooooorrrrrry,” Nene exclaims as she helps me up.

“It's fine,” I say, rubbing my arm tenderly. “It's not like I can't do it again. It's pretty...well I don't want to say easy...”

“Natural?” Nene helpfully throws out.

I nod and smile before looking at Nene's outfit closer. Then quickly, my face breaks into an even wider smile. Nene's normally hidden curvy frame is shown beautifully with a nice navy blue, knee length skirt, flowy but functional, and a white v-neck tank top with some sturdy, black hiking boots. “Is that...a skirt?” I ask cheekily, grinning like a mad woman.

“It's COMFY, that's all,” Nene answers awkwardly, staring at her shoes. “P-perfect for walking around Yellowstone.”

“Right,” I say slowly, “Is that top comfy too? I mean, your boobs look very snug in there...”

Nene glares at me, “I just...didn't want to get a weird tan line, that's all!”

I nod and giggle, “Yes, because being covered head to toe in your normally baggy attire would've made it so you would've gotten a strange tan line...by not letting any of you skin see the Sun at all.”

“Um...ex-exactly,” Nene says while eying me suspiciously.

I smile and jump towards her, flicking her hair playfully, “Makes sense to me. Besides, you look hot.”

Nene laughs awkwardly and plays with her hair, “I wasn't really...t-trying to look hot.”

I raise my eyebrows and grin, “Yes, because v-neck shirts don't scream hot at all on normal days.”

“Maybe I should change,” Nene mutters quickly, looking around my room.

I grab her hand and pull her out of my room, “Mom, we're ready!”

“We are all downstairs!” my mother hollers back.

“About ti--,” and my brother stops mid-sentence as we both round the corner. Awkwardly, he clears his throat and smiles, “Time. About time.”

Carter laughs and winks at me, “This is going to be fun.”

My mother drives us all to Yellowstone with Nene sitting up in the front to help get us there since she's the only one in the car that's actually been there before. On the way there actually, we nearly hit a person running towards a bison (because apparently they aren't buffalo, as Nene corrected us) with a sandwich in their hands. We are so stunned by this that we have to slow down as we drive past them, but we quickly have to speed up when Carter rolls down the window and yells 'Look! Bison chow!'.

It was the most interesting part of the drive up there, to be honest.

We finally park and head up towards the volcano area, which is called the Yellowstone Caldera according to our own personal guide known as Nene. We all seem to group together save for Caleb and Nene, who seem to be enveloped in their own conversation, full of them both laughing at each other's joke every other second. My mother smiles at them both tenderly while Carter nearly makes me bust out into loud laughter by making funny faces at me as we stroll along the path.