It was colder than I thought it would be for a summer night. I was standing on the top of Englewood Cliff, the highest cliff around. I could see the entire party in full swing down below me from my spot on the hundred foot drop. There were a few big bon fires going, and a DJ was blasting music. About a hundred people were hanging around, and I could easily pick out my brother and his friends. Who I didn’t recognize were the three boys they were standing with. I was too high up, so I decided I would drop in. Looking over the edge, I made sure there was no one in site. The full moon from that night lit up everything in its path, casting deep shadows at the bottom. I went with my best judgment and figured that as long as Caleb wasn’t around, I wouldn’t get caught for using my powers.
Blinking my eyes once, they turned a deep shade of black. I took one step off the cliff and began to free fall, landing steadily on my feet at the bottom. Blinking again, my eyes returned to normal. I looked up at the cliff I had jumped from and smiled. Life was so much easier when you could cheat death traps like that.
“Hey boys!” I said, walking up in-between Reid and Tyler. Caleb spun around to see me and rolled his eyes. I was expecting that.
“Mari, hey!” Reid said with a grin, putting his arm around my neck and pulling me close. “Long time, no see.”
“I could say the same to you guys,” I said with a nod, my hands in the back pockets of my jeans.
“Marlena, what are you doing here?” Caleb asked, his eyes shooting daggers.
“Relax Caleb, she was just looking for a good time.” Pogue chimed in, elbowing Caleb in the side. He shot him a look too, but the tension eased slightly.
“So, Caleb, who’re your friends?” I asked, looking over at the three boys he had been talking to who had showed up to the party. They were the only ones I couldn’t immediately recognize from school. Then again, the new school year was starting tomorrow and lots of kids would transfer in over the summer.
“This is Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas. They just transferred in from Jersey.” Caleb said, pointing at the boys who all nodded. “Guys, this is my bratty sister Marlena Danvers.” He said, gesturing at me with his hand.
“You’re too kind,” I said, rolling my eyes at Caleb and shaking the boys hands. “Nice to meet you guys. What brings you to Spenser?” Spenser was the name of the private school we all went to in the area.
Kevin shrugged. “Parents,” He said with a smile. “I’ll be a senior this year so it’s gonna suck being the new kid.”
“I think you’ll live, everyone’s totally cool here.” I said with a laugh, brushing some of the hair out of my eyes. “Well, mostly everyone.” I looked over at Caleb. The middle boy smiled, and I remembered his name as being Joe.
“This place is pretty cool, Ipswich. Has a ring to it.” He said.
“Yeah, it’s where the original Salem Witch Hunts took place too. It has a lot of history to it.” I said simply, but I could feel Caleb’s eyes burning holes in my back.
“You’ll have to tell me about it sometime,” He grinned.
“I will.” I smiled in return.
“Hey, Bobby just said that he saw the cops coming down this way! Everybody needs to clear out!” The kid running the DJ booth said over the loud speakers.
“Oh, that means we better get going. I’ll catch up with you later?” Joe said, looking away briefly as everyone was quickly walking out of the woods. So much for getting to chat it up with a cute guy. We had only gotten to talk for about a minute and a half.
“Yeah, I’d like that.” I said, him smiling at me before jogging to go and catch up with his brothers.
“Mari, come on!” Tyler shouted, honking at me from inside his Hummer that was parked in the woods along with all the other cars.
“Relax will you?” I said, running over as the sounds of the sirens came closer. Almost everyone had bolted, and we were one of the last people to leave.
“Hey, our car won’t start!” Kevin yelled over to us, his car a few feet away.
“I’ll fix it for you,” Reid said, opening his side of the car and hopping out.
“Reid, don’t.” Caleb said, sitting in the seat in front of me.
“It’s not over yet, boys.” He said with a grin, slamming the car door.
“Let it go, it’s his life man.” Pogue said, knowing how it irritated him whenever any of us used our powers carelessly and out in the open.
We watched as Reid propped open the hood of the blue mustang, his eyes flashing black. He smiled, then closed it almost as quickly as he had opened it. “Try it now.” He said.
Kevin twisted the key in the ignition and the car roared to life. “Thanks, man!” He said, slowly weaving through the trees and out onto the main road. The lights of the cop cars could be seen coming in the distance. Reid came up to Tyler’s side of the car, slapping the car door.
“Move over,” He said.
“It’s my car!” Tyler said, hands on the wheel.
“Move over, Baby Boy, now!” Caleb said from the back seat, slapping Tyler’s shoulder for him to move. Tyler rolled his eyes at the nickname and hopped over to the passenger side of the car, Reid quickly getting in and pushing down hard on the gas.
“Uh oh,” I said from my seat in the third row of the car, furthest from the boys. “We’ve got company.” I looked over my shoulder to see headlights and sirens on our tail.
“I knew this party was a stupid idea,” Tyler muttered from the front seat.
“You gotta pull over,” Caleb said with a sigh.
“Oh you wanna pull over? That’ll impress Harvard.” Reid said with a smile. Pogue laughed and looked over at Caleb, who seemed to be thinking something over.
“Alright fine.” He said. “Cut across Marblehead, we might as well have some fun while we’re at it.”
“Marblehead?” I asked.
“Small field up the street, leads right to the cliffs.” Pogue said.
“You’re not thinking…?” I asked, looking at Reid who was too wrapped up in his little game of chase with the cops to even respond.
“Oh chill out Mari, we’re just having a little fun.” Tyler said, turning around in his seat and smiling at me.
“Oh yeah, cause running from the law is just a good time all around.” I said with an eye roll, feeling nervous. “You’re the last one I’d expect to act out Caleb.” I smiled.
“Shut up.” He responded, but smiled anyways.
“Alright guys, you ready?” Reid asked, grinning wickedly with both hands firmly on the wheel.
We were heading right for the cliffs, and the dense fog made it hard to see. “Reid!” I shouted. The cops were honking their horns, trying to get us to stop so we didn’t kill ourselves. But I knew it was in Reid’s plans for us to go right over.
“Come on Marlena, it’s gonna take all of us.” Pogue said, looking back at me. I swallowed hard and nodded, taking a deep breath. We all closed our eyes, only to reopen them as jet black as the edge of the cliff came closer.
“Harry Potter can kiss my ass!” Reid shouted as he pushed the gas as far as it could go and we all soared right off the cliff into the fog.
The cops stopped the car right on the edge, getting out with their flashlights and shining them down to the water below. They looked around, completely dumbfounded as to why we would drive right off like that. But suddenly there was a sound of an engine, and the cops turned around. Our car free fell from the sky and landed right in front of them. Their eyes widened as we sat there, laughing as our little stunt had worked.
“Bye, bye boys!” I shouted out the window as Reid swung the car around and we headed home.
