Perilous Waters by Diana Paz

bangs, unsure of what to say. What was up with her, lately? She found herself wanting to make Angie happy. “Whatever, mother ,” she finally mumbled. “I’ll try to tone it down.”
    “It’s okay,” Angie said, her pink lips forming a soft smile that changed her face back into its usual doll-like expression. “I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and added, “If you change your mind about the bonfire, we’ll be at Cabrillo. You could always join us later.”
    “It would be kind of cool if you could come,” Julia said.
    Kaitlyn blinked in surprise. Julia didn’t usually want her around.
    Before she could think to answer, Julia added, “If you come, we can just use our powers to teleport there. It’ll save us so much time driving and we won’t need to find a parking spot.”
    No surprise. The only reason Julia wanted her to come along was so she could use her magic.
    Whatever. She would never join in their little fake friendship. They only cared about themselves, and that was just fine. She didn’t want to go to an idiotic beach bonfire. What was this, 1965? “You’ll have to figure out parking at your little Beach Blanket Bingo thing without me,” she said, bored of them both and letting her voice show it. “Like I said, I’m not going.”
    Angie only nodded and returned to setting out black crystals and other objects of power on a candle-lined table. “There,” she said, sitting on a cushion and holding her small hand out in invitation, indicating the cushions on each side. “Let’s get started.”
    Kaitlyn took her spot, sitting on the pillow in front of the symbol matching the one on her arm. A star surrounded by smaller stars shimmered on the table. If she looked at them long enough, something in them shifted. They became like real stars on a blanket of darkness. Their silvery light shone with secrets, and Kaitlyn watched their flickering brightness for a moment before blinking rapidly, chasing the image away.
    Even using this small amount of magic caused the mark on her arm to become warm. The normally golden symbols that snaked around the skin below her shoulder grew white with blazing power. The other girls looked at her—one with wide blue eyes and parted, rose-petal lips, the other with a dark, narrowed gaze that made Kaitlyn’s hands curl into fists.
    “Good start, Kaitlyn,” Angie finally said, holding out her hands.
    Kaitlyn’s magic coursed through her body. She liked the way it felt as it built inside of her. The aching pressure of it… the power. She placed her hand in Angie’s and offered her other hand to Julia. The moment the three of them touched, the magic became a living thing between them. Kaitlyn formed a protective barrier across her mind as whispered thoughts and echoed emotions coursed through her body. The part about them sharing emotions sucked. She didn’t want anyone poking around in her brain. The force field she had learned to put up helped, but Angie was more powerful than she was. If Angie really wanted to go into her mind, there wouldn’t be much Kaitlyn could do to stop her.
    She felt Julia drawing out a portion of her magic. Kaitlyn’s instinct was always to try and stop her, but she eased up and let a small amount of magic flow from her body.
    “I need more than that,” Julia said.
    “It doesn’t take you much to freeze time,” Kaitlyn said.
    “Not much, but I’d rather not pass out from using all of my own magic. That’s why there are three of us.”
    Kaitlyn’s jaw tightened but she allowed more magic to release into Julia’s body. “There. Are you happy now?”
    A small burst of satisfaction filtered through Julia’s emotions. Kaitlyn nearly yanked her hand back, but acting out would only give Julia more reason to mock her. Anytime now , she said, sending her an aggravated stab of magic.
    Julia’s satisfaction only grew. “There,” she said, her eyes blinking open.
    Kaitlyn glanced