Read Online Arkadia (Halfway House Series Book 1) by Dzintra Sullivan - Free Book Online

urge to pout, knowing this was not the time to push Eloise, and for fear of spending the night as a cockroach in a jar.
    Eloise breathed deeply, and the energy in the room dropping a level. “Oh honey, I understand, I do, but facts are, you are not like other kids. They will not get banished in five months if they don’t pass their PSEs, YOU WILL!!” Eloise pleaded with Arkadia to understand the gravity of the situation she was in.
    “I get it, I DO understand, I just want to … I don’t know … be normal.” Arkadia slumped on the bottom step, feeling defeated. Eloise sat next to her, wrapping her arm around her shoulder. This was the first time Eloise had been able to actually hold her, and they both sat for a few heart beats, just sitting.
    “Your spells worked, Arkadia, do you understand, they worked. It’s your concentration that sucks.” Eloise chuckled softly. “Took me ages to get the knots out of my hair, was quite a storm you conjured up.” Arkadia smiled and sniffed.
    “It’s just so hard. Eloise, why is it so hard for me?”
    “Because you’re special.” Eloise kissed the top of her head and stood up, extending her hand to help Arkadia off the step. “Go have some fun, be safe, make good choices, no magic, and in exchange, you give me two hours tomorrow?” Eloise asked.
    “But tomorrow is Sunday,” Arkadia whined. Eloise simply raised her eyebrow. “Okay, okay, okay. Tomorrow, two hours, I’m all yours, but don’t complain when this time I take out a wall or three.” Giving Eloise a light almost half-hug, she whispered, “Thank you.” Then Arkadia grabbed her sweater and bag and walked out the door.
    Cat pulled up in her father’s red jeep. She had freshly re-dyed the bottom of her hair, and the blue had gone from a washed-out baby blue to a woooah, it’s a hot summer’s day sky blue. She looked at Arkadia with a big cheesy grin on her face. “Ready to go, lover girl?” she teased.
    Jumping in the car and pulling across her seat belt, Arkadia replied, “Ready, let’s go see some touch-downs!” Cat let out a howling laugh.
    “Goals, Arkadia, goals. It’s hockey, not football.” Cat was still laughing as she drove off down the street, and Arkadia hoped she wasn’t going to make a fool out of herself tonight; after all, Bohdan had asked her to come. Letting out a big dreamy sigh, Arkadia relaxed into the seat as Cat drove to the rink.
     

Chapter Twelve
     
    Arkadia walked into the ice hockey rink, and followed Cat down to the player’s bench. She was looking for her brother. This was Arkadia’s first time at a rink. She understood the irony of being a Canadian and not being able to ice skate, but her family was more a ‘hide the freaks’ kind of family, so they always kept very much to themselves. She wasn’t often allowed to mingle with other children for fear that she would make them grow an extra head. Standing still, she closed her eyes and let her senses open up. The sound of the growing crowd was almost deafening, bombarding her with so many conversations all happening at the same time: “Little Joey did this,” and “Did you hear who is sleeping with Mrs. Jones.”
    OMG. It’s so loud, how can anyone think straight? Arkadia opened her eyes. She had never been so happy to have remembered her sweater; even with the jeans, her black bomber jacket, and her thick chocolate shaggy sweater still weren’t enough. She shivered as she rubbed her hands together. Arkadia covered her mouth and nose with her hands, breathing hot air out to warm up her rapidly numbing nose. Looking over at Cat, she parted her hands slightly and yelled over the noise, “Is it always this cold? It’s like a freaking fridge, Cat!!” Cat laughed as she pulled out a spare pair of gloves from her bag.
    “Thought you might need these.” Cat winked as she handed them over, and Arkadia slipped on the softest black gloves, lined with what felt like velvet. Arkadia didn’t care, and she