Circle of Three #15: Initiation (eBook)

'Do you think maybe you've had enough of those?' Jane asked Cooper. 'No,' Cooper said defensively. 'I don't.' 'Well, at least slow down,' her friend told her. 'If you keep downing them at that rate you're going to be sick, and that would not be pretty.' 'Don't worry,' replied Cooper. 'I can hold my Oreos.' She took another cookie from the box and dunked it into the glass of milk she was holding. She let the cookie get good and wet, then popped it into her mouth and chewed. Jane watched her, a look of concern on her face. 'Do you really think eating Oreos is the answer to this?' she asked Cooper. 'Probably not,' Cooper responded, her mouth full. 'But it can't hurt.' 'I don't know about that,' remarked Jane. 'I think you're on a sugar high. When you crash,it's going to be nasty.' 'Who says I'm going to crash?' Cooper said. 'I'm just going to keep eating these things one after the other. That way I'll never come down.' 'And you'll gain thirty-five pounds,' said Jane, giving Cooper a stern look. 'I refuse to give in to ridiculous standards of female beauty,' Cooper said. 'Big is beautiful.' She picked up another cookie, started to put it in her mouth, and then put it down. She set the glass of milk on the table and sighed. 'Fine,' she said. 'So maybe stuffing myself with crispy chocolate and creamy white filling goodness isn't exactly the most productive way to deal with this.' 'That's better,' Jane said, pushing the box of Oreos out of Cooper's reach. 'Now, do you want to talk or not?' Cooper slumped in her chair. 'I just hate thinking about Kate and Annie being at initiation class while I'm here,' she said unhappily. Jane was quiet for a minute. 'Can you maybe talk to Sophia?' she asked. 'I did that,' answered Cooper. 'All she said was that they didn't think I was quite ready.' She paused a moment. 'I don't get it,' she continued. 'I completed my challenge. I faced my greatest fear. So why don't they think I'm ready? I mean, of everyone there I probably have the most experience with Wicca in the first place. Plus, I've done a lot during the past year. I helped a dead girl find her murderer. I was hazed by faeries. I made Beecher Falls High School safe for pentacle-wearing pagans everywhere. Oh, and I helped stop a totally insane ghost from turning us all into icicles.' She looked at Jane as if she expected a response, but before the other girl could say anything Cooper started ranting again. 'That doesn't even include the fact that I got a boyfriend, quit one band and started another one, survived my parents' getting divorced and my mother's temporary drinking issues, had my name all over the papers not once but twice, and started jogging.' 'Are you done now?' asked Jane when Cooper stopped talking. Cooper nodded. 'All those things are great,' Jane said. 'If you were applying to witch college, I'm sure they'd be very impressed by your extracurricular activities and give you a full scholarship.' 'Hey!' Cooper said, sounding hurt.