The day came to an end, and Caleb waved his friends goodbye. They were allowed to drive to and from school.
Noah drove his father's car and always dropped Evelyn and Kathy off at their houses.
However, Caleb preferred to walk back home to maintain peak physical condition and was getting ready to do so.
He noticed Leila hadn't gone yet. She was waiting for someone, but he wondered if he should ask her or leave her be.
Caleb knew she was new in the neighbourhood and had to ease into her life here, as she lived within proximity to his home—
a 20- to 30-minute walk, to say the least. But Caleb couldn't leave her to her devices, because she might not have known that the bus had already left.
She must not have known, but the bus was on a tight schedule, and she was approximately 10 minutes late.
"Hey, Leila," Caleb greeted her, and this seemed to startle her, to which Caleb quickly added,
"... I didn't mean to scare you," with a smile on his face.
"I-I'm sorry… I wasn't sure if there was anyone still left," Leila said.
"I mean, we aren't in an apocalypse, so there are plenty of us," Caleb responded.
The humour he displayed allowed her to relax, and Caleb could tell she must be tensed up.
"I'm just waiting for the bus," Leila confessed, but the sigh that escaped Caleb's lips told her it wasn't good news.
"The bus has left already, I'm afraid," Caleb informed her, and the sheer horror on her face told him she had no other means of getting home.
"Do you have anyone that can come pick you up?" Caleb followed up, but she shook her head.
There was only a single car in her household, which was used by her father to get to work.
"I don't, but I have strong legs," Leila responded, prompting Caleb to chuckle faintly.
"Caleb here—want to walk together?" Caleb proposed, and Leila's face lit up.
Caleb was so nice, and he hadn't made a move on her either. This was one of the things that was hard to find in boys today.
They would always find a chance to try and make a move, but Caleb showed no interest in her other than being friendly.
"Why can't more boys be like this?" Leila muttered under her breath.
"Did you say something?" Caleb asked, but she was quick to dispute this.
They walked and got talking. Caleb didn't divulge any information regarding his family and gave her a fabricated tale—
one that his father had hammered into him at a young age. To everyone else, his caretaker was his mother.
However, Leila spoke a lot about herself and her family. She kept talking and talking, but this meant Caleb didn't need to talk as much,
allowing him to act as a listener rather than a talker, which worked for him.
But he noticed her full name was something he had heard before—specifically her surname.
"Parris?" Caleb muttered and remembered where he knew it from. She had the same surname as one of the witches who was executed during the Salem trials.
There was a chance there wasn't any relation, but Caleb had been reading about these things, as books of this kind were everywhere in his home.
Leila looked surprised he made this connection right away because he didn't look like the academic type.
"Related?" Caleb asked, and she nodded to affirm what he pointed out.
"That is right, I'm a witch," Leila said, and both paused for a second before bursting out laughing.
"I better be careful not to get on your bad side," Caleb added, chuckling at the thought of this.
"You better not, or I might turn you to salt!" Leila responded, and both of them chuckled.
Caleb was having fun, and Leila was surprised such a person existed to begin with.
They arrived at her front door shortly after, but there was a woman on the lawn.
The woman looked at Caleb for a second before looking at the girl beside him.
"You have to excuse my mother, she is skeptical about strangers," Leila apologized, but Caleb didn't see this as a big deal—
the world was a scary place.
"It is fine," Caleb responded, but the woman didn't say a word. She just looked at him like she knew something he didn't, which made him uncomfortable.
Leila said her goodbye and quickly left his side, but Caleb stood there, locked in an awkward staring contest with her mother.
Suddenly, the woman smiled at him—and boy, was she gorgeous. She had all the proportions that would easily make her desirable.
However, Caleb was never one to lose his cool in front of an attractive woman, and he smiled right back at her.
"Hello, Mrs. Parris," Caleb greeted her, and the woman's smile faded from her face as she looked at her daughter with a scowl.
Caleb wanted no part in what was unfolding and took a step away from their driveway.
He noticed this house had a garden—it was in good shape and had tons of flowers to beautify the place.
"See you in school, Leila. Goodbye, Mrs. Parris," Caleb said before excusing himself.
Mrs Parris had the frame every woman strived for, but why was she looking at her daughter like she had committed a war crime?
"What was that about?" Caleb thought to himself.
"Mother, you did not need to put him off," Leila said. The atmosphere was nowhere near as intense as she had made it seem when Caleb was there.
"I did. You must have sensed it too," Mrs. Parris said, and Leila sighed upon hearing it.
"Sensed what?" Leila asked with a raised brow, but Mrs Parris sighed at her inexperienced daughter—it showed her lack of awareness.
Leila wasn't playing when she revealed herself to be a witch, but the magic Eileen used was too advanced for anyone who wasn't of an equal rank to sense.
The witches couldn't use their magic carelessly either, otherwise, it would attract hunters, which would ultimately result in their death.
Magic didn't make them immune, especially against a skilled hunter, because they lacked the combat experience to match theirs.
"That boy has magic on him, Leila," Mrs Parris said, but Leila was confused because there was no way he was a witch.
There was a reason they moved around so much—they could never stay in one place for too long, nor could they use their magic.
So if there was residue of magic on him, why weren't the hunters here because of it?
Something was going on with that family, and Mrs. Parris was about to find out.
Either way, she wasn't here because she wanted to be—there were rumours about a hunter who was in cohorts with witches.
She hoped the Church would be willing to leave her daughter alone because she had never practised magic in her life.
And this hunter would be her card to that freedom—however, it was unknown how she got hold of this information to begin with.