Grabbing the red bikini she had bought at the end of last season, Scarlet yanked the tags off and threw it into her already stuffed suitcase.

"Are you sure you packed the right clothes for me?" Diesel sat on Scarlet's bed, hands above his head holding onto the headboard. He wore his black shirt again, even though she had packed him several less mournful ones.

"You can buy you some board shorts and flip flops when we get there." She jumped on the bed and crawled onto his lap. "Cancun! Beaches and sunshine, Baby!" She had been disappointed when she had found out no seats were available until that night. Since then, they had bought their tickets online, and all they had to do now was get to the airport within the next couple of hours. For the first time in her life, Scarlet foresaw happiness in her future.

"And we'll be all alone," he said.

"You like, huh?"

She recognized a small part of her "pre-dead-mom Diesel" as he arched his eyebrow and gently pulled her toward him and kissed her.

As he pulled her closer, she felt something press against her chest. "What's that?" she asked, sitting up. They had been together for over a year, and she had never known him to wear a necklace. She put her hand inside his shirt and pulled out a chain that hung from his neck with a piece of paper attached to it that read:

ABRACADABRA
ABRACADABR
ABRACADAB
ABRACADA
ABRACAD
ABRACA
ABRAC
ABRA
ABR
AB
A

"Oh, Diesel. Come on! Abracadabra? Are you for real?"

He snatched it from her hand. "You don't understand."

"Yes, I do. They're inside your head." She stared at him as he tucked it back inside his shirt. "Take it off."

"I can't… not for another five days."

"Abracadabra is a stupid pretend word that magicians use to distract an audience before they try to fool them with their tricks. It's not real magic."

"It has real power if worn in the correct way," he said in a low voice. "In five more days I'll toss this over my left shoulder into running water, and my bad luck will disappear like the letters."

She shook her head. "Do you hear yourself?"

He held his mouth tight and didn't blink. After a second he said, "You got your way, I'm going with you. Can't you leave this alone?"

"Fine! Wear your stupid charm necklace if you want; let's just get out of here."

"I will."

"Fine."

"Fine," he mocked. A tiny smile peeked out of the side of his mouth as he touched her hair lightly. "Kiss me."

"Fine," she cooed.

"Scarlet!" They heard her mom, Theresa, calling from down the hall.

Diesel shoved at Scarlet, wanting her off his lap. Scarlet didn't want to move; a 17-year-old should be able to sit where she wants.

"Scarlet, move," he pleaded.

"Fine," she huffed and took her time. She still had one leg on Diesel, and pretended to button her shirt, as her mom walked in.

"Oh," Theresa said and looked down at the floor.

Scarlet heard Diesel exhale in disbelief. Just because he's a momma's boy…

"I wanted to let you know that the weather channel said the blizzard is almost here."

"Is that all?"

Theresa spotted the suitcase open and packed. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. Can you shut the door when you leave?" Scarlet waited for her to respond. Although her mom looked plenty mad—her face turned red and her eyes avoided Scarlet's—she still shut the door without a word. Once in awhile, her mom showed some backbone and stood up to her, but not lately. Even convincing her to let Diesel stay on the couch overnight had been easy.

"Go tell her we're leaving," Diesel said.

"Why?" She asked as she zipped up her suitcase.

"You can't leave without telling her. Come on." He winked at her the way he always did before he said, "Who's my girl?"

Her normal response was, "I'm nobody's girl. I'm your woman." However, the thought of talking to her mom had her in no mood to kid around. She stomped out of the room.

To be continued…

Chapter 5 Episode 9 will be posted Dec. 31, 2010.

Complete book available in eBook for the intro price of $0.99 until Jan. 1st. on Nook and Kindle. ($2.99: 2011 price)