The Hierophant (Book 1 in The Arcana Series) by Madeline Claire Franklin

my father is home. It’s late, and I’m exhausted, so I forego my violin in favor of some “quality time.” I bundle up in a pile of blankets on my living room couch while my father watches television, but I’m barely there, occasionally responding to the smart remarks he makes about various reality TV shows while my attention is focused elsewhere.
    My eyes move back and forth between my father’s familiar profile and the open conversation with Kyla on my inbox screen on my phone. I wonder what my father would say if I told him everything that has been going on? Not the near-drowning—God no, he’d worry about me every time I went near a body of water if I told him about that—but the other things. Would he be able to help me, the way fathers help their little girls when they have problems they can’t seem to overcome on their own? Maybe he would try, but in all likelihood, he would probably take me back to the counselor I had to see when mom first got sick.
    But what about Kyla? She knows about the Sura I’ve been seeing for the last four years. Why am I suddenly keeping secrets from her?
    Maybe it’s because my ability to see into this other world is improving, and my involvement is deepening, while hers remains the same: virtually non-existent.
    Maybe some part of me is afraid to get Kyla involved at all, now that it's moved beyond just seeing shadows at dusk and casting protection spells.
    Or, maybe I don’t really believe she believes me.
    I could call her right now, tell her everything. But I think about dialing Trebor’s number instead, and while my heart shrinks from spilling everything to Kyla, my heart leaps at the idea that he might have the answers I’ve been looking for, to questions I’ve never known how to ask.
    Is this how it happens? How Kyla and I finally fall apart? I've been waiting for it to happen since she told me she was skipping 8th grade and going straight into high school. I waited for it while my peers grew more aggressive and cruel, while her friends ignored me, while the walls around my heart rose higher and higher. Some days, I don't know why Kyla has remained my friend, outside of her unyielding sense of loyalty.
    But she's getting fed up with me, I can sense it. She's sick of my need to protect myself, my refusal to let others in. She's probably sick of being my best friend—really, my only friend. Now my walls are climbing higher, and soon even she won’t be able to scale them.
    I don’t want that . I just don’t know what else to do.
    My phone vibrates. Another conversation appears in my inbox—Andy.
     
    ANDY: Hey, how you feeling kid?
     
    I stare at his text message, feel odd about it, wonder if I should respond to it. I could not and say I was sleeping. Or, I could just be normal for once in my life and communicate.
     
    ME: Tired, but ok. Thanks for asking
     
    I blink. Even my texts look noncommittal and apathetic. Why do I suck at human interaction?
     
    ANDY: Hey we were all worried about you
    ANDY: And I was hoping you'd be up for coffee later maybe
     
    I gawk at what my phone is saying. Is he asking me out on a date? No. He just wants to talk to me about the Ouros, I’m certain.
     
    ME: I think I'm going to bed early tonight actually, sorry : /
     
    Emoticons make everything okay.
     
    ANDY: oh yeah, understandable.
    ANDY: what about tomorrow?
     
    I blink again. Persistent, huh? Well, Kyla insists he's okay. She insists he's safe. He has been nice. And I can’t think of a good lie to get out of it right now.
     
    ME: sure. what time were you thinking?
    ANDY: awesome! williamsville sbux at 2?
    ME: sounds good. see you then
    ANDY: great! have a good night!
     
    I swallow.
    Well, that just happened.
    “Who you chatting with?” My dad asks.
    “Um, a guy from school,” I mention casually. “He’s interested in the history of mom’s clan, he wants to get together and talk about it some time.”
    My dad’s eyes slide over to me in a way I’ve never seen