Heat filled my chest, so I turned away from the newcomers and looked instead into Tomás’s brown eyes. He opened his mouth to speak. “What are you doing this weekend?”
I shrugged. “I’m a broke foster kid stuck at the end of a town with no way around. I’m probably not doing much.”
“Let me take you out then,” Tomás smirked, leaning forward.
I instinctively leaned forward also. They were close enough that I could smell the mint of Tomás’s breath, and I breathed it in. “I’d like that,” I murmured, breaking eye contact and staring at his lips instead.
Tomás leaned back in his seat, breaking the hypnosis I had found myself in. Alana, over in her corner, laughed loudly again, followed by Cyrus’ own chuckle. I turned to my work laid in front of me, schoolwork that had been forgotten by magic.
“I’ll see you Friday night?” Tomás asked.
I nodded slowly. “Yeah that sounds fun,” I turned to him with a smile.
Tomás pointed his chin at my schoolwork. “I’ll let you get back to that,” he murmured. He placed his hand on my shoulder, causing me to shudder under the warm touch, and he left the library.
I turned my attention back to Cyrus and Alana, who were sitting incredibly close. I felt confused as to why I wasn’t excited at Tomás asking me out. Why I was more concerned with the fact that Cyrus was tucking a lock of Alana’s pretty blonde hair behind her ear…
I stood abruptly, frantically grabbing at all my paperwork to shove it into my bag. I wanted Lily. To gossip. Like normal girls.
◆◆◆
Lily was in the kitchen, eating like she most often was. For how much the girl ate, I was surprised she wasn’t a lot bigger weight-wise. I grabbed two cups out of the cupboard and started to make tea for the both of us.
“How do you do it?” I asked almost in a whisper.
“Do what?”
“Tea reading, or whatever.”
I waited patiently for the water to boil in the kettle while Lily bit at her apple. When the kettle began to screech with heat, I removed it from the stove and poured it into the mugs. I used loose chamomile for flavor but added some cinnamon and lemon. Then Lily appeared next to me, taking her mug and placing a hand over it. For someone who didn’t know that magic was imminent, it just looked as if Lily was going to pick up the cup that way.
“You need to feel what it is you want to know. Picture it in your mind. Be very specific, but also be nondescript.” She exhaled deeply as if blowing the heat away from the cup. Then she pushed it over to me. “Now you try.”
“And that’s what you used on me? To find out I was a witch?”
Lily nodded. I looked at my cup, which was to be Lily’s cup once my spell was over. I placed my hand over it just as Lily had, and closed my eyes, picturing what I wanted to know from Lily’s mind. I couldn’t think of anything specifically, so I asked for a favorite color.
The water within the cup seemed to get hotter and hotter, boiling with anticipation. I removed my hand quickly, shaking out the pain that spread throughout my skin as if I had been burned.
“What did I do?”
Lily pushed the boiling cup into the sink and turned on the faucet to cool it down. “Wasted a cup of tea, that’s what,” she joked.
“Why didn’t it work?”
“I'm not sure. Baby witches are usually taught to do this before their powers even manifest."
“Sorry to disappoint.”
Lily got out the ingredients to make another cup as I took a sip of my own tea. I sighed loudly, hoping to catch my friend’s attention.
“What are you over there sighing all dramatically for?”
“I got asked out,” I proclaimed excitedly.
“Yeah? By who?”
“Tomás.”
Lily scrunched her nose, almost as if she was disappointed. “Oh.”
“Who was supposed to ask me out?”
“No one.” Lily poured the rest of the boiling water into a mug, with all the fixings that I had used the first time. “It shouldn’t be serious, though.”
“What do you mean?”
Lily picked up her cup and went to sit back down on the island again, picking up her existing apple and taking another bite. “I mean, your thing with Tomás. If it becomes a thing, anyway.”
“Why not?”
“Because witches and mortals can’t stay together. It might be fun to date them or whatever, but you’ll never be able to have a family with them. Or tell them about magic.” Lily shrugged. “What’s life if you can’t tell your spouse about your entire life?”
“Why can’t you have a family?”
“Are you kidding me? Halfbloods are the worst.” Lily scrunched her nose up in disgust. “My mama went to class with one, before the whole thing was outlawed. And this kid couldn’t even control the elements. And his powers were just based on emotion. Had no control whatsoever.”
“Like me,” I murmured.
“Well, not exactly. You just have to learn to control. Halfbloods can’t.”
I bit at my lip. “But I like Tomás.”
“Well, unlike him before it becomes too serious. You still have to convince the Order to like you, and you want to throw a mortal boyfriend into the mix? Yikes.”
I looked down at my cup, brewing over what Lily had said to me. She wasn’t wrong, but I was not the type of person to like rules being put on me, especially rules for a society that didn’t even want me around in the first place.
“I’m not gonna end a relationship that’s barely even started over something as stupid as they think I’m gonna procreate.” I scoffed. “I’m sixteen, for crying out loud.”
Lily shrugged. “Your mom was eighteen.”
“Yeah, let’s talk about the statistics of teen pregnancy.”
Lily rolled her eyes. “I’m just saying. There’s no point in making your life harder, Noa.”
“Well, I don’t see the point in you making it into a problem.” I took another sip from my cup. “It’s just a date. Harmless.” The tone in my voice made it clear that that was the end of the conversation.
CHAPTER 12
I stepped away from the mirror to study myself. My usual almost-straight hair was now in waves, courtesy of french braids with wet hair that I’d worn all day to school. I had a little make-up on, something I also didn’t use very often, but today I wanted to hide my red cheeks and add a bit more definition to my eyelashes. My outfit of the night was borrowed from Alana who was thankfully my size. I wore a collared white blouse with a gray sweatshirt over, the shirt’s collar peeking out over the sweater’s neckline. I paired it with the nicest jeans I owned and a pair of black booties from Alana. I smoothed out my shirt once more and huffed.
“I could give you earrings,” Lily suggested, peering her head into our shared bathroom.
“My ears aren’t pierced,” I admitted grumpily.
“Well, you still look cute.”
I turned away from the mirror and walked past Lily, heading over to my bed and collapsing on top of my scratchy blanket. “I’m not going.”
Lily snorted, heading back to her own bed and climbing into her huge fluffy comforter. “Why not? So adamant about it on Tuesday.”
“Because.”
“Just go. Have fun. Be a mortal kid again, none of this witchy nonsense.”
I huffed. My phone buzzed, and I fished it out of my pocket, staring at the screen. A text from Tomás. Ready?
I sat up, fixed my hair, and tucked my phone back into my jeans. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll go.” And save myself from disappointing Tomás on the fact that I don’t want to go.
I didn’t exactly know why I was having cold feet. I hadn’t seen much of Tomás since he’d asked me out. We rode the bus together this morning after my suspension had ended. And we rode home together. I had given his book back to him the day before, and he had thanked me.
Maybe it was because I had never been on a real date, especially with someone like Tomás. Maybe
I had spent all of the night before convincing myself he wouldn’t even like me. I barely even liked myself.
I left my bedroom, and bounded down the stairs, heading towards the foyer where Tomás waited with his hands in his pockets. He looked so cute, standing there. Unlike Cyrus’ long wavy locks, Tomás kept his hair cut close to his head and gelled back. He wore a white t-shirt and dark jeans and black Vans. He beamed brightly as I ascended the stairs, and I tried my best to return the smile, but I could already feel the burn in my cheeks.
“You look great,” Tomás said.
“Thanks,” I replied. “You too.”
Tomás pulled out his phone and waved it at me. “The Uber is a few minutes out,” he said. “Do you like burgers?”
My mouth watered at the mention of cheeseburgers. I hadn’t had a good one in forever. I had two gay foster parents a few families back and they made some bomb ones. I nodded slowly at the memory, and also Tomás’s question.
“Awesome. I didn’t want to go somewhere too fancy. But there’s this diner I really like downtown.”
“That sounds great,” I said. Tomás opened the door and made way for me to step through, then he closed the door behind himself after. We had to walk to the entrance of Gardenside for the Uber, so we began to make our way down the dirt path in silence.
By the time we reached the wrought-iron gates of the grounds, we were illuminated in the headlights of a waiting vehicle. We slipped through the gate, Tomás locking it again behind us, and then entered the backseat together. I shivered, not from the early August heat, but from the sudden excitement and adrenaline that filled my body.
“What’s this diner called?” I asked.
“Toby’s,” Tomás replied. “My parents and I used to visit Seamont all the time for summer when I was younger. We had a boat out here we’d take and just spend all day fishing.”
“That sounds fun.”
“It was. My younger brother hated it. He’d much rather have stayed in Chicago and done drugs or something.”
I bit her lip. A brother. He has a brother. “How’d you end up here?” I asked quietly.
“In Gardenside or Seamont?” Tomás replied with a smirk.
“Either or.”
“My brother and I were separated super quick. My aunt could only take in one of us, and since I loved South Carolina so much, I volunteered to move down here. Last I heard, Mateo was adopted. But we don’t keep much contact.”
“And your aunt?”
“Dementia. Three years after getting custody, she just forgot who I was.”
Tomás was silent for a moment as if he was reminiscing. Then he opened his mouth to speak again as if getting into the flow of his story was all it took to tell it. “My mom got cancer, and chemo didn’t do anything for her. Afterward, my dad just drank his life away. Ended up in a bad situation. He’ll spend the next twenty years in jail.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know if an apology would be enough. I also never knew what to say to kids who lost their parents. As someone who never had any, I just felt a pang of jealousy. I would never know the pain of losing a parent because I instead endured the pain of never having them in the first place.
“But the Rembrandt baby,” Tomás smirked. “That’s an interesting story.”
“Oh yeah. I felt actual sorrow when Blockbuster went out of business.”
Both teens laughed loudly, earning a dirty look from the driver through the rearview mirror. I picked at my fingernails. “I don’t know if I’m lucky I don’t have a true sob story. Just a bunch of families who didn’t like me and had the opportunity to give me back.”
“Trust me, real parents wish they can give their kids back sometimes too.”
I smiled. “Yeah, but there’s still times I wish I could’ve met my mom. Especially lately.”
Silence.
I spent that time with my head wrapped in magic again. I had told myself I wasn’t going to dwell on witchcraft and circles and whatnot, but obviously, the topic of my mother was just a straight shot to the rest.
The car pulled up to the curb outside of a restaurant on New River, which was the boardwalk and main tourism trap of Seamont. I shuffled out of the car as Tomás held the door open for me. Tomás thanked the driver and then held out his hand for me to take. I accepted it, and wrapped my hand in the warmth of his, feeling my cheeks redden again. I had never held hands with a boy before.
Tomás released my hand just as quickly to hold open the door to the restaurant, following me behind and resting his hand on the small of my back. I shuddered at his light touch and leaned back subconsciously into the feeling of affection.
“Two?” the waitress asked with a huge smile.
Tomás nodded, and the waitress grabbed menus and silverware, leading us to a table in the back. The diner was amazingly cute and basically looked like it had stepped out of a 50’s magazine. The linoleum was checkered white and black, and the walls were covered in neon signs, old pictures, license plates.
I slid into the red leather booth and Tomás slid into the one across from me. The waitress placed two menus in front of us and left. Tomás opened the menu and started to read off his favorite choices.
“All American burger is a must-try. Their cajun fries here are also bomb. And milkshakes too.”
I giggled. “You’re gonna make me puke after all this.”
“I’m not saying you have to eat all of it.”
I suddenly felt self-conscious about my money situation. With all the witchy drama, I’d been too sidetracked to find a job. I had a few bills left from my last job in Beaufort, but I’d left it back at the house in my bag. It’s a date, Lily had insisted. He pays.
But not if he expected me to get all this food.
I looked for the cheapest thing on the menu, which was a plate of chicken tenders and fries for nine dollars. I’d also get water, which was free.
A new waitress came to take their order, a cute chubby girl with red hair and even redder lips. “Can I get y'all something to drink?”
“Two Cokes,” Tomás replied before I had a chance to say anything. “And a vanilla milkshake. You like vanilla right?” He looked towards me expectantly.
I nodded slowly, my cheeks on fire and beginning to itch badly. The waitress nodded, "What kind of Cokes y'all like? We have Pepsi products and sweet tea."
"Oh yeah, we're in the South. Everything is Coke." Tomás laughed. "Pepsi is fine."
The waitress wrote on her notepad, and walked away, leaving the two teens back in awkward silence.
“Don’t worry about the bill,” Tomás spoke up as if reading my mind. I looked up from picking my fingernails.
“I-I—“
“Your face lit up like Rudolph.”
I pursed my lips together. Damn skin conditions giving away all my secrets.
“Besides,” Tomás pulled out his wallet and showed me a shiny black bank card. “A benefit of a dead parent is life insurance money.”
“I thought you don’t get that until eighteen,” I murmured.
“Half, paid out each month from start until I turn eighteen. Then a lump sum on my birthday.”
“So you get shoved into a foster system, but at least you get paid.”
“Yeah, how else am I supposed to take my girl out to dinner?”
The itchiness in my face became so much worse. I cursed myself for wearing makeup, which aggravated my rosacea anyway, and I didn’t even think to bring my face cream with me. He just called me his girl.
“I’m sorry, was that too much?”
“No. I was just surprised,” I smiled warmly. “I like you a lot. I like the way we get along.”
“Me too.”
◆◆◆
The rest of the date was just as awkward as any other first dates would be. Soon, I found myself in an Uber with Tomás heading back to Gardenside to meet Elsa’s curfew of ten o'clock. We held hands, mine quickly becoming clammy. I didn’t know if it’d be rude to take my hand away and wi
pe my hand dry, but I also didn’t want to gross him out with just how sweaty my hands were. I was absolutely wrecked with the anxiety of this predicament I found myself in.
When we arrived at the gate to Gardenside, Tomás let go of my hand to leave the car, and I slid out of the car from the same side, wiping my hands on my jeans to get them as dry as I could. Tomás pressed the gate’s key code into the call box and the gate creaked open slowly. Then he reached out for me to take his hand again, and I did.
We walked back to Gardenside house together, hand in hand. I felt as if it was natural now, and just felt at ease holding his hand. I thought back to the events of the night, where Tomás had fed me cajun fries and looked at me in disgust when I dipped the fries first into our shared milkshake but turned into a true believer when I made him try it himself.
“It’s good, right?” I had insisted with a laugh.
“Fine, you win this one.”
I blushed, and Tomás tightened his grip on my hand. We made it back to the front steps of Gardenside, and Tomás led me to the place where we’d first met, off to the side. I sat in the exact spot he had found me that day, less than a week ago.
“I had a good time with you tonight,” Tomás whispered, still holding tightly onto my hand.
“Me too.”
Tomás leaned in closer, letting go of my hand to instead cup my face. I gulped, felt my cheeks inflame in itchy pain once more as Tomás’s lips touched mine. I wanted my world to explode in fire and sparks as our lips moved together like it was in the movies. And it did.
CHAPTER 13
I was still reeling from the kiss I had outside when I came into my bedroom. I had my first kiss. After my first real date. A boy who actually liked me. I bit my lip and smiled softly, peeling off my sweater and throwing it onto the floor.
“You look happy,” Lily noted, still hadn’t moved from her spot curled under her comforter.
The Power of Witches Page 7