“Should?”
“I don’t know. He hasn’t told me anything.” Nico sighed. “I’ve tried asking him, but Martin refuses to talk about it. Says he’d rather focus on me than think about post-graduation.”
“That’s flattering.” Hijiri frowned. “Kind of.”
“Not really. He’s thrown himself into student government, now more than ever. I wonder what he’s trying to run from.” He shook his head. “It seems like only yesterday that we saved him from Camille. But come May, I might have to say good-bye to him.”
Hijiri buried her hands in her shirt, twisting the hem. She wanted to devise a charm for Nico and Martin. Her fingers itched. A communication love charm. But neither boy would accept her charm, no matter how well-meant. “What did Fallon tell you?”
“To keep chipping away at Martin until he caves.”
“Well, there you go.”
Nico finished his coffee. “It’s not that easy. Martin clams up whenever I mention the subject. I don’t want … I don’t want to lose him, just because I’m curious.”
“You have a right to be curious. He’s your boyfriend. You need to know what’s going to happen after May.” Hijiri fought the itch to craft by rising to her feet. She circled the bench, pacing. I wish they would accept a love charm. I don’t know how else to help. After the challenge, she wasn’t sure if her instincts alone were good enough to rely on.
“Oh, look who’s here,” Nico said with a smile.
Hijiri looked to her left, seeing a familiar boy leading a couple across a bridge. Ken was walking backward, talking excitedly to the couple—Sofie and Lars. Her heart thumped with a startling mix of fear and surprise. What was Ken doing with them?
Ken whipped around as they came close. “Hijiri, you wouldn’t believe the luck I had, running into Sofie and Lars on their first date.”
“First date already?” Hijiri asked without thinking.
“Why wait?” Sofie said. She was holding hands with Lars, her energy positively glowing.
“The first of many, I hope,” Lars said, his eyes soft behind his gold-rimmed glasses.
Hijiri wished she could have felt happy for them, but her eyes burned with unshed tears. Sanders’s question brought them together. I didn’t do anything. Seeing the happy couple only made her hurt worse.
Nico asked them if they were considering Sunday’s romantic night cruise. The couple exchanged glances and said yes at the same time.
A second date, Hijiri thought, sinking back down on the bench.
If anyone noticed her discomfort, they didn’t give any indication. As Nico led Lars to the Barnes booth, Sofie took a seat next to Hijiri. “I’m sorry about how the challenge turned out,” Sofie said.
“There’s only one winner,” Hijiri said, sniffing.
“No matter how the voting turned out, I want you to know that your question was the one that helped me figure out which man I was interested in,” Sofie said firmly.
Hijiri’s lungs stopped working.
“That’s not to say the other questions weren’t helpful,” Sofie said, “but none of those questions were ones I would have asked if I’d had the choice. The museum question was just … perfect. I needed to know how the men would answer. I just applied for a volunteer position at Grimbaud’s art museum. I know the experience will make me a better teacher. I never thought that meeting a man who shared my love of the museum was something I ever expected or looked for when dating.”
Lars returned with cruise tickets, catching the end of Sofie’s response. “My parents used to take me to the museum every weekend when I was a boy,” he added, smiling at Hijiri. “I got bored by the new exhibits, and my parents never figured out why.”
“Maybe they didn’t realize how attached you became to ancient clay pots and watercolors,” Sofie said.
Lars sobered. “I hated anything that went away. The more permanent a thing was, the better.”
“Your parents…” Sofie ventured.
“They struggled,” Lars said, forcing the smile back on his face. “The permanent exhibits gave me hope. If they could last thousands of years relatively in one piece for people to admire and enjoy, then I could be just as strong as they were. I know it’s an odd thought, but—”
“It’s beautiful,” Sofie insisted.
“We’re on our way to the museum now,” Lars said.
Hijiri stood up. Her cheeks burned and her heart felt ready to cry. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Then it’s true? My question really helped you like this?” she asked.
“We’re so glad your friend Ken found us so that we had the chance to tell you.” Sofie touched Hijiri’s shoulder with her charcoal-stained hand. “I—no, we—wanted you to know how thankful we are that your question allowed us to find each other.”
“You’ve earned our votes, Hijiri,” Lars said.
Hijiri choked back a sob. She covered her mouth with her hand and squeezed her eyes shut. “Thank you,” she whispered.
As the couple went on their way, Nico beamed from where he stood outside the booth.
Ken ruffled his hair, failing to hide his high-beam smile. “See what I mean, Hijiri? You made a difference. You brought two people together using your instincts. And the club’s help. You shouldn’t ever doubt your abilities.”
Sofie’s words echoed in her head. The woman who actually fell in love thanked her. The town’s opinion on the matter suddenly felt less important. Hijiri started shaking as tears slid down her cheeks.
Her heart broke out of its box and took control. Hijiri threw her arms around Ken, startling him as he stumbled backward. Her forehead bumped his chin, and her cheek rubbed against the scratchy fabric of his sweater.
He said her name, probably a few times. When she didn’t move, Ken gingerly drew her close. His hands were warm on her back. She breathed in his cool, evergreen scent.
Using his sweater as a tissue, Hijiri softly cried. She couldn’t put into words how she felt. Little by little, her faith in herself came trickling back.
The thump-thumping of Ken’s heart betrayed him; he was nervous, or maybe just startled, though his voice remained gentle. “What’s the matter? Aren’t you happy?”
The simple questions made her want to laugh, but it came out more as a strange sob. “I forgot,” she said.
Ken waited.
“I forgot that it’s about the person using the love charm.” Love charms weren’t supposed to be the stuff of popularity contests. Contests were fun and necessary sometimes, but the power of a love charm was personal. As long as the person or couple using it was satisfied, the love charm-maker did his or her job. She couldn’t afford to forget that, no matter how immersed she became in Grimbaud’s contest.
Feeling came rushing back into her fingertips. Her skin heated up as she realized how inappropriate her hug was. Hijiri stepped back. “I shouldn’t have done that,” she said.
Hurt flashed in his eyes. “Don’t apologize for hugging me. I’m glad you did.”
She sniffed.
“You look better already.”
Nico jogged up to them, a curious look on his face.
“I’m fine,” she stressed. The tears on her face had dried thanks to Ken’s sweater. “I’m just not used to…” Being exposed. Hugging boys because I needed it. Crying. Definitely crying. She had never considered herself a crier until coming to Grimbaud.
“Sure you won’t drink coffee? It always makes me feel better,” Nico offered.
“She doesn’t drink coffee?” Ken asked.
“Gives her headaches.”
Ken rubbed his chin. “With that extra caffeine, she’d be a love charm-making machine. We’d blink and her apartment would be crammed with new charms.”
“You’re right.” Nico deadpanned, “It could be the worst crisis Grimbaud has faced in ages.”
Hijiri managed a laugh, even though her body felt leaden. “It’s not worth suffering through that drink. Tastes like mud.”
The boy
s couldn’t argue with that, though Ken insisted that using unhealthy amounts of sugar and milk could help. “It’s an option,” he said, after letting Nico get back to work. “In case you run out of energy.”
September had already proved that she would be working long and hard this semester. The month had only just begun and yet she’d already failed one challenge by losing the popular vote and was not any closer to solving Ken. So how am I doing, Love? Hijiri thought grimly. She wasn’t sure if she wanted the answer.
Chapter 7
THE UNFORTUNATE ACCIDENT
The charm theory club met in the same science room as last year, this time on Wednesdays after school. Stepping into the classroom again, Hijiri was hit with memories from the first time the rebellion, under the guise of the club, met one another. Since the science rooms were in the basement, shadows splashed the walls and the lightbulbs alone couldn’t dispel them. Jars of animal parts lined the shelves in the back.
Ken unsnapped his chest strap and dropped his backpack on a desk. He examined the room, drinking in the details. He picked up the jar of eyeballs and weighed it in his hands. Flipping it over, he ran a finger over the glass underside. His mouth twitched into a smile. “Watch this,” he said. He twisted the jar.
“Don’t open it,” Hijiri said. She braced herself for a pickled, vinegary scent.
Fallon and Sebastian came into the room, and Fallon gasped when she saw Ken pop the lid off. Sebastian grinned and asked Ken to toss him an eye.
But when Ken reached inside, he pulled out a rubber bouncy ball. And another. And three more. There was no liquid inside. The bouncy balls themselves came in different colors.
Sebastian caught the bouncy ball Ken threw at him. “Where are the eyes?”
“It’s just a trick,” Ken said, pleased. The outside of the jar still showed eyes floating in preservatives.
“How did you know that?” Hijiri asked.
Ken shrugged. “Just a guess.”
“It’s a charm,” Hijiri insisted. “But I don’t know what kind would create an illusion like that.”
Ken put the jar back. “I bet it’s a hearth charm,” he said quietly.
“Did Love teach you about other charms?”
Ken stared at the jars. “All charms are interesting, but hearth charms are my favorite.”
He dodged my question. Why does he keep doing that? Hijiri pressed a hand to her forehead, flattening her bangs. “If Love only created you days ago, how can you possibly know enough to have a favorite type of charm?”
Ken’s eyes flickered over her face. “Sometimes you know what you like. It’s called trusting your heart.”
Hijiri’s cheeks burned under his gaze. She looked down. “So your totally fake charm-heart told you that you love me and you love hearth charms.”
Ken’s jaw tightened. “That’s right,” he said, a little too harshly, and brushed past her to sit next to Sebastian.
Hijiri raised her eyebrows. She was just trying to solve him. Had she said something wrong? If anyone should lose a temper, it should be her. She was getting tired of having her questions unanswered.
“I guess that means dissection isn’t in our future,” Sebastian said, bouncing a ball on the tile.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Mirthe said, overhearing the conversation. She rushed into the room to claim the teacher’s desk. Instead of making room for her twin, she dumped her textbooks across the free space. “Senior biology is scheduled to dissect a pig in November.”
Hijiri leaned forward in her chair, hoping to sneak a peek at Ken. See if he still looked frustrated. With her. Before she could get a good view over Fallon’s shoulder, Femke arrived, creating an entrance that left Mirthe sputtering.
Curls of fog rolled into the room like a carpet. Only the top of Femke’s head and green eyes showed. The fog dampened the room. Hijiri smelled feathers and raindrops.
“What are you doing?” Mirthe shouted, using her folder as a fan. “Don’t bring clouds in here. We won’t be able to see.”
“I wanted to show everyone what I made,” Femke said in her quiet, composed voice.
Mirthe’s fingers went white on her folder.
Femke closed her eyes and the fog shifted, returning to her in frothy waves. The gray fog formed the shape of a dense fur coat. When she walked to the teacher’s desk, the fog left a smoky trail behind her.
“That’s amazing,” Fallon said carefully, her eyes flickering between the twins.
Hijiri wasn’t sure if she should clap or not. Since when did they not celebrate the twins’ inventive weather charms? But Mirthe’s reaction confused her.
“Dad’s been teaching me some new skills,” Femke said to Mirthe, calmly pushing her twin’s textbooks aside so she could hop up on the desk. Somewhere underneath the fog-coat was her bag; she opened her notebook to a clean page and waited.
“Did Dad tell you to use charms in school? You know that’s not allowed,” Mirthe bristled.
“Since when did you care about the rules?” Femke said coolly.
Hijiri exchanged a stunned look with Fallon. Femke and Mirthe never fought. This was a first, and it made the usually cheerful club meeting oddly tense.
Luckily, the moment was interrupted by Nico and Martin’s arrival. The minute he saw the fog-coat, Martin’s eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline. He was about to say something when Nico grabbed him by the arm.
“Let it go today,” he said firmly.
“The hazards,” Martin argued. “There’s a reason we don’t use charms in the building.”
Femke apologized to Martin and said she’d take care of it. She played with the tortoiseshell barrette in her hair—Mirthe wasn’t wearing a matching one—until something clicked. A latch.
The barrette pulled the fog in like a magnet. Within seconds, the fog swirled its way inside the barrette until nothing was left but the faint taste of rain on their tongues.
Mirthe refused to stay sitting on the desk with her sister. Instead, she paced the front of the room and asked everyone to take their seats.
They arranged their desks in a U shape, careful to leave enough space so that Mirthe could continue burning off her agitation. Hijiri pressed her palms flat against her desk, waiting to see what would happen next.
Femke asked the first question, unperturbed by her sister. “Who’s going to be representing our club at the student government meetings this year?”
Fallon and Sebastian said they’d be serving again.
“We don’t have to make our club sound as boring this year,” Nico said.
“Yes, we do,” Femke said lightly. “New members are strongly discouraged.”
Hijiri smiled at that. At least someone felt the same way as she did about keeping their group small and private. With new people, the memories of the rebellion would fade faster. She knew she was being selfish, but she didn’t want to let go. They had the rest of the school year together before the twins and Martin graduated. And one more mission: winning the love charm-making competition.
“Ken managed to sneak past our defenses,” Sebastian said, smirking. “He must love charm theory.”
“Or a certain someone,” Fallon added.
Hijiri rolled her eyes.
“Thank you for letting me be here,” Ken said with amusement, “however debatable my motives are.”
“Next order of business,” Mirthe said, clapping her hands. “The first challenge should be a wake-up call for us. We need to be prepared for the next challenge.”
“I don’t think anyone could have prepared for this one,” Fallon said.
“There has to be something we can do,” Mirthe insisted.
“Not cheating, I hope?” Femke said flatly.
“We’ve been sneaky before.”
“This time it’s different,” Fallon said. Her expression turned serious. “Detective Archambault is not like the other police officers in town. She’s keeping a close watch on us. If any of us are suspected of cheating, Hijiri’s chances o
f winning the competition are over.”
“We’re not used to playing by the rules,” Sebastian said, making everyone laugh. The tension eased, and even Mirthe slowed her pacing.
“Then let’s brainstorm love charm ideas for the end of the competition,” Mirthe said.
“We’ve only been in a school a week,” Sebastian said, slouching.
“And already lost one challenge,” Hijiri said. The admittance hurt less now, but it still stung.
“This is Hijiri’s specialty. Maybe she should tell us what she has in mind,” Femke said.
Mirthe stopped her pacing to glare at her twin.
The room was thick with tension. Hijiri wanted to crawl under her desk.
Ken leaned forward, elbows on his desk. “Why don’t we start with the love charm’s purpose? Should it be practical or showy?”
Hijiri scooted up in her chair too, so she could see him.
“What do you mean?” Mirthe said.
“I mean, what kind of charm would steal the show? Something flashy or shocking to grab the audience, or a practical charm that people would actually use?”
“Showy won the first challenge,” Nico said. “Sanders’s question was so random, it caught everyone’s attention.”
“Practical is always best,” Fallon said. “A charm that’s needed. No one can resist what they think they’re missing.”
“That may be true,” Mirthe said, “but Hijiri can’t sell charms yet anyway, so why create something in demand? Better to entertain people instead.”
Hijiri gripped the corners of her desk. “Both,” she said softly. Then louder: “The perfect love charm should have a little of both to win the competition.”
“Have you come up with anything?” Mirthe asked.
“A few ideas. Nothing stands out yet.” Not when Nico and Martin are having problems, and so are you and Femke, she thought, frowning. How could she concentrate on winning when her friends needed her help?
* * *
The twins pulled Hijiri aside after the meeting. Mirthe waited until everyone had left the room before grabbing Hijiri’s shoulders and asking about Ken. “So what have you discovered about him so far?”
Love Charms and Other Catastrophes Page 8