Scent of Magic

by Clark, Lori L

“Hey, have you seen Beau? Starley asked Rue. She’d been waiting at their usual spot for about ten minutes.

  Rue pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “He’s back there,” she said, pointing over her shoulder. “Talking to Beatrice.”

  Starley remembered the potion she’d given Beatrice. The one that had made her irresistible. She felt heat course through her veins, and the pulse pounded in her ears. “What’s he doing talking to her?”

  “I have no idea,” Rue said. “Come on, green is so not your color. Let’s just go.”

  Starley took another look over her shoulder and thought she might be sick when she saw Beau and Beatrice laughing together. “Yeah, okay.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t anything to worry about. You’re the one he’s taking to the dance,” Rue reminded her.

  “Yeah, that’s true,” Starley said. As much as she would have liked to believe that seeing Beau with Beatrice didn’t bother her, it would have been a lie. It bothered her. It bothered her a lot. She turned to leave with Rue.

  Halfway home, Rue peered sideways at Starley. “We could always fix this, you know.”

  “How are we supposed to do that?” Starley reached up and wiggled her nose with her fingers. “Magic?”

  “Yeah, maybe,” Rue said. “If the spell worked on Beatrice, it could work on you even better. And what about that phero-whatever it was? Like the perfume Francesca sold to Sandy?”

  “Francesca would never agree to make a potion for me,” Starley said quietly.

  “That’s why you don’t ask her to make one,” Rue said.

  “You’re crazy, my sisters would freaking kill me if I messed with magic,” Starley said.

  “Then we’ll have to make sure you don’t get caught,” Rue said with a giggle. “You need to loosen up a little and start living like a normal teenager. Haven’t you ever done anything fun?”

  Starley thought for a minute before shaking her head. “No, not really. I mean, yes, we have fun doing things together, but we do them as a family. I’ve never done anything behind their back. Nothing I’d consider fun-fun.”

  “Starley, Starley, Starley,” Rue said shaking her head back and forth. “Don’t you think it’s time you lived a little dangerously for a change?”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Starley said.

  “So, how do we get the book without getting caught?” Rue asked.

  “Tonight, after Francesca and Juliette go to sleep, I’ll grab Frank’s keys and sneak down to The Perfumery,” Starley said. She had goose bumps running up and down her arms. “Can you meet me there about midnight?”

  “That would be a definite yes,” Rue said. “My parents sleep like the dead. They wouldn’t wake up if an atomic bomb dropped on the house.”

  Starley raised her hand and gave Rue a high five. “See you then.”

  ***

  Starley slipped easily from the house at a few minutes before midnight. She jogged all the way to The Perfumery. Unlocking the front door, she went inside to wait for Rue. The clock on the wall put out the only light in the room; it was five after midnight.

  Starley drummed her fingers on the glass display case. “Come on, come on,” she muttered. A few seconds later, Rue tapped on the glass, and Starley let her inside.

  “Did you look at the spell book yet?” Rue asked.

  “No, I was waiting for you to get here,” Starley replied. “Come on, let’s do this.”

  “What if we find some really amazing spell and don’t have the right stuff to make it?” Rue said.

  “There are like a million different herbs, oils, and you name it, it’s here,” Starley said. She started to flip through the magic book.

  “What are we looking for, anyway?” Rue asked.

  “Like my sisters always say, we’ll know it when we find it,” Starley said quietly.

  “We could always use that same stuff that you gave Beatrice,” Rue suggested.

  Starley shook her head. “No, that won’t work. It needs to be something better. Something new and improved. Only I can’t decide if it should be for me, or if I should make it for Beau.”

  The girls scanned the book for several minutes before Starley pulled out a loose leaf of paper and began to grin. “This is it. This is the one,” she said.

  Rue read over her shoulder. “A cookie recipe?”

  “Yes, but not an ordinary butter and eggs cookie recipe,” Starley said. “They say that a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”

  “Can you even cook?” Rue asked.

  “Of course, I can cook,” Starley said. “I mean, how hard can it be, right?”

  “What ingredients do we need?” Rue asked, looking around at the containers lining the shelves.

  Starley ran her finger down the page and bounced on the balls of her feet with excitement. She started to recite the ingredients out loud.

  “How do we know what’s what?” Rue asked, pulling boxes and jars from the shelves to read the labels.

  “Everything’s in alphabetical order,” Starley said. She went to the copy machine and photocopied the recipe. She handed one to Rue. “Here, let’s both look, it will go faster.”

  They gathered the magical items needed. Since the recipe was for chocolate chip cookies, the non-magical items were readably available elsewhere.

  “I think we’ve got everything,” Starley said. She took a plastic bag from beneath the cash register and stuffed in all of the supplies they’d gathered.

  “What are you going to do if one of your sisters realizes some of the ingredients are missing?” Rue asked.

  “We’ll have to hurry and bake cookies tomorrow after school, and then return everything right away,” Starley said, holding out her hand. “Give me your copy of the recipe. The less evidence there is, the better. I’m going to have a hard enough time explaining why I’ve suddenly taken an interest in baking.”

  “Tell them it’s Beau’s birthday and you want to bake him some cookies,” Rue suggested.

  Starley laughed. “Isn’t it traditionally supposed to be a birthday cake?”

  “Cookies, cake, brownies. Who cares? It’s the thought that counts,” Rue said. “Now come on Betty Crocker, let’s get out of here. I still have some time to get some beauty sleep.”

  “Help me make sure nothing looks out of place,” Starley said.

  “Make sure you put the book of love back where it was,” Rue said.

  “Book of love?” Starley giggled and closed the book. “What, are we in the fifties now?”

  Rue laughed and rearranged some of the shelved ingredients to make up for the empty holes.

  Afterward, Starley turned in a circle in the middle of the room to make sure they’d covered their tracks. Once they were both satisfied everything had been put back the way it was, they slipped from The Perfumery.

  NO OFFENSE, BUT YOU’RE NOT MY TYPE

  Starley was beyond happy that Beau had asked her to the homecoming dance. But she also couldn’t help noticing that since he’d asked her, he’d been spending more time talking to Beatrice than her. She tried not to let it bother her, but it did. She wasn’t completely sure he still wanted her to go with him. It seemed like the only time Beau spent any time with Starley was for a few minutes during lunch and when he walked her home every day after school.

  “Are you sure you’re not just paranoid?” Rue asked as they walked to class after lunch. “Beau’s taking you to homecoming.”

  About that time, Beau walked by with Beatrice. She giggled like whatever he’d just said was possibly the funniest thing she’d ever heard.

  “Yeah, but I can’t help but wonder if he regrets asking me instead of Beatrice,” Starley said.

  “The dance is this Friday, he wouldn’t dare back out now,” Rue said. “Of course, you could always give him an out.”

  “An out?” Starley said.

  “Yeah, you know, be a bigger woman. Tell him if he’d rather take Beatrice to the dance than you, you’re cool with that,” Rue said.


  Starley’s mouth dropped open. “But what if I’m not cool with that? What if he thanks me and takes her instead of me? I already have a dress!”

  “Then you and I can go as a couple,” Rue suggested. “It would be a shame to waste a perfectly good dress.”

  Starley playfully punched Rue in the shoulder. “You’re so much help.”

  “What? I’m kidding,” Rue said as she stared at Beau and Beatrice. “Sort of.”

  “Let’s bake a test batch of cookies tonight. You try them out on your friend Andrew. If he suddenly decides he can’t live without you and gets all swoony and stuff, then we can give some to Beau,” Starley said.

  “Swoony and stuff? Who even says that?” Rue rolled her eyes.

  They had gone into the classroom and got seated just before the bell rang before Starley whispered her answer. “Francesca.”

  Starley worried the entire day. She’d chewed her fingernails to the quick. After school, she was surprised to see Beau waiting for her in their usual spot. Her stomach did its usual flip. Oh no, here it comes. He’s going to tell me he can’t take me to homecoming, Starley thought.

  When Beau spotted Starley walking toward him, he grinned, and she relaxed a little. Starley smiled back and tamped down the urge to run the other way.

  Wordlessly, they started walking toward Starley’s house. After a few minutes, Beau broke the silence and said, “Is it true?”

  Here it comes. “Is what true?” Starley asked.

  “Did your sisters put a spell on my mom?” Beau asked.

  Starley’s ears started to ring, and she felt like she’d swallowed a bag of wet cement. “Not that I know of. Why would you ask me that?”

  “My dad,” Beau said. He kicked a rock and avoided looking at Starley. “He thinks the new and improved version of Mrs. Byrd was cursed. Personally, I think it’s great that she’s finally decided to stop letting him treat her like a doormat.”

  Starley bit off a laugh and cleared her throat. “Why does your dad think my sisters had something to do with your mother’s change of attitude?”

  “Because he’s crazy? I don’t know. He has to blame someone. He couldn’t imagine my mom thinking for herself for a change,” Beau said. “Anyway, if your sisters are behind the improvement, be sure to tell them thanks for me.”

  Starley took a deep breath. “They’ll be happy to hear that. Even though I’m sure they didn’t have anything to do with your mom’s magical transformation.”

  A few minutes after Starley got home, Rue knocked on the front door.

  “Are you following me?” Starley asked.

  “Sure. Just call me Stalker Rue,” Rue said.

  “Meh, Creeper Rue has a better ring,” Starley teased and moved to the side to let her inside.

  “You’re in a good mood. I take it everything’s good between you and Beau?” Rue asked.

  “It’s okay. He asked me if my sisters put a spell on his mom,” Starley said.

  “He what?” Rue’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not good.”

  Starley laughed. “Actually, he wanted me to thank them for him.”

  “Oh that’s good, then,” Rue said.

  The girls baked a batch of cookies. Three dozen magical cookies. Neither of them knew how many cookies were needed to do what they were supposed to do.

  “Taste one,” Rue said, handing Starley a cookie. “They smell really good. I hope that means they’re edible.”

  “I’m not going to taste them,” Starley said shoving Rue’s hand out of her face. “What if they make me fall in love with the first person I see? Nothing personal, but you’re not exactly my type.”

  “Are you sure?” Rue asked, batting her eyelashes.

  “Am I sure you’re not my type?” Starley said.

  “No dumbass, are you sure you don’t want to test one of the cookies before we give them away?” Rue said.

  Starley giggled. “I’m sure. Now go. Andrew’s going to love your cookies.”

  Rue grabbed a dozen of the cookies. “Good idea. I’ll give him the cookies, he’ll ask me if I want one … this might just work.”

  “Unless they suck and he winds up choking to death or something,” Starley called out to Rue just before the door slammed behind her.

  IT HAD TO BE THE COOKIES

  Rue jogged all the way home and was about to skip up her front porch steps when she heard someone call her name. She froze in her tracks and slowly turned to see Andrew sitting on his front steps. She turned around and crossed the lawn between their houses.

  “Hey Andrew,” Rue said.

  “What’s up?” Andrew said.

  Well, that was awkward. Andrew had been Rues friend forever, but he was painfully shy, and sometimes conversation between them was difficult.

  “So, what are you up to?” Rue asked. She shifted the bag of cookies from her right hand to her left hand and back again.

  “Not much,” he said. He nodded toward her hands. “What’s in the bag?”

  “Oh, um,” she stammered. She thrust the sack at him. “I baked cookies.”

  Andrew tilted his head sideways. He looked inside the bag and took out one of the cookies. “Wow, thanks. These are still warm.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said, smiling sweetly. “Aren’t you going to try one?”

  He thought for a few seconds. “Sure.” He took a bite and chewed slowly.

  Rue thought she might die of anticipation. She couldn’t help staring at him, watching and waiting to see if anything happen. “Well?”

  “Not bad. There’s something different about the taste. I can’t put my finger on what it is.” Andrew stared up at the sky like whatever the secret ingredient in the cookies was might be written in the low hanging branches of the oak tree he stood beneath.

  “Maybe you should have another one, see if you can figure it out,” Rue suggested.

  Andrew shrugged. “Okay.”

  He ate another cookie and Rue frowned. He didn’t look any different, and he didn’t look at her any differently. She sighed heavily and decided that the cookies must not be working.

  “I’m going inside now,” Rue said. She turned to leave. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, see ya,” Andrew said around a mouthful of cookie.

  ***

  Rue trudged out the front door. She wasn’t in a very good mood. What a waste of time. Andrew had inhaled at least three of those special cookies before she left him standing on the front lawn the night before and nothing had happened.

  Rue clomped down the steps and was about to turn toward the school when she heard Andrew.

  “Rue, wait up,” Andrew shouted.

  She turned toward him, startled. “Andrew, I didn’t see you there.”

  “I thought I’d walk with you to school,” Andrew offered.

  It could have been Rue’s imagination, but he seemed to be looking at her more intently than he typically did. And he never walked with her to school. Her heart started to beat a little faster, and she stuffed her sweaty hands into her coat pockets.

  “Yeah, sure,” Rue said.

  They hadn’t walked very far when Andrew put his hand on Rue’s arm, stopping her. Rue’s eyes drifted to his hand. She swore she felt the heat of his fingers through her jacket. Her mouth suddenly felt too dry to talk. She tried to swallow.

  “Rue, I was wondering,” Andrew said softly.

  “Yeah?” Rue said, suddenly at a loss for more than one syllable words.

  “Do you have a date to the homecoming dance?” Andrew asked.

  “No,” Rue said.

  “I know this is a late notice, but I was wondering if you’d like to go with me,” Andrew said.

  Rue wanted to ask this stranger who he was and what he’d done with Andrew, but she didn’t want him to think she wouldn’t go. “Okay.”

  “Great,” Andrew said with a big grin. “That’s really great.”

  Rue’s stomach felt like it was full of ten dozen butterflies. What was wrong
with her? She never felt weird around Andrew before. Her palms were sweaty, her heart beat erratically, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth.

  Rue and Andrew went their separate ways at the front door of the high school, and she was still reeling. The cookies. It had to be the cookies!

  MAKE IT A DOUBLE

  Rue floated — yes floated — down the hallway. Starley gave her a strange look and asked, “Did you take up drinking?”

  Rue’s cheeks hurt from all the smiling she’d done since Andrew asked her to homecoming.

  “The cookies? They totally work, by the way,” Rue said as they passed Beatrice flirting shamelessly with Beau. “You might want to have Beau try them and see what he thinks.”

  “Shush,” Starley hissed. “They’ll hear you.”

  “Good. If he hears me, he’ll beg you to let him eat your cookies. Wait. That totally sounded wrong.” Rue cracked up laughing.

  “Tell me how your night went.” Starley changed the subject and started walking faster.

  “You’ll never guess,” Rue teased. “I mean, who would have thought that baking a boy special chocolate chip cookies would get him to finally ask me to the homecoming dance.”

  “Shut up! He did? The cookies worked then?” Starley asked.

  “It was either the cookies or he realized homecoming is in two days and he just remembered,” Rue said. “Of course the cookies worked. Ye have little faith.”

  “You have a dress, right?” Starley said.

  “I’ve had a dress since two weeks after school started,” Rue admitted.

  “It’ll be almost like a double date.” Starley sighed happily. “That way if Beau dances with Beatrice more than me, I won’t be the only wallflower at the dance.”

  Rue squeezed Starley’s arm. “Trust me. You give Beau Byrd those cookies and it will be like, ‘Excuse me, Beatrice who?’.”

  Starley bit her lip and nodded. “I hope you’re right.”

  “When have I ever been wrong?” Rue asked. She held up her hand right away to keep Starley from saying anything. “Never mind. Don’t answer that.”

  PRELUDE TO A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

  Starley walked down the hallway carrying her shoes and tugging at the front of her dress.

  Juliette smacked her hand. “Starley, Stop pulling on your dress. You’re going to stretch it all out of shape.”