Page 21 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
I reach the back and a wonderful world opens up. Candles line the wall and wooden buckets sit beneath them, stacked two deep. Each one is filled to the brim with crystals. Clear quartz,moonstone, sodalite—one of my favorites for balancing out my emotions—agate, amazonite, and so many more. The colors range from solid black to twisting bands of purple and white, and hodgepodges of turquoise and browns, and deep blood-reds and celestial-looking blues.
“Let’s see.” I lean in and examine the various shapes and sizes.
I need a citrine stone and some selenite after this week. Citrine to attract some prosperity, maybe get Hayden toactuallylike me when he wakes up, and in case that doesn’t work, the selenite is to stop me from making poor-ass decisions. And give me some calm when it all does hit the fan, because oh, it’s going to.
“Pretty.” I see a slender piece of citrine behind a bucket of sky-blue celestite. It’s perfect. I reach to grab it off the top before a familiar voice stops me.
“Did it pick you?” they ask with that leftover Cajun accent. I look to my right and Eliza’s eyes light up with recognition.
“Eliza!” My voice raises at least two octaves.
“Kenzie!” Eliza throws her arms out and engulfs me in a big warm hug. “Didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon.”
“My neither,” I gasp. It completely left my mind that she could be here. “Still can’t seem to process that you're Hayden’s aunt and you work here.”
“No, darling, this is my shop. Was my mama’s before me, rest her soul.” Eliza dips her head briefly.
“Oh.” I drop my chin, sorry to bring that up, even if I didn’t ask.
“It’s okay.” She grins again. “Was many years back.”
“I didn’t know you owned The Good Hex,” I say.
“Well I do,” Eliza chuckles. “You’re one of my few regulars.”
Then she knows I get witchy stuff! Suddenly I’m worried Hayden’s parents might find out I’m a witch and hate me. What would they say? They prayed over their meal yesterday. A lot of people don’t understand us. They think we’re wicked, or out of our minds, or something in between those. They don’t realize that Christian witches are a real thing too, not that I am one, but still. However, they did seem good with Eliza, and she owns this place. I’m just overreacting. That has to be all.
“I’m not a…” I stop short of saying it. Hell, it’d be a lie, like a recanting of who I am, what I am. I can’t really say a recanting of my faith because, well, it isn’t religion exactly for me. Not exactly, at least. I try again. “I’m…a…I—”
“You’re what?” Eliza eyes me, but there is no malice or condemnation in her eyes.
“Uh…” I don’t know what to say, so I just blurt it. “I’m a witch!”
Eliza shrugs. “Me too. A green kitchen witch.”
Oh. She’s a… She’s one too. I’ve never met another witch. I thought I was the only one in a hundred miles. Something in the revelation feels like a weight lifted.
“Really?” I can’t contain my excitement. “I seriously thought I was the only one up here.”
“No, no, dear.” Eliza shakes her head. “You’re not the only one. We’re only two of a handful, but we’re not alone.”
“That’s so cool! And I just met you this week because…” Oh shit! It can’t be. Could it? Could this all be happening because of my love spell? I clamp those thoughts behind my lips as she smiles so kindly. “It’s like fate.”
“Maybe.” Eliza nods cheerily and then looks toward the buckets of crystals. “So, were you looking for something in particular?”
“Yes, actually.” I nod and point toward the citrine stones I’d been looking at. “I need some citrine and selenite, and some basil too.”
“Well, the herbs are over here.” She points behind us, where there’s another cluster of wooden buckets surrounding a circular table to our right made from an old wooden wheel covered in trinkets. “Of course, you know that already.”
“It’s okay, thank you!” I go again to pick up the citrine stone I’d eyed earlier.
“Ah, one already picked you?” she asks, and I stop short of touching it.
“Uh…” I shrug. I’ve heard it said that your crystals and stones should pick you, they should call out to you, but after over a year of practicing I don’t get it. “Actually…what do you mean? I’ve never understood what people mean when they say that. How does it pick me?”
“It’s different for everybody.” Her perpetual smile rises. “For some it’s just a feeling, others intuition. Me, I seek guidance from my goddess and see which stone calls out to me. But that depends on you. Maybe it's just your intuition.”
“Calls out to you?” I ask.
