Page 79 of How (Not) to Conjure a Boyfriend
I tighten my grip around the tiny bottle on my necklace, imagining the amethyst inside as I say the last recitation. I need this to work. We might bug the shit out of each other sometimes, but she’s my forever person.
“No matter how far apart we may be, I will always be your friend.”
23
“Why haven’t you said anything yet?” I ask Eliza.
She’s by a display of necklaces and earrings, hanging up a few more pieces. An anxious grin bounces on her face and disappears as quickly as it came, and her hands reach for her cute black mid-thigh skirt dappled with orange crescent moons and tiny starlets, fidgeting with the hem.
“Timing?” she asks me.
I almost pounce with my words, but I stop myself.Timing?A question? To me?
“Why are you asking me?”
“I…just haven’t found the right time, Kenzie.” Eliza smiles again and her eyes grow smaller above her dimples. Why does she have to be pretty even when I need to be mad at her? “I’m trying.”
“Hayden is awake! He’s on his way here. Right now,” I tell her. “He’s about to take me, his fake ‘enbyfriend,’ on a date.”
This isn’t what’s supposed to be happening. Gods, I would have died for him to come walking in the shop to ask me on a date weeks ago. I even cast spells for it…which might have just gotten me into this mess in the first place.
“Maybe you are.” She shrugs. For a moment I think she’s saying Iammaybethat good a witch, but that’s silly, that was in my head. Wasn’t it? Of course it was. “Maybe the date’s a good idea. You do like him after all. Or…”
My reaction might be a little too heavy to that one. Probably my pinched lips and squinting makes her second-guess it.
“…not.”
Maybe not. I don’t know. It’s all so complicated now and I don’t know exactly what I feel. That’s sort of why I’m here in the first place. When Hayden asked me out tonight, I didn’t want to be stuck in a car with him for too long, so I suggested we meet at his aunt’s shop. As far as he’s aware, it’s because I felt bad making him drive so far to pick me up so soon after getting out of the hospital. That part was only half true, maybe less. Meeting here, I could grill Eliza on why his family doesn’t know the truth already. She was supposed to tell them! Even if the thought still makes me sick.
“I don’t know. He’s not really like I thought,” I tell her. “I just think…”
I stop. Nope. I’m not going there.
“What? You think what?” Eliza asks, her interest piqued.
Oh no. That thought is staying in my head. She doesn’t need to hear the ending:I might like Zachary.
“I’m just worried he’s going to remember and then I’m going to be this horrible person,” I tell her instead.
I’m really beginning to wish I’d gone with my first excuse to get out of tonight. I was going to say my aunt had unexpectedly flown in from Germany for a visit, and I couldn’t skip on her since it doesn’t happen often. It’s not like she’d care if I lied about her; she’s halfway across the globe. Plus, the last bit isn’t a lie. I can count the number of times I’ve seen her in person on one hand. Even if I lost half my fingers. In the end, it would have only delayed the inevitable.
“You’re not a horrible person, Mackenzie, don’t do that to yourself. You—we all—made a mistake.” Eliza pats my shoulder and says a quiet intention I can’t hear. For me? “We just have to figure out how to fix it while hurting the least amount of people.”
“That’s it, huh?” I grimace at her.
Sounds horrible to me. I stare blankly at her.
“What el—” Eliza stops when the door chime rings and in walks Hayden.
He’s dressed to impress. His shirt is white with a paisley blue vest draped over it. The collar is open a button lower than normal, but it suits him. So do the black slacks and matching cowboy boots.
“Uh…” I don’t know what to say.
“Your mouth.” Eliza nudges me, and I snap my teeth together.
“Hey,” Hayden says the first word.
“Hayden,” I say, or maybe gasp, finally dropping out of my weird little trance. Something about that first glance took me back to all the times he walked into the coffee shop, and I’d go into a frenzied competition with my nerves not to be an idiot. It passes quickly this time though.
