Summoned By Magic by Lexie Scott

Chapter 27

Spells aren’t nearly as interesting as I expected. I wanted an ancient spell book full of magical words, but what I needed was a Latin dictionary. Mr. Haddon was right. I should have taken the language class, but my brain probably would have exploded if I added anything else to my workload.

Like the week before, Mrs. Hedgings wanted to give me a practical lesson on casting spells and let me pick what I wanted to start with. My detangler was working better than I could have imagined. My hair was smoother than ever, and my nervous braids combed out to silky stands rather than crimped, frizzy chunks. I could use more of that magic in my life.

“There are too many options. How am I supposed to decide on just one?” I flipped through her book of favorites.

“What do you have a need for?” She guided me. “A device to show you to your classes? A pen that will write down what you dictate?”

That sounded helpful but not something I wanted right now. A sleeping spell or a dream blocker would be ideal, but I needed to wait for Ms. Chronis for that. She was taking her sweet time replying with her availability.

Of course, she felt no sense of urgency. She was time. What did she care if I was quickly losing my mind from keeping myself awake?

No, what I needed and what Mrs. Hedging could help with was some way to make sure my secrets stayed that way. I wanted a place to store what I found without the possibility of it being discovered. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Natasha . . . okay, I didn’t. Especially not after finding out who her grandfather is and her dabbling in magic that toes the line between right and wrong. I doubted she would waste her time digging through my things, but I didn’t want to take any chances either.

“Is there a spell to make something lock or stay closed? Even if another witch tries to unlock it?”

She flipped toward the back of the book. “Yes, remember: our magic is mostly controlled by our intentions. If you cast this spell with the intention of only your being able to open it, then that’s how it will work.”

I liked the simplicity of that. Hopefully, it was true, and not just easy for her because she was so experienced.

“So, this is the word you’ll need to say.” She pointed to the first line on the page.

“Cincinno?”

She nodded. “You’re pronouncing it correctly. Try again with more force.”

“Cincinno.” It sounded better to me.

Her smile widened a bit, and she picked a small wooden box with a small gold latch from the shelf behind us. “Try it out.”

This was my first time casting a spell. I felt like I needed a wand or some hand signal. I glanced at her, and she smiled in encouragement. So I stared at the box and focused on wanting it to open only for me. “Cincinno.”

Nothing happened. No spark or burst of light.

“How do I know if it worked?”

She reached out and tried to open the lid. It stayed firmly in place.

Good box.

She pulled back, and I tried, but the latch wouldn’t even lift. It was sealed shut. “Why can’t I open it?”

“You have to say the spell to unlock it, but let’s make sure I can’t do it first.” She focused on the box. “Resingo.”

I bit my lip as she tried again and met my eyes with a proud smile. “Very good. Now you try.”

“Resingo,” I repeated and reached for it. The latch flipped up with no effort, and I opened the lip. “I did it!”

“Indeed, you are a very quick learner.”

By the time we finished our lesson, I had several missed calls and texts from Hannah, asking when I wanted to start getting ready for the party. It was all she and the guys could talk about all week, so I sent her a text on my way back to the dorm.

Saige: Party??

Hannah: You’re hilarious

Saige: It’s not even eleven yet

Hannah: Exactly. Time is flying by

Saige: I’m almost back. I’ll come to your room

She was waiting for me in the hall when I stepped off the elevator as if I might try to sneak by and hide in my room. Which was tempting. And now I knew how to lock myself inside without the risk of being disturbed.

“Come on!” She swung her arm, herding me in.

Last week at this time, I was alone with Theo meeting horses. That felt like a lifetime ago. I didn’t even know him then. Just that he was friends with my new friends and had the most amazing smile. Oh, and that he was a hybrid. And that I felt sparks when we touched.

Just little details.

The weekend long study session changed so much. It was like weeks’ worth of hanging out and getting to know all of them condensed into two days. I was already comfortable around them and felt like a real part of their group.

“These are my options. What’s your first impression?” She crossed her arms and stared down at her bed like her outfit choice would change the course of the entire universe.

Back home . . . pre-Drexel . . . PD my friends went to parties, but my overprotective parents rarely allowed me to go. And the PD parties never really appealed to me either. Seeing my classmates get drunk on cheap beer and make poor decisions the entire school would hear about before Monday didn’t scream “fun” to me.

Hannah assured me the parties here weren’t like that. I was not convinced.

“I think you’ll be cold in that.” I pointed to the tiny silver dress.

“I can warm the air around me,” she countered.

I lowered my finger to the stilettos on the floor. “You can’t walk in the forest in those.”

She sighed and put her hands on her hips while I checked out the other options. “Hannah, none of these seem like you.”

Her lips pursed, turning white.

“It’s not that they aren’t cute, but I can’t see you walking around in this all night.” I held up a skin-tight jumpsuit.

Her shoulders slumped, and her whole demeanor changed from defiance to defeat, and she lowered herself to the floor.

“Hey? What’s wrong?” I sat in front of her, tossing the jumpsuit to the other side of the room.

“I know this isn’t me.” She stared up at the skimpy dresses with the saddest eyes. “But being me isn’t working. It’s not enough. I thought maybe if I tried something new . . .”

She didn’t finish, but she didn’t have to. This was one problem that faced all teenage girls, regardless of their supernatural status. “You thought Daniel would notice you? As more than his friend?”

She nodded, picking at the white fluffy rug that covered the red carpet. “You don’t need to go over how dumb I am. I know. It’s stupid to change for a boy. If he liked me, I wouldn’t need to change. I shouldn’t dress in things I’m not comfortable in just to try to get his attention.”

“Would you really want to be with a guy that plan worked on? That means that he’s only interested in your body.”

“I know.” Her voice was so small. I wanted to give her a hug and tell her he was stupid and not worth her time, but we both knew that wasn’t true. Well, not the second half. He was stupid for not realizing what was right in front of him.

“How about we take this down like ten notches? What’s his favorite color?”

“Light blue,” she answered without having to think about it.

“Then let's try that. You don’t have to say you’re wearing it for him, but it will make him wonder.”

She worked her bottom lip between her teeth and finally agreed. I jumped up and went to her closet. She’d organized it by style, then color. Because, of course, she had. The rows of tailored pants, skirts, sweats, and tops were much more Hannah. I didn’t know where she found those outfits, but hopefully, she could return them and never think of this again.

Nothing jumped out at me at first, but I found a baby blue sundress with thin straps, a sweetheart neckline, and buttons down the front. I examined her shoe selection and found tan platform sandals.

It was still warm enough to wear summer clothes without being too cold, but it wouldn’t stay that way much longer. We needed to take advantage of that.

“Here.” I held up my selection and waited for her reaction.

She tucked her hair over her shoulder and studied the combination. “You don’t think it’s too boring?”

I shook my head and laid them on the bed. “I think it’s classy and sexy in an understated way. It will show off your curves without screaming in his face.”

Finally, a small grin appeared. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Good. Now that we have that cleared up, can we get lunch? I’m starving.”

“But what are you going to wear?” she started folding the rejected options and put them on the other bed. Huh. I hadn’t met her roommate, but the idea of her sharing a living space with someone so opposite piqued my curiosity. How did that work?

“I’ll figure it out later.” Like five minutes before we left.

Somehow, I was able to distract her for the rest of the day. We ate lunch with some of the guys. Sai and Theo were mysteriously absent, but I didn’t ask Malik or Carter about it. The last thing I needed was anyone else finding out about my crush on the shifter and hybrid. We spent the afternoon finishing homework in my room since Natasha was gone for once, and I read from the previous years’ textbooks while she flipped through magazines.

“Okay, can we start now?” she asked for the fifth time in the last thirty minutes.

I checked my watch and blew out a breath. I wanted to keep reading, but I told her she had to wait until six-thirty. It was six-thirty-three.

“Fine.” I closed the year-two history book. I knew most of the material already, but it was still good to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.

“Yay!” She sprang to her feet and rushed to my closet. “Do you have any ideas?”

I stood next to her and looked down at my white T-shirt, boyfriend jeans, and gray and white polka dot socks. “Is this not okay?”

She stared at me, and I willed myself not to crack. The struggle was so clear on her face. Whatever she wanted to say, she was using all her willpower to hold it back.

“Fine, I’ll change,” I relented, and she turned back to my clothes muttering under her breath.

“What’s your favorite feature?” She watched me in the mirror attached to the back of one of the closet doors.

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

It wasn’t like I thought I was ugly, but I was self-aware enough to know I wasn’t conventionally pretty either. I lacked the feminine curves most of the girls my age had developed years before. My boobs were smarter than I was, they were A’s. At least, that was the joke I came up with to combat anyone who wanted to tease me about my underwhelming chest size. Oh, and the bubble butt that was so popular? I could do ten thousand squats a day and still my back would be as flat as my front. I was thin, but not in a way I wanted to flaunt. Muscle definition was another thing that evaded me. At least I was of average height, so I didn't stand out.

If it wasn’t for my red hair, I would have no problem blending into a crowd. I used to want to dye it brown to be like the other girls, but now I’m grateful I never did. It was something I got from my birth mom.

“Oh, come on, Saige. You’re beautiful. You have to have one thing you like showing off.”

She was wrong.

I tapped my fingertips on the side of my thighs. “I don’t think I’ve ever thought of that.”

She squinted and eyed me from head to toe and back again. “Obviously, your hair is amazing. All the money in the world couldn’t get you that much dimension.”

I smiled and fought the impulse to start braiding it.

“And your eyes are the closest I’ve ever seen to being true ocean blue like you’d see in the Caribbean.”

That was nice, too, but after meeting my grandpa and realizing they were his eyes, I no longer liked them quite so much.

“And you’ve got the runway model build. You would look good in anything.”

I stepped back. This was too much. “I appreciate the compliments, but––”

“But you don’t see yourself that way?” She spun to face me.

I shrugged. “Not really.”

“I get it. We’re teenagers. Our bodies are changing and awkward and everyone’s insecure, but focusing on one thing you like makes it a lot easier.”

“What’s your favorite?”

She sucked in a breath. “I used to be really self-conscious about my thick eyebrows. People would tease me all the time. Some people asked if I was a shifter that couldn’t change back into my human form. It was really mean, but then all of a sudden, they were in style and girls said they were jealous. As if they hadn’t tortured me for years.” She rolled her eyes. “But I get them from my dad, and I’m proud of them now.”

“So, you’re a brow girl?”

She smiled. “That and my clavicles.”

I burst out laughing, and she scowled.

“Your collarbones? That’s what you like?”

Her hand shot to the bottom of her neck. “Yes, okay. It’s hard for me to come up with positives about myself too. I happen to think I have very nice ones.”

“It’s true. You do. They’re very pronounced without looking weird.”

She held her head up a bit more. “Thank you.”

I thought about it again and finally came up with an answer. “If we can pick obscure body parts, then I really like my shoulder blades and ankles.”

Her eyes dropped, and she nodded before walking around to my back. “I can’t see them.”

I tugged off my shirt, leaving me in a cami, and wiggled my shoulders. “See, good ones, huh?”

“Yes, quite nice.” She giggled. “Let’s find something to show off those sexy ankles.”