Hex and the City

by Sarina Dorie

  When I finished filling out his form, I made one of my own for Thatch to fill out. Mine lacked magic, but I made up for that in creativity. I hid my responses under sticky notes.

  When I handed him the intake form he’d made for me, I also gave him the one I made for him. His eyebrows rose as he skimmed it, a grin stretching across his face and transforming his serious expression into one of delight. I didn’t think I’d ever seen so much unrestrained joy in him. I wished I had my camera to take a photo of his smile.

  Like so many good things in life, our happiness was fleeting. Our joy was precariously perched on the edge of the moment. Soon I would discover Felix Thatch’s true nature, and those precious moments of joy would be more difficult to remember.

  Thatch said it would take two weeks to plan our special date. Waiting was torment.

  In the meantime, I made plans for the winter holiday with my adoptive mom. The usual suspects stayed for a couple of days at my mom’s house in Eugene during the break: Hailey, Maddy, and Imani. Thatch declined shopping in the Morty Realm with us, claiming all the electricity would drain his Celestor powers. The girls didn’t question his reasoning. In truth, I suspected he would rather have had his teeth pulled than go to the mall with teenage girls.

  I could only hope the threat of electronics would make it more difficult for Fae to harass my students.

  I wanted to spend time with Thatch during the break. A date in the Morty Realm would have been nice, though it wasn’t possible with my students there watching us. Thatch ate dinner with us on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day.

  The card I had made for him was in watercolors and had taken me hours to perfect. When he opened the envelope and studied it, he complimented my skills and technique, making me blush. Next he unwrapped the present I’d bought for him, the students watching with great anticipation. He held the stapler up, brow furrowing. Hailey howled with laughter.

  “You said you were painting Miss Lawrence’s beautiful stapler that one day in Art Club!” Imani reminded him. “Is this one as aesthetically pleasing as hers?”

  Maddy grinned at me. They all had suspected he’d been painting me.

  Thatch examined the stapler. “It appears there is one teacher at the school who knows my heart well enough to understand I have a fondness for practical gifts. However, if I should find this one to be lacking in any way, I might find myself venturing up to Miss Lawrence’s classroom to borrow hers on occasion.” He managed to keep a straight face as he said it.

  My fairy godmother’s eyes locked onto mine. She smiled. Try as we might to keep our relationship secret, she was on to us.

  As was his custom, Thatch gave everyone coal for Christmas, along with notes expounding on how naughty we were. With my lump of coal, he’d included a lengthy flowchart for how to decide if something was a bad choice so that I could use the note in the future before executing any bright ideas that I thought might save the world. His strange sense of humor took me off guard and made me laugh out loud.

  The only person he gave a true gift to was my mom. He’d noticed her copper-bottomed pot was dented and burned, and he’d purchased a new one for her. It warmed my heart that he got along with my mom, and he was kind to her. He tolerated her patting him on the face and kissing the top of his head when he was seated on the couch—the only time she was taller than him.

  I only wished I could have gotten away with showing him as much affection.

  “Come on, girls,” my mom said after we’d finished unwrapping presents. “Help me in the kitchen with dishes.”

  Hailey groaned loudly.

  Maddy jabbed her with an elbow. “Are you trying to sound ungrateful?”

  Imani whispered something I couldn’t hear. All three of them glanced over their shoulders at Thatch and me as my mom ushered them into the other room. Obviously we weren’t doing a good job keeping our relationship secret from them either. At least they had the sense not to blab about it.

  Once we were alone, Thatch removed a small box from his pocket. “I have something for you.”

  “Is it more coal?”

  “Perhaps.”

  The box was wrapped with red-striped paper, the ribbon green with polka dots. He’d taken time and care in the packaging. The gift was a standard jewelry-box size. From the twinkle in his eyes, I wondered what the box actually contained. My heart lurched with sudden excitement. Was he about to propose to me?

  After our recent misunderstanding, it felt too soon and too sudden. Yet, if he did ask me to marry him, it wouldn’t have been unwelcome in the same way it had been the times Elric had proposed to me.

  Felix Thatch was the reason I had never agreed to marry Elric. My heart had always wanted him.

  Carefully, I unwrapped the paper, anticipation shuddering through me. When I opened the box, I found a knob of blond wood protruding from a cotton cushion. I stared, perplexed.

  He chuckled. “Take hold of it, and draw it out.”

  I did so. The wood elongated to the length of a paintbrush. The stick transitioned from a pale sable to a hot-pink-and-white striped handle. It was smooth and sleek, different from the twisted length of his wand.

  “It’s a wand,” he said, as if I didn’t know. “Look in the box. There’s more.”

  The corner of something black poked out of the hole where the wand had been. I tugged. Black and pink fabric uncurled. The object momentarily caught inside the box before popping out, defying physics just as the wand had. I held a witch hat by the top tip.

  “Oh.” I stared at it in disappointment. “It’s really . . . cute.”

  His brow furrowed. “I thought you wanted a wand. You’re always saying you haven’t a hat or wand, and you would feel more like a real witch if you had them.”

  “Yes, that’s true. It was a thoughtful gift.” I forced myself to smile. I didn’t want to seem ungrateful.

  He’d even customized the hat and wand to fit my eccentric taste in hot-pink stripes. If I hadn’t thought he was giving me an engagement ring, I would have been excited about a hat and wand.

  Instead, all I could think about was how foolish I was for hoping it had been something more significant. It wasn’t even like we would be ready for that in our relationship yet. Plus, he wasn’t even willing to let me tell my friends about him. Why would I think he’d want to move to the next level?

  I hugged him and kissed his cheek. “I really do like the wand and hat.”

  His body was rigid with tension as he patted my shoulder. “Clarissa, not here with students in the next room, if you please.”

  I drew back, knowing he was right.

  “I believe your mum stored some extra cookies in the garage.” He added more quietly. “Under a bough of mistletoe.”

  I nodded, trying to muster up excitement for clandestine kisses, but it was hard to ignore the disappointment weighing heavily on my heart. I didn’t want to hide my feelings for him from the world—or my friends. I wasn’t ashamed of our relationship.

  A small part of me still worried he was ashamed—that he didn’t want me; he wanted Alouette Loraline.

  Previously, Felix Thatch had requested I not tell Josie about our relationship until after Christmas. It didn’t surprise me when he wished to defer telling her for one more month. It went against my better judgment to withhold the truth from my friends, but I felt resigned to put up with his secrecy.

  It took another week and a half for Thatch to plan our special date, which was to take place on a Saturday. Waiting that long was torture, but he said he had to make “preparations.” I made sure I informed Khaba of my departure and arrival time so that he would know where I was—even though I wouldn’t really be at my fairy godmother’s house as I claimed.

  On the Friday evening before the big date, Josie, Vega, Pinky the sasquatch, and I watched the air pelota game in the sports stadium outside. I was surprised Vega had invited herself to hang out with us since she was usually a loner, but I welcomed
the opportunity to spend time with her in a situation that didn’t involve her threatening me. When Pinky wasn’t making googly eyes at Josie, he snuck furtive glances at me.

  He’d been doing that a lot lately. Ever since he’d witnessed me saving Vega’s life by sending electricity through her to sever her connection with the Fae who had used her, he’d lapsed into silences around me. Thatch had said he’d cleared Nurse Hilda’s memories of the event, but he hadn’t done anything to Pinky’s. Gertrude Periwinkle, the school librarian, had used a siren song on him. I wasn’t sure whether it had worked or not.

  Sooner or later he would say something, whether it was to Josie or to me directly about what he’d witnessed.

  In the air pelota game, two students on brooms batted a glowing orb around, trying to catch it in a basket on their brooms. One of the students transformed the sphere into a ball of fire, and it burned through the other student’s basket. My eyes flickered from the game to the stands.

  I knew Thatch wouldn’t be coming. He had told me as much. He didn’t want to raise suspicion by being seen with me in public. Besides that, he had work he’d been neglecting because he’d been spending so much time with me. Even so, I scanned the stadium, searching for Thatch, wondering if he might show up to be with me, even if remotely.

  Josie nudged me with an elbow. “Please tell me you aren’t looking for Elric.”

  “I’m not.” Heat flushed to my face. I hated how obvious I was.

  Vega glared at us. “Why would Clarissa be looking for him? He’s my boyfriend now.”

  Josie gave me a knowing look as if Vega was deluding herself. Josie stood and tugged on my arm. “Come on. Let’s go to the concession stand. Anyone want anything?”

  “Get me an Old Fashioned,” Vega said.

  I rolled my eyes. Now that I knew this was a drink made from alcohol, I also knew it was unlikely the school would sell Vega’s favorite at a student-run food stand. I glanced at her belly. She was so bundled up, I couldn’t tell whether she was pregnant or not.

  Her eyes narrowed. I quickly glanced away, hoping that if she was pregnant, she wouldn’t be out drinking and dancing with Elric in clubs these days.

  “I’ll come with you,” Pinky said, rising.

  “Vega needs someone to keep her company.” Josie’s lips pressed into a stern line that left no room for argument.

  Pinky’s enthusiasm deflated. “Sure. I’ll just stay here and fill you in on the game when you get back.”

  “You’re the best!” Josie smiled. “You’re such a great friend.”

  He forced a smile. “Heh. Yeah. Friend.”

  Vega snickered. I was relieved she didn’t say anything cruel.

  I felt bad for the big guy. Whenever he tried to spend time with Josie, she managed to friend-zone him.

  Josie linked her arm through mine. Probably it wasn’t a good idea for us to be this close without someone around to help Josie control her jorogumo magic. I glanced back at Pinky as we descended the bleachers.

  “You know he’s into you,” I said to Josie.

  “We’re just friends.”

  We navigated around a group of teenage girls standing in the aisle.

  “You could be more than friends,” I said.

  She made a face. “He’s just so . . . hairy. I’m not into hairy.”

  I nudged her with an elbow. “You could ask him to shave.”

  We both laughed at that.

  “But really,” she said. “I’ve learned my lesson about dating coworkers. Thatch is more than enough for me to have to put up with.”

  According to Thatch, they’d never actually been dating.

  “Can you imagine how awkward it would be to date Pinky—which I know wouldn’t work out—and then to have to keep seeing him?” She grimaced.

  It had never occurred to me how awkward it would be if things didn’t work out with Thatch. I wanted to believe we would always be together, but if something happened, it would be uncomfortable for him to continue to be my magical mentor.

  Josie spoke with her hands, nearly knocking her witch hat off her head. “Our classrooms are in the same hall. Plus, there’s all the staff meetings and department meetings and. . . .” A dreamy smile spread across her face as her gaze settled on Khaba on the other side of the stadium. He pointed accusingly at a red-haired student, probably Ben O’Sullivan, though I couldn’t tell for sure from this distance.

  I pinched her to wake her from her daydream. “You were just saying why you shouldn’t lust after coworkers.”

  She made a face at me. “Fantasies are different.”

  “You know Khaba doesn’t play for your team.”

  She lifted her nose into the air. “Speaking of things we can’t have . . . how are you and your boyfriend?”

  My eyes went wide. “What boyfriend?”

  “I know you have a boyfriend. Everyone knows. I heard that message from your Fae enemy. Even she knows you have a secret boyfriend. Plus, you keep sneaking off. So what’s the deal?”

  “Nothing.” My insides felt as though they were shriveling up when I lied to her. I just had a couple of more weeks before I could tell her. Thatch had asked me to wait. I could do it.

  I forced my lips to smile.

  “Do you have some special deal with Elric, and you have to keep it secret? Vega’s just a front or something?” Her smile turned devilish. “Or does she actually think she’s dating him?”

  This was torture. Why did Thatch have to ask me to lie to Josie?

  “I can’t talk about it.” Seeing the annoyance on her face, I quickly added, “I want to. I really do. But I can’t right now.”

  “Whatever.” She shrugged. “It isn’t like I don’t already know.”

  But she didn’t know, and the moment she did, I didn’t know how she would react.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Hook, Line, and Sinker

  Saturday I was to be ready at 3 p.m. outside the school. The alibi was already set: I had told Khaba I would be going into the Morty Realm for art supplies, with Thatch as my chaperone. I told him Thatch would take me to my mother’s house afterward to spend the weekend with her. I avoided the principal, afraid he would veto the date.

  Khaba’s eyes crinkled up with concern the moment I told him. “This is a bad idea. You shouldn’t be leaving the school at all right now. That Fae who wants you dead is still out there.”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m probably safer in the Morty Realm around electronics than I am here.” I couldn’t very well tell him I had burned her with electricity, and for that reason, I doubted she would be after me any time soon.

  My mountain of lies and mistruths was mounting. Sooner or later it would catch up with me.

  “I don’t like Felix Thatch chaperoning you,” Khaba said.

  “Have you ever thought about cutting Thatch a break?” I asked. “Maybe you guys should hang out and play chess or something. You could get to know each other and. . . . ”

  The way his nostrils flared with disdain signaled it was time to stop.

  “Never mind.”

  “I appreciate your optimism,” Khaba hugged me around the shoulder. “But I don’t think you understand what a sly devil that man is.”

  Even with Brogan telling Khaba that Thatch wasn’t his murderer, Khaba remained suspicious.

  I couldn’t tell if that was concern in his eyes about me leaving the school or something else. There were moments he studied me, and from the way his brow furrowed, I wondered if he was thinking about my previous necromancy incidents. He had said all accused crimes would be forgiven and forgotten. That had been part of my wish so he wouldn’t have to report me. But there were moments I wondered if he truly had forgotten. He hadn’t forgotten about Thatch being accused of murder, only forgiven him of all the misdeeds he’d been acquitted of.

  I couldn’t tell if he remembered me resurrecting Brogan to clear Thatch’s name. I wasn’t sure whether it was safe to
ask him either because then he couldn’t claim to have forgotten about my crimes of necromancy.

  At two in the afternoon, I started prepping for my date with a shower and makeup. When I returned to my dorm room, the fragrance of perfume was the first thing I noticed. It wasn’t Vega’s usual smell of cigarettes, alcohol, and sweaty dresses from dancing. This was heady and sweet, a note of alcohol under it, but more like the kind of alcohol that was in perfume, not gin and vodka.

  My eyes fell upon a red dress hanging on the door of my wardrobe on the other side of the room. A little note was pinned to one of the straps. In elegant calligraphy that must have taken time and care to write with a fancy pen was scrawled:

  Cinderella’s gown. Be sure to be back before midnight or else someone might turn into a pumpkin.

  I laughed at the fairy-tale reference. I had made that joke to Thatch once, and he had grumbled that Cinderella turning into the pumpkin wasn’t the version of the story he knew.

  Thatch still hadn’t revealed where he was taking me on our date. Hopefully dancing. If Thatch had started off the note with his usual bossy phrase, “I’ve taken the liberty of . . .” I probably would have selected something else from my closet.

  The only other fancy dress I had was the green lace one I’d avoided since the time I’d worn it on a date with Julian. I didn’t particularly like the idea of someone else picking out my clothes, but the red dress was tasteful, with a full skirt that would twirl nicely for dancing and a polka-dot slip built in underneath, just an inch of it exposed.

  He’d picked out something I would actually like. I wondered if the polka dots were for polka dancing. On the other hand, one could never be too careful with mysterious gifts. Thatch had advised me to always use the hex-detecting spell.

  I cast the spell three times to be certain, but no traces of hexes or curses came up. I hadn’t really thought it would. Who else knew the Cinderella-pumpkin reference besides Thatch?