Love Spells and Other Disasters

by Angie Barrett

  All the same, I let my mind wander to what life in New York would be like for us if I didn’t have that self-imposed responsibility. Maybe I’d be able to get a job at a cool bookstore or at a chic café part-time while I attend my psych classes at New York University, or maybe even Columbia. I’d learn all the things I’d need to know to understand my mom better. Maybe I’d figure out how to help her let Dad go and move on with her life.

  Ethan would be doing all the fabulous things he’s always wanted to do. He’d charm his way onto the set of an old timey Broadway show and start apprenticing with a costumer or maybe make connections on a TV show set in the Disco Era so he could immerse himself in bell bottoms and funky facial hair. Or maybe we’d both work at some fancy restaurant. I’d wait tables and he’d work as a sous chef. Celebrities would come in and be amazed by Ethan’s culinary skills, then he’d get discovered and his future would roll out even more fantastically than we imagined. We’d live in a tiny little apartment where we’d have to sleep in the same room as we cooked and ate.

  We’d always imagined hanging out in Central Park with our Chai lattes, watching all of the New Yorkers go about their days.

  I imagine us there, our lattes wafting their spicy deliciousness, our hands warming against our cups from the cooler fall temperatures. Ethan would be sitting next to me on a park bench and he’d be pointing out all the outfits that were influenced by other eras or telling me what would have been worn way back when. I’d be people watching, too, but paying attention to body language and facial expressions, trying to psychoanalyze how a person’s day was going based on what their expressions and gestures were saying.

  I can picture it and it makes me smile because Ethan has been talking about the idea of moving to New York for forever and he’s envisioned exactly what our lives would be like. I’m thinking about that park bench and all the beautiful people we’d see walking when all of a sudden a familiar face pops up in the crowd. Luca walks toward me and I realize I’m sitting alone on the bench. Ethan has vanished. My heart wallops so hard that I have to touch my chest to make sure it isn’t showing. Luca smiles and all I want to do is sit with him on that bench, holding his hand and talking until the sun goes down and we’re freezing but neither of us wants to leave because the moment feels too perfect to risk losing it.

  “There, what do you think?”

  I snap out of my daydream.

  He picks up a smaller mirror and holds it up so I can see what he’s done.

  Somehow, he managed to braid my hair into intricate twists and turns that looks magazine worthy and so chic. “I love it!” And he’s right—with my hair up my neck looks long and elegant.

  “Luca is gonna be all over you.” He puts his hands on my shoulders. “Use protection. That guy probably gets around.”

  “Geez, Ethan, come on. We’re not going to have sex tonight.” Ethan’s comment about Luca getting around bothers me, though. I mean, I don’t know a lot about him but I never saw him chasing after girls the way I see the other guys do. And even though Luca’s super skilled at making my mind and body short circuit, I just don’t get the vibe that this is a hookup. “I don’t think Luca is like the rest of his friends.”

  “He’s not, you’re right.” He reaches past me so he can grab one of his makeup brushes and a palette. Ethan squints before selecting a color for me. “He’s pretty serious, quiet, different from the other guys. But he’s still one of them.” He puts some shadow on me and I have to wonder if he’s really going to go easy or if I’m going to look like him once he’s done with me. “Rumor is that he was dating a girl from another school and it was pretty serious.”

  Something heavy settles around my mood. Okay, I didn’t know that. “I guess that’s why he never seemed interested in anyone at Fern.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “What happened?” I should know, right? Whether I’m some kind of rebound date or something?

  “She dumped him.” Ethan sucks his lips in before picking up some false lashes.

  “Um, no.” I wave away the lashes. “I find it hard to believe that someone dumped Luca.”

  With a sigh he puts them back down, then grabs his mascara. “Well, she did. Broke his heart. But I guess she was only interested in him when he was a superstar athlete. Now that he’s not, well, I guess his value has diminished.”

  “That’s really sad, actually.” What kind of girl dumps a seemingly really nice guy just because he can’t play sports anymore? A shallow one, I guess. I try not to move as Ethan brings the mascara wand over and over again to my lashes. I’m terrified that he’s going to poke my eye out and I hold my breath the entire time.

  “You can breathe, Ro, I’m done with your eyes.”

  I let my held breath out with an exaggerated whoosh. “Thank God,” I joke. “Who’d you get the information about Luca from?”

  He sticks his tongue out, then puts the finishing touches on my face with a dab or two of lip gloss. “Malcolm told me.” He holds the mirror up again. “Like I said, he was dying for me to come to his party. Spent all fifth period talking my head off.”

  “Really? I honestly didn’t think the spell would work. In general, but also because I had to change it up to a platonic thing. Maybe he’s into boys after all.”

  “Maybe.” Ethan shrugs but I can tell that he’s been thinking the same thing because his eyes are practically sparkling. “Now, will you look in the mirror and tell me what you think?”

  My eyes look smoky, but it’s subtle and my lips are plump and glossy. “Wow, I look good!”

  “You do look good.” Ethan gives me a kiss on the cheek. “Just don’t get any ideas about making Luca Russo fall in love with you. The last thing I need is another thing keeping you in this hellish nowhere town.”

  “Luca isn’t leaving?” I guess not if he’s doing an apprenticeship.

  “Nope. He’s going to stay here, probably get fat, find some local girl to settle down with, have a bunch of kids…you know, normal crap.”

  The heavy weight on my mood lifts at the idea of normal. “Well, no way I’d be able to keep a guy like Luca anyway. Especially if I’m a rebound date.”

  Ethan pulls me up so I can look at myself in the full-length mirror. “With the way you look tonight, a guy like Luca is going to be drooling so hard that he’s never gonna want to let you go.”

  Chapter Nine

  When Luca rings the doorbell, I’m jittering like I’ve had way too many energy drinks. I stand up, then sit down. Should I answer the door? Should Ethan? The doorbell rings again. I get up. Of course I should answer the door. I touch my hair. Smooth out my halter. Take a deep breath, then let it explode out. Will Luca like how I look? Will he kiss me? Gosh I hope he kisses me.

  I open the door. The porch light shines on him like he’s some kind of god or something. “Hi!”

  His eyes saunter all the way down my body, then back up again, leaving a trail of heat the entire way. His eyes are wide when he meets mine once again. “You look amazing.”

  I beam. His smile pumps me full of confidence, and all the anxiety that’s going haywire in my body settles. “Thanks!”

  I grab my coat and reluctantly put it on, because it, for sure, does not look amazing. I should have at least thought about washing it. The nights are, unfortunately, still cold enough to make a coat necessary.

  As I step outside and close the door behind me, he offers his hand and I kind of stare at it for a second, thinking that he wants to shake but then I realize no, silly, he wants to hold your hand. My smile gets wider, if that’s possible, and I slip my hand in his.

  “I made a reservation for us.”

  His hand is warm and firm and so much bigger than mine. “At a pizza restaurant?” I feel like I’m walking in a daze. Is this really happening?

  He laughs. “It’s a special kind of pizza place.”

  Luca
drives a truck. Nothing fancy or new, but the truck is clean and in good shape. I can tell he takes care of it. He opens the door for me and I get a fresh wave of giddiness. “Thanks.” I smile up at him. His eyes have crinkles around them which, my mom says is always a sign that someone is truly happy. His smile matches mine, like he’s just as happy as I am that we’re together right now.

  “You really look great tonight, Rowan.” He leans down and kisses my cheek.

  It’s so sweet, so charming that I want to kiss him back, like really kiss him. I’m dying to, actually. “So do you.” And he does. He’s wearing black jeans and his jacket is open to reveal a button up dress shirt, black as well. It isn’t super formal but it does make him look different from when he’s at school or, alternatively, working at my house in a tank top.

  “I started reading that book you picked for me,” he says once he’s seated and we’re both buckled in. “It’s good so far.”

  “Glad you like it.” Since Ethan lives across the street and down the road, we have to drive past my house to get anywhere. The lights are on in the front room so I know Mom has finished watching her ghost shows. She can usually only handle sitting through one or two episodes before she gets too exasperated by the “human made non-ghostly nonsense” that goes on. Her assistant, Zach, might be there with her by now, using his different equipment to see if anything or anyone shows up. Or maybe she’s alone. Sitting there, talking to Dad, expecting him to talk back. I lower my eyes and shake my head.

  “Your house looks so cool this time of year.”

  I agree, it does. With the rain the way it’s been, the black wood of the house is perpetually wet which makes it stand out even more. We take up the whole corner of the street. One side is turret-like with round rooms going up three floors. That’s where Mom is sitting. My bedroom is above that.

  Luca’s craning his neck—checking out the highest peak. “Is that attic space finished?”

  “Yeah, but it needs updating in the worst way.” Smells like mold and mildew and dust. “I wanted to take it as my bedroom when we first moved in but it’s pretty cut off from the rest of the house and I was only seven. Mom didn’t like that idea.”

  “I wouldn’t mind getting a look at the space. Maybe I could help you fix it up this summer when I’m done with my apprenticeship. Make it a space for you to hang out.”

  “That would be cool.” Did he just say this summer? Like, he’s planning a future of doing things together? If I could levitate, my head would be hitting the roof right now. It’s totally awesome that he’s thinking as if this isn’t a one and only date for us. “What happens after your apprenticeship? Did you apply to any schools?” This might be a trick question, since I know what I know, but I want to see how he responds.

  He doesn’t flinch or look upset. He just shrugs, then shifts his eyes away from my house and back to the road ahead. “Yeah, this apprenticeship is just to keep my dad off my back. I registered for an electrician program. It starts in July.”

  “And football…”

  “That’s done.” He taps his head. “Took too many hits up here.” He smiles and like a blast from the sun, it warms me, but all that heat dissolves when he adds, “One more could kill me.”

  “I’m sorry.” And I mean it. I can imagine how awful it must be to have your dreams yanked away from you, but I’m grateful, too, because I wouldn’t want Luca to die because of a sport.

  “It’s okay.” He reaches over and entwines his fingers with mine. “Football was a fluke, just a thing I was good at. I’m good at other things, too. And I like working with my hands.”

  “Is your dad an electrician?” I like the feel of his fingers wrapped around mine. I like how at ease he is and how he can drive with one hand and make it look like it’s no big deal. I don’t even have my license yet so anyone with a comfort level behind the wheel seems very sophisticated to me.

  “Nope. My dad works in sales. My granddad was a carpenter, though. Always let me work in his shop when I was younger.” He pauses. “I know what people are saying. That I’m making a mistake. That I’m ruining my life.”

  Are people saying that? Abby acted like she understood but maybe his team isn’t being totally cool about it. Maybe other people aren’t, either. Not like I’m plugged in to the gossip going around.

  “I know a lot of people think I’m getting myself stuck in this town and I’ll end up being a loser with no direction, but I have a plan.”

  “More than becoming an electrician?”

  “I’m going to open my own business, build an empire.” His laugh is short and full of confidence. “You know how in demand the trades are?”

  I nod. I remember the speech we got from the career counselor last year. Trades are dying for young people.

  “I’m making the right choice and I know I’ll be happy.” He tugs my hand a bit. “What about you? What plans do you have after next year?”

  “Not sure.”

  “You’re not itching to get out of here? Most of the people I talk to can’t wait to leave town.” He chuckles but it sounds a little awkward and it’s lacking the confidence he had moments ago.

  “No plans to leave town, no.” In my mind I’m jumping so far ahead that I’m scared to say anything more to Luca because I don’t want him to hear how pathetically hopeful I am.

  If he stays here and I stay here, maybe we could stay here together.

  We pull up to a restaurant I’ve never been to before and would never guess was a pizza place. Renaldo’s. “This looks fancy.” My anxiety kicks into gear and I start to sweat. I resist the urge to chew on my much-abused fingers. Barely. I didn’t dress for a fancy place.

  Luca lets go of my hand so he can park. “My uncle owns it. Called in a favor and got us a nice spot inside. Normally you need to make reservations six weeks in advance. The food is incredible. The pizza is the best you’ll ever eat.”

  “Sounds delicious.” If it’s family owned, maybe I won’t stick out with my jeans and halter top.

  He puts his arm around me as we walk to the front door, then opens it for me and waves me forward.

  “Luca! So great to see you!” A bubbly woman with dark hair and bright eyes comes to greet us. “Tommy said you booked a booth for two and I was wondering if you were bringing Shelley— Oh, hello.” She doesn’t miss a beat as her eyes land on me and sees that I am, in fact, not Shelley. “You must be Luca’s new girlfriend.”

  “Aunt Rose, this is Rowan Marshall. You probably know her mom—”

  “Oh my! Your mom is Dr. Marshall, isn’t she?” Aunt Rose pulls me forward so she can kiss both of my cheeks. “I love her books! She’s such a smart lady. I’ve always wanted to sign up for one of her past-life regression workshops but I keep missing them.”

  “Well, she has one coming up in a few weeks. I think there’s still some spots available.” I shuffle my feet a bit and clasp my hands together, not sure what to do with myself now that all eyes are on me. Mom is good at this kind of thing, me not so much.

  “Oh, really? Well, I’m going to sign up then!” She ushers us over to a booth that’s near the back of the restaurant. “Here you two go, best seats in the house! I’ll get Nancy to come by and take your order.”

  “Thanks, Aunt Rose.”

  Luca and I take our seats and Aunt Rose leaves, and with her goes the easy conversation that Luca and I had in the truck. Shelley must have been the girlfriend that broke his heart. I want to ask about her but, actually, maybe I don’t. I also want to ask other questions like, why didn’t he correct his aunt when she said I was his new girlfriend? I mean, this is date number one, we aren’t together yet, are we? Not that I’d mind being his girlfriend, but still. We barely know each other.

  “I was homeschooled until ninth grade,” Luca blurts, pulling me out of my thoughts. “All of the kids in my family are.”

  I nod. “Cool.” I
don’t know a ton about homeschooling. I mean, I’ve heard the jokes and whatnot but my mom looked into it just before we came to Youngstown and for a while she was leaning toward keeping me up on my studies that way. I know the programming is rigorous.

  “It’s a big community of people, actually.” He glances up sharply as a young woman approaches. “Hey, Nanc. Rowan, this is my cousin Nancy. Nancy, Rowan.”

  “Hi guys!” Nancy smiles warmly. “Mom mentioned that you’d brought someone tonight.” Someone else is what she means. The way she says it makes me think that everyone on the planet was expecting Luca to show up with Shelley.

  I try to hide my wince but Luca sees it. His cheeks flush and the corners of his mouth droop, not quite a frown but enough to make me think that he’s regretting his decision to bring me here.

  “Yeah, I told Rowan that you’ve got the best pizza in town.”

  “We do!” Nancy slips a menu in front of me. “What do you like, Rowan?”

  “Um…I guess…pepperoni, mushrooms, extra cheese.”

  “We can do that. Normal crust or activated charcoal?”

  I look at Luca, my eyes wide. “Ahh…what’s that?”

  “It’s good, makes the crust light. It’s kind of their signature pizza crust. The charcoal makes the dough black.”

  Black pizza, totally Goth. My mom would love that. “Sure, okay, I’ll give it a try.”

  “Excellent choice. Luca, your usual?” Nancy takes the menu back.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  Nancy nods. “And drinks?”

  “Coke,” I say.

  “Same for me.”

  “Great, I’ll get that going for you.” She looks at me. “Nice to meet you, Rowan.”

  “You, too.”

  Once she’s gone, Luca leans forward. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?”

  He smiles in a way that tells me he knows what I’m thinking. “I dated Shelley for a while. She meant a lot to my family.”

  I nod. My throat gets thick. I feel…well, I feel jealous, actually.