So Mote it Be

by Isobel Bird

  Annie sat down on the floor, and Kate followed suit. Annie took the little cauldron and put something into it, which she then lit with a match.

  “This is incense,” she said as she unscrewed the top on the glass jar and reached inside. She took some of the powder inside and sprinkled it into the cauldron. A thick cloud of smoke poured out and the room filled with a strong smell.

  “It’s sage incense,” said Annie as Kate coughed a little. “It’s supposed to purify whatever it touches. We’re supposed to wave it around our bodies.”

  Kate fanned the smoke, blowing it around herself. “Well, if anything will get rid of those mice, that will,” she muttered.

  Annie, ignoring her, took the box of salt and poured some into the empty bowl. She set the bowl between herself and Kate.

  “Salt is also a purifying substance,” she said. “According to the spell, we’re supposed to put our hands in it to get rid of any negative energy that might be hanging around us.”

  They plunged their hands into the bowl of salt. “Now, repeat after me,” Annie said. “Spells and magic gone astray.”

  Kate repeated the words, and Annie continued. “Turn around and come my way. All gone wrong shall be made right. Return to me, return tonight.”

  “Now imagine all of the spells you did coming back to you,” Annie said, her voice getting deeper and sounding more dreamy as she talked. “Picture them as birds flying back to you and landing on your outstretched hands. Each one is a little piece of magic that you sent out into the world, and now you’re calling them home.”

  Kate imagined herself standing on a green hilltop with her arms out to her sides. One by one, small black birds flew to her and landed on her body. She felt their feet on her skin and heard their wings flutter the air as they settled down.

  “Now imagine the birds going to sleep,” Annie continued. “One by one they tuck their heads under their wings, until they’re all quiet.”

  “Now what do I do with them?” Kate asked after all of her imaginary birds were sleeping.

  “Imagine putting them all into a big birdcage,” Annie said. “Sort of like putting them to bed. Take each one and put it in there. When they’re all in there, shut the door. It symbolizes all of the magic you sent out into the world being returned to the place it came from.”

  Kate put all of the little black birds into a big cage in her mind. When they were all inside, she shut the door.

  “Is that it?” she asked, looking at Annie.

  Annie removed her hands from the bowl of salt and shook them off. “I think so,” she said. “I can’t really think of anything else.”

  “There doesn’t seem to be much to all of this magic stuff except imagining a lot of things,” said Kate. “I thought it would be more about chanting spells and grinding up dried frogs or something.”

  “It’s all about energy,” said Annie. “At least that’s what I’ve read. I don’t really understand it all, either. But most of the books I’ve read say that magic is really about sending out energy. You know, like you wanted Scott to ask you out so you imagined him doing it and you sent that energy out into the world to make it happen.”

  “Next time I’ll just ask him out myself,” Kate said. “It’s a lot easier. So, what will this spell we just did accomplish?”

  “It’s supposed to put a stop to all the spells you did,” Annie said. “But I can’t promise anything. Like I said, I don’t know much more about this than you do.”

  “Hey, you knew about inviting all of those directions,” Kate said. “At least you had a guest list. I did everything backwards. But I hope all those guys will leave me alone now.”

  “What if Scott leaves you alone, too?” asked Annie.

  “I hadn’t thought about that,” Kate said, suddenly alarmed. “You don’t think he’s only with me because of the spell, do you? I’d like to think my charming personality had something to do with it, too.”

  “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow,” Annie answered. “But for now we need to open the circle.”

  “I’ll help you blow out the candles,” Kate said, leaning over and starting to puff on one.

  “No!” Annie shouted, startling Kate. “We have to do it the right way.”

  She stood up again, holding the knife in the direction she’d ended with when casting the circle. “North, creature of the earth,” she intoned. “Thank you for being with us in our circle.”

  She went around the circle, saying the same thing to each of the directions. When she was done, she told Kate that it was okay to blow out the candles. Then she turned the lights back on and began gathering up all of the items and putting them away.

  “So, do you really believe in all of this?” Kate asked as she helped put the candles into the box.

  Annie shrugged. “It’s hard to say,” she answered. “I mean, most of my life has been spent with science. Ever since I was little I’ve loved it. It makes sense to me. There are rules and formulas and numbers for figuring everything out. You can prove things or disprove them by doing experiments. But this isn’t really something you can prove.”

  “How did you get into it?” Kate asked.

  “That’s a long story,” Annie said. “Right now I have to get this all cleaned up. My aunt will be home soon.”

  “I’ll get going then,” Kate said. “It’s almost time for dinner anyway.”

  They put away the last of the things they’d used and picked up their milk glasses and the empty cookie plate. Back down in the kitchen, Annie poured the bowl of salt into the sink and ran water over it.

  “It doesn’t seem very magical,” she said as the salt dissolved and ran down the drain. “But it will have to do.”

  She got Kate’s coat from the closet and gave it to her. As Kate was putting it on, Meg came in from the other room holding her book.

  “If you come again, I’ll read to you,” she said.

  “I’d like that,” Kate said. “Do you promise to do all the voices for the characters?”

  Meg giggled and ducked back into the living room. Kate turned to Annie.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “No problem,” said Annie.

  “I meant what I said about coming back,” Kate said. “I’d really like to, if it’s okay with you.”

  “Sure,” said Annie. “I’d like that. Just promise me one thing.”

  “What’s that?” asked Kate.

  “No more spells,” Annie said. “I have enough trouble with mice. I don’t want a lot of boys running around the kitchen, too.”

  “I have a feeling that won’t be a problem anymore,” Kate said. “I think tomorrow is going to be a lot better than today.”

  Kate left Annie’s house and walked home feeling better than she had in days. She was sure that the ritual she and Annie had done would make everything right. She was immensely relieved to have found someone to help her, and Annie seemed to understand her. As she walked, her thoughts reverted to Scott, and she caught herself wondering what his surprise for her was, and then glumly wondered if she’d still even get it. She wasn’t sure what to expect from him, if anything.

  CHAPTER 8

  Kate walked into school on Tuesday morning filled with uncertainty. She was sure that she and Annie had managed to fix the spells that had gone wrong and put everything in order again, but she wasn’t sure what that meant exactly. So when she saw Scott standing in the hallway as she entered, she smiled nervously and walked over to him.

  “There you are,” he said. “Are you ready for your surprise?”

  Kate breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been so stressed out about what was going on that she hadn’t been able to enjoy the thought that he was doing something special for her. But now she couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

  “Sure,” she said. “Show away.”

  Scott took her by the hand and led her around the corner toward the lockers.

  “Ta-da,” he said, pointing.

  Kate looked in the direction of hi
s gesturing arm. There on the wall was her yearbook picture from the previous year, blown up three times larger than life. It was the focal point of a poster that said: KATE MORGAN FOR VALENTINE’S DAY QUEEN!

  “What is that?” Kate asked with growing apprehension.

  Scott grinned. “The team nominated you for Valentine’s Day queen,” he explained. “There are posters all over the school.”

  Kate had also forgotten about the Valentine’s Day dance, and about the voting for queen. Every year at the dance a queen was elected by the student body. All of the different clubs and sports teams were allowed to nominate a candidate, and the winner was announced the night of the dance. The queen then got to choose her Valentine’s Day king.

  But Kate had a bad feeling about the poster as she stared at it. The football team’s candidate was almost always a senior cheerleader. She knew that they’d chosen her because of the spell she’d cast, and that meant that things weren’t entirely back to normal after all.

  “Isn’t it great?” Scott said. “It was a unanimous choice.”

  “I’m sure it was,” Kate said. Then, seeing the confused look on Scott’s face, she added, “I’m really happy.”

  “You’re going to win,” Scott said confidently. “I mean, how could you lose?”

  I wish I knew, Kate thought. I wish I knew.

  “I’ve got to get to class,” she said to Scott. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

  “Sure thing,” he said. “But don’t forget your button.”

  “My button?” Kate said.

  Scott unzipped his backpack and pulled something out. He handed it to Kate. It was a button. Like the poster, it featured her smiling face, and the words “Let Me Be Your Valentine!” were printed around the edges. Kate’s heart sank.

  “The guys stayed up most of the night making them,” Scott said. “We’re going to hand them out to everyone. Jeff is already passing them out at the other door.”

  “Great,” Kate said. “Just great.”

  “I knew you’d love them,” Scott said as he pinned one to her shirt.

  Kate walked to her locker, waiting until she was around the corner to remove the button and stick it in her pack. It was bad enough that her face was plastered on the walls everywhere she went; she didn’t want to be a walking advertisement for herself as well.

  “Great posters, Kate,” a guy said as he passed her. “Hope you win.”

  “Thanks,” Kate said weakly as she went to her locker.

  Several more boys passed her wearing Kate Morgan buttons and wishing her luck. In fact, just about every guy she saw had her face on his shirt. The girls, though, did not. In fact, most of the girls who passed by her frowned. Kate wanted to apologize to each and every one of them, explaining that it wasn’t her fault. But it was her fault, and she knew it. It was her fault for working a spell she didn’t know how to control. Now she felt like the magic was punishing her somehow by making everything go wrong.

  Annie was waiting for her at the lockers. “Congratulations,” she said cheerfully.

  Kate saw that she was wearing one of the buttons. “Not you, too,” she said.

  “What?” said Annie, frowning. “This isn’t a good thing?”

  “Don’t you get it?” Kate asked. “It means our spell failed. The boys are paying more attention to me than ever. And if you look around, you’ll see that you’re the only nonmale in this place sporting one of those things.”

  “I hadn’t thought of that,” Annie said as she looked around and saw that Kate was right. “But, hey, maybe it’s just some kind of residual effect, you know? Maybe this was all planned before we did our ritual.”

  Kate paused as she opened her locker. “Maybe,” she said, a little bit of hope creeping into her voice. “Maybe this is just the last thing I have to get through and then it will all be over.”

  Annie peered into Kate’s locker. “That’s the neatest locker I’ve ever seen,” she said, clearly impressed by the way everything inside was arranged. “And I thought I was compulsive.”

  “Organization is the key to peace of mind,” Kate answered, taking out the books she needed for the morning and reordering the others so they were in the same order as her class schedule. “I should have remembered that when I was doing my spell. Then maybe things wouldn’t have gone so wrong. Now, give me that button.”

  Annie took off the button and handed it to Kate, who threw it into her locker with disgust and shut the door. Then the two of them started toward the chemistry room. As they climbed the stairs to the second floor, they saw a group of girls putting up a poster. It was a picture of Terri Fletcher dressed in a robe and wearing a crown, and the poster said: DON’T BE FOOLED BY PRETENDERS TO THE THRONE—VOTE FOR A REAL QUEEN. Terri was being sponsored by the drama club, and Kate knew exactly who they were talking about when they mentioned pretenders. She walked past the group of girls as quickly as she could, but not before she heard them laughing loudly.

  “What did we do wrong?” she asked Annie as they entered the classroom. “I thought things went so well last night.”

  “It’s not like an experiment,” Annie said. “You can’t measure the results scientifically. I don’t know what happened. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  Kate saw Tara sitting in her usual seat, and for a moment she was torn between sitting with her new friend and sitting with her old one. She felt as if she and Annie now shared something that she didn’t share with anyone else. Still, she knew it would look strange if she suddenly began sitting somewhere else. So as Annie went to her seat, Kate put her books down next to Tara.

  “Hey,” she said as she sat down, testing the waters to see if Tara was still angry at her.

  “Hey,” said Tara. She didn’t sound angry, but she didn’t sound exactly friendly, either.

  “I see you’ve got your own poster,” Tara said casually.

  “Yeah,” said Kate. “I didn’t know anything about it. Scott surprised me this morning.”

  “You know, the football team candidate almost always wins,” Tara said. “Looks like you’re the odds-on favorite now.”

  “I don’t know,” Kate said, feeling more and more uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. “It’s early. There will be a lot of other candidates people will vote for.”

  “We’ll see,” Tara answered. “But the way things are going for you, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

  Kate knew that Tara’s last comment was a dig at her for getting a good grade on the midterm, but she ignored it. She was already on really thin ice with her friends, and one false step would send her crashing through. All she could do was wait and hope that maybe the spell she and Annie had done would kick in soon. If it didn’t, she wasn’t sure what she would do.

  Despite her initial hope that things would get better, the day was difficult for her. Everywhere she went she saw her picture smiling down from those awful posters. And it seemed that every boy in the school was wearing her button. Even Mr. Draper and Mr. Niemark, her math teacher, had them on. Only the girls wore Terri’s buttons. It was as if the school had divided into two enemy camps, with the boys on Kate’s side and the girls on Terri’s.

  At lunch Kate sat with Scott and his football team buddies, but all they talked about was her campaign for Valentine’s Day queen. She pretended to listen, but really she was thinking about Tara, Sherrie, and Jessica, sitting in one part of the cafeteria, and Annie, sitting alone in another. For different reasons, she wanted to be sitting at the other tables, and she felt trapped in the middle. Even the other players’ girlfriends had stopped sitting at the football table, but their boyfriends didn’t seem to notice.

  What’s happening here? Kate thought as she ate her lunch without tasting any of it. Why aren’t things going back to normal? Then she had a horrible thought. Maybe this was normal now. Maybe the magic had changed things permanently. Maybe it was the price she had to pay for getting what she wanted.

  When school was over, Kate raced ho
me as quickly as she could. Up in her room, she picked up the book of spells and looked at it. “You’ve caused enough trouble,” she said. “Tomorrow you go back to the library, where you belong.”

  She placed the book in her backpack and went downstairs to help her mother finish making dinner. She was determined to make her life as normal as she possibly could, and that meant staying far away from magic and witchcraft.

  For the first time in a long while, both of her parents were home for dinner, and Kate was able to forget about her problems as she busied herself telling them about the upcoming basketball game. She left out the part about being nominated for Valentine’s Day queen, and the part about going to the dance with Scott, because she knew they’d be excited for her and she didn’t want to have to talk about it. She wanted to feel ordinary, not special. She’d had enough attention for a while. It felt good just to wash dishes, do some homework, and go to bed.

  The next morning she had no idea what to expect when she got to school. She half expected to find that someone had erected a statue of her on the school lawn or that the entire school had been renamed after her. Another part of her hoped that, somehow, everything would have gone back to the way it was before she’d ever done a spell.

  But the posters of her were still up. Only now there were posters of several other candidates as well. A picture of Terri Fletcher hung a few feet away from one of Kate, and two or three other faces peered out from the walls.

  As Kate walked through the halls looking at all the posters, she noticed that while a lot of the boys were still wearing her buttons, some of them were sporting buttons with other faces on them. Fewer of them said hello to her or smiled at her, and she didn’t get quite as many hostile looks from other girls as she had been getting. Maybe it’s working, she thought happily.