Selfish Elf Wish

by Heather Swain

  “Our minds, Grandma. It was going to blow our minds.” I laugh as we enter the warm cinnamony kitchen. “You’re not going to believe what happened at the auditions.”

  “Or where we’re going tonight,” Briar adds, handing Grove a red flyer.

  chapter 6

  MUSIC PUMPS THROUGH the speakers overhead and crashes to the red, yellow, and blue puddles of light on the dance floor. The crowd jumps in time to the rhythm of the drums and bass. I’m so sweaty I feel like I’m grooving under a waterfall. It may be 30 degrees and snowing outside, but inside this club, I’m wearing my tunic with no leggings and my boots (which was Briar’s idea), and everything’s sticking to my skin like it’s the middle of summer.

  Timber reaches out to me. He’s down to his jeans and a white tank. Sweat slicks his hair off his forehead, and his gray-blue eyes sparkle under the roving lights. Watching him dance makes me feel something inside, like a flower blooming behind my belly button, and I want to move! I grab his hands and we jump, twirl, shake, and sing with the other hundred people who’ve showed up at Clay and Dawn’s Red Hook club.

  Timber yells something to me, but the boom-chick rhythm of the music drowns out his words. I try to maneuver closer to him between the flailing arms, whipping hair, and gyrating hips of all the other people. Ari and Mercedes dance on one side of us. Briar and Kenji on the other. Kenji’s movements are sharp and jerky, but Briar flows like a wild river. I have to smile because dancing is her thing. It’s what makes her most happy in the world and she’s great at it. My brother Grove is somewhere in the crowd, too. I saw Chelsea and her gals earlier, but I lost track of them once the lights dimmed. I even caught a glimpse of Bella and Gunther when we first came in, but I’m hoping the wall of people around us will keep them at a distance, especially because, at this very moment, Timber is so close to me that I can see the beads of sweat on his upper lip.

  When the song ends, the lights come up slowly and the DJ shouts, “How y’all doing tonight in Red Hook?” Everyone claps and yells. “I said, how y’all doing?” he repeats, and we yell and clap and stomp louder. “That’s more like it. Now, don’t go anywhere, stay right where you are and turn your attention to the stage because right here, right now, we’ve got a special performance by the belle of Brooklyn, Ms. Bella D’Artagnan!”

  Music swells over the polite applause from the crowd as Bella struts onto the stage under a white spotlight. She’s wearing a short, black, see-through dress and a body-hugging lacy thing underneath that looks more like a bathing suit than clothes. She hits her opening mark center stage with legs wide, arms up, light and wind hitting her from behind so there appears to be a halo around her long, whipping hair. Warm air wafts out into the crowd and I smell camellias and roses and the faintest trace of sandalwood, which reminds me of something else. Home? My mother? Walking in the woods? I don’t know, but the smell is soothing and I almost relax into it as I gaze up at her from the dance floor. Her legs seem impossibly long covered in black fishnets as she changes from one pose to the next while the music builds. Then she begins to stomp to the rhythm in her spiky black heels.

  I look at the crowd. Everyone stands still as if mesmerized, watching her dance to and sing some song about shaking your booty tonight that I’ve never heard. I would expect this kind of ogling from the guys, but most of the girls seem entranced by her every move, too. And even though I’d like her to fall off the stage, I can barely take my eyes off her, either. I swear, if I didn’t know better, I’d think she’s the one who’s magic.

  Worst of all, Timber stares at her like he couldn’t look away if he wanted to. The more she sings and moves onstage, the more beguiled the crowd seems to become, and pretty soon people are dancing along with her, mouthing lyrics to songs I don’t know. I turn to see if Briar understands why everyone is so captivated, but then I realize that she’s not next to me anymore.

  My stomach knots and suddenly I’m panicked. I can’t find Briar in the crowd, but since Bella’s show is going so well, I assume that Briar’s keeping her promise. I warned her before we left the house not to use magic to ruin Bella’s performance. We can’t interfere, I told her. She rolled her eyes at me. Whatev, cuz, she said. I squeezed her arm tightly. Promise, I demanded. I promise, she said. Elf swear, I said, and formed my first two fingers on each hand into a V. Then I crossed the Vs together in front of her mouth. She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes at me. Do it, I said, or I’ll tell Mom you’re planning on casting a spell tonight and she’ll keep you home. Briar shifted from one foot to the other but she relented. I swear I won’t use magic to mess with Bella’s performance, she said, and I caught the words in my hands.

  I, for one, have had enough Bella for one day. Between songs, I tap Timber on the shoulder. At first he doesn’t react, so I poke him harder. He shakes himself, as if waking up from a daydream, and looks at me. “I’m thirsty,” I yell. He leans in close to hear me over the music. “I’m going to get a drink,” I shout into his ear. He pushes my hair behind my ear and leans down. “I’ll go with you,” he yells, making my ear ring.

  “Great!” I scream back.

  I follow him as we weave through the jumble of bodies to the front of the club where the music is slightly less deafening and the cool air smells like beer and sweat and slushy snow, which is strangely refreshing after the warm woodsy smell on the dance floor.

  I plop down on a red vinyl couch and almost slide to the shaggy orange rug because I’m so slippery with sweat. Timber brings over two big plastic tumblers of ice water from the bar.

  “You made it!” We turn around to find weirdo Dawn leaning between us from behind the couch. She slings her arms around our shoulders and hugs us both tight to her neck. “Did you bring your friends? Is your cousin here? What about your brother?”

  I try to wriggle away from her a little, but she’s got a tight grip on me. “Grove drove us all here,” I tell her. “And I’ve seen tons of people from our school, too.”

  “Hurray!” she squeals, and hugs me tight again. “Clay and I worked so hard to get the word out about Bella’s show. E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, flyers, smoke signals!” She laughs and finally lets go of us, but then she climbs over the back of the couch and ends up sitting between us, smoothing down her body-hugging white dress. I scoot away. I don’t care what anybody else says, this girl is one odd duck. “What are you drinking? Water?” She grabs my cup and peers inside. “I can get you something better.” She waves to a skinny waitress with scraggly bleach-blonde hair and three eyebrow piercings.

  I hold up my wristband, red for underage. Timber has the same. We don’t have fake IDs and I have no interest in drinking anyway.

  “No, no.” Dawn pats my leg. “What do you think we are?” She laughs. “How about a Red Bull or a Fuze?”

  “I’ll take a Bull,” Timber says, but I shake my head.

  “Water’s great for me,” I say.

  “Come on. It’s on the house,” says Dawn. “For bringing all these kids out. A lemonade at least?”

  “Okay.” I peel my legs off the couch, where I’m sticking as the sweat dries. “Lemonade would taste good right now.”

  “And bring me a cranberry juice,” Dawn tells the waitress. “Isn’t this so much fun?” She turns back to us. “You guys have to come a lot. We want to have more live music and dancing. You can perform anytime you want.”

  I look at Timber, wondering if he’ll take her up on the offer, but instead he says, “Our friend Ari has a band. They’re really good.”

  “Tell him to get Clay a demo and we’ll book him,” she says. The waitress returns with our drinks. From the crowd on the dance floor we hear cheers erupt. The applause goes on for several seconds, then the DJ shifts the music back to some dance tune.

  “She must be done,” Dawn says. She grabs my leg. “I think it went well, don’t you? I think people liked her.”

  “Uh, yeah,” I say then take a big gulp of lemonade so I don’t have to talk.

  “She’s sta
r material,” Dawn says as people flood toward the bar.

  In the midst of all the people, Briar comes bopping off the dance floor with Kenji trailing behind her. She spins, loops her arms overhead, and runs toward us all in time to the music. “What’s up, Zeph!” she screams then falls on top of me, splashing lemonade everywhere.

  “Bri!” I yell, pushing her off. She tumbles to the floor, her feathery green top poufing up so her pale belly shows. She’s nearly in hysterics, she’s laughing so hard as she tries to pull herself upright.

  Dawn rushes to Briar’s side and offers her an arm. “Oh my God! You’re so cute. I just love this girl. And did you see her dancing? Oh my God. We should get you on So You Think You Can Dance, girl!” Suddenly Briar is on her feet, hugging Dawn as if they’ve known each other for years. I look at Timber. He laughs while pounding his Red Bull.

  “And who is this?” Dawn asks, one arm around Briar’s waist, the other reaching for Kenji, who sidesteps her, never taking his hands out of his jeans pockets.

  “Kenji Kenji Kenji Kenji!” Briar sings, then she snorts, then she laughs again.

  I lean close to Timber. “What’s wrong with her?”

  He raises his eyebrows. “She sounds a little tipsy.”

  “You mean drunk?” I ask, too loudly.

  “Oh poo on you, Zephyr-poo,” Briar says, wagging finger at me. “Party pooper all the time. I’m not drunk. I don’t even drink.” She’s not very convincing since her words are slurry and she’s swaying. “Just having a good time.” She lifts one arm and yells, “Hup freakin’ ba!” which sends Dawn into a fit of giggles, and they hug again. Make that two odd ducks.

  “What’s with the hup ba?” Timber asks me.

  I shake my head. “It’s just something people say where we’re from.” I look to Kenji. He shrugs, face blank. I can’t imagine he’d give her booze.

  “Your boyfriend is so funny,” Briar says to Dawn.

  “Boyfriend?” Dawn asks, confused. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Clay,” Briar says.

  “He’s my brother,” Dawn says, slapping Briar on the arm.

  “Aha!” Briar shouts. “That makes more sense. He showed me all around your ...” Briar leans too far forward and nearly stumbles. “Establishment,” she adds, righting herself again. “Grove’s with him checking out the back room, which is gorgie, by the way.”

  “Gorgie?” I ask no one.

  “It’s a smaller stage. More intimate. It’ll be perfect for singer-song-writers or poetry readings,” Dawn tells us. “My God, we’d about die if your dad would come do a set.”

  I ignore her.

  “And they have a fox!” Briar says. “A fox in a box!” She hops with excitement, which sends her stumbling backward, pulling Dawn with her to the couch, where they tangle together laughing.

  “A fox?” Dawn asks, breathless with laughter. “You must’ve seen our cat.” At this they both dissolve into hysterics again. I can hardly take these two.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone else leaning over the couch on the other side of Timber. Hoping it’s Mercedes, who might know why Briar’s acting so weird, or at least what gorgie means, I spin around and lean across Timber’s lap to come face-to-face with Bella.

  “What the . . . ?” I rear back.

  “Oh, it’s you,” she says, as if she’s surprised.

  “Why wouldn’t it be me?” I ask. I probably look like a sweat-soaked troll right now with a rat’s nest for hair. That would only be fitting because although Bella just sang and danced under a spotlight for thirty minutes, she’s still as fresh and dainty as an orchid in a hothouse. The girl is not even perspiring. Her hair is silky, her eyeliner’s in place, and the black dress hardly looks mussed.

  “Timber’s got lots of friends,” she says.

  I tighten my grip around the sweating cup in my hand. I want nothing more than to throw my lemonade in her face or zap her, which I won’t do.

  “So,” she says to Timber. “What’d you think?”

  He reaches out and pats her shoulder. “You were great, Bell,” he says, and now I want to zap him, or at least throw my lemonade at him.

  “That’s just a little bit of the show Clay is helping me work up,” she says. “We wanted to test-drive it tonight. But of course, now I’ll have to put it on hold to work on Idle.” She stops and rolls her eyes. “Can you believe what a waste of time that whole audition was today? Anybody could have told Padgie what would happen.”

  Where is Mercedes when I need her?

  “If he’d just gone ahead and cast the thing a week ago, we could already be learning lines and blocking scenes. I’m afraid the whole thing is going to blow.”

  “There’s plenty of time,” says Timber.

  “Have you even seen the whole script?” she asks. Timber shakes his head. “Me either, but I do have the first act. We should get together and start running lines before he gets the whole cast together.”

  Now my blood is boiling. Rehearsing alone! She’s got to be kidding. Briar crawls across the couch to sit beside me. “I hate that girl,” she fake whispers to me, but if Bella hears, she doesn’t react. “Why’s she all up in your boy’s grille?”

  “First off,” I whisper to her, “he’s not my boy, and second, are you sure you’re not drunk?”

  She rolls her eyes and sticks out her tongue. “Yes I’m sure, and why aren’t you more worried about that?” She flicks her fingers toward Bella, who’s massaging Timber’s shoulders now.

  “Moose crap,” I say.

  “Let’s get her,” Briar growls in my ear.

  “No,” I whisper. “We can’t.” But I want to! I want to more than anything.

  “Just a little one,” Briar pleads in my ear. “Harmless. No one will know,” she whispers.

  Bella’s leaning so close to Timber now that her cleavage is practically in his face. I know that I made Briar promise not to use magic. But this time I’ve had it. It’s time to fight fire with magic. I look at Briar. She grins, one eyebrow up, the corner of her mouth twitching. “Skunk breath,” she whispers.

  “And belches,” I add.

  Briar and I mutter incantations behind our fingers then zap our spells at Bella. It only takes a second before her hand shoots up to her lips. Her cheeks puff out, her eyes bulge, but she can’t hold it in. Briar and I fall over each other, stifling our laughter as the first burp rips from Bella’s pretty mouth, spewing everyone nearby with the putrid scent we’ve cursed her with.

  Timber jumps back in his seat, nearly landing on top of me. “You okay?” he asks her.

  Bella stands upright and presses her hand to her belly. “Jesus,” she moans. “I think I’m going to be sick.” Her hand shoots up to her mouth again and another belch comes up. She groans.

  “Honey!” Dawn rushes to her side. “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know,” Bella says, flustered and embarrassed. “Maybe it’s the heat or something I ate before the show or ...”

  Another belch. Dawn steps back, her face squinched from the odor.

  “Maybe I’m getting the stomach flu,” Bella moans, clutching her sides.

  I bury my face in Briar’s lap and shake from trying not to laugh, but when I look up, Grove is standing across from us, looking furious with his eyebrows down and his mouth tight.

  “Uh-oh.” I jab Briar in the side.

  “Scat, crap, dung,” she says when she catches Grove staring hard at us.

  He shakes his head and then as quick as a sneeze, he flutters his fingers, casting a counter spell to take our hexes away. By now Bella is on the couch beside Timber. He rubs her back.

  “We need to get you home,” Timber tells her. “Is Gunther here? Did you take the train or drive?”

  Bella looks up at him, her green eyes swimming. “We took a cab, but I don’t know where Gun is,” she whines. “Will you take me home?”

  “Faker,” Briar whispers to me.

  “Actress,” I say.

 
; Grove steps forward. “We drove,” he says. “We can get you home.”

  My mouth drops open. He has got to be kidding. But he shoots me another harsh look and I keep my thoughts to myself.

  “Go tell Ari and Mercedes that we’re leaving if they want a ride,” Grove says to me. I push myself up off the couch.

  “I’m not going.” Briar flops back and crosses her arms. “I’m still having fun.”

  “Your fun is over,” Grove tells her.

  “Kenji can get me home,” Briar argues. “Can’t you?” She smiles up at Kenji, who remains off to the side with hands shoved in his pockets. He looks to Grove, who shakes his head.

  “Guess not,” Kenji mumbles.

  Briar huffs. “Pansy,” she says not so quietly.

  Grove looks at me. His face is stony, and I know I’m in trouble. I shuffle off to find Ari and Mercedes on the crowded dance floor.

  By the time I drag Ari and Mercedes back to the red vinyl couch, Bella is sipping a club soda and smiling. “Really, I’m so much better now,” she says with her hand on Timber’s knee. Gunther stands behind her, punching buttons on his little sideways phone thing like he couldn’t care less.

  “Is she okay?” Ari asks. “What happened?”

  “She thought she was going to barf,” Kenji tells him.

  I glance at Briar, who pouts on the other end of the couch, and I ball my fingers into fists to keep myself from zapping someone out of sheer frustration.

  Grove squats down in front of Bella. “You sure?”

  “I’m sure.” She blinks like a baby deer. “And I don’t want to ruin your night.” She lays her hand on his shoulder. Could she touch more people?

  “You’re not ruining anything,” he says.

  Dawn reappears, leading Clay by the arm. He moves through the crowd like a snow leopard in white jeans and a rippling linen top unbuttoned so his smooth pale chest peeks out. He steps in front of Bella and squats down beside my brother. “Everything okay?” He reaches out and holds Bella’s face in his hands. “Let me look at your eyes.”