Alba raised her hand slightly. “Mind Control with a minor in Kinetic Energy.”
“How about you Holly?” I asked.
Holly glanced down at her perfectly manicured nails. “Major in clairvoyancy and minor in aesthetics.”
We all looked at Jax. Jax was the only one of us that wasn’t a witch. She stuck out her bottom lip. “I really don’t know guys. Without having powers, it’s really hard to go to witch college. All of my professors expect me to be able to do magic like everyone else, and I can’t!”
Alba knitted her eyebrows together. “Seriously Shorty? You’re just now figuring that out?”
Jax’s eyes swept down toward the table. “Well … no, but…”
“Maybe you should consider going to a normal college for normal people,” suggested Alba.
I felt bad for Jax. All she wanted in life was to be a witch. I knew she was secretly holding out hope that she’d get her powers on her eighteenth birthday, but we all knew there was no guarantee that would happen.
“That’s what my mom suggested,” said Jax slowly.
Holly’s eyes widened. “Sorceress Stone wants you to drop out of witch school?” she asked incredulously.
Jax nodded. Her eyes glistened, and her bottom lip quivered. It was a sensitive subject for Jax.
Even though Jax annoyed me most of the time, she still felt like my little sister. I slid over and put my arm around her shoulders for support. “Don’t let Stone get to you. Your birthday is in May. That’s right around the corner. I’m sure you’ll get your powers then.”
“But what if they don’t come in May? What if I’m really not a witch for … forever?”
The table fell silent. No one had the answers, and no one knew what to say.
I sighed. “Listen Jax. Your mom is a witch and a damn powerful one at that. Your uncle is a wizard. Your aunt is a witch.”
Alba held up a hand. “Wait are we even sure that The Black Witch is a witch?”
Jax nodded. “She’s totally a witch.”
“Why does she stay hidden away in that castle?” asked Holly.
Jax’s head bobbed on her shoulders. “My family is pretty hush-hush about Aunt BethAnn.”
“So even you don’t know why she’s locked away?” I asked, surprised.
“I just know it has something to do with a man she loved once. That’s all my mother has ever told me. She warned me never to fall in love. She always says, ‘see what love did to your Aunt BethAnn.’”
Alba’s head jerked back. “Huh. That’s so bizarre. I hate to say it, Jax. But your whole family is a bit on the loony bin kind of side.”
“Alba!” cried Sweets, the fifth member of our little friend group that many in town referred to as The Witch Squad, as she approached our table.
The smile covering Alba’s face immediately disappeared as Sweets sat down next to Jax.
“Sorry, Jax,” mumbled Alba.
“Don’t listen to her, Jaxie,” hissed Sweets. “Your family isn’t crazy.”
Jax smiled at Sweets gratefully. “Thanks Sweets, but Alba’s right. My family is a little bit nuts. I guess that’s why it doesn’t sound so farfetched that even though my mom and her siblings have powers, I might never get mine. Maybe it skips a generation.”
“Did your grandmother have powers?” asked Holly.
“My grandmother was a very powerful witch from what I’ve been told.”
“Aww, she died before you were born?” I asked. I realized then that I’d never asked Jax about Sorcerer Stone’s mother and her grandmother.
Jax’s eyebrows furrowed together immediately. “Oh no. My grandmother’s still alive. She lives out in California, last I heard anyway. She just never comes to visit, and we’ve never gone to see her either. I don’t think she gets along very well with her children.”
“Have you ever met her?” I asked with surprise.
“My mom said that when I was little, Grandmother came to see me once. But that was it. I’ve never met her since I’ve been old enough to remember. I’ve seen pictures though.” The fact that Jax had never met her grandmother didn’t seem to bother her.
Holly scrunched up her face sadly. “The women in your family really aren’t the maternal types, huh Jaxie?”
Jax shook her head. “Nope. They really aren’t. I’m going to be so much different when I have kids someday. I’m going to be the warmest mother in the world!”
I squeezed Jax’s hand. I had no doubt about that. Jax would be one of those helicopter parent, soccer mom types. She’d do everything better than every other mother and still have time to wonder how she could do better than herself. “You’re going to be a great mom someday, Jax.”
“Thanks Mercy,” she said with a smile.
Not one for too much ooey-gooey theatrics, I turned my attention to Sweets. “Where have you been?” I demanded. “I feel like we’ve hardly seen you since your birthday.” It seemed like forever since we’d all had breakfast together. Sweets had turned twenty-one almost a month ago and not only hadn’t she had the time for us to take her out for her birthday, but she’d also not hung out with us once since then either.
Sweets’ torso fell onto the table. “I overslept. I am so exhausted,” she declared dramatically.
“You’ve been tired a lot lately,” Holly observed. “What’s going on with you anyway?”
Sweets sat up and stared at Holly. “What’s going on with me? I’ve been working my butt off trying to keep up with school and the bakery. That’s what! Ever since Char and Mr. Bailey left on their honeymoon, I’ve been there every second that I’m not in class!”
Holly snickered. “Well, the bakery closes at six, so it’s not like you’re working the midnight shift.”
Sweets frowned at her friend. “Yeah, we close at six, but Louis leaves me to do all the clean-up and the prep work for the next day by myself, which means I don’t get back to campus until seven-thirty at the earliest. I eat a late dinner, by myself,” she said glaring at all of us pointedly, “And then I go up to my room and start on my homework. Some days I’ve had to do Louis’ early opens for him, too. I’m burning the candle at both ends!”
“Well, why did you tell Mr. Bailey you’d be his replacement while they were gone?” asked Alba with one curled lip.
Sweets sighed. “I had no idea the time commitment would be so much! I don’t know what I was thinking.” She made a face. “Don’t misunderstand me, though. I love what I do at the bakery. If only Louis weren’t there, things would be perfect at work. He’s still such a pain in my butt. He’s only gotten worse since Char and Mr. Bailey’s wedding. I wish I knew what his problem was.”
“Some people are just assholes,” said Alba bluntly.
Jax’s eyes widened. She covered her mouth and giggled as if to say, Alba just said a cuss word.
Alba’s random comment and Jax’s reaction to said comment made us all stop eating. A funny look got passed around the table, and then as if someone pushed a laugh button somewhere, we simultaneously broke out into a fit of laughter. It was like the flood gates opened and the tension that was all built up in our bodies had just been released. It felt good. It felt like what college was supposed to feel like. Or so I assumed that was what college was supposed to feel like. Even though I hadn’t been looking for girlfriends when I’d started at the Paranormal Institute for Witches, I was sure glad that I’d found these girls. They were the best friends that I’d ever had.
Once we’d all settled down a bit, Sweets let out a breath of air. “So, what time are you guys leaving for the party this afternoon?”
We all looked at each other curiously. “Party?” asked Holly, her eyes widening with interest.
Sweets sighed and leaned her head on her hand. “Do you guys seriously not listen when I talk?”
My heart fluttered in my chest apprehensively. Party. Party. Party, I thought. Had Sweets mentioned a party the other day? I think I was busy working on my Advanced Ghost Science homework when she’d s
aid something.
“We listen,” said Jax cautiously. “Of course we’re going to the party, Sweets.”
Holly nodded wide-eyed, playing along with Jax. “Absolutely, Sweets. What time did you want us there again?”
“They’re supposed to be coming in at noon, so you should just skip lunch and head down there at eleven so you can help me finish putting the decorations up.”
I looked at Alba curiously. The deer-in-the-headlights expression on her face told me she had no idea what Sweets was talking about either. “Where’s the party going to be at again, Sweets?”
“The bakery of course,” she said.
I nodded, swallowing hard. “Right, right. Of course. I just wanted to be sure they hadn’t changed the location or anything.”
“Do you want us to bring anything?” asked Jax.
“Did you get them a gift?”
“A gift?” We asked in unison. That didn’t make it too obvious or anything, did it?
“Well, yeah, you usually get newlyweds a gift for their wedding. Since we didn’t have time to get them anything for their actual wedding, because we were solving a murder, I figured we’d all get them gifts for their welcome home party.”
I nodded then. She was throwing Char and Mr. Bailey a welcome home party. Things were adding up now. “Right, Sweets. I think I’ll just put my name on my mother’s card. She’s invited, right?”
Sweets frowned. “Of course she’s invited. All the downtown merchants are invited to attend. Plus some of Char and Mr. Bailey’s friends and family.”
“Is my Granny invited?” I asked nervously. Gran had gone suspiciously undercover after her friend Char’s wedding. My brother and I were dying to get a hold of her. We had a million questions to ask her about my mother’s relationship with Jax’s uncle, Merrick Stone, and why she’d forced my mother to give my brother up for adoption after he was born. But once the newlyweds left for their honeymoon, Gran disappeared.
“Yes. I sent her an invitation. Listen, why don’t we all go in together on a gift? Can you girls stop at the gift shop on the way to the party?”
I sighed. I had never been very good at picking out gifts. And how were we supposed to pick out a gift for an older couple who likely had everything. “Like they really need anything?”
“Get them a vase, you can never have too many good vases,” said Sweets. “That’s what my mother always says anyway.”
I made a face as I thought about the single bouquet of flowers I’d received in my short lifetime. “Really? Don’t you just need one vase?”
Sweets shrugged. “Like I know? I’ve never been married before. Just stop into the gift shop and ask Mrs. Baylor to help you pick out something pretty and grab a card. I’ll pay you back for my share. I need to get into the bakery early today. I have so much stuff to do. I have to decorate the cake, and the champagne didn’t show up yesterday like it was supposed to, but I tracked it, and it’s coming today, so I need to get to work an hour early just to sign for it. It’s a very busy day, and Louis said he couldn’t come until a few minutes before noon.”
“He should be helping you!” I admonished. “Why do you have to do everything yourself?”
“He’ll make me do all the work and take all the credit. I’m used to it, it’s okay,” said Sweets, hanging her head. She looked at her watch and then shoved her tray of uneaten pastries back. She let out a ragged breath. “I don’t even have time to eat this. I have to go.”
My eyes widened, and I really took the time to look at Sweets. She’d been so busy lately that we hadn’t seen much of her. Her face seemed a bit thinner, and her cheeks didn’t have the same rosy glow that they usually did. She stood up. Her sunshine yellow dress hung off of her body loosely. “Sweets! You’ve lost weight!”
Sweets looked down at her frame. “I suppose I have,” she sighed.
Jax frowned. “Well, it’s certainly not from working out with me. I haven’t seen her at a yoga class in weeks!”
“Are you alright Sweets?” asked Alba.
All eyes turned back to Sweets. “I’m fine girls. Just a little stressed out. My grades haven’t been that great lately, and with all the running around I’ve been doing, there just hasn’t been as much time for snacking, and the cafeteria has been closed several times when I’ve gotten off work late. Not to mention the fact that those new cooks are no Denise Whiting.”
“Is there anything we can do to help?” asked Jax worriedly.
Sweets frowned. “I wish there was. I’m just burning the candle at both ends. Listen. I’d love to stay and catch up, but as I said, I’m late. I’ve got to go.”
She rushed past us with her tray in hand. She got no further than the other side of the table when we heard her breath catch in her throat abruptly, and the clicking of her shoes on the cobblestone pavers stopped. We all turned to look.
A tall boy with big beefy arms and wavy brown hair that parted on one side stood directly in front of Sweets. I recognized him immediately. Sweets had met him at Darcie Larson’s party several weeks earlier. Like Hugh, he was a wiz kid, a wizard at the Paranormal Institute for Wizards.
“Oh, hi, Corey,” said Sweets nervously. Her hand immediately fluttered to the base of her throat and played with the delicate, gold-plated necklace she wore.
“Hey Sweets. You remembered my name,” he said. Happiness seemed to put a sparkle in his chocolate brown eyes.
“Of course I did. You remembered mine, too,” she responded, the inflection in her voice made her statement more of a question.
He smiled at her. “Yeah. Of course I did. I’ve been hoping we would bump into each other sooner than this,” he admitted nervously.
Goosebumps plagued my arms. The cuteness of the scene in front of us made me giddy.
Jax leaned over and rested her head on my shoulder while slipping her arm through mine. “Isn’t that just the cutest thing ever?” she whispered.
Sweets would never admit it, but we knew she’d also been hoping to ‘accidentally’ bump into Corey for weeks now, too. Of course, she was much too shy to admit that, though.
She cleared her throat nervously. “You have?”
He nodded and handed her a small handful of daisies that he had been holding behind his back.
All of our eyes widened.
“Yeah. I wanted to…” he began before swallowing hard. “I wanted to know if you’d go out with me sometime.” He held the flowers out for Sweets to take.
Sweets’ pale face went crimson. “Go out with you? Like as in a date?”
He nodded. His forehead glistened with nervous perspiration. “Yeah. On a date. You said at the party you liked fishing. I know of a little pond nearby. I thought maybe we could go fishing on Saturday. I got a new reel for my birthday that I want to try out.”
Sweets swallowed hard as she took the daisies. I could tell she was trying not to freak out. “That sounds really fun, Corey. But unfortunately, I have to work on Saturday.”
“Oh,” he stammered. “Well, we can do it anytime. Of course, if you’re too busy…”
Sweets let go of his hand. “I’m sorry Corey. I’ve been working a lot lately, and I just don’t know what my schedule is going to be like for the next few weeks. Can I get back to you?”
I heard Holly suck in her breath. When she started to stand up, Alba pulled her back down to the table. While we all wanted to object, it was Sweets’ business, not ours.
Corey shoved his hand into the pocket of his pants and swung his eyes down to the ground. Obviously, things weren’t going quite as he’d hoped. “Yeah, no problem.”
Sweets touched his arm lightly. “I’m really sorry. I’m actually late for work right now.”
He took a step backwards and turned slightly towards Warner Hall. “Oh, okay. Sorry if I made you late.”
Sweets smiled up at him nervously and then fled the outdoor cafeteria.
Holly, Jax, Alba, and I all looked at each other with slack jaws. Not only was Sweets not eating swe
ets anymore, but she’d also just given up a date with Corey, the boy she’d had a crush on since Darcie Larson’s party. What in the world was going on?
3
“Everyone! I just saw their car drive by. They’re coming! Get down, hide!” Sweets hissed excitedly flapping her arms next to her like a chicken trying to get off the ground. Gathered in the middle of Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets, the mixed crowd were local shopkeepers, Mr. Bailey’s best customers, and friends of the newlywed couple.
Upon Sweets’ prompting, the assorted people ran for the kitchen, squatted behind the garbage receptacle, ducked down in their booths, or hid behind the counters. Louis Albertson, Mr. Bailey’s long-time employee, stood behind the cash register glaring at those behind his counter menacingly. Unwittingly, Louis played his assigned part of “act natural” perfectly.
Seated in a booth next to Jax with Holly and Alba seated across the table from me, I rolled my eyes and ducked my head to the side while Jax slunk down as far she could, practically disappearing underneath the table. A neatly wrapped gift in Tiffany Blue sat on the table between the four of us. We’d picked up a crystal candy dish at the local gift shop, and Mrs. Baylor, the gift shop owner, who also happened to be in attendance at the party volunteered to wrap it up for us.
When everyone was properly hidden away, and it was all said and done, Louis was the only person visible when the glass doors of the bakery opened. I, however, was carefully peeking between the side of my booth and the window.
Mr. Bailey stumbled in first holding onto Regis’s long leash. The small Chihuahua wore a tie-dyed tank top and a little sun visor. He yipped wildly, fully aware of the smell of a large group of people inside Bailey’s Bakery and Sweets but unable to see anyone. He jumped around Mr. Bailey’s legs crazily, tying his legs up with the leash.
“Crazy dog,” chastised Mr. Bailey jovially. “Love Muffin, your dog is nuts.”
Witch School Dropout: A Witch Squad Cozy Mystery #7 Page 2
