Enchanted, A Paranormal Romance / Fantasy (Forever Charmed)

by Rachel Wells

  “So what? Your parents gave you some money,” Ally offered.

  “Yeah, but if I buy a shirt at that price I will only have enough left for half a pair of pants. And I really don’t know what good that is going to do me,” Mandy smirked.

  “Ugh, you can be a real downer Mandy. Well, I think it’s cute and I’m going to get it,” Ally said stubbornly. “What about you? Getting anything?”

  “Not in here. I really just want to go over to Old Navy.”

  “Right now? I still wanted to go to American Eagle and the Gap.”

  “Well, why don’t we meet back up in like an hour then. I’ll go to Old Navy, and you can go wherever you feel like. Meet at McDonald’s?”

  “Fine. And Mandy, you really should try to break out of your box! Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you and help find your new image?”

  “Yeah, I’m all set with my old one,” Mandy said. The two girls parted ways, Mandy headed towards Old Navy. Mandy liked this store. She was always able to find things she was comfortable in and usually it was cheaper than a lot of the other stores. She hated to feel like she was the center of attention, so she tended to be drawn to mute one color pieces in which she could easily blend in with other kids.

  Mandy did a lap around the store once, scouting out things that fit her taste. It didn’t take her long at all to find some stuff she liked. She knew what size she wore so she almost never bothered wasting time trying clothes on in the store. She simply grabbed the shirts and jeans and paid for them. Usually they fit. If not most of the time she could alter them without too much hassle. And if it really was too much of a hassle she could just return the things or exchange them.

  Mandy left the store feeling pleased with her purchases. She looked down at her watch and realized she had only been inside the store for a half hour which meant she still had another half hour to wait for Ally. And knowing Ally, that half hour could easily be turned into forty five minutes or more. Shopping to Ally seemed to be almost a sport. Mandy sighed and walked towards the McDonald’s. She figured she would just go in and get a Coke and wait for Ally.

  Mandy opened the door and the greasy aroma of salt laden French fries tickled her nose. So maybe a Coke and some fries, Mandy thought. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was. Of course, it might just be the tantalizing smell that hung heavy in the air that was making her think she was hungry. Oh well. Mandy placed her order and once it was ready she grabbed her tray and headed towards a little table by the window, that way she could keep a lookout for Ally. Mandy sat down and picked up a few fries preparing to slather them in ketchup.

  “Mandy? Hi!” called an enthusiastic voice.

  Mandy stopped mid-dip and looked up surprised to hear someone calling her. It was Stephen, one of Ally’s friends that she had gotten ice cream with. “Oh hey!” Mandy smiled. “French fry?”

  “No thanks. Just had a bunch. What are you doing here?”

  “Shopping with Ally.”

  “Oh, where is she?”

  “Oh well I guess she’s really into shopping. She needed some more time, so I’m just waiting for her to get her fill,” Mandy shrugged. “What are you doing here?”

  “My mom wanted to take my sister and me to get some stuff for school. Shopping’s not really my favorite thing though. So I convinced her to let me just wait for her and my sister to get done,” Steve laughed sheepishly.

  “Well you can keep me company then for a while,” Mandy suggested.

  “Yeah, sure,” Steve said, raising his eyebrows looking a bit surprised at the suggestion.

  “So…ready for school?” Steve asked.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Mandy said.

  “Senior year, supposed to be the year you know,” Steve said.

  “So I’ve heard,” Mandy answered popping some more fries into her mouth. “I’m more excited about after this year though.”

  “Wow you like to look ahead, huh?” Steve replied. “What do you have planned for after this year then?”

  “Nothing definite, except getting out of here,” Mandy said, realizing as soon as she said it that it might sound a little harsh to someone that had called this place home his whole life.

  “Geez, you sound like you’ve lived here your whole life when it’s been what? Like a month? Why the rush?” Steve asked surprised.

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to be rude. York’s just not what I’m used to,” Mandy apologized.

  “Oh yeah, you’re a city girl,” Steve said grinning.

  “Lived in Boston my whole life,” Mandy nodded.

  “I can’t believe you’d actually choose the smog over the beach though,” Steve mused.

  “Well, I don’t know if I actually want to go back to Boston. I’m thinking it might be time to try the west coast.”

  “Wow you live big. I could never leave here like that.”

  “Why not?”

  “My family for one, but honestly, I like it here,” Steve said.

  “Huh,” Mandy looked at Steve. He actually wasn’t that bad looking. Kind of cute actually. Mandy realized she had probably judged him too quickly the first night when she had classified him as “geeky”. She realized she was staring when Steve fidgeted and began to clear his throat. She quickly averted her eyes to her half eaten pile of fries and began to swirl them in the ketchup.

  “Hey hon. We’re done,” came a voice from behind Steve’s shoulder. Mandy looked up as Steve turned around.

  “Finally!” Steve teased.

  “And who’s your friend?” Steve’s mom gestured to Mandy.

  “Oh, Mom this is Mandy. Mandy this is my mom,” Steve said clearly feeling a little awkward at the formality of the moment.

  “Oh…Mandy, hmmm?” came a sudden outburst of giggles from the side of Steve’s mom. A little girl about 10 years old was grinning at Mandy.

  “That would be my sister, Cassie,” Steve begrudged with a blush.

  A slight giggle escaped Mandy’s mouth. “Hi. Nice to meet you,” Mandy managed.

  “I’m sure my brother’s really happy he ran into you. He’s always talking about you lately,” Cassie said smirking at Steve.

  “Cassie!” Steve looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head. His mouth was drawn in a thin line and he slightly shook his head in Cassie’s direction.

  “Cassie, don’t embarrass your brother!” Cassie’s mom reprimanded.

  “Sorry…she likes to make things up,” Steve tried to save the situation to Mandy.

  “That’s ok,” Mandy said smiling. She felt bad that Steve was humiliated by his little sister. So bad that before she had time to think about what she was doing or the consequences of her actions she decided to do something she had never done before. “Hey, are you busy Friday night?”

  “Um, Friday? I don’t think so,” Steve stammered, clearly befuddled at what was seeming to unfold before him.

  “Well do you want to hang out?” Mandy asked.

  “Yeah definitely. Want me to call you?” Steve’s face could not possibly get any more crimson.

  “Yeah. I’ve gotta work in the daytime, but I’m usually around after dinner,” Mandy smiled at Steve. “Oh wait, here.” Mandy scribbled her number on the white side of her French fries container and ripped it off , handing it to Steve.

  “Thanks,” Steve said folding the cardboard in half and shoving it into his pocket.

  “Bye!” Cassie called cheerfully.

  “Bye,” Mandy called back.

  “Nice meeting you,” Steve’s mom offered.

  “You too,” Mandy nodded.

  “See ya,” Steve said trying to be casual.

  “Friday,” Mandy said watching the little clan walk out the door. She couldn’t believe she had just asked a guy out. Mandy never did that. At least it was only Tuesday, she still had a few days to convince herself that it had happened. On the other hand, it was just Steve. It wasn’t like she had just asked out Lucas on a whim. Oh shoot, Lucas. Well, it wasn’t li
ke she and Lucas were seeing each other, Mandy reasoned with herself. They were just friends who had shared a meal together at a restaurant. At least that’s what Mandy thought. Hopefully Lucas hadn’t gotten the wrong impression. Steve with all his geekiness was definitely more Mandy’s type.

  Not that Mandy had really had a type before. She hadn’t ever actually had a boyfriend or dated anyone before. But Mandy imagined if she had a type it would be more towards the Steve side of the spectrum. A nice quiet kid, nothing flashy and fancy that would call unwanted attention on herself. After all, Lucas was the complete opposite. He epitomized flashy and fancy. He did call unwanted attention to Mandy. He was mouthwateringly good looking, a great piece of arm candy… great if you wanted to make every girl in town jealous or possibly even hate you, which is not exactly what Mandy was after.

  In fact, that was the last thing Mandy needed. She didn’t want to make enemies of all the girls. So it was better this way. Lucas was a nice guy, but she knew deep down she had no place next to him. There would have to be at least one perfect blonde cheerleader who already had dibs on Lucas. And she did not want to be a perfect blonde cheerleader’s rival.

  It had been weird with Lucas anyway. Mandy had felt like she hadn’t been able to be completely herself with him. So maybe she was glad she had acted on impulse and asked Steve out. She would be glad, she suddenly thought with conviction.

  “Mandy!” Ally said, sounding frustrated and yanking Mandy out of her conversation with herself.

  “What?” Mandy said trying to look completely aware of her surroundings.

  “I’ve called your name three times!” Ally said.

  “I guess I didn’t hear you,” Mandy fumbled for some excuse.

  “I’ve been sitting right across from you!” Ally said exasperated. “What the hell were you thinking about?” Ally reached across to Mandy’s tray and swooped up some fries.

  “Nothing,” Mandy said elusively.

  “Nothing?” Ally asked incredulously.

  “Ok, well I ran into Steve while I was waiting for you, and I kind of asked him out,” Mandy admitted.

  “You asked Steve out?” Ally stopped with her hand mid air gripping the French fries. “What about Lucas?!”

  “What about Lucas? I told you it was kind of awkward between us,” Mandy shrugged.

  “Um, ok, don’t take this the wrong way. I love Steve, he’s a great guy and a good friend, but have you seen him? I mean really looked at him?” Ally probed. “I mean really looked at him next to Lucas,” Ally clarified.

  “I think Steve is cute,” Mandy defended her choice.

  “Yeah cute…Ok let me try to put this in perspective for you. Steve is Average Joe, Lucas is some sort of Cosmic god. Do you want Average Joe escorting you around school or Cosmic god?” Ally looked very proud of her analogy and seemed sure that this would enlighten Mandy.

  “Average Joe,” Mandy said without hesitation.

  Ally looked like she was about to explode with exasperation. She exhaled a big breath of air out from her puffed cheeks. “Mandy, sometimes I just don’t understand you!” she said shaking her head.

  “Sometimes I just don’t understand everybody. Are you done?” Mandy said starting to gather up her stuff.

  “Yeah,” Ally said still bewildered.

  “Get good stuff?” Mandy asked trying to focus on something more positive for Ally and hoping it would change the direction of their conversation.

  “Tons. You really should have come with me,” Ally said as they headed for the door. “There’s still time to transform your image, you know. You can be my clay, I can be your sculptor…”

  “Ally…” Mandy sighed half-heartedly but laughter was overtaking the situation as they climbed into the car and drove back to York.

  * * *

  Chapter 12

  Mandy had to work the next two days, but was finding herself actually looking forward to Friday and her date with Steve instead of obsessively worrying about it and being nervous as she had figured she would be. Steve was so unassuming it was hard to feel anything but completely at ease with him. In fact Mandy was finding that she was not only looking forward to it, but that she was ridiculously excited about it. She was so giddy she was almost jumpy.

  “Mandy, do you mind giving the flowers some fresh water?” Nana called out from the backroom. “I have a watering can back here all set for you, Dear.”

  Mandy tried in vain to clear her thoughts from the upcoming date. “Sure, Nana,” she answered as she shuffled slowly towards the back of the store. Upon entering the room she saw Nana sprinkling another strange substance into the watering can. Mandy paused in the doorway, unsure whether or not to ignore the weirdness or to blatantly demand what that stuff was. Last time she had confronted her grandmother about the unknown substance, she had been given a vague reply. A small voice in Mandy’s head was beginning to insist that now that Mandy was in the know about certain things she had been previously oblivious to she had a certain right to know.

  Mandy looked at her grandmother, standing there. She looked very calm as she finished sprinkling in the substance. Mandy could just barely make out that Nana was humming very quietly under her breath. It was an odd melody, not one that Mandy had ever heard Nana, or anyone for that matter, humming before. Before she could think it through anymore Mandy acted on impulse for the second time in two days.

  “Nana,” Mandy said softly not wanting to startle her grandmother and not knowing if she was supposed to be witness to whatever she was doing. Nana only kept humming and began to gently swirl the water in the watering can by moving it in a circular motion. “Nana,” Mandy said again a bit louder. No reply still left Mandy feeling as though she should quietly back out of the room and come back in a minute. But the voice wouldn’t let her now. It was getting louder. Ask! It commanded Mandy. “Nana!” Mandy raised her voice as she never had at her grandmother. Nana’s green eyes suddenly flew open and darted about frantically, landing at last on Mandy in the doorway.

  “I’m sorry, Dear, I didn’t hear you come in,” Nana somehow replied serenely even though she had just been startled.

  “What were you doing?” Mandy skipped right to the point.

  “Getting water for you, like I said,” Nana replied.

  “No. What were you doing to the water? I saw you put something in there. A powder or something. And I saw you do that before. To Hank’s daisies, remember?” Mandy wasn’t going to back down this time.

  Nana looked at Mandy in the eyes for a minute, studying, looking for some hidden sign that would tell her how to answer her granddaughter. “Mandy, do you remember that certain conversation we had? About healing? About having a gift, abilities?”

  “Yeah,” Mandy allowed slowly, waiting for her grandmother to continue.

  “Well there are certain things we healers use to aide us with our craft,” Nana said hesitatingly, apparently not sure of how Mandy would react after their last conversation on the subject.

  “And that was something to aide you?” Mandy urged.

  “It was simply ground fennel seed. It gives the flowers longevity,” Nana replied.

  Mandy simply looked at Nana, trying to force herself to remember to breathe and to remain calm. It’s only fennel seed, it’s not like it’s some mysterious or illegal substance, the voice in Mandy’s head reassured her.

  “Deary, I don’t want to upset you. But you seem as if you may have questions, more questions, that you would like answered, and rightly so. If that is the case why don’t you come back with me to the cottage after we close up and we can talk,” Nana suggested.

  Mandy sighed. She had been trying to avoid this conversation, but at the same time she had known it would have to happen sooner or later. Better to get it over with now. “All right,” Mandy agreed.

  The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Ally was chatty and perky as always, seemingly unaware of the anxiety attack Mandy felt sure she was on the verge of. Ally droned on and on about school
and Lucas and Steve, grilling Mandy for information on what she had planned with Steve and then suggesting that Mandy could have both guys if she was careful. Mandy was beginning to feel like perhaps Ally needed a good old psychiatric evaluation. Mandy tried to tune Ally out, answering the phone on the first ring and practically jumping on customers the second they came through the door. Finally it was five o’clock and they locked the door.

  Ally was hanging up her apron as Mandy came up beside her to do the same. “So want to go catch a movie or something?” Ally asked.

  “Actually I’ve got plans with Nana,” Mandy replied.

  “Oh, what a knitting lesson or something? Come to the movies with me. Your Nana won’t mind. I’ll buy the popcorn,” Ally pushed.

  “I can’t tonight Ally. Sorry. Next week maybe?” Mandy suggested.

  Ally sighed. “All right, I’ll just see what the other girls are up to then.”

  “You’ll find something to do,” Mandy assured her. Ally recovered quickly from her rejection and was out the door with a cheerful “Later!”

  Mandy was leaning on the counter staring vacantly at nothing in particular and twirling her hair around a finger when Nana came up behind her. “Ready?” Nana asked.

  “Yup,” Mandy tried to sound cheerful like Ally. They walked out together to their waiting cars. They drove separately to Nana’s house so no one had to make a return trip to pick up a vehicle.