by Rachel Wells
Mandy knew she should feel scared but more than anything she felt enraged. Enraged at herself for ever going out with this dolt, enraged at her mom inviting him over behind her back, and enraged that he called her a witch. Enraged knowing it must have been him who had written the threatening notes and told her to stay away from Steve. Who did he think he was, sitting in her kitchen mopping soda off his pants with a stupid look on his face like everything was just fine?! Mandy gritted her teeth. She was sure she would find out soon enough what he wanted.
Mandy’s mom threw the paper towels in the trash and said for about the tenth time, “I’m so sorry Lucas!” She grabbed the casserole dish with the enchiladas steaming inside and placed it in the center of the table. Next to it she put a cheerfully painted bowl mounded with Spanish rice. “Dinner, Hon!” she called out to the living room where Mandy’s dad was sitting in the big armchair reading the paper. He lumbered out to the kitchen to join them, taking his usual place at the table, apparently unaware of the tension that filled the kitchen. “Dig in, guys. Lucas, don’t be shy.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” Lucas replied, reaching for the casserole dish. He took two enchiladas and slid them onto his plate, followed by a heaping of the rice. The dishes were passed from person to person. Mandy wished she had saved the spilling incident to use on the enchiladas instead. That would have scalded him for sure. She would have had a better reaction to enjoy. Oh well…
The only sound was the scraping of silverware across the plates as everyone cut up their enchiladas and began eating. “This is delicious,” Lucas said around a mouthful.
“Well, thanks, Lucas. They’re Mandy’s favorite,” Mandy’s mom replied.
Lucas eyed Mandy, nodding. “I can see why,” he smiled.
“So do you guys have a lot of classes together?” Mandy’s dad piped up.
“None, actually,” Mandy answered. Thank God, she thought.
“That’s too bad,” Mandy’s dad said. “Well I’m sure you can see each other at lunchtime at least.”
“Definitely. I’m hoping I’ll get to see Mandy after school sometimes, too,” Lucas suggested, looking hopeful with his eyebrows raised.
Mandy narrowed her eyes at Lucas. “Well I have a job, you know. And homework. Not much time after school for socializing,” she said smugly.
“Now Mandy, you don’t want to leave yourself no time for your friends. I’m sure you can find some free time for fun. After all it is senior year,” Mandy’s mom smiled looking between Lucas and Mandy.
“Are you telling me to blow off my studies, Mom?” Mandy asked incredulously.
“Not at all. I’m just saying you don’t need to be so hard on yourself,” Mandy’s mom replied trying to smooth over her comments. “I mean, dedication is great, but you don’t want to burn yourself out.”
“I’m fine,” Mandy growled lowly. The silence seemed to weigh on everyone as they continued to eat. There was a reason mothers didn’t make great matchmakers.
“Well, I’m stuffed. Thanks for the great dinner, Hon,” Mandy’s dad said standing up from the table with his plate in his hand.
“Yeah, I second that,” Lucas said too politely looking at Mandy’s mom. “Here, let me clear the table.”
“Oh, no, Lucas. You’re our guest. Mandy, why don’t you and Lucas go take a walk or something?” Mandy’s mom suggested.
“Fine,” Mandy answered. At least if she could get Lucas by himself she would have an opportunity to find out what was going on here.
“Thanks again. It was really delicious,” Lucas said, trying to rack up more brownie points. Mandy’s mom smiled at him, clearly liking this boy way too much. Mandy turned and stomped towards the front door. Lucas followed her out to the front yard. Mandy walked a few steps away from the door and stopped, swinging around to face Lucas.
“What is your problem?” Mandy asked through clenched teeth. She had wanted to yell, but resisted the urge. She didn’t want her parents to hear.
“My problem? Let’s start with you,” Lucas scowled.
“Me? What about me?” Mandy said infuriated.
“You’re a witch,” Lucas said flatly.
Mandy glared at Lucas disgustedly.
“Don’t try to deny it. You and Nana are hot commodities around here lately and you know it,” Lucas growled. Mandy refused to answer. Lucas surveyed her for a second with cold, calculating eyes before asking sarcastically, “Did you like your notes?”
Mandy felt her lips tighten in a thin line. She said nothing but just glared at Lucas, hating him more with each passing second.
“The whole reason I called was to give you your follow up instructions. I suppose face to face is easier anyway. At least you can’t hang up on me,” Lucas chuckled.
“I don’t know who you think you are or what you think I am going to do for you, but it’s not happening,” Mandy said never taking her eyes from Lucas’s contorted face.
“Listen, witch,” Lucas dropped his voice an octave. It sounded gravely serious and mean. “This isn’t a game. You will do what I say, or you will pay the consequences.” He spit on the ground by Mandy’s shoe.
“So I have a choice, then,” Mandy said sarcastically. “Well, give it to me. What are the consequences?” Mandy tried to sound like she didn’t feel threatened, but the truth was that her insides were shaking like Jell-o. She didn’t really know if she wanted to know the consequences, but at least it would buy a minute of time to process what was happening here.
“Well, let’s see…the consequences have names, actually. Steve, Dolly, Mommy, Daddy…” Lucas trailed off looking bemused.
“What do you want? What do you want me to do?” Mandy asked roughly. Her teeth were clenched together so tightly she was surprised they weren’t crumbling into pieces.
“Well for starters, we’re going to have to be friends, good friends. We don’t want people to get suspicious,” Lucas smirked. “We’ll hang out at school and as I see fit.”
Mandy balled her fists up until her nails were digging into her palms. “Fine,” she said hating herself for agreeing with anything this madman said. “Then what?”
“Now don’t get pushy, Mandster,” Lucas said in a mocking tone. “We have to take this in baby steps. You’re going to need to talk to your precious Nana. You need to learn the ins and outs of your craft.”
“I don’t know what you expect me to do with you. It’s not like we’re flying around on broomsticks to our magic cauldron in the woods or something. It’s not like that,” Mandy said desperately.
“Then make it like that,” Lucas said simply. He turned from Mandy and started to walk down the sidewalk to his car parked on the street. “I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
Mandy said nothing but only wished she had the ability to throw lightening bolts from her eyes. She crossed her arms across her chest again, feeling colder than ever.
“Oh and Mandy? Not a word or let’s just say there won’t be too many more tasty enchilada dinners…” Lucas trailed off licking his lips and patting his gut. Mandy felt like vomiting, but she held her ground trying to convince him that she wasn’t scared. She stared at him until he finally drove off and then and only then, she collapsed to the ground, unable to stave off the shakiness. What was she going to do?
* * *
Chapter 30
Mandy spent a sleepless night balled up under her comforter. She was too tense and nervous to get any rest. A tree in front of her window danced in the wind, grazing its extended branches gently across the pane causing a horrible noise and equally disturbing shadows to flicker across the wall. Mandy couldn’t stop herself from jumping and then lay there shuddering, partly from fear and partly because she was disgusted with herself for giving into her nerves and for being the victim.
The day dawned overcast and gloomy and was no more promising than the night. School was a trial in itself. Lucas was waiting for her by her locker and even though she resolved to completely ignore him, he was relentless in h
is pursuit. He walked next to her to her classes, was waiting outside the door for her after each bell, and situated himself next to her at lunch. Lucas acted as if nothing was amiss and this was normal and acceptable behavior which was only adding fuel to Mandy’s fire of rage that burned within her. She tried several times to ditch Lucas but if she turned a new way suddenly or switched seats he just followed her like a pathetic puppy. Mandy had no one else she could turn to. She hadn’t talked to Ally in so long that she couldn’t possibly expect any sympathy from her, especially since up until yesterday Ally and Lucas had appeared to be a couple. Now it would look as if Mandy had stolen Lucas away from her.
Steve, poor Steve, Mandy couldn’t even bear to look at him. They had crossed paths first thing in the morning and shock had been blatantly visible in his eyes as he took in Lucas’s presence next to her. She had called out to him, wanting to explain, to say something to make him understand, but Steve had turned in his tracks and walked away, ignoring Mandy.
By the end of the day, Mandy had had enough. She had somehow managed to make it through the whole day without so much as acknowledging Lucas out loud, but the sight of him waiting for her by the Boat was just too much.
“Who the hell do you think you are?! You are ruining my day, if not my life!” Mandy was so mad her hands were shaking. Lucas stood smugly leaning up against the door to her car, arms folded across his chest with a devil may care grin pasted on his face. “Get out of my way, jerk!”
“That’s no way to talk to your boyfriend, Mandy!” Lucas said laughing, clearly relishing the moment.
“Boyfriend? Screw you! I’d be more likely to be caught dating a goat than the likes of you,” Mandy shouted. Some kids who had been milling around the parking lot began to gather in a loose circle around the unfolding scene.
“Ok, maybe we need to talk, but this is not the place,” Lucas said coolly. “Let’s go for a ride.”
“I’d like to go for a ride…right over your dead body,” Mandy growled.
The crowd around them let loose a few snickers and Lucas smiled easily, saying, “This is what happens when you forget your anniversary. Guys, I would advise you to commit those dates to your mind!” A few more snickers were let loose in the air.
“Anniversary?! What game are you playing at Lucas? We don’t have an anniversary because we’re not together and we never will be. I don’t date losers.”
Lucas’s eyes flashed at this last comment. He took a step closer to Mandy and said under his breath so only she could hear, “Listen, witch. If you know what’s good for you, you won’t keep publically rejecting and humiliating me. Play along. If you don’t, I promise there will be consequences. We’re going to go for a ride now, and you’re going to play your part. Got it?”
Mandy narrowed her eyes evilly at Lucas and turned her head away from him, weighing her options. As she did so she saw Steve push himself through the front of the watching crowd. A few whispers went through the air in anticipation. “Is he harassing you, Mandy?” Steve asked, courageously stepping forward.
“Mind your business, little boy,” Lucas said menacingly. “I was having a conversation with my girlfriend. Ready to go, Mandy?” Lucas met Mandy’s gaze with an unspoken threat in his eyes.
Mandy clench her jaw together. “Yes, fine.” She took a step towards Lucas, towards the car, and as she did so Lucas swooped down and kissed her on the lips in front of everyone. Mandy jerked back but it was too late, Steve had seen. As Lucas pulled away, Mandy saw Steve pushing his way back through the crowd, head down.
“That’s my girl,” Lucas said. The crowd broke up, sensing there was nothing else to see. Mandy had no choice but to get into the car. Lucas stood outside the door, blocking what little sun was filtering through the clouds. “Scoot over, I’ll drive.”
“It’s my car, I’ll drive!” Mandy said appalled.
“If you want Stevie to be left out of this, I suggest you do as I say.”
Mandy scooted over. She couldn’t believe the way the last two days were going. She was following a lunatic’s orders and she had lost her best friend, and boyfriend. She couldn’t see how she could make anything right. Lucas’s voice broke the silence. “I’ll drive you home.”
Mandy looked at Lucas like he had three heads. “All of that to drive me home? What is your problem? What do you want?”
“I had to set the mood, bait the trap so to speak. You’ll find out soon enough what I want.”
“No, tell me now. What good is waiting going to do for anyone?”
“I have a plan, Mandy, and we’re sticking to it. You need to get some stuff through that thick head or yours first though. If you don’t want Steve to get hurt, then you need to make him believe you want nothing to do with him. If he thinks you’re my girlfriend, it will be easier to keep him away. It’s really the humane thing to do.”
Mandy shook her head in disgust, not even able to come up with something to say to that. Lucas continued on, “You want to know what I want? I want things to go back to how they were before your grandma decided to open her big mouth and ruin my family. I want it to be normal again.”
Mandy gasped. “My grandma did not ruin you! She only gave an interview, her opinion, her side of the story! It’s your history that ruined you!”
“Well, no one would have been any the worse not knowing. She’s run my dad out of business. We’re looked at like we’re the bad guys now, but it’s really you witches that are,” Lucas hissed. Suddenly he laughed. “No matter, since you’re a witch I’m sure you can fix everything, right? Put everything back how it was? Because that’s what I want from you. And don’t tell me you can’t. I’ve been doing some research of my own, on spells and stuff. I think I found something that can undo this whole thing and make it even better than it was before.”
Mandy felt like her tongue had dried up. “Undo? Lucas, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play stupid. Black magic. I’m sure you’ve heard of it.”
“I don’t mess with stuff like that Lucas,” Mandy said firmly.
“Oh you don’t? Well you’re going to start if you don’t want to hurt anyone.”
“What do you want exactly?” Mandy asked, trying to stall committing to Lucas.
“Well at first I wanted you to just reverse time or something, you know that way I could make sure the interviews weren’t given. So that no one would find out about my family’s past actions. I was trying to find out if that was possible or not. But then I started thinking that you and your grandma are actually doing a pretty good business for yourselves, with all your magical bouquets and herbal nonsense. So I started thinking, screw the restaurant. I want to have powers. To be powerful. I want your magic. Actually, technically not yours. I want Dolly’s. However I need you to complete the ritual. Think of how powerful we can be together! We can do whatever we want, have whatever we want…” Lucas’s eyes had a glazed look in them, like he was seeing something else than the road in front of him.
“No, Lucas, I can’t do anything like that. My Nana would never agree to it,” Mandy said, trembling.
“Don’t say can’t!” Lucas shouted, shaking the car with the force of his rage. “You will! If you won’t then you should say goodbye to Nana and Steve. Friday is a full moon, so it’s the perfect night for the transfer of powers. You will go with me to Homecoming, just because I think it will be fun to torture Stevie some more. Besides, it will give us something to do while we wait for the moon to rise. Afterwards, we’ll perform the ritual.” They had reached Mandy’s house. Mandy felt frozen but she forced herself to get out of the car. Lucas followed her. “I know you won’t disappoint me, darling,” he said authoritatively. He reached out and cupped her face in his hand. “See you tomorrow, babe.” He took her hand and flipped it over, palm side up, and deposited her keys into it. He turned and strode off towards town without a care in the world, leaving Mandy welded to the ground, feeling as if she had entered some alternate world, or more lik
ely, hell.
* * *
Chapter 31
The rest of the school week passed in a miserable blur. Nothing made sense anymore. Mandy sat through her classes unhearing and she moved through the days in the same fashion. Lucas was next to her at any opportunity he could find and Mandy had to play her part in the charade which made her sick on top of miserable, especially when Steve happened to be nearby. At those times Lucas was sure to play the boyfriend part exceptionally well, swinging Mandy’s hand and kissing her on the cheek as often as he could. Mandy had no choice but to tolerate it. Steve wouldn’t even meet her eyes anymore. Perhaps the worst part of it all was that several times over the last few days Mandy had spotted Ally with Steve in the hall or sitting next to him in the cafeteria. That part burned worse than all of it, but she supposed in a sense she deserved it. She had shunned Ally when she started seeing Steve, and then dumped Steve out of the blue and apparently stolen away Ally’s would-be boyfriend. Mandy had never felt so awful in all her life.
