An Unexpected Brew (Fairytale Adventures Book 1)

by J E Mueller

  “If you don’t mind.” Callie’s eyes lit up.

  “Of course not. I’ve got class at eleven tomorrow. When’s yours?” I asked as I typed a reminder into my phone.

  “Ten thirty; that doesn't work. Can I swing by the shop before class?” Callie begged.

  “Yeah, that works,” I agreed and Callie headed out.

  Vincent took her seat. “That’s nice of you, crabby pants.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Of course I’ll help with classes. The world needs a few less airheads.”

  “Agreed.” He nodded.

  “So, how’d that meeting whatever thing go?” I asked, not sure what else to say. “What brings an out of towner here anyway?”

  “Class stuff. Part of my major means I get the pleasure of helping out with classes around the nation,” Vincent replied, already tired just from the thought.

  “What major does that? Teaching?” I asked curiously.

  “Leadership.” He laughed.

  “Ah, working on getting a palace job?” It wasn’t uncommon that people tried that. Getting away from the small town life was exactly what I wanted to do, and what several old friends had gone off and done. We were only about three hours from the capital.

  “You could say that.” He smirked. “What about you? Majoring in anything fun?”

  “Vague double major in Illusions and Potions with an undecided concentration in those fields. Mostly filling credits until I can afford to go to Queensland University,” I explained.

  “Oh, thats awesome. They’re a really good school. What about scholarships?”

  I shrugged. Why did everyone ask that? “I’m not able to get most since my family does have a good business, but my stepmother wants zero to do with my leaving. Of course I’ll try for the few I can, but even my luck brews aren’t going to be enough to assure me a place there.”

  “Never know, I’ve had some great luck all around today. You might have some exceptional talent.” Vincent offered a smile.

  “While I’ll accept that is totally my doing, I doubt it’s exceptional. I just excel at potions, and brewing some luck into coffee isn’t more than a level two task. Good try, though.”

  “Come on, a little confidence,” Vincent tried to urge me.

  I gave a laugh and packed up my books. “I have every bit of confidence you’ll be back for another coffee tomorrow and that Diamond will be all over you. Sorry, the luck doesn’t last that long.”

  “That’s not fair, that’s some good coffee.” He sighed dramatically.

  “See ya tomorrow then.” I waved and headed off.

  The next morning Diamond came in wide awake and ready to go. Armed with the cute guy’s name, which she and Rose begged and begged my ear off for when we were closing shop last night, and some overly flirty clothes, they waited.

  Unimpressed, I made quick work of the morning rush, steaming latte after latte filled with varying magical boosts. It seemed every student wanted to get in and get some luck or charm as they hoped to accidentally meet the visiting prince. The prince apparently arrived yesterday or the day before in town. How can someone so important appear that covertly?

  While Diamond may have been setting her sights on the new guy, that didn’t stop her from flirting with any cute guy that came in. Some rolled with it, some fell for it, and one clueless guy didn’t seem to get the hint. The only reason I knew Vincent came in was from the increased giggling and the loud use of his name. Diamond tried to play it off that she saw his name in a dream and to my surprise, he went with it. I wasn’t sure if he was doing that to get through this conversation quicker or if he was actually amused by her attempt.

  Either way I tiredly handed him his latte.

  “It’s packed this morning. Is it normally this busy?” he asked, looking around and seeing no empty seats.

  “Not unless it’s finals week. I guess prince Alexander is in town and visiting the school,” I replied. Both Rose and Diamond had said his name enough yesterday that I knew I wasn’t misremembering it.

  “That must be exciting. I did hear he was doing a few events,” Vincent agreed.

  “Probably.” I shrugged. “I’m sure it would be interesting to hear what he has to say, and I’ve heard nothing but great things about his magic abilities, but alas, I’ve got work.”

  “That sucks. Maybe he’ll appear in one of your classes,” Vincent replied, giving his new drink, vanilla cinnamon with a charisma boost, a tentative sip.

  “I’m not going to get my hopes up. At least Callie’s going to try and record the seminar for me. I’m actually really interested in hearing it.” I smiled, shrugged, and since the line was finally done, went about getting things restocked before I had to rush off to class.

  I barely skidded into class with a minute to spare when I noticed Vincent was there talking with the teacher. I raised an eyebrow at him as I took my seat. This wasn’t a leadership things type class.

  He gave a small wave as he continued to talk with the teacher. Shrugging, I got my things ready for class. I could freely pester him for real answers later. The teacher finally cleared his throat and introduced Vincent to the room as class began. “All right class. For our guest helper this week and next we have,” He motioned vaguely in Vincent’s direction. “Um Vincent. He attended Queensland University and might have some great insight to share with the class.”

  For the most part, Vincent was just there and occasionally demonstrated some things. All questions asked from students and answers given to the teacher were from the same three people: me, Carissa, and Anthony.

  Carissa, as bright and talented as she was, somehow happened to be Diamond’s best friend. To no surprise, as soon as class was over, she was all over Vincent with a list of questions. I wouldn’t be surprised if Diamond had snapped a picture of him and sent it to her. Poor guy. At least he only had a short time to deal with their nonsense. Eventually, he’d be done with this project and go back to wherever he had come from.

  So, off to lunch I went. This semester was a dull one for me. I had one class a day, but they were fairly difficult classes. It always felt like I had a mound of homework, even if it was mostly practical application.

  I was halfway through my chicken sandwich when Vincent found my table.

  “I see you finally escaped Carissa,” I teased.

  “How is she friends with your step sister?” He groaned, collapsing into the chair next to me. “She’s clearly smart and talented.”

  “And extremely shallow.” I snorted. The world had all kinds. “She has a very natural talent for illusion magic. This class might be the only thing she works at.” I shrugged and took another bite of my sandwich before I remembered the question I wanted to ask him.

  “I guess the world has all kinds.” He sighed as he picked at his own lunch.

  I finally finished chewing and was able to speak again. “I thought you were doing leadership stuff. What's up with being in my class?”

  Vincent blushed and gave a nervous laugh. “I just really didn’t feel like explaining why I was in town and at the school. It worked out well that you accepted my vague answer. Until now of course.”

  “Vagueness accepted.” I nodded. “Welcome to the non-judgement table.” I took another bite of my sandwich.

  “Just like that? No twenty questions?” He seemed skeptical.

  I rolled my eyes and finished chewing faster. “You’ll be gone in what, a week? As fun as twenty questions would be, I don’t think knowing your favorite color will matter in a month.”

  “No long distance friendships for you then? Just the continued role of crabby barista?” He smirked.

  “My lovely step sister would be more than thrilled to destroy another friendship, even more so if it’s with a guy they can’t have.” I shrugged, returning the focus to my meal.

  “That sucks.” He frowned. “Are they always so terrible to you?”

  I shrugged again, realizing that was my standard reply right now. “I wouldn’t say they’r
e awful, but they’re pretty close to it. I get paid at least.”

  “How would they even destroy a friendship?”

  “The short of it is they’ll never leave you alone if you have any connection with me. Callie isn’t a threat to them, so she’s been around for awhile. She’s equally school focused and doesn't get me to take time off work, so they’re fine with her.”

  “I can handle them,” Vincent said with a confident smile.

  “Uh huh.” I shook my head. “Anyway, you’ll be gone soon.”

  “I’ll be here for another week after this one and then maybe for a week at the end of the semester,” Vincent corrected. “So, let’s try this friendship thing. If you win, you were right. No surprise to you. But if I’m right, you’ve got a friend. Come on, what’s the worst that can happen?”

  “Diamond sobbing that I’m talking to the man of her dreams.” I rolled my eyes.

  “You mean man of her week. She’ll get over it.” He laughed, but there was no humor in his face.

  I had to laugh; he was right. “Well, you’ve figured that out, but until someone she finds more attractive walks in, you’re stuck.”

  “How does she ever get a date?” He sighed, stealing a fry from my plate.

  I swatted his hand away. “Don’t know. Don’t care. She’s dated maybe four guys this year? It’s not like she’s not known for being problematic.”

  “This year? It’s March.” Vincent seemed surprised.

  “Thankfully, Rose has been going steady with someone for the last eight months. We’ll see how that goes.” I shrugged.

  “And you?” He asked curiously.

  “What part of they want to ruin everything don’t you get?” I was a bit more annoyed than called for. Taking a breath, I tried to reply more calmly this time. “I dated one guy three years ago and they promised him the worst string of bad luck in the universe unless he broke up with me. He didn’t believe them for about four days. It’s not worth the effort until I can move away.”

  “That’s rough.” He frowned. “How can anyone be that terrible?”

  “Don’t know, but facts are facts.” My phone beeped at me. “And I need to get back to work, so what else is new.”

  “Can I get your number before you run off?” he asked. “It’ll be easier to be long distance friends if we can chat.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Only if you explain what you’re actually doing here.”

  “I thought this was the no judgement table.” He laughed.

  “The table is, the phone on the other hand, is not.” I was pretty proud of my reply and couldn't help but smirk at him.

  “It’s a deal then.” He offered his hand.

  I shook it and summoned my magic to place an illusion on his hand. “There you have it. That should be easy enough for you to dispel.”

  He looked at it and nodded as he dug out his phone.

  “Later then.” I gathered my stuff together.

  “Later.” He smiled back at me.

  3

  I don’t know why I was surprised to receive a message later that wasn’t from Callie. It almost had slipped my mind that Vincent wanted my number. Whatever, I had warned him best I could. At least at this point in time, I had my own phone plan. While I hated having the additional expense, it was far better than the stepmother reading over every last detail of my phone history.

  “How’s it going?”

  I stared at the simple message as I locked up the shop and headed upstairs. It was nice having the small flat to myself and made opening and closing easier. Not that I was far from my step family. They were simply down the street, within reasonable walking distance at that.

  “The usual.” I had nothing to say. Instead I pulled out my books and began reading the next assignment. It was focusing on detecting and dispelling illusions that were not on you personally. Something I hated working on.

  It was hard to work on illusions individually. If I cast a spell on an object, of course, I’d be able to detect it. It was a completely different story trying to pick up on someone else's magic, and it all depended on how strong they were. If they were too far over my level, I may never notice. Dispelling something stronger than you was nearly impossible.

  My phone chimed again. “That’s not very descriptive.”

  “Ah, my mistake.” I rolled my eyes and took a picture of my book. “Instead of work work, it’s onto school work.”

  “Exciting,” came his response.

  “It would be if I could break through anyone's illusions. Now that would be fun stuff.” No lie there. I could easily have my scholarship then.

  “Just takes time. You’ve got the dedication for it.”

  “Dedication only goes so far. You need massive talent for that.” I wasn’t afraid to keep trying, but eventually everyone’s skills topped out somewhere.

  “You’re right; you need practice.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He wasn’t wrong. “Very true. I’m sure we’ll be doing more actual applications in class again instead of discussing theory since the upcoming section is more hands on.”

  “That is what your teacher, Mr. Whittaker I think his name was, is planning, but you need more practice outside of class. Do they have a place around here where you can actually do that? Rooms with items to detect spells and figure out what it is and work on breaking them?”

  City boy had no idea. I shook my head at my phone. “Nope. Nothing too fancy here. Either you move on to a bigger school or get stuck around here.”

  “Geeze where is the school funding going if its magic department is so lacking?” I could almost hear the disappointment in his message.

  “Welcome to forgotten county schools. Where the classes exist but nothing more than that!” It was painfully true.

  “Yeah, I’m starting to notice that. Bring a few books tomorrow and I’ll put some spells on them. Sure you’ll know they have spells on them but at least you can work on figuring out which ones exactly. Some help is better than none.”

  I was surprised by his message. “Thanks, I appreciate the help.”

  “Of course. Who wouldn’t help with school work? ;) “

  Oooh, my own words against me. Clever boy. Maybe I was wrong. This could be a decent friendship if he actually wanted to help. I hated to think of what my family might do about it, though. At least he’d be away soon enough, so it wouldn’t matter.

  Work went much the same the next day. Wednesday was normally our slowest day, but this prince stuff had people wanting a little extra magic in their lives just in case. I couldn't blame them. It was probably the most interesting event in town since the time someone let eight chickens and five lobsters loose in the grocery store. Even that had been several years ago.

  The line seemed to reach out the door forever and it was nearly time for me to head to class when I finally saw there were only three people left. Poor Vincent was the last one and Diamond made sure she had a chance to talk his ear off. I set his drink on the pickup counter but Diamond seemed to have him caught up in a story.

  Oh well, he’d have to figure a way out himself.

  Quickly, I vanished into the back. “Steph, time for class!”

  Steph yawned at me. “Already? Geeze. I’ll get on the bar then. Good luck!”

  I tossed my apron in the bin and tried to put on my coat as I grabbed my bag. “Thanks! Going to need it with how busy campus has been.”

  “Maybe you’ll meet the prince.” Steph giggled.

  “Sure, I’d likely run straight into him, apologize and head off to class and not realise it for several hours.” I laughed back, finally getting everything on right. Truthfully, I wouldn’t even know hours later. I had zero clue what he looked like. I should look up a picture if I ever remembered in my spare time.

  “That would be you,” she agreed, heading out front with me.

  I took note that Vincent had managed to get his drink but that hadn’t stopped Diamond from continuing the conversation over at the p
ickup counter.

  “Good luck,” I said towards Steph, and rushed off.

  Outside it had gotten colder than I expected and I said a silent prayer that my rust bucket of a car would start. Okay, it actually looked pretty decent on the outside, but it was a fifteen year old car and had a lot of issues on the inside. So, of course it wouldn’t start. Try as I might to get it to turn over, nothing happened when I turned the key. I groaned loudly and rested my head on the wheel. I should have given myself a luck boost this morning but no, I had to go with the energy one. Great choice, past self. Great choice.

  Well, I hadn’t missed a day yet this semester, so it wasn’t a huge deal, but still. I hated missing. Even more so if we were actually doing practical application. The theory stuff I could always read in my free time, but application was so much harder when you were outside of class.

  A knock on my window startled me

  I looked over to see Vincent standing there with a concerned look. I opened my door.

  “You okay?” He asked.

  “Yeah, my car won’t start.” I sighed.

  “Does it just need a jump or is something else wrong?”

  “Hopefully just a jump, but I’ve no idea,” I admitted.

  “Well, I’ve got jumpers, so let’s try that,” he said going back over to his car.

  Not having time to argue against the help, I popped the hood.

  “I actually don’t know how to use them though” he admitted, handing them to me.

  I gave a small laugh and went about setting it up. “This sadly isn’t the first time I’ve had to do this. So, either a jump will work or the battery is dead.” How many times did I jump it last year? How old was the battery anyway? I couldn’t remember, so probably old enough to be dead. “Go start your car,” I instructed. After a few moments I tried mine and nothing. Nothing again.

  “It’s not working?” The disappointment in his voice mirrored how I felt.

  “Pretty much. Now you’re late for no reason.” At least he had offered to help. “Guess I’ll just miss today and figure out how to get a new battery.”