by ERIN BEDFORD
Paul gave me a sympathetic smile. "It's alright. I have pushy parents too. Rain check?"
"Oh, you better believe it." I inched up and pressed my lips to his, letting myself sink into his embrace.
I'd barely gotten into that kiss before the horn blared again and Sabrina shouted, “Stop sucking face, witch. We're going shopping!”
Chapter 4
I sat in Sabrina’s car with a perpetual scowl on my lips. I didn’t trust her. Not with my life, hell not even with a stray cat I found on the street. I certainly didn’t trust that she was helping me out of the goodness of her little black heart.
“Why are you doing this?” I held onto the door handle and gave her a sideways glance. “What’s in it for you?”
“What makes you think I’m doing this for you?” Sabrina snorted, never taking her eyes off the road. For a prissy bitch, at least she was a decent driver. Her long blonde hair sat over her shoulder and looked like she had gotten a blowout recently. Knowing her personality, she probably got one every week.
“Then who are you doing it for?”
Sabrina put her foot on the clutch and switched gears, barely giving me a look. “Your grandmother called my mother and asked me to be your big sister. Of course, I couldn’t say no.”
“Sure, you can. No. See? That easy.” I clenched my teeth into a tight sardonic grin. Aris wasn’t much help. She wasn’t bothered by the fact that Sabrina had practically kidnapped me. Of course, I got into her car on my own, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice.
Rolling her eyes, Sabrina pulled into the parking lot of the mall. “You know good and well that I can’t just say no. It’s not done.”
“That’s just stupid.”
“Says you.” Sabrina found a parking spot and turned to glower at me. “You didn’t grow up with your parents breathing down your neck, watching your every move to make sure you acted exactly according to their plan for you. If you so much as try to revolt, they threaten to kick you out, cutting you off from your friends, family, and everything you hold dear.” She grabbed her purse from the back seat and settled me with a strange look of envy. “Count yourself lucky.”
I stared at where Sabrina sat for a few moments. What the heck? Had I misjudged this stuck-up witch for someone who actually was worth befriending? I mean, if I had been in her shoes, would I have turned out the same way? Guilt started to eat at my stomach for the way I had acted toward her.
A bang on the window made me jerk in my seat. “Hurry up. I have better places to be than babysitting you.”
Then again, some people were just jerk faces no matter their upbringing.
Taking my sweet time getting out of the car, I followed Sabrina into the mall. I paused in place for a second. “Hold on. What about this thing?” I pointed at Aris. “Won’t people see her?”
Sabrina turned back to me and gave Aris the stink eye. “Stop referring to it as a she. It’s not sentient, and humans can’t see it unless you tell them. So, just ignore it, and no one will be the wiser.”
Pouting, I told Aris, “Ignore her. She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.” Scurrying after Sabrina, I tried not to look at Aris, though it was hard not to.
“What exactly are we here for?” It was the middle of the week and almost three o’clock, meaning the mall was full of students having just gotten out of school. It made maneuvering through the mall a bit difficult especially when my guide wasn’t bothering to notice if I was keeping up.
“If I’m going to be your” - Sabrina shuddered as if it actually physically affected her - “big sister witch, then I have to know what I’m dealing with. So, to get a feel for...” She spun around and waved hand up and down my jeans and t-shirt clad form. “... your look, I need to see you shop.”
I grimaced.
“Do we have to?” I searched around the mall for something to distract her. “Can’t we just buy a pretzel and bitch about our parents?”
Sabrina actually gave me a genuine smile. “Maybe later. First, shoes!”
She put one hand on her hip and pointed a finger towards the shoe store. I had a vision of her in her own superhero movie. She’d be Mall Girl. Or Witch Bitch. Something like that. And her powers would be throwing stiletto heels at her enemies and slicing them with her cutting words.
“Are you coming?”
I jolted out of my fantasy and hurried after her with a sigh. I gave up sex with Paul for shopping. This was going to be a long afternoon.
Several grueling hours later, I was ready to kill Sabrina and myself. “Are we done yet?”
“Not until I know you aren’t going to reflect badly on me because of your poor choices. Now...” She held up two dresses one that was a silky blood red color and the other an emerald green of the same material. “Which one would you wear to an evening out with your,” she paused for a moment and then bit out, “boyfriend?”
I quirked a smile. “Which one?”
Dropping her arms with a scowl, Sabrina tsked. “This is serious, Max. Your choice in an outfit will make or break your coming out. This will announce you to all the magical community. You don’t want to give them the wrong impression, do you?”
I knew what I wanted to answer, but I also knew that telling her what was really on my mind would only make us stand in this store for another three hours.
Sighing and trying to hold back the need to jam a fork in my eye, I said, “No...”
“No, what?”
Wrinkling my nose, I stared up at her. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at me. “No, big sister.” Man, that tasted putrid in my mouth.
“Good. Now, which one?” She held the two dress back up.
“I would wear the red one for a night out with my boyfriend.”
“And the other one?”
“For dinner with my family.”
“Or?” she arched a brow.
“Or with other acquaintances.” When Sabrina gave me a satisfied smirk, I sagged. “Are we done now? I’m starving.”
“Fine, but the pretzel place is closed now.” She handed the dresses back to the clerk who glared at Sabrina behind her back. I’d be pissed too. We spent hours in her store trying on everything imaginable and weren’t going to leave with a single purchase.
Feeling bad for the clerk, I handed her a dark blue bra and panties set that had light blue lining and a bow in the middle. “Can you ring this up for me, please?”
Giving me a grateful smile, the clerk took the set up to the counter.
“The pretzel place would have been open had we not spent the whole time in this store,” I pointed out. “Really, I’m not sure this is what my grandmother meant when she asked for your help.”
Sabrina sniffed and pulled her purse over her shoulder. “Well, I agreed to do this, so I’m going to do it my way. If you choose the wrong thing, then people will talk, and you’ll get ostracized before you even debut.”
“When did you start to care about what I do? Wouldn’t you be happy if everyone hated me?” I stood from the seat by the changing room, wincing at the aches in my body. Who knew trying on clothes could be so tiring?
“Because, as your sister witch, your choices reflect onto me. If you pick badly, then it makes me look bad.” She stopped talking as the clerk came back with my bag. I handed her my card and thanked her. “Who’s that for?” Sabrina wagged her finger at my small bag. “Paul?”
I lifted a shoulder, not really comfortable talking about her ex-boyfriend, now my boyfriend, with her. “I don’t know. Maybe. I just thought it was cute.”
She hummed as if she didn’t quite believe me, then asked, “How do you juggle all four of them? I mean, I have a hard enough time getting one guy to do what I ask, let alone four.”
I laughed. “Well, I can’t say I have a lot of experience with juggling boyfriends. Before them, I only had the one serious one.”
“Really?” Sabrina scanned over me, critiquing my every attribute. “I find that hard to believe. I can’t
see how you wouldn’t have had more. You obviously have something guys can’t resist, or you wouldn’t have so many now.”
“Believe me, if I knew, I’d tell you.” When the clerk came back, I took my card back from her and headed for the door. “I didn’t exactly sing a siren call to make them all fall for me, and I certainly didn’t set out to date so many. I have enough on my plate as it is.”
“Then why date them all at all?” Sabrina walked side by side with me for once, not ordering me around like her servant. “If it’s so much trouble.”
“It’s not really. I mean, yeah there’s been a bit of jealousy and having to make sure I’m being fair, but overall, it’s been... fun. The guys all provide me with something different.” I shrugged, not sure if I made much sense to her, let alone to myself.
Sabrina was quiet as if mulling over my words. She didn’t speak again until we got into her car. “And what about sex?”
“What about it?” I glanced over at her, expecting her to say something rude at any moment.
For once, Sabrina seemed uncomfortable with the subject even though she had brought it up. “Do you, you know, do them all together?”
I stared at her for a moment and then laughed, my head back and my hand slapping my thigh.
“Fine. If you’re going to be a bitch about it, forget it.” She turned with a huff, cranking her car.
“I’m sorry,” I hurried to say, placing a hand on her arm. “Really, I just didn’t expect you to say that. I’m not making fun of you.”
“Whatever.”
“For real.” I stared her down, and she finally seemed to relent as she pulled out of the parking lot. “Look, I don’t know really what I’m doing. I certainly haven’t slept with them all at once and don’t plan to... at least I don’t think.” My brow scrunched in thought. “I wouldn’t even begin to figure out the mechanics that would require. Besides, I’ve only had sex with Paul.”
“So, how’s that fair?” she asked, genuinely seeming interested. “You slept with Paul, excellent choice by the way, but not the others? Aren’t they upset by that?”
I shook my head. “I’m not going to push myself to do it with the others until I’m ready just to save their egos. If it comes down to that, they can just fuck off.” Sabrina giggle-snorted at that, making me smile. “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t done anything with the others. I just haven’t gone all the way.”
“I’ve only ever dated one person seriously,” Sabrina confessed as we drove. “I mean, I’ve dated, and I’ve slept with, well, obviously you know about Paul and Ian, but there were a few others. I’m not some big slut or anything, and save for that little indiscretion with Ian, they were all when Paul and I were broken up.”
I frowned. “So, Paul’s the only guy you were serious about?”
She gave me a sideways look. “Our parents have pushed us at each other ever since we were in diapers. I couldn’t really tell them no.”
“Except when he doesn’t want to date you anymore,” I pointed out, not wanting to be a bitch but really wanting to know how she was going to handle that. “What do they think of that?”
“Well, I haven’t exactly told them... yet.” Sabrina stared straight ahead to avoid my gaze. When she saw my ‘what the fuck’ look I was giving her, she rolled her eyes. “I’m not holding out for him to take me back. We all know that ship has sailed, but bringing things up like this is a delicate situation. It’ll be easier to break their hearts if I have someone even better to take Paul’s place.”
“And that’s all that matters?” I asked, feeling a bit sorry for her. “That your parents are happy? What about you?”
“What about me?” She sniffed. “I will get my inheritance when I turn twenty-one and then I can do whatever the hell I want. So, if that means playing by their rules for a bit longer, I will.”
“Don’t you want to fall in love?”
She laughed, but it sounded bitter. “When you belong to one of the most powerful magical families in Georgia, you don’t get to think about things like love. You’ll learn that too, once you give up on your human side.”
“I won’t though,” I argued, not believing for a second that I would ever do that to myself.
“You will,” she said with a soft sigh. “Just watch. It’ll start with something small, and then each little compromise will find you somewhere else. Next thing you know, you’re doing things for the sake of your family name without even questioning your own happiness.”
I didn’t like what she was implying. I couldn’t imagine myself ever being that way. I was too headstrong for one. For another, I knew my mother wouldn’t let me accept anything that might harm me emotionally. The fact that she hadn’t pitched a complete fit about the coming out party told me she didn’t find it to be that bad. I could only hope that my grandmother wouldn’t try to find another way around her.
“So, have you thought about who you are going to have escort you?” Sabrina eventually asked as we pulled into the school’s parking lot.
I shook my head. “No, I haven’t. If I pick just one of them, then they might think I’m playing favorites. However, if I go alone...”
“Don’t even think about it,” Sabrina interrupted with a growl. “If you show up alone, it will be social suicide. Trust me. This one witch, Jessica, didn’t have an escort, and now you know where she is?”
“Happier for it?” I guessed.
“Nowhere. That’s where. No one knows what happened to her, and all because she went stag to her own party. You don’t want that on your record, especially since you already have so many strikes against you just by being human-raised.”
“There’s the Sabrina I love to hate. This whole nice thing was creeping me out.” I gave a nervous chuckle.
“Well, don’t get used to it. We aren’t friends. I’m not going to braid your hair or sit with you during breaks.” She scowled at me, putting her car in park. “Now get out of my car. I’ll text you to meet again.”
“But you don’t have my number.”
“Your grandmother gave it to me already.” She said as if I should have known it. “Now don’t too excited. And don’t be one of those people who send me dog pictures or whatever. I hate animals.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure you do. Well, this has been... interesting, but I’m going to go now.”
“Didn’t I just say that?” she scoffed and pulled out her phone, typing away and ignoring me. Taking that as my cue to leave, I climbed out of the car and walked quickly toward the school.
I hadn’t lied when I said my time with Sabrina had been interesting. I’d learned quite a few things about the magical community that I knew I would have messed up on my own. I also learned Sabrina wasn’t as bad as she tried to pretend to be. I wasn’t saying we were going to be best friends, but maybe, eventually, we wouldn’t be trying to hex each other’s eyes out at every turn which in my book was a win.
“What do you think, Aris?” I asked my Guardian light. It just hovered there in the air. “Yep, I agree. She’s still a bitch, but at least she’s on our side now.”
Chapter 5
Laying in my bed, I went over the events of the day, many of which I didn’t quite understand myself. Libby had long since left thankfully. I’d had quite enough of other people for the day. Even Trina had caught onto my mood and had taken her books to the library to study rather than sit in the room.
Sighing, I rolled over in my bed, and my eyes caught sight of the little bag holding my new underwear set. I threw my legs over the side of my bed and picked it up. Pulling the tags off, I sat it on the bed next to me while I shimmied out of my clothes.
When I had the new set on, I stood in front of the mirror hanging on the back of the closet. It was pretty enough. My breasts were large as it was, and the bra only accentuated them. I was happy to have picked one without a push-up part, or my breasts would have been up to my ears and falling out every two seconds. There were few good things about being well endowed, and
being able to find cute bras was one of the downsides.
“What do you think?” I asked Aris. “Think this will knock the socks off the guys?” I paused for a moment and then giggled to myself. “You’re right. More like it’ll knock their pants off.”
As my eyes skimmed over the thin straps of the panties, a knock came to my door. Jumping in place, I covered my hands over myself. Then I remembered, duh, the door was closed so whoever was there couldn’t see me.
“Who is it?”
“It’s Dale. Can I come in?” His scratchy voice came through the wood of the door.
I started to tell him to come in and then stopped. Taking a look at myself again, I knew what answering the door in this would seem like. Was I ready to take that step with Dale? I meant what I said to Sabrina. I wasn’t going to force myself to have sex with any of them before I was ready. I thought about Dale waiting on the other side of the door, his cute freckled face, the glasses he couldn’t stop pushing up his nose, and the tight body I knew laid beneath his clothing.
Yep. I was ready, or at least my body was. It wasn’t like we hadn’t practically had sex already. Though fooling around in the shower was hardly what anyone would call sex.
“Max?”
“Uh, yeah. Come in,” I called out, my hands opening and closing at my sides. I wasn’t sure what to do with them. Should I strike a sexy pose or something?
I didn’t have time to decide before the door opened. Dale poked his head in first, his eyes moving over the room before landing on my underwear-clad form. His eyes widened, and he pushed his glasses up his face before hurrying inside.
Breathing a bit quicker than normal, I waited to see his reaction. We’d danced around the subject of sex, and he’d never tried to force me, but I really wanted to know what he was thinking. Was I wrong in assuming he’d want to?
“Wow,” Dale breathed out, his eyes scanning over my body, lingering over my bare thighs. “You look... wow.” Licking his lips, his lust-filled eyes lifted to mine. “Is this all for me?”
