Page 4 of Castings & Curses

He liked this new side of her. Last year, with all the others around, they’d rarely spent time alone together. Sure, they were friends, but they also seemed to live in different spheres. Lucille was all about fashion and luxury, and he was just a regular blue-collar kid who liked to swim and draw.

Lucille’s attention was back on the suspected vampire girls, tensing slightly, when Mika reached into her bag. But the girl only took out a box of strawberries and started feeding Hanne, alternating each strawberry with a kiss.

With a forlorn sigh, Lucille mused, “Now, I also want a monster girlfriend.”

Fabian raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t know you were into girls.”

Lucille flushed. “What? No, I… they’re just too sweet. I mean, look at them.”

The red juice of a strawberry was flowing down Hanne’s chin, and Mika leaned in to lick it away.

Fabian pulled a face, too occupied with the fact that those were vampires to appreciate the romance. “Remind me to never watch a romantic movie with you.”

“Don’t be like that.” Lucille bopped his shoulder again. “If we did, you’d probably cry more than the whole cinema together.” When Fabian snorted at that, Lucille shrugged. “Whatever. Blood or no blood, these two seem harmless.”

In that, Fabian agreed. “At least, they don’t look as if they’re planning a bloodbath any time soon.” With luck, they would have left Greenvalley far behind before it came to that.

“So, a horror movie then?”

“What?” Fabian swung his head around.

“Nothing.” Lucille batted her eyelashes at him. “Just forget what I said.”

But Fabian couldn’t. Samantha always joked that he was too dense to notice when a girl flirted with him. He certainly hadn’t noticed Rachel’s affection, and she’d been into him for years. But this was Lucille. Lucille, the beautiful witch. The girl who exuded flirtatiousness. The one who could have any guy she wanted in this pool. She was flirting all right, but surely, she wasn’t actually interested in him.

For a moment, Fabian entertained the thought of them hooking up. Stranger things had definitely happened in Greenvalley, and if they did, he would absolutely feed her strawberries and lick the juice from her chin.

* * *

The following day,Fabian took Lucille to the summer festival. There wasn’t much else to do in town, which meant everyone who was anyone was in attendance. The festival took place on the big meadow next to the river. Colourful little booths offered a variety of food and drinks, as well as local crafts, including the witch puppets the region was famous for. There were a few rides, though only one that was fast enough for grown-ups, and a stage, on which a local Harz band played some cover songs. People of all ages danced in front of the stage, while children with painted faces ran through the crowd, squealing.

As usual, Lucille was way too overdressed for the occasion, wearing an enticing black slip dress. In addition, she was wearing her signature heels, which caused her to struggle with the soft ground. Fabian didn’t tease her about it since it meant she had to hold onto his arm as they moved along the booths.

“There’s Jan!” Lucille exclaimed, pointing ahead.

Their friend stood at a booth, finishing up a joint. When Jan saw them, he raised his hand, took one last puff, and threw the remains on the ground before squashing them into the dirt with his foot. “Look who’s back in town.”

Lucille laughed and veered from Fabian’s arm to hug Jan. “You missed me, didn’t you?” The two of them had a weird love-hate relationship that Fabian wouldn’t even attempt to understand. It had never bothered him, but today something was different.

“Oh yeah, barely slept at all,” Jan boasted.

“Is that from missing her or taking the night shift?” Fabian asked, trying to steer the conversation to safer grounds.

Jan grinned, his attention successfully diverted. “Probably the latter. I’ve got another one coming up later. How are you guys?”

“Boredom is slowly setting in,” Fabian admitted. He loved summer, but this summer had been a lonely one with everyone travelling to exciting places, while he had been stuck in Greenvalley.

“Don’t say you’re looking forward to school?” Jan was aghast.

“Not everyone breaks out into hives at the thought of school,” Lucille joked, poking Jan in the upper arm.

So, the shoulder bumps earlier hadn’t meant anything.

“Fabian said, you got a job.”

Jan pretended to shudder. “Don’t remind me. It’s horrible. We currently have some sixth graders who are either training for the hundred-metre sprint or believe our floors are actually trampolines. They start before seven in the morning when they get up hungry. Worse than a plague of locusts. They also don’t believe in taking off their muddy boots after visiting the swamps.”

“Be careful. You’re gonna turn into a prissy.” Lucille laughed.

---