Page 24 of Monster's Delight

“Not on purpose!” I couldn’t avoid the blush this time. “I’m never going to be able to look him in the eyes again.”

“He was going to see you naked sooner or later,” Hazel pointed out. “And he was a gentleman about it. Sounds like it’s going to be sooner.”

I grimaced at her. “Come on. Library?”

“Yes, please. I’m going to need it.”

We found a corner table with enough space for Hazel to spread out and me to open my grimoire. Hazel didn’t really need my help as much as she thought she did, but I knew that having my corroboration gave her confidence. However, I found my attention wandering back to Aiden, and what might have happened if I had taken him up on his offer to lend me clothes. I was in the middle of a daydream where we were alone in his dorm and neither of us were wearing a stitch when Hazel poked me.

“I thought you wanted to read your grimoire, not stare into space?” she asked gently.

“Thanks. You’re right.” I flipped a couple pages in, mentally shaking away thoughts of what Aiden might look like under his well-fitting shirts. Focusing on the pages in front of me, I noticed a doodle in the margin that looked like a word.

I turned the grimoire sideways, and the word coalesced.Find, it read.

“Find what?” I muttered to myself. The spell on the page was a cooking spell, which didn’t seem to fit. I flipped to the next page, and saw another word. It read,your.

Excited now, I kept going. The next page read,center.

The following page had nothing. It was very confusing. “Find your center?” I asked myself. “I guess it just means to look inward to concentrate. Cool saying.”

CHAPTER8

“I thinkwe’re almost ready for tonight,” I said to Hazel as I shrank my bed frame until it fit in my palm. I carefully placed it on my desk, next to the couch, Hazel’s & Lilia’s beds, and our desk chairs.

“Almost? What are we missing?” Hazel looked up from the mattresses on the floor, both of which we had grown until they spread across the entire space. She adjusted the corner of the pile of blankets.

“Food,” I said. “Snacks and stuff.”

There was a knock on the door, and I jumped to answer it, literally, as I crossed the mattresses.

“Did I hear someone was having a party?” asked Una, peeking around a ginormous bag of popcorn.

Rhiannon was behind her, holding two bags of what looked like very heavy items. She lifted one. “Alcohol.” Then she raised the other. “Juices for mixing.”

“Come in!” I stood back, giving them space, and closed the door behind them.

“Drinks first!” exclaimed Una, dropping the bag of popcorn on the bed. She pulled four marbles out of her pajama pants pocket, transforming them into fancy margarita glasses with barely a thought. “Top me up, Rhi!”

Soon, all four girls were sitting in pillow chairs, drinking random mixes of vodka and juice.

“A little more peach juice in mine please,” I said, passing my glass over. “It’ll balance out the sourness of the grapefruit. Oh my gosh, girls, I needed this. After last week...” I sighed and rested my head on the back pillow.

“What happened with the gorgeous Aiden?” Una asked, bouncing a little on the mattress and spilling her drink. She vanished the spill with a wipe of her hand. “Weren’t you supposed to meet up with him this week?”

“He came to see me last Saturday, but he agreed to leave me to my studies during the week.” I accepted my glass from Rhiannon and took a sip. “Perfection. Thanks, Rhi.”

“Not even at meals?” Una demanded. “Harsh.”

“I don’t need the distraction. And he could easily become one.”

“Isn’t school when we meet people? Are your grades so important that you’re willing to miss out on someone special?” Rhiannon asked.

“I... I don’t know. My family is expecting great things of me,” I hedged.

“Is it your life or theirs?” Hazel pointed out. “How much will your average suffer if you take meals off from studying? You’re not skipping class, for witch’s sake!”

“I’ll think about it,” I said. “You raise some excellent points.”

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