Page 88 of The Glittering Edge

Alonso goes to the back to get the cleaning supplies. For her part, Penny sinks farther into the booth. It’snota date. They’re going to practice magic, and that’s all.

You shouldn’t want him, she reminds herself.

If only it was that easy.

Penny

NEON LANES BOWLING ALLEY IS ON THE NORTH SIDE OF TOWN, SURROUNDEDby chain stores and fast food restaurants. The buildings are spaced far apart, exposing the dumpsters and empty trailers between them. Despite the wide sky and distant horizon, this part of Idlewood is suffocating, with superstores and warehouses blotting out the nearby forests and fields. If you squint, you can make out Barrion Heating & Cooling looming in the distance, the building large and white, like a giant rain cloud rolling closer.

The bowling alley is a black building sandwiched between Nicholls Grocery and a McDonald’s. When Penny pulls up in the Prius, her hands are shaking. She spent entirely too long deciding on an outfit before stubbornly deciding she shouldn’t dress up at all, so she’s in her favorite denim shorts and a blue tank top. But she can’t stop herself from compulsively checking her eyeliner in the rearview mirror. She had to watch one of Naomi’s videos to get it right.

Alonso told her to park behind the building, so that’s where she drives. But when she turns the corner, she balks.

This isnota date. Unless Alonso’s idea of a date is to invite thirty other people.

There’s a huge clearing in the middle of the parking lot, with people scattered around the perimeter. In the middle, there are at least adozen people on bicycles, riding in circles and chatting and laughing. Most of them are holding what look like brooms or long sticks with hammers attached to the ends with Gorilla Tape.

“Penny!” Alonso calls when she gets out of the car. He’s standing with Aidan and Kiki, and the two of them give Penny a look that says they have no idea why she’s here.

Alonso runs over to meet her. “Perfect timing. We’re about to play.” He’s wearing ripped jeans and a long-sleeved gray shirt. He stands close, and Penny has to look up to meet his eyes, which sends a strange thrill through her. Even if this isn’t a date, she’s here because of him. With him.

She likes the sound of that.

Penny glances at the cyclists, trying to hide her smile. “Is this a… cycling club?”

“Bike polo.” He holds up his own stick, which is an actual polo stick and not just some household items glued together.

“Bikepolo?”

“Yeah, you’ve never played?”

“I’ve never even heard of it.”

Alonso smirks. “I was counting on that.”

Before Penny can ask if that was an insult, Sango Rao shouts, “Let’s go, everyone! We’ve only got an hour before they kick us out.”

“You can join my cheering section,” Alonso says.

Penny runs to keep up with his long strides. “What exactly are we doing here? I thought we were practicing magic.”

Alonso looks over his shoulder and winks. “We are.”

Penny’s face falls. “You’re going to do magic around this many people?”

Alonso shrugs, and then he’s walking over to his bike.

It’s a testament to Penny’s self-control that she doesn’t leave immediately. Talking to Kiki and Aidan sounds like an impossible feat, but Penny forces herself to swallow her fear. Very slowly, she walks around the orange cones that outline the court, stopping a fewfeet away from Alonso’s friends. She clears her throat, but they don’t notice her.

“Hey,” Penny says.

Kiki turns around, her eyebrows knitted together in annoyance. Penny would be offended, except Kiki always looks like that.

“Hey,” Aidan says, and at least he smiles.

“Alonso invited me,” Penny says.

Aidan and Kiki give each other a knowing look. “We heard,” Kiki says, and then she nods at the court. “Here they go.”

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