Page 14 of Summertime Hexy
He steps back. “You don’t get many second chances, Derek. You’ve lived long enough to know that. So if you care—don’t run.”
Then he leaves, like he always does. Quiet. Final.
I don’t move.
Not for a long time.
Eventually, I make my way back to the cabin. Hazel’s curled up on the bottom bunk, a book open on her chest and a frown etched into her sleep.
She mumbles something in her sleep. Something about waffles.
I don’t smile.
Not really.
But I sit down in the chair by the window.
And I don’t run.
The sun’s setting behind the trees, washing the mess hall porch in amber and shadow. I’m leaning against a support beam, trying to pretend I’m here to monitor ley-line tremors, not people. Nother.
Hazel is sitting cross-legged on the wooden steps, her back to me, with a kid curled up beside her like a turtle trying to hide inside its shell. Milo. Eight years old, all knees and magic-static hair, sniffling into his sleeve and refusing to talk to anyone but her.
She doesn’t push him. Just sits there, swinging a stick of rock candy like it’s a wand, absently tracing little sigils into the dirt with the tip.
“Y’know,” she says, voice soft but animated, “I once got so homesick I accidentally hexed my bunkmate’s pillow to whisper my mom’s name all night. She didn’t sleep for three days.”
Milo sniffles louder. “Did it work?”
Hazel shrugs. “Not really. But it did get me out of dish duty for a week, so… win-win.”
A wet giggle escapes him, small and sharp.
She reaches over and taps his shoulder with the candy wand. “Wanna try it?”
He looks at her, eyes wide. “You’ll help me curse a pillow?”
“Only mildly,” she says. “Whisper charms. Harmless. Mostly.”
His smile cracks through. Just a little.
And something stirs in my chest.
It’s not lust. Not the heat that usually follows proximity and shared adrenaline.
It’squiet. Subtle.
A kind of ache I don’t recognize at first.
Until I realize it feels like...hope.
Hope’s dangerous.
I force my arms tighter across my chest, jaw clenched.
Hazel leans closer to Milo, dropping her voice to a whisper. “You don’t have to pretend you’re not missing home. That’s not a weakness. That’s being human.”
He looks at her like she’s just handed him the moon.
