Page 12 of Extra Witchy

That was a lot to unpack from a single night.

It was too soon to text her, and for once, he had no desire to sleep until noon. In fact, he couldn’t recall the last time he was up this early. Sometimes when he helped Titus out, he kept weird hours because Titus’s dog, Doris, liked her breakfast early, and she didn’t eat as well with the automatic dish. But otherwise? He lived like a vampire, staying awake through the night trying to keep his brain busy so it wouldn’t hound him. With varying degrees of success.

Even his “apartment” was depressing. His parents had intended to remodel the basement completely, but when they figured out he’d be staying there indefinitely, they just sort of…stopped working on it. Because why bother, right? It didn’t matter if the floor was painted cement or if pipes showed here and there. All his furniture had been banished from the nicer part of the house—an old brown plaid love seat, a clunky TV his grandfather had bought, resin side tables, and a two-chair dinette set he rarely used. The bathroom was unfinished too, wide open to the laundry area, and the kitchenette was a hot plate and a mini fridge.

“You won’t bother cooking for yourself, what do you need a proper kitchen for? If you want to eat with us, come upstairs,” his mom had said.

In fact, hedidlike cooking. Not that anyone was interested. His dad only grunted, ignoring him in favor of a hunting and fishing magazine. That was another way that Trev couldn’t compete with Tanner. His relatives saw nothing wrong with shooting animals, but the one time he went along, he’d hurled at seeing the deer thrashing on her side, eyes wide and terrified. Shit, that memory haunted him to this day, along with the awful noises she’d made. Tanner slit the doe’s throat, finishing her off without hesitation, and their old man clapped him on the shoulder and spent the next month bragging to all his buddies what a natural hunter his oldest boy was. Nobody was asking Trev, but he privately thought it was fucking worrisome how fast Tanner was with a knife. But hewasa surgeon, after all.

God, my family sucks.

He showered, rinsing a few silverfish down the drain in the process. Damn, he hated those things, but nothing ever seemed to get rid of them. His parents were blaming him for it, but that was nothing new. Basements were damp, and only a full remodel with weatherproofing could keep them out permanently.

As he stepped out of the shower, he contemplated what Leanne had said.Ask yourself what you want. You can do anything…He made a bowl of cereal and ate it on the sofa while scrolling news articles on his phone. Normally, he’d smoke a little weed, take a nap, and play some video games, but after last night, he wished he had something else to do. Like, practically anything. He’d never admit it, but he looked forward to Titus messaging him with some random chore he needed done. Watch Doris for a few days? Absolutely. Spend all day painting his stepsister’s bedroom? No problem.

And when he came home?

“Don’t you have any pride?” his old man had demanded once. “When are you planning to stop leeching off your friends? We thought you’d get sick of living in our basement eventually and pull yourself together. Jesus, I can’t stand looking at you.”

“Good talk.” He’d kept a smile on his face the whole time, knowing his insouciance pissed his father off something fierce.

Wade Montgomery had high standards, and he rarely let a chance slip by to tell Trev how far short he fell. Trev’s mom, Barb, usually tried to keep the peace, but not in a way that included arguing with her husband. She just wanted everyone to be polite, no matter how horrible the underlying sentiment might be.

But here it was, 10:00 a.m. on a weekday morning, and he had nowhere to be. He killed some time texting with Titus. It was cool picturing the guy taking a break at the bakery. Sometimes he imagined being that dedicated to his work—that he’d get up early every day, but he knew himself well enough to realize it was a fantasy, not his thing at all.

Titus:You good?

Trev:Always am.

That’s a fun-sized lie.One he couldn’t quite believe he’d admitted to Leanne, and he’d done it without being chemically enhanced too. She had the magic touch—just enough interest, not enough for it to feel like pressure—and all his depressing secrets came tumbling out, like a closet where someone hastily crammed all their junk.

Titus:Glad to hear it. You didn’t stick around long last night. Just a heads-up…

Trev:Yeah?

Titus:Pretty much everyone knows you two hooked up.

Trev:I had one job and I did it well.

Titus:DUDE.

Trev:It’s not bragging if it’s true.

Titus:I’m out.

Trev plugged in his phone and fell into a multiplayer session. He didn’t wear a headset because he had zero interest in listening to the bullshit other players spewed. Most of these missions, he could run solo and with his eyes closed. It wasn’t worth instructing people he’d never play with again. He had a regular group that met up once a month on a different platform, and he’d never admit it, but he looked forward to hanging out with those faceless strangers.

I wonder if Leanne would think I’m a total loser.

Making up his mind, he decided to text her tomorrow and ask if she was interested in seeing him again. No risk, no reward, right?

Annoyingly, that sounded like the kind of thing his dad would say, but even a broken clock was right twice a day.

Chapter 5

There would be a reckoning for the way Leanne had spoken to the mayor.

Mayor Anderson wasn’t the type to forget a slight. He could be as petty as an elementary school kid, and he’d work out some way to make her sorry for pointing out a few problems. But she refused to worry about that today, instead focusing on her actual work. At the end of the day, she drove home, halfway hoping Junie would’ve succumbed to yet another whim and gone off to hike in the Adirondacks or something.

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