Chapter 9

Tasha and Lenny followed Laurel into the back yard. Laurel was acting strangely - nervous - but had promised to tell them an important secret. The three girls sat down by a row of rose bushes while Laurel struggled to find the words for her announcement.

“Okay, see, magic is real,” Laurel finally proclaimed. “My mom has been teaching me since I was little.”

Lenny smirked, as if waiting for a punchline. Tasha’s face was emotionless. Years of experience had taught the disfigured girl not to draw any attention to her face: to do so invited involuntary looks of revulsion even from the most caring of people.

Laurel was surprised that neither of her friends said anything; this wasn’t like the rehearsals in her mind. “Let me show you. Tasha, choose a flower,” she said.

“Um, okay, that one,” Tasha said, pointing at one of the dozens of pink flowers.

“Cool, watch that one,” Laurel said. “Give me a minute.”

Laurel sat cross-legged with her hands flat on the ground in front of her. She didn’t need any gestures or incantations for this spell, she had been doing it for as long as she remembered. Her mind reached through the earth and touched the plant, coaxing her desired behavior. A minute later she opened her eyes.

“Well?” She asked of her friends, expecting astonishment.

“Well what?” Lenny responded.

“What do you mean what?” Laurel argued. “There’s like six bees on that flower. Just that flower. I did that!” Like she implied, the bees were only interested in that single bloom.

“Come on, Laur - you sprayed it with something,” Tasha said dismissively.

“You chose it!” Laurel proclaimed. Lenny rolled her eyes.

“Okay, I’ve got another demonstration,” Laurel said. “I’ll give you scientific proof.”

Laurel led the other two girls to the greenhouse, where she lit a candle and handed it to Tasha along with a ruler.

“How tall is the flame?” Laurel asked.

“Like just below an inch?” Tasha answered.

“Okay, keep watching. This is going to take a while,” Laurel instructed.

This time Laurel lay on her back on the brick floor, with her knees bent and her arms crossed over her chest. She closed her eyes and she thought about the beast from the picture in her mother’s secret sex magic book. She replayed her well-rehearsed fantasy in her mind, with a few improvised changes. He leaned over her and kissed her. He bit her neck to mark her as his own. He tore open her shirt and teased her breasts with his fingers. He spread her legs and ripped off her panties, and then he climbed on top of her and took her.

Laurel’s breathing quickened, as did her heartbeat. She could feel her pulse beating in her neck and ears. She could feel her vagina swelling with anticipation, and the wetness it exuded. But mostly she could hear her own breath. Again Laurel reached out, this time to all of the plants in the greenhouse, sharing the experience with them. With a few mystical calculations she pushed her arousal out to them. They too, in their ways, secreted and breathed. Their metabolisms rushed, just as hers did.

Finally Laurel opened her eyes and sat up. She abandoned her fantasy, despite the temptation to send her friends home and touch herself for the rest of the afternoon.

“Well?” Laurel asked.

“Inch and three-eighths,” Tasha said with some disbelief. “How’d you do that?”

Laurel smiled. “I made the plants release more oxygen,” she said. “More oxygen, bigger flame.”

“Say we believe you that magic is real,” Lenny said. “No offense, but can you do anything cool with it? Can you fly?”

“Tcha, no!” Laurel said, happy that her friends were taking her claim seriously. “That kind of stuff is just in movies. But..., I can make boys like me. Haven’t you noticed the attention I’ve been getting lately?

“Boys like you because you’re beautiful,” Tasha objected.

“I’m not beautiful - I’m plain,” Laurel argued. Tasha frowned. She had a perspective on the measure of beauty to which her friends were blind. “You just think I’m beautiful because of the spell,” Laurel added.

“Your mom taught you how make boys like you?” Lenny asked.

“Pff, no!” Laurel answered. “She only ever taught me the plant stuff, and like, oral hygiene spells - that sort of thing. Even Hunter knows that one. I’ve got a new teacher now, and she’s going to teach us how to make boys like you too. I can’t wait for you to meet her!”