XII

Going straight to bed had felt like the right decision at the time, but after a few hours of sleep, Laurel found herself wide awake in a big, nearly empty house, alone with her thoughts in the middle of the night. She knew that Kate would be asleep, but she made a video call anyway, trusting her friend would understand.

“Laurel?” Kate said, rubbing her eyes. She was in bed, under the covers, wearing a T-shirt. “Hey - what’s going on?”

“I’m never going to have a boyfriend!” Laurel sobbed.

“Huh? Did something happen?” Kate asked.

Laurel nodded. “There was a boy that I really liked. He wanted to take things slow, but he really did want a relationship with me - I’m almost sure of it, I think!” Her chest heaved with deep breaths. “His sister saw me with some guys. I had to sleep with them! It’s my job - it’s important! I guess ... Well, I suppose I didn’t have to enjoy it. Maybe I am just the slut everyone is saying I am. I didn’t have to let them do the thing they did to me - I could have just stuck with blowjobs. I shouldn’t have enjoyed it.”

Kate turned her head, listening to a male voice that Laurel couldn’t make out. She shook her head and made a stop gesture with her hand. “Baz is going to go to the other room for a while,” she explained.

“The song says I’m the kind of girl ‘you don’t take home to mother’,” Laurel moped.

“What song?” Kate asked, scrunching her eyes trying to wake up.

“Super Freak. Rick James, 1981, Gordy Records.”

“I don’t think Rick James was talking about you, Laur,” Kate protested.

“The karaoke guy was,” Laurel countered.

“Oh.”

“Dylan’s family liked me! And I liked that they liked me. I liked that they approved of me dating their son. I liked that I might someday have in-laws. But now I never will. Now I’m the kind you don’t take home to mother!”

“Explain it to him,” Kate suggested. “Tell him about magic. Tell him about the work you’re doing. Give him a chance to be worthy of you.”

Laurel shook her head. “I can’t. That would mean outing Jennifer to all her neighbors as the crazy lady who thinks she’s a witch. People would hate her and vandalize her property. And when she had guests - you know, people who come to study at her library? - everyone would gossip and stare. Plus it’s too much of a burden to put on Dylan. I mean, did you try to tell anyone after you found out?”

Kate frowned. “Yeah. It didn’t go well.”

Kate took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It sounds like you’ve lost this guy for good. But there will be others.” Laurel shook her head. “Yes, Laurel, there will be! Is this project of yours even worth it?”

“But...,” Laurel struggled, “I’m the only one...”

Kate cut her off. “Yeah, Laurel, you’re the only one. But mankind has gotten by for thousands of years without your spell. Let someone else take over. Or put it on the shelf for another time in your life. Come back to college; go to class; meet some cute guys, and fuck them because you want to share that experience with them, not because your magic cookbook tells you to.”

Kate tugged at her hair in frustration. “Or don’t. Keep doing your magic thing, and accept that you probably can’t have a boyfriend right now. But you will, eventually - in another town and another phase in your life.”

Laurel shook her head as if to deflect Kate’s words. They made sense, but they weren’t what she wanted to hear, and that made them uncomfortable. She knew she shouldn’t be resisting, but she couldn’t help it.

“Thanks for talking to me. I’m sorry I woke you. I’ll let you go,” she said.

“We can keep talking if you want,” Kate offered. “It doesn’t have to be about this. Movies or food or something.”

“No. Thanks. I should go.”

“Okay,” Kate agreed. “But Laurel? You know that Baz and I are grateful every single day for having you as a friend, right?” Laurel smiled through her sadness before hanging up.

The plan was for Laurel to meet up with Steve as usual, and go back with him to his place, where Theo and Jennifer would be waiting.

She sat at the coffee shop sipping her latte waiting for Steve. The store wasn’t especially big, and nobody ever spent much time in the back, and yet she didn’t see him. Even a trash run would have only lasted a couple minutes.

She received a text:

Theo: At Steve’s house - looking suspicious. Looks like he might have packed up and run.

Laurel: He’s not at work, either.

Theo: Hmm. Come here - see if you can get us inside.

“Hi, Mrs. Mercer,” Laurel said when the landlady answered her door. “I guess you know that Steve’s not here right now.”

“Mmm. Such a shame about his sister-in-law. I hope she recovers quickly,” Mrs. Mercer replied.

Laurel nodded. “Would you mind letting us in? These are my friends and they’re going to help me with the surprise I’m planning. I think he’ll really appreciate it, you know, considering.”

“Of course.”

From the looks of it, Steve had packed what he could into his car and left quickly. His clothes, the TV, game console, and computer were gone, but kitchenware, linens, and the like were left behind. The three began poking around.

“Not a single ward or enchantment,” Jennifer observed. “I guess he was worried about tipping you off.”

“No magical paraphernalia, but take a look a this,” Theo added. He pulled out a tiny camera hidden in the spine of a book. “I bet there’s more.”

They found six cameras - three in the bathroom alone. “I’m not seeing any storage devices. Not even a WIFI router. I suppose he took those with him.” They resolved to take the cameras home to investigate.

Theo wasn’t able to learn much from cameras. The damage was done, but Jennifer wrote an email to the Louisiana Market of Shadows condemning their duplicity and warning that if any sex video involving Laurel were ever distributed, it would be treated as a gravely hostile act.

Jennifer and Theo were careful never to put any pressure on Laurel regarding the pace of her work, but well-meaning questions from allies in their chat channel reminded her that she was stalled, having only performed one reading in the last several days.

She took some time to be alone. It was obvious she had been crying. Then she announced that she was going to go visit Rick. Theo offered to drive.

Riley’s was short-staffed. Rick apologized - he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to go on break “to talk”. Theo waited with her, fending off the looks that kept coming. A group of high school boys repeatedly pointed and whispered, occasionally making crude gestures to go with the jokes that they were no doubt telling each other. A twenty-something man with blond spiky hair and cunning eyes kept staring until Theo’s gaze forced him to turn away. Callie and Skye came in but left right away when they saw her.

Theo checked the time on his phone often until Laurel said something. “Wait - tonight’s your date, right? Theo! You’ve got to go!”

“I’d rather not leave you alone,” he shrugged.

“I’ll be okay. I know I freaked out yesterday, but I can put up with the stares.”

“It’s not the stares that trouble me,” Theo explained. “It’s when they start coming up to you once I’m gone.”

“Go! You deserve it! I ... I want to believe that people like us can find love. I’ll get an Uber home.”

Theo shook his head. “No way - you’re taking my car.” He slid the keys over to her. “Hey, Rick! Can Laurel wait in the office until you’re ready?” Rick nodded and let her in.

A replacement server had arrived and Rick was finally ready to take a break. He took a deep break and then entered the office where Laurel was waiting with her laptop open on the desk.

“So, here we go,” he said. “I’m sorry. I shot my mouth off about the thing we had going. I thought it was harmless guy talk, but I put you in a very painful situation, and I should have been smarter than that.”

“No, it’s okay,” she said softly, closing the lid of her laptop and standing up. She was wearing a super-cute black dress over a maroon long-sleeve shirt. “There were other guys, you know? When a pathetic desperate girl goes around begging guys for their sperm, people are bound to talk.” After watching his face for a moment, she asked, “Is it still okay if I give you blowjobs? Please?”