Chapter 2

"Wow," Jennifer said. "I don't remember seeing that before. The pages must have flipped when I put the book down."

"It doesn't sound like a coincidence, Jenny. I think this magic book is real," Peter replied. "Let's go see what that page says."

Holding on to Jennifer's hand, Peter pulled her towards the bed. Picking up the book, he quickly scanned through the contents on the page.

"Well," Peter began. "It doesn't seem like waving your arms around is part of the spell. There are some strange words to say, but that's it. It doesn't say what the spell actually does."

"That's what I noticed about the spells when I read the book earlier," Jennifer answered. Turning the pages to the front, she continued, "The stuff here sounds pretty real though. That's why I said it sounded like the real thing."

Glancing down at the book, Peter asked, "Hmm, what does it say?"

Jennifer grinned and smacked Peter on the back of his head. "Read it yourself, lazy!"

"My new girlfriend is pretty violent," Peter commented as he rubbed his head.

Placing her hands on her hips, Jennifer glared at Peter. "Oh yeah? Who said I was your girlfriend?" she questioned.

With a glint in his eye, Peter replied, "Well, I didn't say it was you. There's this girl - you probably know her - she kissed me out of the blue, so I think that makes her my girlfriend."

Before Jennifer could respond, Peter took the opportunity to step forward and kiss Jennifer on the lips again.

Pulling his lips away for a second, he whispered, "And this makes me your boyfriend, I think."

Peter closed his eyes and continued the kiss. Sighing softly, Jennifer enjoyed the feel of their dancing tongues and she ran her hands around Peter's upper back, caressing it softly. Her palms traced the contours of Peter's shoulder blades and arms as she reached for his hands. Noticing the book in his left hand, she opted to wrap her hand around his instead of intertwining their fingers like she did with their other hands. As their hands touched, she felt a strange energy coursing through her right hand. It felt slightly warm, almost as if it was glowing.

Breaking the kiss, Jennifer looked at Peter and asked, "Did you feel that?"

"Yeah, I love it when we kiss and hold hands."

"No, not our hands," Jennifer replied. "I mean, yes, our hands. Did you feel that glow?"

Peter scratched his head. "Now I'm confused, Jenny. What do you mean?"

"When I held your hands, there was this strange glowing feeling in my right hand. It seems to be gone now though."

Peter lifted their hands up to chest level and looked down. "I didn't feel anything glowing. They look pretty normal. I mean," he stammered. "Your hands are nice, as always."

Smiling, Jennifer answered, "You don't need to compliment me unnecessarily, Pete, even if we're boyfriend and girlfriend now. But you didn't feel a thing? That's weird."

Peter looked at their hands for a while longer. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Could it have been the book?"

Jennifer looked down and noticed how her right hand was encompassing Peter's left hand, which was holding onto the book.

"Come to think of it," Peter continued. "I remember the lady at the store saying something about giving the book to you personally. Maybe the glow had something to do with that?"

"But what does the glow mean? Did she say anything about that?"

"Hmm," Peter pondered. "I don't think so. She mentioned that the spells wouldn't work properly until I gave the book to you though."

"Do you think the glow means that I can cast the spells now?"

"I don't know, but we can give it a try! Why don't you summon the book like I did earlier?" Peter asked excitedly as he stepped away from Jennifer, placing the book flat on his open palms.

"Ok ... What should I do?"

"Try snapping your fingers, then open your palms, like mine right now. That seemed to work for me earlier."

Jennifer nodded and performed the action. A small wisp of smoke appeared above her palms, but to her dismay, the book remained on Peter's hands.

"Well," Jennifer said. "At least I got a little smoke this time. Let me try that again."

"Hang on," Peter interrupted. "Maybe I should put the book on the bed or something." He placed the book on Jennifer's bed and nodded.

Smiling weakly, Jennifer said, "Ok, here goes."

She snapped her fingers and opened her palms like Peter described. This time, a larger puff of smoke appeared. However, the book remained on the bed.

Feeling exasperated, she clenched her fists in the air and said, "Argh, I guess I'm just not cut out for it."

"Relax, Jenny," Peter said as he went to hold her hands again. "Why don't we try a different spell in the book? Maybe that'll work instead."

"Ok, I'll try one last time. If it doesn't work, I'll blame you for getting me the worst present ever!" Jennifer joked.

Sitting down on her bed, Jennifer picked up the book and flipped through the pages again. Peter sat down beside her and glanced at the page headings as she browsed.

"This one sounds interesting enough," Jennifer said as she stopped at a page. "I suppose 'Golden Hair' means it should turn my hair gold."

"Are you sure, Jenny?" Peter asked. "It sounds like a difficult spell, and how would you explain it to your parents?"

"Oh, I doubt it'll work anyway. If it does, I'll just tell my parents I dyed my hair for my birthday or something," Jennifer answered. "So, all I need to do is say the words here?"

"I guess so. I'm not an expert of magic or anything. I just bought the book for you."

I wonder if this will work, Jennifer thought. Golden hair would be really cool. I've been wanting to dye my hair for ages but Mum never allows it.

Tracing her finger on the lines of the book, Jennifer started muttering the strange words. She paused momentarily on a few hard-to-pronounce words, but tried her best to say them. Finally, she was done and leaned back, using her arms to support her weight.

"Phew!" she exclaimed. "That was tough. Did it work?"

Peter looked at her, then at her hair. He shook his head sadly, hoping that she would not be too disappointed.

"Oh well," Jennifer sighed. "I guess it was too good to be true."

"Wait a minute!" Peter proclaimed excitedly. "I think something's happening!"

"Really?" Jennifer sat up straight and pulled her hair towards her. She pouted and glared at Peter. "It's still the same, Pete."

Peter answered, "No, really! The hair near your scalp looks golden, and it seems to be spreading." He touched the hair near her forehead and continued, "It's up to around here right now. Why don't you have a look in the mirror?"

Jennifer stood up and walked to her dresser. Looking in the mirror, she was shocked to see that Peter was not joking. The roots of her hair were totally golden, and the gold color was spreading to around half the entire length of hair.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "It worked!"

"That's great Jenny!" Peter replied. "So how are you going to explain this to your parents?"

"Like I said," Jennifer replied. "I'll just tell them I dyed it. I'll even say that's what you got me for my birthday." That way, Mum probably won't scold me.

"Do you think they'll buy it? I don't think it's possible to dye a golden color like what you have now."

"They won't know that. Besides, if they really don't believe me, I can tell them the truth, and show them the puff of smoke that appears when I cast the summoning spell," Jennifer joked.

Suddenly, Jennifer wobbled and started to fall. Peter rushed to her side and caught her before she hit the ground.

"Whoa," Jennifer said. "That was weird. I felt weak and lost my balance."

Supporting her to the bed, Peter said, "Maybe casting the spell caused that. You should probably lie down and rest for a while."