Chapter Eight
“Don’t freak,”
Sonia said as Lily approached the stop sign at the end of her street.
“but maybe you’re taking this Luke thing too seriously.”
Lily braked for the stop sign a little too hard.
“What are you talking about?”
she asked.
“I’m just saying, I saw you talking to Chrys at the library yesterday.”
Sonia took a hesitant sip of coffee, correctly fearing that Lily might continue driving erratically under the circumstances.
“I hope you’re not planning another seagull attack. That was kind of scary.”
It had been, and Lily knew it. She would never attempt another seagull incident after the first one had been way more violent than she’d expected. Guilt—irritating, unnecessary, useless guilt—had caused her to toss and turn the entire night afterward.
But the guilt hadn’t stopped Lily from acting irrationally yesterday.
Luke had kept talking about Chrysanthemum’s choir solo during lunch, and Lily had lost her temper. Not right then and there; not this time. But she hadn’t been able to hold her tongue when Chrysanthemum had almost knocked her over in the library. No, she’d had to scold her and then goad her. She’d shown Chrysanthemum how much she got under Lily’s skin, and that was not good.
“I was reminding her that she’s not supposed to tell anyone about witches,”
Lily said, more to convince herself than Sonia that she’d acted wisely.
Sonia grimaced as Lily sped away from the stop sign.
“No, you were just feeling pissy. Luke is friends with Chrys, and it is what it is.”
“I hate that expression so much.”
“Yeah, it is what it is. Listen, I’m worried you didn’t come talk to me about what you did,”
Sonia continued, turning serious.
“Attacking Chrys feels like the wrong way to handle this. Luke’s cute, but if he likes Chrys, he’s not worth the effort.”
Lily gripped the steering wheel tighter. If it weren’t for her tarot cards, Sonia would have a point.
“Chrysanthemum had it coming.”
“Why?”
“She’s awful.”
A long pause followed, too long for Sonia to just be sipping her coffee.
“She’s weird, maybe, and moody, and her sense of style is cringe, but what has she ever done that was awful?”
Did her best friend really not see how Chrysanthemum was trying to ruin Lily’s life? Trying to beat her everywhere and at everything? But no, of course she didn’t, because Lily had never talked to Sonia about that. She’d never complained. She’d only worked harder, practiced magic more dutifully, had stress dreams in which a pair of icy-blue eyes taunted her.
“Can we not talk about her before the sun has fully risen?”
Lily asked.
“She’s half bat. She’s probably flapping around and listening.”
“Fine.”
Sonia sighed.
“What about Luke?”
“What about him?”
“Can I talk about him?”
Lily shrugged. She didn’t feel like any more conversation, but if it distracted Sonia from talking about Chrysanthemum … “Sure.”
“I did a tarot reading last night, and it got me thinking about your reading.”
Sonia shifted in her seat.
“Do you think you might have misinterpreted the cards?”
“You don’t even know what cards I drew.”
“No, but assuming Luke and you are meant to be together is kind of specific, like more specific than a reading usually is. The cards aren’t that kind of magic. And you can’t bend the universe to your will that way, either. I know you think you should be able to.”
Lily turned into the school parking lot. While she was superior at spellcasting, Sonia had shown a knack for divination from a very young age, a gift she’d inherited. Her aunts were known as the best diviners in Thornhaven. If anyone else her age had been questioning her, Lily would have dismissed them immediately. It was harder with Sonia … but Sonia hadn’t been there for Lily’s reading.
As for the comment about believing she could bend the universe to her will, Lily wasn’t going to dignify it with a comment. She worked hard and deserved to see results for it, and that was that.
“The cards were very clear,”
Lily said coolly.
“It was super easy to interpret.”
Divination is deceptive. She could hear the voice of Marina Kim—Sonia’s aunt—in her head. Ms. Kim had been their witch school teacher two years ago when they’d focused on divination. Divination is deceptive was like witchcraft truism number two, right after magic is chaos.
“Okay, just asking.”
Sonia shrugged like it was nothing.
Lily shut her car off and buried the annoying doubts that Sonia had raised. She knew her friend was trying to be helpful, but this conversation was the opposite. She couldn’t afford to have doubts when she had to focus on success.
“Thank you,”
Lily said.
“I know you care about me. But I’m totally certain about this, and anyway, the Luke situation is starting to work itself out. He hangs out with us half the time now, and he’s my physics lab partner. Things are looking up!”