Chapter Thirty-Two
“Found it.”
Lily held out an oval pumpkin, slightly larger than a basketball.
“It’s the perfect one.”
A full week had passed since they’d destroyed the curse attacking Thornhaven. Saturday had come around again, and Chrys was slightly bewildered to find herself back on the mainland at a farm, surrounded by crates of pumpkins, baskets of apples, crowds of loudly chatting normies—and Lily.
Also Sonia and Anushka, although Chrys wasn’t sure where they’d wandered off to among the crowds and piles of pumpkins and gourds being picked over.
“You sure?”
Chrys asked. She scanned the pile of pumpkins before her, their stems of varying length and their shades of orange, until she found one similar to the one Lily was holding, and she pointed.
“That one looks pretty good, too.”
Doubt flashed over Lily’s face, and she shifted her prize to another arm in order to take a better look at Chrys’s discovery.
Chrys laughed, adjusting her hold on her own perfect pumpkin. According to Sonia, Lily took her pumpkin selection way too seriously, and Chrys couldn’t resist the urge to tease her. Fortunately, they weren’t in competition for pumpkins. Chrys preferred hers round, not oval.
Lily let out a deep breath after a moment of contemplation.
“I think the one I have is better.”
“As long as you’re sure. You can’t have regrets on the way home.”
Finally catching on to what Chrys was doing, Lily poked her in the shoulder and glared.
Chrys grinned. Lily could still not look mean.
“Should we go find out where everyone else went?”
Lily asked.
“I want some hot chocolate and donuts.”
Hot apple-cider donuts sounded good to Chrys, as did putting down the five or six pounds of pumpkin she was carrying.
“Let’s pay for these outside and then go in the store. I think I see Anushka.”
Sonia’s aunts had given them each a canvas bag to put their pumpkins, apples, or whatever else they bought in, and Chrys looked forward to carrying the weight on her shoulder and freeing up her hands.
Once that was finished, they went inside the packed barn that also served as a storefront, where Lily bought a hot chocolate and Chrys bought mulled cider. She took a sip immediately before the October air cooled it off. This was no Black Cat Coffee; there were no spells on these cups to keep the contents hot.
Despite having grown up in this world, it was disconcerting to feel her magic’s absence. Access to her power had faded as they left Thornhaven’s shores, imperceptibly at first, but now with her feet planted firmly on mainland dirt, Chrys could tell how much harder it would be to use magic. She hadn’t left the island many times since she and her mom had arrived, and none of them had been in the last year. As her power had grown, so had her ability to detect its loss.
That loss was made up for by other things, though. The air was heavy with the scent of hay and autumn decay, and the farm was open for apple picking and fall festivities. There was even live music provided by a band near the barn entrance.
And then there was her company. Coming here to buy pumpkins had been Lily’s idea. Pumpkins could be purchased on the island, but buying them at the Shop-n-Go wasn’t the same as picking one out from the hundreds—if not thousands—for sale at this farm.
Lily had first suggested that just she and Chrys go, but Lily had also been nervous about driving off the island, and Chrys had been feeling brave and suggested inviting friends. She knew it was a little sad to think inviting people out with her was an act of bravery, but Lily understood. Or, if nothing else, Lily had agreed that getting to know Chrys’s friends—and Chrys getting to better know her friends—was a good idea.
In the end, only Anushka and Sonia had been able to join them, but Sonia’s aunt Amelia had offered to drive, and they’d all packed into her minivan. Chrys was bewildered but happy, and she was doing her best not to show how happy she was because she was convinced that it was also weird to be happy about something so mundane.
The truth was, though, she’d been happy all the past week in a way she couldn’t ever remember being happy before. The pessimistic voice in her head tried to caution her that nothing good could come of being happy—it led only to disappointment. But she was trying, so very hard, to let go of some of her anxiety.
“How are things with your parents?”
Chrys asked as they navigated their way outside.
“Well, I’m not grounded anymore.”
Lily ran a finger over a set of wind chimes that were tinkling in the breeze.
“My mom’s been working a lot this week so she can take off next weekend for the ball and Samhain. But she’s also been texting to check in with me a lot more. Which is nice … except when it’s annoying. She keeps sending me these stupid Halloween memes.”
Chrys snorted.
“What about your dad? He’s been talking to my mom about a bakery and helping her with her business plan.”
“He’s suddenly very focused on me going off to college. He went through the same phase with my brother a few years ago, so the timing could be a coincidence, or it could be that my mom reminded him that I exist and I’ll need to apply very soon. But it’s … a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
Lily shrugged.
“Just the pressure. He expects me to go to the same place where he and my mom went, where my brother goes, where my grandmother went. It’s this small liberal arts school in New Hampshire that lots of witches go to, so there’s community and access to power—not like Thornhaven, but better than here. Better than most places.”
She waved her hand around.
“But it’s really hard to get into. It was bad enough when I was just thinking about competing with you for valedictorian. Now I keep thinking about all the other people out there I’ll have to compete against for admissions.”
Chrys cringed internally. Their own competition aside, they both deserved some time to de-stress—Lily especially.
“What’s the school?”
“Harvey College.”
Lily’s face perked up slightly.
“We could both go.”
Chrys had heard of it, probably from other witches talking about applying. A college with a significant enough witch population to impact her power did sound ideal. But, academics aside, Chrys was sure it was expensive.
Plus, after three years of not feeling like she belonged in Thornhaven, the last thing she wanted to think about was leaving just as it was starting to not feel so awful.
Librarians and historians needed degrees, though.
“I’ll look it up,”
she said finally.
“There you are!”
Anushka draped an arm around Chrys’s shoulder. She was also carrying a cup of something warm, and the cold had flushed her tan cheeks. After expressing horror over Chrys’s choice in crushes, she was slowly softening toward Lily. Chrys understood. Anushka’s history with Lily was longer than her own had been, but she was trying.
“You two lovebirds wandered off to be together, didn’t you?”
“We were picking out pumpkins,”
Chrys said, feigning indignance.
“In plain sight of everyone.”
“Likely story.”
Anushka removed her arm and stuffed her free hand deep into her fleece’s pocket.
“Sonia’s aunties bought donuts for all of us. Come be all cute while the food is hot. Just not too cute, or the rest of us won’t be able to eat.”
“Sounds like a challenge,”
Chrys said.
Lily grabbed her hand, and Chrys’s feet practically lifted off the ground.
“More donuts for us.”
“Did I ever mention how much I like it when you get devious?”
she asked.
Anushka groaned in an exaggerated manner.
“Too much cuteness. I’m so disappointed in you both.”
Then she ran off toward the picnic tables.
Lily giggled.
“Never thought I’d hear anyone describe you as cute.”
“Shut up, princess. She described us as cute, not me. That’s all your bad influence. I’m still morose and morbid.”
“Delightfully morose and morbid,”
Lily said, and she kissed Chrys on the cheek, leaving her grinning too hard to argue.