True:Eat the rich.
Ash:^^lolol
Onny:WELL EXCUSE ME FOR CARING ABOUT THE QUALITY OF OUR SUPERNATURAL LIBATIONS.
The real magic of the potion came from the items Onny had carefully placed around the glasses. Onny glanced at thenightstand beside her bed. Ever since she found herlola’s journal with the love potion recipe hidden inside, she’d kept it propped up on her nightstand. Her grandmother had written the potion on a cutout of cardboard, perhaps anticipating how flecked and stained it might get, which was true.…
Onny had dragged it with her everywhere as she hunted for her grandmother’s threeveryspecific ingredients for the potion:
A handful of earth that has been joyously and spontaneously danced upon.
Thorny leaves left to soften in the moonlight for at least one hour.
A beautiful flower that has witnessed a kiss freely given and joyously received.
Once those things were gathered and placed around the love potion, it needed an hourin the presence of such magical ingredientsbefore its own magic was awakened.
Onny whispered the incantation over the elixir. She could say it in the Waray language her grandmother spoke, but she had given her friends the English translation, which went like this:
“To summon joy and love in another’s soul
For a connection that makes two people whole
For laughter and a smile that one can never miss
Sealed before midnight with a truehearted kiss.”
And then—and this was the part that made Onny feel as if someone had inflated a balloon inside her chest—seal it with a kiss by midnight. Of course, the potion might not work. Her grandmother’s annotation at the end of the recipe was simple:
No love can be forced. But this potion will detect the potential for such true affection. And if found, it will fan the flames of that love.
Onny pictured Alexander Abernathy’s perfect face, and her heart did a little skip. Theyhadto have a soul connection. He was a Sagittarius! Their love wasliterallyordained by the heavens! Her grandmother’s potion was simply confirming what the stars already knew:
That they were perfect together.
Maybe all the stuff about love potions and horoscopes seemed silly, but to Onny they felt like safety. They promised her guidance and a soft place to fall should she jump into the unknown. Sometimes, late at night, Onny wondered if she looked to the stars like they were night-lights for all the dark, unexpected corners of growing up, but then she thought of herlola, and the magic she summoned with every step, and Onny pushed aside those doubts.
Her phone pinged loudly.
True:HELLOOOO. What happened to the BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! This is the worst infomercial. Boycotting this product.
Onny:Sorry! Meant to say that the potions are readyyyy. I can drop them off?
Ash:I thought you failed your driving test.
Onny:No, the lady gave it to me because she felt bad that it was my birthday, remember?
Ash:Very awesome. Much confidence.
True:“Potions.” Ew. I hate this.
Onny frowned at the unicorn vomiting rainbows .gif that True sent. Eyebrow arched, she typed out:
Don’tknock it till you try it!
True:Try it on who, exactly?
Onny:I leave that to the discretion of the universe.
