So, yes, I knew that Simon had suffered—but I thought winning would make up for it. I thought victory would be enough. That relief would fill in all those holes.
I think Baz believed love would do the trick.…
It really is a miracle that the two of them ended up together in the end. (Star-cross’d lovers. “From forth the fatal loins of these two foes.” The whole shebang.)
But it was a mistake thinking of that as an end. There is no end. Bad things happen, and then they stop, but they keep on wreaking havoc inside of people.
I know perfectly well that going on holiday isn’t going to magickally fix everything. (If there were a way tomagickallyfix this, I swear to Stevie I’d have figured it out by now.) But we could all use a change of scenery.
Maybe it’ll do Simon good to see himself in a new context. There are no bad memories waiting for him in America. No good ones either—but anything’s a win that gets him off the sofa.
4
AGATHA
I never call Penelope back.
Who evencallspeople anyway? Who leaves voicemails?
Penelope Bunce. That’s who.
I’ve told her to text me like a normal person. (I texted her to tell her.)
“But you don’t reply to my texts!”she replied.
“Yes, but at least I read them, Penny. When you leave a voicemail, I just recoil in horror.”
“Well, then tell me what I need to do to get a reply, Agatha.”
I didn’t reply to that.
Because there’s nothing I could say that would satisfy her.
And because I’ve left that world behind! Including Penelope!
There’s no way to leave the World of Mages behind and hold on to Penelope Bunce—she’s the mage-iest mage of them all. She lives and breathes magic. You can’t even eat toast without Penelope magickally melting the butter.
One time, I turned my phone off to get a break from her, and itstillbeeped when she sent a text.
“No more magickal texts!”I texted her.
“Agatha!”she texted back. “Are you coming home for Christmas?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t go home.
My parents were relieved, I think.
The World of Mages slipped into chaos when Simon killed the Mage. (Or when Penelope did. Or Baz. I still don’t get how it went down.)
I was nearly killed that day, too—and it wasn’t the first time. I think my parents feel partly responsible (as theyshould), for ever inviting Simon “the Chosen One” Snow into our lives.
Would my life have been different if I hadn’t grown up with Simon like a brother? If I hadn’t become his placeholder girlfriend?
I still would have ended up at Watford, learning magic tricks. But I wouldn’t have been standing at ground zero, year after year after year.
“When are you coming home?” Penelope texts.
I’m not,I’m tempted to reply.And why do you even care?
