“I wouldn’t expect anything less,” he remarks flirtatiously, which I ignore.
I clear my throat because all good stories begin with a solid throat clearing. “It all began a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.”
From the foot of the bed, a pillow is launched at me and hits my hip. “I’m being serious.”
I toss it back to him. “Fine. Okay.” I sigh. “The first time my power came in, I was a teenager. I was thirteen with acne, braces and glasses.”
“You wear glasses?”
“Used to. Magic fixed that problem. But I still had to go through braces and zits.”
“I’m sure you were beautiful just the same.”
Being called beautiful makes my heart jump, even if it does come from my nemesis. “Anyway, Chatty Cathy was a terror even when we were thirteen. For some reason that year she decided that I would be the target for her evil. So every chance she got, she taunted me, telling me that I’d wake up with braces growing into my gums, or that I’d have a zit on my face so big that when I popped it, my face would explode.”
“Jesus.”
“Yep, you know, just the usual kid bullying. But when magic’s involved, bullying takes on a whole new meaning.”
Over the years I’ve tried not to think about how awful Cathy was back then, and for the most part it’s been easy to put out of my mind.
“Until one day,” Devlin says in his velvet voice, “you had enough.”
I bark a laugh because it’s true. “One day I did have enough. The words she said to me were so filthy that I thought she should put something filthy back into her mouth to make it even. We were outside the school. I was walking home, and she was just going on and on about how stupid I was, all of it. I saw a pile of dirt and just thought how much I wanted her to eat it. Next thingI knew, something took over my body, a force that I’d never experienced, and she had stopped talking. I looked at her, and Cathy was kneeling on the ground, digging into the earth. She shoveled a handful into her mouth like it was nothing. Some kids were horrified. Some laughed at her.Iwas scared because I felt that desire inside of me. It terrified me so much that the spell broke and my power fell away. Cathy was humiliated and ran home, crying.
“She later realized that she’d been influenced by magic and put two and two together, that it had been me who made her eat dirt. After that, she eased up for a while, but she’s never truly left me alone. Even still, I made a promise to myself never to use my power to harm ever again.”
Slow clapping comes from the foot of the bed. Devlin laughs. “Bravo, Blair! There are only a few people I can think of who are more deserving.”
“Like whom?”
“Nobody in particular,” he says pensively.
I sit up. “Nope. No way. You can’t just say something like that and not tell me.”
I peer over the bed to see him lying on his back, his hands tucked under his head. His gaze darts up to me and he smiles. “There are some things that should be left to mystery.”
I drop a pillow on him. He catches it with one hand and tosses it back onto the bed. “If you want a pillow fight, I’ll give you a pillow fight.”
My body lights up from the inside. Pillow fights lead to arms and legs getting tangled. Tangled limbs lead to kissing. Kissing leads to other things.
“Nope, that’s okay,” I chirp.
I fall back down on the bed and for a moment feel guilt that I’m making Devlin sleep on the floor. Not that much guilt, but a bit.
“Blair?” he says, sounding tired.
“Yes?”
“I’m glad you made Cathy eat dirt.”
I laugh. “I’m glad that you shared your story with me, too.”
“You’re welcome.” He sighs. “Good night.”
I flip off the lamp. “Good night.”
I thought that I wouldn’t sleep a wink with him in the room, but when I wake up the next morning, I’ve slept like a baby.
