“Wow, jealous,” I said. “You must have had a million crazy adventures. I’ve always wanted to live somewhere other than Buttfucksville Hollow.”
She laughed, and it was low and rasping, like she’d just smoked a pack of cigarettes, but I didn’t smell them on her and doubted she partook.
“Really?” Gwen cocked her head. “I’ll admit, it seems like growing up in a spooky little town would be kind of . . . enchanting?”
I eyed her. “I don’t know if we’re at the pun level of our relationship yet, Gwen,” I teased. Her cheeks pinked at that statement, and my eyes instinctively dropped to her lips before I cleared my throat. “I probably shouldn’t be out here alone with a first year. My older sister already has a reputation for philandering with younger witches.”
She snorted. “I’m probably older than you,” she countered. “What does the mustard T-shirt mean? Nineteen?”
I frowned at my shirt. “Twenty-one as of three weeks ago.”
“Ah, happy belated birthday,” she said with a nod. “You are older than me, but by only seven months.”
“And yet you’re a first year?” I asked. “I definitely would’ve remembered you if you were at camp last year.”
Not a lie. She was gorgeous. She had a sort of grumpy yet elfin quality about her, like a goth Galadriel. I might find Gwen equally at home at a punk dive in the city or secretly living under a Victorian toadstool.
“If it’s so great here,” she said, pulling me from my wistful thoughts, “then why are you thinking about leaving?”
I grimaced. I probably shouldn’t have admitted that I was debating running away.
Gwen flashed me a “gotcha” smile. The way she crinkled her button nose . . .
“I don’t think I’m really a small-town sort of person, that’s all. What I really want to do is move to a big city like New York. I want to be in a place that has more going on than just the paranormal. There’s only so many times you can go apple picking, you know?”
“I actually have no idea.”
I sighed and looked back out at the lake. “I just want to be adventurous and have experiences that I can’t have in Maple Hollow, without every person who’s known me for my entire life watching and judging me for it. To make mistakes. To be anonymous . . .”
Gwen let out a sad laugh. “I’ve only ever been anonymous or had the ‘new girl’ target on my back. Either a shiny new object for people or the object of their constant bullying—or both. Always an outsider,” she said. “It’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. But if you’re craving a big city, there’s no better place than New York.” She considered me, pursing her lips as those dark eyes scanned me up and down. “If that’s what you really want, why not just go?”
“Because Iris thinks I’ll hit menopause and change my mind,” I said with a chuckle. “If I complete this year, I’ll always be a part of the coven. I’ll always have a place to come back to. Not that they’d shun me or anything if I didn’t, but I wouldn’t be a part of the magic anymore. To be fair, I wouldn’t be surprised if menopause suddenly makes you want to cast spells and hexes, so yeah, seems like I should just stick it out.”
“Who’s Iris?”
“My older sister,” I said. “And one of the other counselors. One who volunteers to come back year after year just for the fun of it,” I added with an eye roll.
“You’re really not selling this place to me.”
“Honestly, it’s not bad at all,” I corrected, realizing I was being the worst camp counselor ever. “I just wanted something different for myself.”
“I know the feeling.”
“Listen.” I turned to her and reached into my cargo shorts pocket. My hand closed around one of the twin friendship bracelets I’d freshly woven. “If you wish you weren’t so anonymous, if you want to have a group you could always belongto and come back to, who would always have your back no matter what,thisis it.”
“It sounds like a cult.”
“Isn’t every coven?” When her eyebrows lifted, I leaned in and added, “That was a joke.”
She flashed a tight smile. “It’s just a lot to take in.”
“Give it a summer,” I pushed. “Just one. If it’s awful, you don’t have to come back next year.”
“Does that mean you’re going to stick it out this year too?”
I studied her, my gaze falling into those dark eyes that sparkled like twilight. “I’ll stay if you stay.” I fished out the friendship bracelet and passed it to her. “Here.”
She studied the glittering gemstones woven together with black cord. “A friendship bracelet?”
