My voice rose to a pitch only dogs could hear as I screeched, “Your coven?”
“Can youpleasestop shouting at me? You’ll scare the toad.” Mom hastily tiptoed around my outstretched hands and shut the window behind me.
I guess throwing Brayden out of the window isn’t the best way to handle the situation.
I tracked Mom’s frantic movements. “I’m sorry, but I’m reeling from the fact that mymotheris confessing that she lied about being raised by a disbanded hippy commune in the woods and instead grew up in acoven! Why have you never told me?”
“I may have changed a few minor details about my upbringing,” she said tightly. “But I left when I met your father. I didn’t think you’d have magic in you since you’re half human.” She frowned at Toad Brayden. “Well, that’s it, I guess. I’d better call the summer camp.”
“I’m sorry. I think I blacked out for a second there. Did you just say you need to call a summer camp?”
Mom pursed her lips. “Yes.”
“You need to call a summer camp because I turned my boyfriend into a toad?” My hands bracketed the two parts of that question, trying one more time to grasp the train of thought I’d clearly missed.
“Yes.”
“Which means I’m a witch?”
“Yes.”
“For fuck’s sake, say more words, Mom!” I exploded. “Whydo you need to call a summer camp now that I’m apparently a witch?”
Mom sighed. “So that you can learn about our history and how to properly use your magic,” she replied. “And so that you can decide if you want to be part of the coven one day. From the ages of eighteen to twenty-one, coven witches attend a summercamp, both to bond and to learn more about their magic. The first two years, you’re a camper, and the second two, you are a counselor. And at the end of your fourth year, you become a full-fledged member of the Maple Hollow coven.”
I looked at her like she’d just sprouted horns. “And you attended this summer camp when you were my age?”
“I did,” she admitted with a sad smile. “And honestly, they were some of the best summers of my life, honey. I think you’ll have fun there.”
“Wait, just so we’re clear, you’re sending me to summer camp to learn how to be a witch?”
“Yep,” she said with a grin. “I know it sounds strange, but I swear it’s great. All the girls are your age, and you learn scrying and hexes and potions. There’s a lake and whittling and archery. And you compete against the other camps in the end-of-summer games.”
“Witchy summer camp?”
“Uh-huh.”
“There’s just one small problem,” I said, once again holding up the bumpy creature I’d configured.
“What?”
“I don’t want to be a witch, Mom!” I shouted. “I have an internship with the Sinclair Society this summer that I need to complete.”
“Ooh, the Sinclair Society,” Mom muttered, shaking her jazz hands at me. “Why does a social media marketing major need to be in a secret society, hmm?”
The Sinclair Society was a not-so-secret, secret club at my university that was one of the best ways to guarantee myself a job in the future. It was like the business nerd version of a sorority. They would be my people forever. I needed that community and those alliances, especially since I was the newkid in town—again. The Sinclair Society was my way to get the leg up I so desperately needed.
Mom pursed her lips. “This is more important than your club,” she said, ignoring my guffaw of protest. “If you don’t go now, you’ll never have another chance to be initiated into the coven, even if you want to be. This camp is essential.”
“I don’t want to be in a coven,” I snapped.
“Then don’t be,” Mom spat back in the same exact tone that I’d learned from her. I didn’t know how Dad put up with the two of us. We were both black cats to his sunny disposition. “Oryou could learn some cool magic over the summerand”—she looked at Brayden—“learn how to control it, more importantly, before you turn your whole family into newts the next time you’re PMS-ing.” When I rolled my eyes, she added, “It’s happened before. Ask me how I know.”
My mouth fell open. “You turned your family into newts?”
“Briefly.” Mom shrugged. “I turned them back.”
“Oh, that’s fine, then,” I snarked. “Can you wave your magic wand or whatever and turn Brayden back now, please?”
