Chapter 1
“I know you don’t wantto use your peri magic,” whined Melanie, her round eyes gleaming, “but can’t you do the teensiest little love spell for me?ME?Your best friend in the entireworld?”
Riya yanked her Astronomy textbook from her locker and slammed the door shut, the metallic clang echoing through the hallway. She was running on five hours of sleep and too much caffeine, and her to-do list seemed to multiply every time she blinked, even without Mel’s ridiculous requests.
“Exceptions,” she said, adjusting her glasses, “are exactly how rule systems collapse.”
She hoisted her backpack and started down the hall. Mel trailed behind her, cradling her mousetrap car for Physics like it was a newborn.
“But,RiRi—”
“No.” Riya shot her a look. “And could you please keep your voice down? I don’t need my secret being broadcast to the entire school.”
Mel puffed her cheeks.
Riya sighed. Mel was impossible, to be sure, but her loyalty was just as stubborn. She’d been like that since they met in eighth grade, when Mel had plopped herself across from Riya at lunch—impressively oblivious to the fact thatRiya might’ve wanted to sit alone—and launched into a one-sided conversation about Geology class like they’d known each other forever.
On most days, Riya admired Mel’s ability to be so unrestrained with her feelings. Even if right now, she was strongly considering drop-kicking her into orbit.
“I just don’t get it, RiRi,” Mel continued, a little quieter now. “You’re wasting your gift! IfIhad magic like that, I’d make the entire school fall in love with me.”
“That sounds like a nightmare.”
People like Mel assumed magic was something effortless, something inherently beautiful. And sometimes, Riya supposed, it could be—like when her khala had used love magic to guide two grieving strangers into each other’s arms, all through a chance encounter on the bus. Magic was easy to romanticize, seeing only the moments when it worked.
But for Riya, such magic was more like wandering a dangerous labyrinth, one where the walls shifted themomentyou looked away. And, of course, it wasn’t like there were any maps, no formulas, no neat and tidy instructions. To cast magic, one had to rely solely ongut feelings, which, to Riya, was about as unreliable as weather or horoscopes.
So while Mel’s pleas for Riya to magically nudge Andrew Murphy—Mel’s hopeless crush and soccer team midfielder—seemedharmless, all Riya could think about were the hundred ways casting a spell on Andrew could backfire. What if she miscalculated? What if Andrew didn’t fall for Mel, butfor someone else? What if he fell in love with asoccer ball? Not to mention the ethics of it all.
In short, if Riya wanted that kind of control over people, she’d start a cult.
“It’s not like I’m asking you toforceAndrew to love me,” Mel whined softly. “I’m just asking for a teensy little push. One tiny little adjustment to his love prescription so he can finally see theperfectionin front of him!”
Riya exhaled slowly. “Look, it doesn’t matter whether it’s just a nudge, or full-on mind control.Anylove magic is the issue.” Maybe if she’d continued training under her khala, she’d know how to make it work safely. But that ship had sailed years ago.
She shook her head. “On the bright side—”
“Don’t you dare—”
“—Telling Andrew how you feel is still an option. No peri abilities required.”
Mel groaned. “But even thethoughtof it makes me want to puke! I know it’d be easier to just tell him. I know I’m running out of time,” she said, hugging her mousetrap car to her chest. “We’re already seniors! But it’s just—love is scary, RiRi. It makes you feel so... so vulnerable!”
Riya hesitated, then gave Mel’s shoulder a stiff pat.
“And yet, life always finds a way. So will you.”
They walked through the halls the way they always did: Riya, tall and sharp-shouldered, slightly ahead, carving a path like a scythe through the Wednesday afternoon crowd of other students. The PA system crackled to life, summoningsomeone to the principal’s office, the sound swallowed by the cacophony.
All the while, Mel drifted behind Riya like a tiny storm cloud.
Riya sympathized, even felt a little twinge of guilt, though she couldn’t fully understand Mel’s pain: the way she’d pine for Andrew whenever she caught a glimpse of him in the halls, or the way she’d doodle Andrew’s name over and over (andover) in her Statistics notebook in class. At the time, Riya had asked if she was having a stroke, but Mel had only laughed in a way that sounded dangerously close to a sob.
Riya herself had never experienced anything like that. She had far too much on her plate for relationships: like finishing her early-action application to Caltech, her first choice—herdreamchoice—for college. Or her Student Council duties, including wrangling their president, Quin, intoactuallyshowing up to their meetings.
“Anyway, I’m far more interested in your mousetrap car.” She stared at the garish contraption in Mel’s arms. “I see you... went the extra mile.”
Mel patted it with pride. “Right? I hand-painted it and everything! Isn’t she beautiful?”
