But when I strutted into the living room, pulling on the jacket of my magical designer knockoff track suit (bright red, of course), I saw that everyone was already there, waiting for me. Considering how late we’d all been up the night before, I figured I’d be dealing with a bunch of cranky kids, all more interested in going back to sleep than doing work.
That wasn’t the case, though. I think this was partly because after my big speech the night before, we’d spent another hour ironing out the details of how to prepare for our inevitable battle with the Parrishables. This included a serious powwow about each of our biggest secrets.
We went around the room as people recalled everything that could possibly give us an advantage over the Parrishables. Besides Emory’s ability to talk to the dead and Sascha’s talent for transferring her power to others in order to help them heal, we were all a little surprised to find out that still more had their own gifts to contribute. For instance, Jasmine was like a human mood ring and could see others’ auras, which would be helpful in foretelling people’s intentions. Fallon was somehow able to pick things up really quickly. Like someone who had a photographic memory, he could try a spell once and would never forget it. Like magic memory or something. Of course, just because he knew how to do the magic didn’t mean he could always execute it correctly. That was all dependent on the strength of the caster and the time they put into working on the spells.
After going through all this, we began to work out how we could use these things to our advantage. Those who didn’t have special powers contributed in other ways, like by sharing their favorite family spells. It turned out that even the most tight-knit coven kept some things from each other.
“Whoa, Hadley, cute outfit!” Sascha said as I walked into the room. “You always have such cute clothes! I’m totally jealous.”
I looked at her choice of sweatpants and a tank top. She saw me taking in her outfit and then made a face. “I didn’t know we’d be training when we went shopping before,” she said, sounding slightly ashamed.
I looked around the room and saw that she wasn’t alone. No one was quite as fashionable as I was, but then again, that was usually the case no matter the situation. And of course, I’d had a little help.
I thought it was time for me to give them a little help too.
“Actually, if you like it so much… you can have it,” I said, deciding that I knew which spell I was going to teach the group first.
For a minute, she looked like she didn’t know whether or not I was kidding. Once she realized I was being serious, her eyes grew wide and she shook her head. “No, I couldn’t take your outfit, Hadley. It looks crazy expensive, and besides, I’m pretty sure we’re not the same size.”
I gave her a sly smile. This was going to be fun. “I didn’t mean you should actually take mine,” I said, turning to look at everyone else around the room. “Listen up, guys, I’ve got your first lesson of the day right here.”
I proceeded to teach everyone my glamour spell. I had no idea how this was going to help us win the war against the Parrishables, but who was to say we wouldn’t need it for something? At the very least, we’d all look good in the heat of battle. After all, outfits really did make a difference. Why do you think sports teams wear uniforms? Fashion is something that unifies people.
Plus there’s just no excuse for a bad outfit. If I was going out, I was doing it in style.
“That is the coolest spell ever!” Sascha exclaimed when she finally managed to replicate the dress that Taylor Swift had worn to her last awards show.
“Not bad, Had. I just figured you stole all your clothes,” Jasmine said. She may have been playing it cool, but I’d already seen her switch from one black getup to another, trying hard not to smile the whole time.
“Okay, who’s next? I know you’ve all got something up your sleeves that you didn’t show us last night, so step up and share it now,” I said. “Even if you think it’s insignificant or that we can’t possibly use it against the Parrishables, we want to hear it. Because the truth is, you never know what will come in handy, and the more prepared we are the better.”
A few seconds passed before anyone said anything. Finally, Jasmine rolled her eyes and joined me at the front of the room.
“Fine. I guess there’s one spell I can teach you all. It’s not a big deal or anything, just something I’ve done on occasion. You know, when I’m hanging out by myself and I’m bored,” Jasmine said. She walked over to the couch and picked up a cushion. Then she threw it straight at Peter. He caught it just before it hit him in the face. “Do me a favor, kid, and hold the pillow.”
“Why, what are you going to—”
He hadn’t even finished his sentence before Jasmine yelled, “Exbiliby totalitum!” and pointed in Peter’s direction. There was a loud pop and then it was as if it were snowing indoors. I reached out my hand to try to catch some of the white stuff. It was soft and cushy. Then I noticed the gaping hole that was now in the pillow Peter was holding in his trembling hands.
“Seriously?” I asked incredulously.
“Oh. Sorry about your pillow,” she answered nonchalantly as a big puff of stuffing landed on her shoulder.
“Forget the pillow—how could you think that wasn’t a big deal?”
She made a face. “I don’t know. I did it a few times as a kid and then my parents forbade me to do it anymore. So after that I could only do it when I was sure they wouldn’t find out about it. Besides, when is blowing stuff up ever considered a good thing? I mean, that’s why kids go to juvie.”
Jasmine showed us how to do her spell and we spent an hour or so practicing it. Not on any more of my mom’s pillows, mind you. I felt it was important to have some fun with our training this time, so we took a stash of balloons that I found in an old dresser drawer of mine and filled them up with water. Placing them on various spots around the property, we made a game out of watching them explode into showers of glistening droplets. A few of us got so good at it that we even took turns holding the targets in the air and being soaked while standing beneath them. It was like our own version of a dunking booth.
After that we made it a point to turn every lesson into a game of some sort. And as the days went on, the others became more vocal about the spells they’d discovered on their own. It had been naive of me to think I was the only one who’d expanded upon our mandatory lessons with Jackson.
And the creativity in our group! June showed us how she’d discovered the right words to extend her time in the air when she jumped; it wasn’t quite flying, but she did defy gravity a bit. A guy named Brick, one of Fallon’s buddies, taught us how to conjure up a hologram. Of course, he’d only ever used it to scare his younger female neighbors, but I could see how this particular spell could come in handy. We learned how to write words in the sky (Peter), how to make it snow in small amounts—like a personal snowstorm—(Josephine), make a person literally tongue-tied (Emory), and give someone a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop (Fallon).
By the end of each day, we were all exhausted but happy with our accomplishments. We never would’ve had the chance to do spells this potentially dangerous had it been up to Jackson and the other adults. They would’ve argued that we were too young to take on that kind of responsibility. Well, seeing as we didn’t exactly have a choice about it now, I figured the more we knew, the better.
“Great job today, everyone. Really good!” I said.
The sun was going down in the distance and the sky was giving way to brighter shades of blue, pink, and orange. Temperatures were higher than usual and I’d been forced to shed my jacket early on. I think I’d even managed to get a tan while we were outside. But now with the sun dissolving and the breeze kicking up, my bare arms began to grow chilly. I snatched my jacket from its spot on the porch and tugged it over my body, covering the rising goose bumps.