I need to focus. I try to connect, to feel the wind and to listen. To dig my toes into the concrete. To watch a cloud as it floats overhead. It feels like I’ve been standing here for an eternity trying to connect. I have to connect with something, but this isn’t working. Nothing is happening. There’s not even a spark within me. Even the anxiety in my stomach is gone.
“You win!” I yell and toss up my arms. I search for him along the rooftops, but I don’t see him. So I turn in a circle to scan them all. “I can’t do it! Happy now?”
“No,” he says from behind me. He’s close to the window, examining it with his fingers. “I’m not happy at all. You expelled a demon. I saw it. Plus, that waitress at the restaurant? That was you. That’s why you flipped out.”
I bite my lip. “I didn’t flip out. I just didn’t expect it.”
“She didn’t either.” He says it with a smile. It fades pretty quickly and he crosses his arms. “I was there for both things.”
I cross my arms to mimic him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. “So what? You want a prize for that?”
He ignores me. “When does your magic usually work?”
I stare at him. I’ve already told him too much. He doesn’t need to know this. Then again, it would be nice to share it. To have someone else understand. Snap out of it, Penelope. You can’t tell him. I don’t even know this boy! What if he tells everyone?
“You can trust me, Pen.”
Despite myself, despite every alarm blaring in my head, I want to trust him. For some reason—maybe it’s the churning of my stomach or the look in his eyes or the fact that he’s not smiling—the words all flow out. “When I’m with my family. I channel it through them. Why are you asking?”
Carter doesn’t answer; he moves around the alley, like he’s looking for a clue. He comes back to me and leads me to a spot on the ground. It’s near the iron grate, the same place where I expelled the demon. I ask him questions again with no response. He disappears a little into a shadowy place in the corner.
“We’re both standing in the same place. Try blowing up that window now.”
“Carter—”
He puts his hands up. “I can’t explain it, but can you humor me, Penelope?”
He called me Penelope. He’s not trying to annoy me? That’s pretty much a sign that he means business.
I clear my throat, tuck a piece of short hair behind my ear, and turn toward the window. I do the same thing as before, try to connect with the elements, and this time it’s not the same. It’s not like the other times with my family. It’s like in the alley and in the restaurant, where I feel the magic forming—queasy, butterflies in the stomach, waves lapping against the shore in elation—building up inside of me. It’s not pulling from anything; it’s already there, wanting to come out. I picture it in my head, the window shattering, and two seconds later the magic tumbles out of me and shoots into the window. There’s a crash as it explodes to the ground.
Carter is laughing on the other end of the alley. Me? I don’t even know how to breathe. Is my heart still beating? Magic doesn’t work that way, so what did I do? How did we do that? Immediately, my stomach is calm. I don’t feel sick. In fact, I feel alive.
“I knew something was up! Have you ever done anything like that before?”
I shake my head. “Even with my family, it’s not that strong.”
“Curiouser and curiouser,” he says. I smile at the reference. Carroll was totally a witch. The secrets of our world are written into that book.
“Take my hand,” I say, and he does without hesitating. His hand is warm and a little clammy. I haven’t held a boy’s hand in so long. I try not to think about that part, but the magic inside me goes crazy. Like my heart is examining the lining of my stomach. “What would happen if we did magic together? When Connie and I are touching it’s stronger. Like whatever we do apart is even stronger together.”
“You think the same is true for us?”
“I have no idea,” I say.
He points to another window higher up the side of the building. Before my bobblehead stops nodding, I feel the magic billowing up. I picture it in my head, that tall, thin window shattering too. Nothing happens, not at first. There’s a tinkling noise, like the sound ice makes when it bangs inside a glass of water. Carter tenses up beside me at the popping sound. Not only that window—all the windows start popping. He’s fast and pushes me near the Dumpster before a whole alley full of windows shatters, raining shards of glass all over us. When I check, the whole building is now windowless.
My heart is pounding. I had magic. I did that. I just did that! A smile spreads across my face because that was awesome. Even more awesome than the last time with the demon. This was like flying into the sun and kissing on rooftops all at once. We did that. This could change everything. If I can do magic then I can be an Enforcer for sure! My magic-stealing demon is as good as found.
Carter’s body is shielding mine, practically on top of me. His face is only an inch from mine. I can see the traces of a beard trying to form on his chin. My arm is pinned next to his chest. I can feel his heart racing under me, his breaths sharp.
“Are you okay?” Carter asks me softly.
“That was not normal.”
“Far from it,” he says. His eyes get darker, serious. I suddenly feel very self-conscious under his touch and his gaze.
“It started that day, didn’t it?” he asks.
“It’s almost as if it only works when you’re around.” As soon as I say it I slam my mouth shut. Carter nods slowly and shifts on top of me. Did I make things super awkward? He’s staring at me, like I’m a puzzle he’s trying to solve. It’s unsettling. This must be how a goldfish feels.
“Funny, because I was thinking the same thing.”
Then he’s moving off me, reaching down to help me up. I stare at him, still trying to process what he was saying. “You were?” I ask.
I take his hand as he guides me to my feet. He doesn’t let go of my hand.
“For some reason, I’m in more control of my own magic when you’re around. The way you felt sick? I felt like I was on top of the world. Like nothing could touch me. Why is that?” he asks.
“I have no idea.” And I don’t. I don’t understand him or me or magic anymore. How could I make him feel more in control? I don’t even have control of myself or my own magic. None of this makes sense.
His free hand runs across my cheek. I shudder. I think my insides are melting from that one touch and I don’t like it. “What is it about you, Penelope Grey?”
“Me? I could ask the same thing about you, Carter—” What’s his last name? I don’t even know his last name. I take a step away from him. “What’s your last name anyway?”
He shifts back too, scrubs his hand across his chin. “Trent.”
Carter Trent. For some reason, knowing his last name makes all this a little less mysterious. I did not wake up two days ago hoping to have some magic mojo with a strange stalker boy, but I do.
“So, you think this means something? That we’re both better when we’re together?”
He leans in to my ear. “I totally think we’re better together.”
How did he get so close to me again?
“That’s not what I meant.”
He smirks at me. “I know what you meant, Penny Sue.”
“Penny Sue? Please tell me that’s not what you’re calling me now. It’s Penelope.”