Page 26 of Practically Magic

“Don’t you know one?”

“I don’t know every spell, Kat. I’ve never ripped my pants before.”

“You should by now!”

“I mean, it would help if I had some actual needle and thread that I could infuse with my magic, but . . . let me try this.” Harry rips a strip of tulle from her skirt, whispers some words, and crushes it in her palm.

Nothing happens. “It’s not working!” I wail.

“Hang on! Give me a second.” Harry tries another strip, bigger this time. And then again. By the sixth spell, I’ve given up all hope, and her skirt has gone from maxi to mini. “This isn’t working.”

“Then focus!”

“I’m trying, Kat! I’m not perfect. Let’s just fix it normally. We’ll make it a fashion statement?”

I’m suddenly suspicious. “Why isn’t this working? I once saw you mend a hole in your sweater sleeve with your eyes.”

“I can’t do that.”

But I know what’s going wrong. My sister doesn’t want to fix my skirt. She has the sacrifice, but not the intention. She’d rather I sit here with my entire butt hanging out than dance with the boy I’m in love with.

My stomach churns as I hear her working below me, somehow having a mountain of safety pins at her disposal that she quickly uses to close the hole. By the time she’s done, I have to admit that she’s worked it out so well, it looks like a seam in the skirt, and no one will even notice it.

“Come on! Let’s get you back out there,” Harry says encouragingly. “You don’t need some spell to get his attention.”

I almost believe her. Besides which, we’ve been gone too long anyway. Laney is probably looking for me too.

But by the time we rush back into the gym, the dance floor has been taken over by a large group who is doing “Thriller” in unison, shimmying across the dance floor. I grip Harry’s arm in horror when I see who is smack-dab in the middle of the group, staring at each other as if they each hang the moon: Hunter and Zara Patel, dancing together. As I stare, he reaches for her waist and pulls her in to sway as if it’s a slow song, even though it totally isn’t. She rests her face in his shoulder, as the music transitions to another romantic song.

I gape at them.

“He wasn’t worth it, Kat. Trust me,” Harry says quietly.

I don’t believe her, but I try to stay positive. “It’s just one dance.”

But it isn’t. Hunter and Zara start dating at the dance and are together till the spring, when the whole school learns Hunter is actually dating three girls at the same time. Zara is one of them, and when she finds out, she dumps her protein shake on him in the lunchroom.

I know it’s silly, but somehow that hurts more. He had three girlfriends, and that feels like three chances, and he still didn’t even look at me.

9

Mystic Hollow Community Page

New post from The Dance Place: If anyone would like to join us to perform at the Halloween carnival, please call the Dance Place. We’ll be having practices every day this week and we’d love some newcomers to join us. All ages welcome! No sign-up required.

I stare at my sister as she drags a roller bag and duffel through the hall, marching past me into the kitchen. I haven’t seen her since she left for school in August, but she looks good, like always. Her long, blond hair practically shimmers as it moves, like she’s in a commercial.

“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be in Boston.” I panic, clutching the crystal around my neck out of habit. Despite the growing distance between Harry and me, I see she’s still wearing hers too. “Is this about your AirPods charger? Because I swear I didn’t take it, and we looked everywhere for it.”

“Alexa!” Harry yells, still not talking to me. “Stop!”

The Halloween playlist cuts out, and the house is silent except for its normal creaking as the heat kicks on in protest of this sudden invasion.

“Why am I here?” Harry asks herself and stares at me. “Take a wild guess, Kat.” My name sounds bitter on her tongue. “To fix things for you. Again.”

I can feel my pulse starting to race, my fingers tingling. Did Mom trick me? “Mom, Dad, and the aunts left me in charge of Samhain. They know I’ve got the spells covered.”

Harry raises her right eyebrow and smiles smugly. “Really?”