Page 125 of Witch You Would
As soon as I stepped into the lecture room, a dozen excited kids mobbed me with questions.
“What spell are we doing, miss?”
“Can I be your helper, miss?”
“Miss, do you know what my favorite animal is? It’s a koala!”
I smiled and listened and hugged and finally made my way to the table where my reagents waited. Tyler, event coordinator extraordinaire,waved at me from the corner as he chatted with one of the field trip chaperones. I gave him a thumbs-up so he’d know I wasready to start, and he politely disentangled himself from his convo to join me.
“Welcome to the Desgraves Studio, everyone!” Tyler said, waiting for the noise level to drop as teachers hushed the kids and madethem sit down. “We’re so excited to have you with us for a special spell presentation from our resident witch, the Fantastic Frances!”
He clapped, the others joined in, and I curtseyed in the way I’d practiced that made my poofy sequined skirt do a sparklyripple effect.
“Are you all ready to cast some magic spells?” I asked, opening my arms to the sides.
“Yeah!” the kids shouted back.
I’d done the bubble spell from the Alan Kazam kit enough times now that I had the steps memorized, but I still wrote themon the board—as drawings in this case, since reading was still a developing skill for five- and six-year-olds. I’d found thatit helped them during the parts when I pretended to get mixed up; it was easier for them to correct me by pointing at thepicture.
Even though Gil and I lost, our time onCast Judgmentweirdly ended up helping me out in the way I hoped: I’d gotten a job. Fabienne Desgraves hired me to work in her stockroom,doing more or less exactly what I’d done at Espinosa’s. All the stars lined up perfectly; the show had done all the backgroundcheck stuff, I already lived in Miami, I had years of experience, and she’d apparently caught me helping the other contestants—includingFelicia—which impressed her. She’d also decided she liked what she called “the Title I angle,” which she hadn’t pursued before;now Tyler was bringing in more school field trips for spell demonstrations using the Alan Kazam Schools Are Magic lessons,starring me or Leandro Presto, or both of us together. Gil and I sometimes did birthday parties and other events at the studio,too.
I hadn’t had so much fun in years. Past Penelope with all her sad donkey moping was long gone, and she could stay that way. Notthat I had stopped being careful, obviously, but I could be careful and fun at the same time.
I also got to work on my abuela’s spellbook, finally. Fabienne let me use the casting rooms at the studio whenever they weren’talready booked. I’d gotten through only a few spells so far, but it was more than I’d managed to do in the years I’d workedat Espinosa’s, so it was already a win.
“Hmm,” I said, looking around the room. “Does anyone know where I put my magic bubble wand?”
“Your hat!” the kids screamed.
“My what? Where?”
“Your HAT!”
I made a show of taking off my hat and looking at it. “Are you sure? I don’t see it.”
“It’s inside!”
My eyes big, I started digging around in the hat. I pulled out a dozen colorful silk handkerchiefs knotted together, a toybunny, a whoopie cushion—they loved the fart noises—and then finally my star-shaped bubble wand.
“You were right!” I exclaimed. “Thank you so much. I would never have found it without you.”
After I finished dispelling the last of the bubble animals and took a bow, I stayed to talk to the kids and adults. I dida few more little spells to entertain them, then said my goodbyes with the Alan Kazam signature line, “Trust the magic, andthe magic will trust you,” and went back to the bathroom to change. My outfit today was a little dressier than usual, andTyler winked at me when I got back out.
“Date night?” he asked.
“You know it,” I said.
“Where’s Loverdork taking you this time?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I loved when Gil surprised me. Last week we went to an author Q&A for a book we’d read together; the week before that wasa movie night at the library, and before that it was a free belly dancing class. Once we’d even gone to a sidewalk chalk magicparty with Rosy and Sam and Ed, and spent two hours casting silly spells and drawing random stuff and smearing chalk all overeach other while laughing our asses off.
Life was so good, I couldn’t believe it sometimes.
Gil was picking me up today, but normally after work I’d go home. My new apartment was close to his—a studio instead of anefficiency, with an actual wall to separate the living room and kitchen from my bedroom. I’d had to borrow money from my sisterto afford the down payment, but I was paying her back. Slowly. Totally worth it to have privacy for when we wanted some screaming-each-other’s-namestime, as Rosy called it, though we were still quiet because I didn’t want my neighbors to hate me.
He had a key to my place, and a toothbrush there, and some spare clothes. When his lease was up, we were thinking maybe, possibly,he’d move in until we could upgrade to something bigger... but that was months away, and a lot could change.
