Page 23 of Witch You Would
“Just do whatever Nate says, Big Manny,” Tori finally snapped. Nate climbed into the bus with his camera, and the other guy,Big Manny, followed him.
To the rest of us, she said, “We’re going to film you all getting on the bus now. I want excitement, the bus is really cool,oohs and aahs, okay?”
We all said it was okay. Well, Charlotte lowered her sunglasses, then slid them back up. Tori yelled at Nate to start rolling,and we slowly piled in.
Neon lights and black lights made everything look like a tacky futuristic video game. Black pleather couches lined the walls, withsunken tables between them for people to put their drinks. Just to the left of the entrance was the bar, stocked with enough booze to get us all wrecked real fast—not that any of us would be drinking, as far as I knew. The ceiling was mirrored, the floor was fake marble, and at the front, a giant TV played a loop of theCast Judgmentopening with no sound.
Nate and Big Manny smooshed together at the back like two football players in a golf cart. I tried not to feel bad for themwhile I pretended to be impressed and excited.
Everyone paired off with their partners, except for me. I ended up with Big Manny, across from Tanner, who sat with Quentin.Penelope grabbed a spot by Charlotte and the tall blonde, Felicia, near the front. The doors closed, the engine was running,but we didn’t move.
“Where’s Leandro?” Tori asked. “Get up here with Penelope.”
Penelope winced. Maybe she hadn’t ditched me on purpose, but now we definitely had to play nice. I grabbed my backpack andswitched seats.
Syd popped open a bottle of champagne; through the power of TV magic, we were all given flutes of bubbly apple juice instead.A disco ball spun from the ceiling, and we pretended to drink and party for maybe five minutes, with the bus still parked.
“Good, that’s enough for now,” Tori said. “We’ll have a couple more shots as we go.” She pressed a button and sat down. Thebus revved up and pulled away from the hotel.
I thought a couple of the contestants might want to keep partying, but all of them chilled out and started talking to theirpartners. Penelope wouldn’t even look at me. She seemed to be trying to psych herself up for something.
“Hey, Charlotte,” she said finally. “I just wanted to say, I’m a huge fan.”
Oh. It was like that, huh.
Charlotte smiled, eyes still hidden behind her sunglasses. “Thank you. Were you the contestant who works in a store?” Hervoice was smoky, New York but toned down.
I could almost see the hearts in Penelope’s eyes. “Yes. I know you started in retail, too. You’re such an inspiration.”
“Everyone has to start somewhere. Thankfully I had enough talent and ambition that I wasn’t stuck there for long.”
Penelope flinched. I might not have noticed if I hadn’t been staring at her.
“I started doing kid parties,” I blurted out.
“I’m sure you did,” Charlotte replied.
Grandpa Fred’s rule number three: commit to the bit. “Kids can be hard to impress, but they love to tell you what to do. Andwhen a spell blows up in your face, they laugh their little butts off.”
“Sounds delightful.” Charlotte rubbed her forehead like she had a headache and stared out the window.
Felicia wrinkled her nose and made a quiet huffing sound. A laugh? Penelope didn’t speak again, just grabbed her knees likeshe was trying not to touch anything. Especially not me.
I read the room and shut up. Penelope had obviously wanted to be Charlotte’s partner, not mine. Somehow I didn’t think Ms.Fancypants CEO would have been nicer even if they were teamed up. I didn’t know that, though. Neither did Penelope.
It didn’t matter. We were stuck together, and we had to make the best of it. For the rest of the drive, I mentally rehearsedthe script for my spell, trying not to feel worse than I already did.
Chapter 6
Gil
Miami traffic meant it took forever to get to the club in South Beach where we were filming. We stopped to pretend to partyagain on the Causeway, Star Island on one side and the cruise ships at the port on the other. On 5th Street, giant cranestowered over half-built concrete high-rises, with shiny new blue glass buildings competing to block each other’s views ofthe water. Art deco stores and restaurants and hotels and condos were lit up like the inside of the bus, bright neon pinksand blues and teals and reds, selling the same kind of fake we were. People in bathing suits and flip-flops passed othersin fancy dresses and ankle-breaking high heels. Half of them wore makeup or glamour—or both, taking the chance that theirdates or potential hookups didn’t have a spell to see through their illusions.
I never came out here if I could help it. There were less crowded beaches for when friends wanted to hang out and party, orwe’d go to someone’s pool and not have to deal with sand and strangers.
The bus stopped and Tori got out first, talked to someone outside, then came back in. “We’re moving you through a small, controlledcrowd into a VIP area. Energy up, big smiles, stay hyped.”
Penelope got up; I pulled on my backpack and stood behind her. When Tori gave the signal, we left the party bus, cheering quietly.
