Page 36 of Witch You Would
“Okay?” he asked.
“Totally,” I lied. I was shooketh. But that was a problem for future Penelope.
The fridge hadn’t lost power long enough to affect our spell, but we peeked at it anyway. Yup, still there.
Around us, everyone else was dealing with their own issues. Dylan and Zeke had apparently been mid-incantation, and had todismantle some of what they’d done and start over. Amy smiled sadly and threw something in the trash. Quentin and Tanner weren’taround; maybe they got stuck in the supply room? The judges had stopped near their area, just across from us, waiting forthem to come back. Doris Twist leaned in for a closer look at some mechanism they’d assembled, while Fabienne Desgraves checkedher watch and Hugh Burbank, arms crossed, tapped a finger against his forearm.
Felicia nearly ran into Quentin as he came back through the hallway, carrying a big box. He said, “Ope!” and apologized, andshe ignored him. I looked at Charlotte to see if she’d noticed, but she was busy pouring a casting circle with flour.
I had to do that, too. Except I needed salt. I grabbed the bag I’dbrought from the supply room and checked the drawers for a funnel. Nope. I bent down to check the cabinets and found one in a basket in the back. When I pulled it out, I caught Quentin grinning at me from the other side of the aisle.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing,” Quentin replied innocently. “Just noticed someone enjoying the view.”
I reached for the scissors and tried to figure out what Quentin was talking about. The view? What view? What was there tosee while I was looking for a funnel? Bending over to check inside cabinets... oh my god.
Had Leandro been looking at my butt? I glanced at him, but he was reading the spell recipe.
Fake flirting, right. I should remember to check him out, too. Not that I could see his butt; his shirt was too long, andhis pants were too loose. His forearms, though...
I cut open the corner of the bag, held the funnel so my thumb covered the narrow opening, then filled the top with salt. Iplopped the bag back on the counter and moved to the chalk-painted floor area, carefully drawing the salt circle on it, thenadding the sigils we’d agreed on in the appropriate places. What next? Leandro had the spell. All I had to do was ask forit. Instead, I tried to remember what I’d written down. Candles? No, one candle, and... a swift feather? Yes! Mierda, inwhich order did I need to place these reagents...
Why did Quentin have to tell me a thing that might not even be a thing but now I was making it a thing? This was ridiculous.
Leandro put the spell down and wandered off to crack jokes with Syd. I tried to look chill as I practically jumped over tograb the recipe before he came back.
Glass bowl of rainwater, then candle, then moonstone, then feather. Okay.
“Ms. Delmar,” a deep voice said from my right.
I managed not to jump this time. The judges stood next to me, Nate and his camera behind them, checking out the sigils andreagents. If eyes could shoot lasers, Hugh Burbank would have burned a hole through my head. Customer service smile: on.
“Hey!” I said cheerfully.
“And what do you have for us today, Penelope?” Fabienne Desgraves asked.
Okay, I had to stop calling these people by their full names in my head. I was an adult. First names, go.
“This is our ‘Tempest in a Teapot’ spell,” I explained.
“And what will it do?”
How much did they want me to say? “It should create a small cloud that glows, with sparkling effects inside, like lightning.”
“That sounds absolutely charming,” Doris said, smiling at me like everyone’s favorite grandmother. She was always so nice.
“How bright do you expect it to be?” Fabienne asked.
“Basically, like, moonlight during a full moon. Bright enough to see, but not too bright to look at.”
“How large an area should it fill?” Hugh asked.
I bit my lip as I did the math in my head. “A couple hundred square feet?”
“Seems a bit simplistic.” He looked away from me. “Hmm.”
Simplistic? Oh no. I had to figure out how to up our game.
