Page 73 of Witch You Would
“The trouble is, how do you figure out who to trust?”
“Exactly!” I knew he would understand.
“Buddy, what did Alan Kazam always tell kids before every experiment?”
“Safety first?”
“No, dingbat, the other thing.”
Ah. Right. “Trust the magic, and the magic will trust you.”
“That. At some point, you have to accept that you can’t know everything, not about the world, and not about other people.All you can do is your best. You keep an eye out for liars and brown-nosers and folks trying to take advantage. But you can’tlet worrying about those jerks keep you from ever trusting anybody.”
I bent my leg and rested my forehead on my knee. “What if I trust Penelope, and we have a huge fight, and she outs me on socialsbecause she’s mad? All it would take is the one time, and everyone would know who Leandro Presto is.”
“Cheese and crackers, bud, your parents really did a number on you with all their fighting, huh? Plenty of other couples aren’tspiteful shits like they were.”
I felt like he’d poured a bucket of cold water on my head. My parents. Of course. As far back as I could remember, they’dconstantly argued. One of them would do or say something that pissed the other one off, and they’d scream for a while, thengo to separate rooms or leave the house. They talked shit about each other to me all the time, bribed me with food or toysto prove which of them loved me more and was the better parent.
Worst of all, they made me keep secrets. I don’t think I’d realized until this moment how hard that was on me. Half the timethey’d use those secrets as weapons later, to throw something in the other’s face. And when it was me who accidentally slippedup? Not only did I cause that fight, but I’d get punished for it.
Holy shit. No wonder I was a mess.
“Earth to Bert, come in, Bert?”
“Sorry,” I said. “I think my brain just broke.”
“Well, put it back together. I said, do you really think this girl would do that to you, or is that just your nerves talking?”
Did I think Penelope would do that? She had more of a temper than I’d expected, but it seemed mostly aimed at me when I waspretending to be a fool and she was worried about our spell. Or at Felicia when she was a jerk. I hadn’t seen her do or sayanything mean otherwise. I’d actually seen her go out of her way to help people and be nice, which fit with what I’d heardfrom my friend before I even started emailing her.
And hadn’t she helped me in the first place when she didn’t have to? She could have just said her store didn’t have the reagentI needed and been done with it, but she called around for me and found it. And then she’d helped me fix a mistake in one ofthe recipes on my blog. She didn’t get anything out of that for herself, in either case. She never asked me for any money,or favors, or to buy anything from the store. She just... helped.
Even when she told me off in front of my fans that night at the park, Penelope seemed mostly worried that I was harming otherpeople—or myself.
No, I had no reason to believe she’d do something to get back at me if I made her angry. She’d probably lecture me about it,if anything. And why did that make me smile?
“Lost you there again, kiddo.”
“You’re right, Grandpa. Penelope wouldn’t do that. She’s not like my parents at all. She’s pretty great, actually. Smart,and nice, and funny.”
“Good-looking?”
“Definitely.”
“Then what are you waiting for? An invitation?”
I wasn’t going to explain enthusiastic consent to my grandfather. I’d already said enough.
“I need to talk to her,” I said.
“That’s my boy. You bring her by whenever you’re ready, hey? Let me get a look at her.”
“I can’t promise anything.” I didn’t know what Penelope wanted yet.
Grandpa Fred made a pssh sound. “I’m not asking for promises, bud. Unlike your dad, I’m not a lawyer trying to strangle youwith fine print.” He paused, then added, “And while I have you on the line, stop worrying about the charity so much, for god’ssake. You’re going to give yourself an ulcer. Just have fun and see where this show takes you.”
He’d told me that before, and I wanted to listen, I really did. But I knew the charity was important to him. It had been importantto Grandma Louisa, too. She’d been an elementary school teacher from when they’d met until she’d retired, and if we lost thecharity, it would feel like losing her again.
