Page 15 of How To Summon A Memory
Gabe: ETHAN IS HERE
Chapter 7
Ethan
Ethan
I can’t stop laughing.
“Apparently, one of the freshmen students added actual frog eyes to the cauldron instead of chia seeds. And well…” Florence sticks out their tongue. “Ribbit. Ribbit. Thousands of frogs pour out of the cauldron and infiltrate the classroom, then the hallway.”
“I wish I could have been?—”
My chair spins and Florence gasps beside me.
“You,” I whisper. “You’re real.”
The blue demon stares back at me with wide eyes. “E—Ethan,” they say my name with a broken voice as they reach for my cheek. Just as they connect, I’m back in my bedroom in my grandmother’s house sans Florence.
“No!” I yell, my heart broken for someone I don’t even know. “I’m so fucking close!” I press a hand to my cheek, savoring the brief moment of a rough hand against me. “So fucking close.” Dramatically, I sit on my bed and flop back. “So, so,so, close,” I whisper. “I won’t give up, you know!” I never give up once I sink my teeth into a problem and the demon is one of the biggestproblems I haven’t been able to solve. That and the arranged marriage.
I force myself back to my feet as Squid runs into the room and jumps onto the night stand chittering away.
“Fuck. My grandmother is already coming back?”
Squid nods, his bushy tail swishing behind him. I dash to my grandmother’s bedroom and to the back of her closet to shed her clothes. I’m back in mine and in my bed before the front door rattles. If only Florence were here too.
“Go watch for Florence. If you see them, tell them to come around back and when they come in, tell them to act like they have an upset tummy. I’m gonna tell my grandmother Florry got sick and dashed off to one of the other bathrooms.”
Squid nods and scurries from my room out the window as I scramble to get under the covers just as the clip of my grandmother’s heels sounds through my room.
“My sweet sweet grandbaby,” Cordia says as she slides into my bedroom. She rips off my blanket and the sudden temperature change makes me shiver in my pajamas. “I knew you were awake that last time I visited you. You failed the test.”
“What are you talking about?” I rub at my eyes as if I’m just now waking up. “What test?”
“The one to see if you’d betray me and try to escape.” She grabs my wrists and pulls me out of bed. Her blue eyes shine with malice and the sharp line of her red lips makes her seem up to no good. My grandmother may be close to seventy, but you wouldn’t know she was past forty unless you knew her birthday. Her bracelets jangle as she yanks me through the door.
“What are you talking about? I’ve only just woken up recently. Why would I?—”
“Where’s Florence?” Grandmother practically growls.
“They had a stomachache and didn’t want to stink up my bedroom.” I wave towards another bathroom. “They’ll be back momentarily.” Hopefully Squid gets to them in time.
“Bullshit. If I go in there?—”
“Cordia? You’re back so soon?” Florence says behind us. “I went—” They thumb behind them and rub their stomach. “I don’t know what I ate, but it didn’t agree with me this time.” Somehow, they had time to change back into their own clothes before coming to find us. I let out a breath.
My grandmother looks from me to Florence. Her eyes softening and she lets me go. “Oh. Sorry. I was sure?—”
“Ethan isn’t strong enough to do anything right now. He can barely keep his head up.” Florence pulls one of my arms around them and I act like it’s taking everything in me to stay upright.
The performance must convince my grandmother because she takes my other side and we all shuffle to my bedroom.
Once I’m settled back in my bed, my grandmother takes the seat Florence occupied earlier. “My poor sweet Ethan. You don’t deserve this.” She turns to Florence. “Neither do you, dear.”
“You can end this,” I say with as much hope as I can muster. “You can?—”
“No. It’s set. The two of you will marry, my foolishness will be amended, and the Speller line will continue.” She pats my hand and turns to Florence. “You can spend the night in a guest room with your upset stomach if you’d like. I’ll watch over him tonight.”
