Chapter 4

-Canta's POV-

It had to be her. She had to be the one. But why was this harder than all the other times I'd tried to find them? I didn't even know that she was going to be a girl until the warm feeling in my chest began to spread to my cheeks. Why did it have to be the one person who is seemingly immune to my magic?

I was in the middle of searching my room for my book of spells which my grandmother had given me when I was a baby. She'd told me when I was five or six that I would need this book when I was older. I'm assuming that this is what she meant by it. It was something that she had been given from her grandmother, and the grandmother before that gave it to her grandmother, and so on and so forth. My mother cared none for it, as she didn't care for love magic when she was younger. She did the same as she's expecting me to do, she married for money.

I had every drawer on my bed, had moved the chest to look behind it, had taken all the clothes out of my wardrobe, and I had even tried checking the single loose floorboard which I kept some bottles of alcohol in.

I wanted to throw myself out the window when I actually found it under my bed. I looked everywhere apart from the most obvious of places.

It was an incredibly dusty, leather-bound book. It had a ruby in the shape of a heart on the front, but even that looked dull and as though it would drop off at any moment.

I flipped through the once-empty pages. That was one of the things which told me that it was this book I needed, as I wouldn't have been able to read it if I wasn't meant to read it. It had been enchanted to look empty to anyone who wasn't meant to see it. I believe that my grandmother put that spell on the book, knowing what my mother was like.

I was halfway through before realising that I wouldn't be able to go to the section I needed to read, because I didn't know what section was which. It wasn't like a standard book which had a content page, but rather there were just pages and pages of information with very broad titles. Each title was written in thick cursive, but they only marked the beginning of a new type of spell, such as 'attraction spell' or 'crystal enchantments'.

I would need to read this entire book, potentially, if I wanted to find out what was going on between myself and Juniper Berry. The very thought of her name made a smile come to my face from just how unique and silly it was, but it was also beautiful. Her name suited her very well.

I was sure my great-great-great-great-great-however-many-greats-grandmother hated me. She made me read through the entire book, learning about every single magical instrument to do with love that there possibly was, before giving me a very vague message at the back of the book. Maybe it had been added by my grandmother, but there could've been an earlier note detailing that information.

'To my dearest granddaughter Canta,

I know that I told your mother that I wouldn't get involved in your love life at all, but with much thought and consideration, I decided that I cared little for your mothers plan. If, in the end, you find love and marry for love, I would be overjoyed to know that this love is true and there will be no regrets. However, I am certain that is not what my daughter has planned for you.

And thus, I have decided to ignore her and place a soulmate spell on you. It will only come into effect when you interact meaningfully with your soulmate, which is bound to happen at some point I'm sure. As your grandmother, I only want to ensure your safety and happiness throughout your life.

I do not know who this person is, as that is up for fate to decide. But, I am sending you my best wishes and love. No matter where I am at the moment they come, I hope that your days are full of joy and light. Most importantly, I hope that your life is filled with love.'

I didn't know why I was crying. I had many messages off my grandmother, and each of them brought a river of tears every time I tried to read them.

I wiped away my tears and stood from my bed, looking around at my room, which looked as though a tornado had flown through it. I cursed and put my book in the space under the floorboards, and decided to get a start on tidying up. Guess I'm not getting any homework done tonight.

"Canta," Loche hissed in my ear as I was drifting off to sleep for the third time. "What's the matter with you?" There was some concern in his eyes, but everything else about him just screamed annoyed.

"Many, many things," I muttered, my voice muffled by my hand I was resting my head on. "Why?"

"Because the teacher's coming, and you've only put your name on your work."

My eyes widened and I groaned, letting my head drop to both cover my book and hide my red cheeks from any onlookers. "Can you help?" I asked. I admit, I asked for help off Loche far too often when it came to schoolwork, it was something I tried to do less, especially in comparison to when I first came to school.

"Nope," he answered with a tone that couldn't hold less care. "You put this upon yourself, you've got to get out of it."

I was going to argue with him, but I couldn't. Luckily, we were in Spanish class, which I wasn't very good at anyway. At least it was a creative task, so I could scribble some variation of an answer on the page and pretend I was focusing on quality rather than quantity.

The bell rang before the teacher got to our table, luckily for us.

"Right, I want that work finished before next week. It's going to be your exams. So, you best make something you're proud of and will be willing to read for the next three months straight," my teacher announced.

I groaned and collected my things as quickly as I could, waiting for Loche so that we could head to our next class.

"So, what's up?" he asked as he followed me out the door. "There's something, and it's bugging me that you're keeping it a secret."

I gave him props for being so blunt and honest. That was one of the things I loved most about him. "My grandmother cursed me," I grumbled.

"Why?" he asked. That was another thing, if he was shocked, he didn't ask me to repeat myself like others would. He went along with whatever I said in stride.

"Because she wanted me to fall in love and end up with someone who will treat me right." I didn't bother to line up outside of the classroom, as our maths teacher was pretty chill about students coming in early.

"I can see why that's a curse," he said sarcastically. "Isn't that something most people want for those that they love?"

I slammed my books on the table and threw the chair from under it, causing it to topple to the floor with a loud clanging noise. "No." I picked the chair up and sat in it moodily. I knew I was exaggerating like a child, but I wanted to let all of the frustration out. "Because it means that I can't bewitch her. I can't make her love me or be like everyone else."

"Can't you go one day without mentioning Berry?" I ignored his question. "Doesn't that mean that she loves you anyway? Why would you want to make her like the senseless zombies we call humans?"

"Because," I said quickly, but I had nothing to finish it with. It was a good question, but one that I hadn't thought about. "Because then I'd know how to act. I'd know how to make her like me, and I'd know exactly what to do if I ever lose control of a situation." Curse him for being able to get the truth out of me so easily.

"Which is incredibly manipulative of you and unfair on everyone else," he pointed out. "I think you should take the opportunity to act like a normal person. Put the magic behind you and actually try to get to know her. If she's the one, then snatch her up and don't let her go."

I eyed him wearily. "Since when were you so romantic?" I teased, my lips set in a pout. "That's my job." I sighed as students started to file in. "Okay, I'll think about it. After all, what could be the harm?"

I waited in the library at lunch for Juniper to go to her usual spot. I had managed to eat a tub of pasta before coming up, which is more than I had eaten yesterday.

"Oh," her voice caught my attention as she hovered around the bookcase. "Sorry, I didn't know you were working here." She turned around to find another seat.

"Wait," I called after her, causing a few 'sh's to come my way. "I was waiting here for you. I'm sorry, I don't think we had a class together today. I would've asked if we had."

"No, not today." She shook her head. "We don't have any classes on a Friday." She sat down in the seat next to me, the one I had sat in when we first had our meetings here. "Did you look over your work?"

I shook my head. "I'm just going to hand that in, Miss. Osden can talk to me if she doesn't think it's appropriate."

She gaped at me. "But." That was all that she said on the topic. "Okay, how are you when it comes to poetry?"

I straightened my back. "When it comes to poetry, I'm one of the best." She looked at me sceptically. "At writing it, that is. I'm terrible at analysing poetry which I haven't written, or if it doesn't interest me." I was quite good at annotating love poems.

"Alright, so I guess that unseen poetry is the same, huh?" She asked. She pulled another book out of her bag, which probably shouldn't have been able to fit a book that size. "How about this one?" It wasn't until she handed the book to me that I realised it was a book of love poetry.

"I know that one," I told her. She flipped a few pages. "That one too."

She frowned and handed me the book. "Why don't you just find one you haven't read?"

It took me until the second to last page before I noticed a handwritten note. A smirk came onto my face and I held it up for her to see. "I haven't read this one before."

Her cheeks turned redder than the ruby on my grandmother's book. "You can analyse that, if you want." The reply was more of a grumble. But I felt a strange sense of accomplishment as I read the handwritten poem.

'The stars align.

A sure sign

Of ever-lasting love

You were sent here.

From the angels above

To bring light and cheer

To everyone you're near

As you are so very dear

I know the day will never come.

When you become my personal sun

But your light shines on

And brings me hope.

And that is how I continue to cope

You may not be here only for me

But I hope that one day you'll see

That we were truly meant to be.

"Am I allowed to write on this?" I held up the page. She nodded, prompting me to scribble down my thoughts. "I don't know how long we have left of lunch, but I'm going to go to town with this and let you maybe mark it tonight? Little homework?"

Her brows creased in an, admittedly, cute expression. "Sure? I'm not sure what you could write in half an hour though."

Good to know that I've got that long to spill as much nonsense as I could muster onto the paper.

"Are you really going to write all break?" she asked after a few minutes. "I'm not sure this is what Miss Osden means by tutoring." She fidgeted with her fingers, crossing one leg over the other.

"But then what would she mean? I'm doing English work. I've done my homework, looked at poetry, and have thought about changing my attitude to romance."

"You have?" she asked with surprise.

"Yes, and I decided not to change it one bit," I declared. "I don't think anything written about love is true. You can only experience it for yourself."

"Yes, because you know everything about every kind of love." I wasn't sure if she wanted me to hear that murmur, but I did, and it made me hesitate with my pen above her poem.

"It is my chosen field of interest," I told her. I handed her the annotated poem and stood. "Sorry, I just remembered that I have somewhere to be. See you later."

I then rushed out of the room like my life depended on it. It wasn't so much of my life, rather my reputation that I had to worry about.