They walked the way to Eva's, where a handful of people were waiting at the bus stop. Cora did her best to not knock over the little boys who chased each other around their mother's legs. An older woman whispered her impatience in Creole, sucking her teeth.

Cora tested the words in her clumsy tongue. "Fè vit!"

"Fè vit?" she asked Eva.

Eva, almost as hopeless as her in second languages, brushed her hair away from her glasses. "I think it means hurry up." She had informed Cora that the Creole was slightly different in Haiti compared to Dominica where her family hailed from.

They parted around a younger woman who spoke rapid fire Spanish into her cell phone, unaware that the man behind her was ogling. The trees shuddered with the dwellers of Sallow Avenue, showering their orange and red leaves everywhere, when a black jeep blasting hip-hop music pulled up to the light. The driver leaned out and shouted, "I got some room in here for you, baby."

All the women, including Cora and Eva, ignored him. "I think you should date Beau," Eva said, stomping up the crumbling, rain battered steps to her private home. "It would be a crime to waste all his cuteness." She waved at an older man as he rushed from the house next door.

The jeep crooned away, distracting Cora. She forgot what she wanted to say.

Eva got out her keys. "Cora, you're so lucky you have your own place," she said, shoving the key into the lock, then shoving the door open.

Although Eva had never been to her house, and never would if she could help it, she'd been over more than once. She'd even had dinner with the George family.

"I don't have my own place," she said, as she followed Eva inside. A small glow of yellow light from a bulb emphasized the agedness of the place, even with her past attempts to spruce up the mismatched beige and white paint job.

"I mean, you don't have to share your space," said Eva, under her breath in case her downstairs neighbor was home.

"How is Ms. Andrews?" She skipped up the narrow stairs after Eva, whose longer legs allowed her to go up faster. The banister wobbled under their weight.

Ms. Andrews, Eva's neighbor, ran a palm reading business out of her apartment that might have been illegal.

"Maybe we should have our palms read to see if you and Beau are destined to be." They were in front of the door that led into the apartment. Eva had used the wrong key.

"Yeah, maybe," she said. They'd had their palms read before and hadn't gotten much from it. "Don't trust those fakes," her mother had warned when she'd told her about Ms. Andrews. "Now, if you want someone to tell your future you know my friend Blythe is the real deal." This had made Cora roll her eyes because Blythe Gray and her daughter Tilda were always so rude.

After removing their shoes, she followed Eva down the long hallway to the kitchen where Mr. George was mixing a pot. The George family's home smelled like Mr. George's island cooking. Sliced pieces of green banana were frying in a pan on the stove beside a large pot, into the soft brown, sweet treat even she loved.

In the next room, the TV blared with the news. "Hey, Dad." Eva grabbed a plantain off a plate. She tore it in half, offering the second half to Cora.

Mr. George smiled as he raised the spoon to his mouth to taste his cooking, a mixture of chicken, peas, and rice, a dish Eva called "pelau." After which, he said, in a Caribbean accent, "Hey, sweetheart. I see you've brought your friend over today."

A pot-bellied Mr. George in an old, faded t-shirt, his favorite sweatpants, by her observation, and brown, leather slippers couldn't be more patriarchal. Cora, still chewing, waved her greasy fingers. "Hello, Mr. George."

Her reality check arrived, always, on time, as a swift kick in the gut. Some people were lucky enough to have their fathers around. She didn't think on it too long though.

She had more urgent worries.

"Hello, Cora. How's everything?" He opened a cupboard, putting away a seasoning salt. "Did you guys have any trouble getting here?" He always asked. Thorne Point wasn't a difficult city to navigate, but who knows what could have happened on the long walk home.

"No, Dad. Fortunately, no one was after us," Eva said in an exasperated way. "Come on," she said to Cora. Through the living room was a sliding door that led to her bedroom.

Cora followed her through it. She set her bag down on Eva's twin bed. Eva's room was a great extension of her. Two bookcases sat on a wall stuffed to the brim with books. Some books sat on her desk and on the dresser nearest Cora. Her walls had been painted to resemble the night sky, swirly dark blue. She had up posters from her favorite movies. Eva was a big romantic comedy fan, no matter how tropey.

She also had a black cat named Trix that was currently curled up in her yellow bedspread. Cora sat at the opposite end, hoping to not rouse Trix. They'd never gotten along.

Eva tossed her things onto the bed and turned on her laptop. "You need to see this dress. It's what prom dresses are made of," she said, as she pulled out her swivel chair. She twirled around in it facing her. "So," she slapped her denim clad thighs, "back to you and Beau."

Cora fell onto her back, waking Trix who meowed and leapt to the floor. She shut her eyes. "I don't want to talk about him." That was half true. She didn't want to talk about him with Eva. She opened her eyes and took her cell phone out of her pocket to check the time and to see if he had, in fact, texted her and she'd missed it. He hadn't.

It was four o'clock. She'd told her mom she'd be going over to Eva's after school, but even sorceresses had curfews. Her mother had reminded her to be home before ten. Thorne Point wasn't the worst city in Elorie, but one should be cautious walking home alone in any city at night.

Eva swiveled around to her laptop. "Fine." For a moment, the light patter of her fingertips on the keyboard was the only sound between them.

Cora sat up to pull off her coat. The radiator next to Eva's bed made a soft hissing sound as it warmed the room. She moseyed to the bookcases and scanned Eva's collection. She did it every time she came over. She loved to examine other people's collections and often thought of starting one of her own. Like Mariam with her perfume, Eva always had a new book, or two, or five. She settled on one with a pink and yellow spine.

She didn't have time to flip it open when Eva said, "Here it is."

She put the book back and bent over Eva to see. "It's so white and expensive."

"Tell me about it." Eva added the dress to her basket. "But I think it'll go great with this year's theme." She scrolled down the page. "They have others too."

Cora watched because she didn't want to spoil it for Eva who lived for this stuff. Eva went through five more dresses, including one she thought was somewhat cute because it was her favorite shade of purple. Eva didn't think it would look good against their winter wonderland backdrop. The student council hadn't been able to convince anyone to have it in December like Eva had hoped. They'd settled for fake snow in June instead.

"It would be great if I could get one of those faux fur shrugs. Don't you think?" Eva's eyes danced behind her cat eyeglasses.

"I think so." Cora's back had begun to hurt from bending over. She straightened. "I bet you'll look gorgeous, E."

"Aww, thanks." Eva clicked off the website to check her email.

Trix curled around Cora's legs. She held still, the hair on her arms rising from the cat's close contact. She nudged Trix with her toe. "Go away."

"Leave Cora alone, Trix. You know she doesn't like you." Eva got up to let her out. The cat meowed and slinked off to do whatever cats did.

It was said that Cora's great-great-great grandmother could speak to animals. Pets weren't allowed in the Emerson house because of Mariam's allergies and Cora's distaste for cats, an aversion caused by a horror movie she'd seen as a kid.

"How's the blog?" Eva asked. Before she could answer, she was on Cora's site scrolling through the posts. "I really liked your outfit this day," she said, talking about the newest photos she'd taken on Wednesday. Eva had commented on it at school. "Fantastically Parisian chic," she'd said. Cora's mother had taken the photos again. In the photos, Cora wore a black and white striped top, dark blue jeans, and a red beret.

"Thanks." She sat on the edge of the bed. "Did I tell you about my newest admirer?"

Eva pushed up her glasses. "I'm guessing it's not Beau."

Since putting up the new photos this week, she'd received two more negative comments from someone named Beverly B. She thought it was anonymous again but couldn't be sure. "A girl named Beverly B," she said.

"Beverly B," Eva reiterated, nose wrinkling. "What did she say?" She'd already clicked on the comments section of the blog post and read out loud what Beverly had written.

Your worst yet. I don't know why you even bother. It looks like you're trying too hard. I'm really not trying to be mean, but you should take my advice.

Eva made a sound of disgust. "She's obsessed, isn't she?" Her fingers flew across the keyboard and Cora got up to see what she'd typed.

Responding to Beverly B's comment, Eva had said, "No one asked you. Go get a life."

In that moment, a surge of gladness made Cora blush. "Have you made up your mind about what school you're going to?" she asked, stepping across the room to Eva's dresser. She played with a small red figurine, a heart with legs, arms, and a puckered pout.

"I have to keep that away from Trix," Eva said. "She loves it." Trix meowed and scratched at the door, wanting to be let in. "I haven't decided yet, but I'm leaning towards Blackwell." She gathered her hair into a ponytail and let it fall. "Do you know what you're studying at FAE?"

"Maybe marketing, possibly journalism." She left the toy alone and fixed her sight on the pink poster above the dresser of a pretty redheaded witch on a broom. A man hung on for his life to the broom's end, as they flew over the Thorne Point City skyline. Of course, she'd seen it before, but it interested her now for different reasons. Beau reasons.

"You still want to work at a magazine?" Eva asked.

"Maybe," she said. She hadn't seen her do it, but by the time she turned away from the poster, Eva had her phone in her hand. "What are you doing?" Cora leapt forward for it.

"Cheering you up." Eva cleared her throat, preparing for Beau to answer.

Cora knew what that meant. She dived onto the bed, but Eva was faster and taller and was already on the other side of the room talking to Beau. "Hi, I'm calling on behalf of my best friend, Cora Emerson," she said. "Yes, I'm Eva, the tall one with the straight hair." She put her hand over the microphone and whispered to Cora, "He sounds confused."

Her pulse bristled. She reached for the phone, but Eva turned away. "She wants to know if you're free for a movie tomorrow. You aren't? Shoot. Can you— Oh, you already have plans with someone. But she's only free tomorrow and she wants to spend it with you."

"No," Cora said. She jumped, trying to reach the phone Eva held above her, giving up when she couldn't get to it.

"You're taking your brother to the movies." Eva laughed. "That's so sweet. Cora's great with kids. She watches my baby sister all the time. You need to ask your brother first? Okay. If he says yes, you'll let her know? Great. All right. Wait, What?" Eva brought the phone closer to her ear. "You don't know if she'll like the movie. Which movie is it? Oh, I've heard of that one. Cora's a big fan. Yeah, she loves aliens and all that stuff." She waved her hand. "Just call if you change your mind." Eva gave Cora a thumbs-up. "Okay. Bye, Beau." The call ended. Eva tossed the phone to Cora who caught it. "That's that."

"That's that? I hate you right now." She stared at her phone, as if she could undo what had happened. It would have come in handy now if her splendor was going back in time. She should have known Eva would pull such a stunt.

In the living room, Mr. George shouted at the TV.

"I didn't need your help." She sank into Eva's mattress, pouting. "I had a plan."

"You needed to get with him like yesterday, Cor." Eva rifled through her coat pocket, taking out her phone. Its gold, glittery case caught the light. "Just because I don't have a boyfriend doesn't mean you shouldn't. This way I can live through you." She put her hand over her heart. "I'll try not to mope too much around you and your Beau."

"He isn't my Beau," Cora argued.

But he will be soon, or I'll turn him into... Well, I don't know yet, but it won't be good.

She wanted to cackle at the thought but seeing Eva's face concealed it in a cough.

"I could come over to help you get ready." Eva tapped her phone's screen. She didn't meet Cora's gaze. "It's the least I can do."

"You've done enough already."

"I could help you straighten your hair like you've begged me to."

Cora stroked her puffy do. "My hair's already done."

"So that's it? I'm never going to meet your mom or your sister." She had Eva's full attention now. "Sometimes I think you don't even have a family or a house. You might be living in a box in an alley for all I know."

Cora laughed. "Trust me, my family's real and I'm not living in a box. I have neighbors."

"Everyone has neighbors, even the mice." Eva sat beside her. "Look, I'm not an idiot. I get that you don't want to tell me everything. But it's sort of weird."

"That's just it." Her loudness wasn't intentional, but she caught it in time. "My family is weird. You wouldn't get them."

"Weird how?"

"Weird like..." She could've sworn the witch in the poster moved, waiting for her answer too.

Don't worry. I'm not a complete idiot.

"Weird in ways you won't understand, E."

"Try me." Eva crossed her legs.

Cora had to make this good. She shut her eyes, cooking up the best explanation, at least one better than, "we're magic."

"Are you a part of some cult or coven?" Eva leaned closer, her warm breath tickling Cora's ear.

Cora stood, took a few steps to Eva's wardrobe, and stopped. She hadn't come up with a better explanation, a tiny lie more like. "My grandmother is sick right now. It's this gross bug. It's really contagious." She frowned over her shoulder to make sure Eva had bought it. Her jutting bottom lip said it all. She hadn't. "I promise, Eva," she spun to face her. "As soon as it's okay, I'll invite you over."

Eva's bottom lip receded. "You swear that's it?"

"That's it." She needed more time and had seen no other way to appease her curiosity.

Please, believe me.

"Well." Eva adjusted the neckline of her off shoulder sweater. "I guess. If you say so. I still think it's weird but..." She mumbled the last of her sentence.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing." She dismissed Cora's question with a wave of her hand.

"So, we're cool?" Cora's gaze traveled to her feet. She curled her toes, seeing the huge hole in her sock. Was Willow cutting holes in them again? Or maybe she needed to clip her toenails. She always forgot to.

"We're cool. For now." Eva uncrossed her legs, content with the result of her interrogation. "But you owe me for the magic I pulled."

"Forget studying classic literature. You should be a matchmaker."

"I know, right? Like Emma Woodhouse." At Cora's confused expression, she flicked her wrist again. "Forget it."

Before she left, at about ten minutes to six, Cora let Eva drag her down the stairs and up to Ms. Andrews's door. She knocked twice and they waited.

Eva saw the look on her face. "Don't you want to know if it's meant to be?" she asked.

"Not really," said Cora, squeezing her cell phone in her fist. At any minute it would buzz with Beau's invitation.

What will I do until then? Gosh, what will I do after? I'm not even good with children. Willow hates me.

She tucked her phone into her coat pocket.

They were hit with the strong aroma of burning incense when Ms. Andrews opened for them. "Eva, how are you?" she asked, her thick arms spread enough to hug both of them. She didn't. She still wore her nurse's uniform and had that slump to her shoulders, which meant it had been a long day at the clinic.

"Hello, Ms. Andrews," Eva said. "We'd like to have our palms read. Would that be okay?"

"Of course." She stepped aside to let them in. Cora's eyes burned, but she tried not to be rude. She and Eva waited as Ms. Andrews locked her door. Her house resembled Eva's; except it was obvious no one lived here but her.

In the living room, she sat Eva and Cora down at a round table covered in a white, lace tablecloth. Ms. Andrews had pictures of every single one of her family members on her wall, from fat-cheeked babies to gray-haired old ladies. Cora stared at them, until she caught herself. How could one person have so many relatives? She had counted at least thirty.

"We're going to have to make this quick. I have another shift soon. Who wants to go first?" Ms. Andrews kicked out the chair across from them and sat.

"She does." Eva pointed at Cora. "I'm here to watch and offer support." She patted Cora's arm. "She has a date soon. All because of moi." Eva tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"You're loving this, aren't you?" Cora asked.

Eva giggled.

"Let's take a look." Ms. Andrews held out her hand for Cora's.

"We want to know if there's love in her future," said Eva.

Cora, sure that Ms. Andrews wouldn't see much in her palm, except for a heart shaped mole on her index finger, stuck out her hand. She did hope it would be as quick as Ms. Andrews said. She needed to get home to figure out what she'd wear in case Beau said yes, and how much misery she could get away with inflicting on him without totally ruining it. Was it a date if his younger brother tagged along? She sat up straighter. Regardless, she had to take whatever she got.

"Well, well, well," Ms. Andrews said.

Eva leaned forward as if she'd caught a glimpse of whatever Ms. Andrews saw.

"This is interesting," said Ms. Andrews. She traced a line on Cora's palm. Cora wasn't sure what she saw but it tickled, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

Ms. Andrews's predictions were normally quite vague. If she really did possess magic, she'd have known Cora was a sorceress from the moment they met.

"I do see love in your future." Ms. Andrews raised a single, over plucked eyebrow.

Eva clutched Cora's arm hard and whispered, "I told you so."

"But," Ms. Andrews said, she smoothed her thumb across her palm as if it would make things clearer for her, "I see some resistance."

"What sort of resistance?" Eva sounded more concerned than she should have been.

Ms. Andrews squinted at Cora's palm. "Could be someone who's had their eye on you for some time, years actually, but you haven't paid them any mind." She tapped Cora's palm and said, "That's what I see." And like that, the reading ended.

Cora held her palm up to her eyes but saw nothing but oddly curved lines. Not even Eva had anything to say to that.

"Do you want me to do yours?" Ms. Andrews held out her hand for Eva's.

Eva stood, pushing back her chair. "No thank you, Ms. Andrews." She took ten Elorie dollars out of the pocket of her jeans and gave it to her neighbor. "Come on, Cora."

Eva waited until they were outside to voice her thoughts. "What a waste." They huddled under the small awning near the door because she didn't have her coat.

Cora had no idea what Ms. Andrews had gone on about. She couldn't think of a single person at school who'd ever shown any interest in her, which was rather sad if she considered it. "At least it was only ten dollars," she said. "Thanks for that. I'll pay you back soon."

Eva bit her thumb, attempting to stifle her laughter. Cora caught on, laughing too. "She made such a big show of it," Eva said, in between titters. She clutched her stomach. "I'm so sorry I made you do that." She took a deep breath, pulling herself together.

"It's okay," said Cora. "I'm sure she meant well." There it was again, her politeness. Tomorrow she'd have to put rule number one on her "Ways to Ruin a Boy" list to practice, pretend to be interested in them when you really aren't.

Feigning interest would be easy because she already had it. That along with her experience with Beau would help in her scheme of getting him to fall for her. She assumed winning his heart would be her favorite part in all this.

Her grandmother had been right. Why couldn't she have fun?