She met Eva at the entrance of the mall and promptly pulled her into a tight hug. She needed one after the misfortune of spending the afternoon with Tilda Gray.

Eva was quick to comply. "Okay, okay," she said, rubbing Cora's back. "We haven't been apart that long."

Eva's sweet perfume had rubbed off on the collar of her pea coat, tickling Cora's nose but she held on tighter. "I know," she said, pulling away after one last squeeze, "but you won't believe the afternoon I've had."

"Do tell," said Eva. "My day's been pretty uneventful. Nothing but homework for me." She paused suddenly, rooted to the spot in the mall lobby. "Wait, you never told me how your date with Beau went. You thought I'd forget, didn't you?"

"I don't think it's much of a date if he brings along his kid brother." Cora took her hand and tugged her forward.

"Hey, it's better than nothing." Eva gave her a thumbs-up. "You two will be official in no time."

If only she knew the real reason why Cora cared about Beau, she wouldn't be so chipper. And Beau wasn't making it any easier to ruin his life either.

They started their way through the mall, dodging the swarm of shoppers getting a head start on holiday shopping, and every once in a while, ogling the storefronts that had already put up their Christmas displays. Cora filled Eva in about how Tilda had been behind the awful comments on her blog. Eva, ever the enthusiastic listener, didn't fail to gasp at the right moments. Cora made sure to leave out the parts where magic was involved of course but was certain to play up Tilda Gray's wretchedness.

"I can't believe her." Eva stomped her heeled boot, her nose wrinkled. "Someone needs to teach her how to play nicely."

"Good luck to them." Cora snorted, crossing her arms. "She's the lowest of the low."

Eva mimicked Cora's stance, planting her hands on her hips. Her bright yellow nail polish caught Cora's attention, playing well with her golden-brown skin. Cora made a mental note to do her nails in case Beau noticed that hers were bitten down to stubs.

Did boys even care about such things?

"When I said someone, I meant you, Cora," Eva said. "You can't let her get away with treating you that way."

She laughed. "Please, if I could, I would. Trust me." She moved up a step in line to buy their soft pretzels. The aroma of them baking made her stomach rumble. She hadn't eaten since breakfast, a bowl of cereal she'd already worked off dawdling through the mall.

Other than food, vengeance on Tilda was alluring. If only she could cast a spell on her, but she wasn't too proud to admit that Tilda was miles ahead of her in that department. Still, the thought made her daydream terribly cruel things.

Once they had their soft pretzels, they took another turn around the mall to do more window shopping. Cora looped her arm around Eva's. "Hey, I kind of wanted to stop in somewhere," she said. She tugged on Eva's arm, steering her in another direction. She hadn't even seen Beau yet and her stomach was a hive of nerves, about to find out if she truly had the guts to make her move. Eva allowed herself to be led but shot Cora an odd glance from the corner of her eye when she saw where they were going.

"Fitted?" she said, gazing up at the store's bright red sign. "Since when are you into sportswear?"

Cora who'd shoved the last bite of pretzel into her mouth took a moment to chew, swallow, and lick the salt from her lips. "I'm not. Beau works here." On the tips of her toes, she peered through the crystal-clear window display for him, hoping to catch a peek of his freckled face.

Eva dusted the sugar from her pretzel off her hands. "Well, where is he?"

"I don't know." She gave up trying to see past the sports jerseys, baseball caps, and sneakers on display. She took a deep breath, either she got this over with, or gave in to the lingering doubt that she could ruin anyone's life.

"How do I look?"

Eva's gaze flitted over her; her head tilted. "Almost perfect." She picked a piece of lint out of Cora's hair. "That's better."

"Come on." Cora took Eva's hand, pulling her towards the store's entrance.

Eva pulled away right outside the door. "Wait, wait. You told him you were coming, right?"

"Nope."

Eva grinned wider than Cora ever thought was possible. "He doesn't know you're here. Look at you. I didn't think you'd have the nerve." She nudged Cora's shoulder.

"I doubt he'll mind," she said, unsure. She rubbed her arm. It didn't hurt but Eva's words had hit a tender spot. After three years of being best friends she hadn't managed to fool her into thinking she was capable of even the slightest deviant deed. "We're here now," she said, shrugging. "We might as well pop-in and say hi."

"You're full of surprises, Cora Emerson," Eva said, shaking her head. She followed Cora into the store. The latest rap music blared from the speakers. The store had that new shoe kind of smell, which Cora found pleasing. Beau wasn't behind any of the registers or out on the floor. She pretended to be busy sifting through a rack of men's football jerseys.

"Are you sure he's even working today? I don't see him." Eva took off her glasses and cleaned them on her coat as if that would make him suddenly appear.

Cora hadn't finished browsing through the rack of jerseys. "I don't know. Let's have a look around." There were less than a dozen people in the store, most of them were men and none were Beau. While Eva hung back, Cora wandered towards the registers, bobbing her head to the music. There wasn't much to see. The customers of the little shop were either checking out the year's newest kicks or trying on baseball caps.

There were black leather seats situated around the shop. Eva had taken up residence on one next to a man trying on a pair of white and black sneakers. Cora pretended to be interested, a casual browser, though if anyone had asked, she would have only been able to name one sports team. Nothing in the store caught her attention and she thought the music was much too loud, distracting from her mission.

"Do you need something, miss?"

Cora whirled to see a skinny, tall guy with a rather large curly fro smiling down at her. She dropped her hand from the jersey she'd been inspecting, thinking of no one in particular who would like such an item. All her male relatives were dead. "Umm. No. I was just looking," she said, pushing a coil of hair away from her face.

"We're having a sale today?" he said. "Ten percent off men's and women's jerseys. Were you looking for anything specific?" He grinned, eager to help.

"No. Not really," she said.

"Okay, just let one of us know if you change your mind."

"I will."

What she really wanted was to work up enough nerve to ask if Beau Campbell worked there, but before she could get out the words the boy had turned away, talking to someone she couldn't see from behind his back.

"Are you heading out?"

As he moved away, Cora caught a glimpse of who he'd spoken to and a wave of warmth swept through her. She swore his freckles weren't freckles at all, but rather brown sugar sprinkled on his cheeks. And that was what made him so achingly sweet to look at.

She had a permanent sweet tooth for Beau.

"Cora?" he grinned. "What are you—" He glanced around the shop, bemused.

"Eva's here too," she said, a little thrown off by his puzzled expression. She didn't know what else to say. Was he upset? Should she not have come? This was a last resort, even as a wicked sorceress, reserved for the most desperate times, but she needed things between them to happen and it wasn't going to happen on its own.

Beau ran his hand over his head, leaving Cora to question her sanity thinking this was a good idea. "This is where you work, huh?" she said. "I like it."

He laughed. "Yeah. Uh... I'm on my lunch break now." He glanced at his watch. "So... if you want to come..." He shrugged a shoulder.

"I'm actually starving," said Cora, one hand on her belly. "I'm sure Eva is too." She peered around the clothes racks, trying to spot Eva who was on her phone.

"You can come to lunch if you want." He shrugged again. "We're about to hit up this Chinese spot. "Hey." Beau snapped his fingers, trying to get the attention of a person behind the register. "I'm heading out."

The guy nodded. "Okay."

The tall boy strolled from a back room, along with another one of Beau's colleagues, a stubby dark-skinned boy, who stroked his beard while giving Cora a once-over. "What are we doing? Chinese?" he asked.

"Yeah, unless you want something else," said Beau.

The other boy put up his hands. "No, it's cool."

Beau led the way out of the store. Cora had to be careful of her giddiness as Eva joined her side. Sometimes a sorceress's emotions were powerful enough to make the unexpected happen. She didn't think things would go over well if she started to float from pure glee. The closer she got to Beau, the easier it would be she hoped and ignored the whisper of doubt in her mind.

Hanging out with Beau and his friends wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as Core had presumed it to be. The five of them sat around a table in back of the restaurant chowing down on some of the best Chinese food Cora had ever had. She tried not to slurp up her Lo Mein, relishing in the lunch time murmur and the oily scent of the place.

"How do you know our main man Beau?" Julian asked. Beau had introduced them while they waited in line. Cora had quickly learned that Julian was the comic of the trio. He had a laugh you could tell came from deep in his belly and stroked his beard a lot while thinking.

Cora took her time to swallow. "He's my next-door neighbor. My grandmother and his are good friends." It wasn't completely true, but no one needed to know that. Agatha wasn't so fond of Mrs. Campbell at all, had called her a busy-body once.

Julian nudged Beau with his elbow. "Dude, you couldn't tell us about them." He inclined his head at Cora and Eva. "I asked you if you knew any girls to invite to the party."

Beau's smile was both sly and slick with duck sauce. He licked his lips. "I didn't think Cora would want to come." It was a small fib. Perhaps he didn't want them to know she'd said no.

"Why not?" Julian slapped the table, displeased with his friend's response.

Cora and Beau exchanged wry looks. "I'm still in high school," she said before he could. "Well, we both are." She pointed her plastic fork between her and Eva.

"But we're seniors," Eva chimed in.

"Oh, okay." Side-eyeing Beau, Julian popped a French fry in his mouth, "Caleb's a senior too," he said.

"And I can't wait to get out man. I hate high school," said Caleb, ripping into a chicken wing.

Eva leaned forward. She'd barely touched her food, having spent most of the time pushing fried rice around her plate. "Where do you go?" she asked. "Cora and I go to Thorne Point.

"Elwood." Caleb grinned.

"Man, I'd kill to be back in high school again." Julian shook his head. "Y'all have it so easy."

"Please, you're only saying that because you managed to pass without going to your classes." Caleb brandished his plastic fork at him.

"Who, me?" Julian slapped a hand to his chest, feigning confusion. "I went to my classes, dude." He chucked a fry at Caleb's head. "My teachers loved me."

Beau laughed around a mouthful of sesame chicken. Cora smiled, wishing he'd say more. "You and Beau go to the same school then?" she asked Julian. "Thorne College?"

He nodded. "There's no escaping this one." He wrapped his arm around Beau's shoulder, pulling him into an awkward hug.

The conversation lolled as they ate. Cora tried to get Eva's attention, kicking her leg under the table, maybe too hard because Eva yelped. It was hard to get her attention without suspicion from the boys that they were talking about them. Someone needed to say something, anything before this became a total disaster. Julian put down his fork and leaned forward, shifting the table underneath his weight as if he'd read her mind.

"Since you guys are here," he said to the girls, "let me ask you a question."

"Oh, boy, here we go," Caleb said, pushing away from the table. He took his empty carton to the trash.

"What?" Julian's smile was teasing. "I just want to ask them a simple question."

"We already know what you're going to ask," said Beau. "You ask almost every girl you meet."

"Well, maybe their answer will be different."

Beau peered at his watch, but curiosity made Cora inch closer to the table, sitting on the edge of her seat as if Julian was about to share his darkest secret.

"What's the one thing you look for in a relationship?" he asked, holding up his index finger.

"You mean a romantic relationship?" Eva asked.

"Yeah, more than congenial."

Cora looked to Eva who had her head tilted to one side, obviously considering Julian's question. "Kindness. Honesty. And self-confidence." She counted all three on her fingers.

Julian stroked his beard, his deep brown eyes twinkling with glee. "That's it?"

"There are more but those are my top three."

Cora's gaze slid to Beau once more, as she considered what could be his best qualities. He was certainly well dressed, a good big brother, and considerate. Julian pointed at her. "What about you. What do you look for in a relationship?"

Cora's gaze never left Beau's, hoping he'd get the hint. "He has to be friendly, sweet, caring, and being a great dresser doesn't hurt either." She would have winked at him but thought it would be incredibly cheesy. His blush said it all though, either that or she needed to have her eyes checked.

Julian ran a hand over his face. "All you girls want the same thing?"

"What's wrong with that?" Eva challenged.

"How many guys do you know could be all those things?"

"Trust me, they're out there."

"Did you hear what they just said?" Julian nudged Beau again. "Come on, man, back me up."

Beau laughed, patting his friend on the back. "Maybe you should stop asking and start listening."

"All right, all right," said Julian, giving up. He worried at his bottom lip. Cora could tell another question was brewing but before he could speak Beau cut in.

"It's time to head back," he said. "Break's over."

Already. Inwardly, she groaned.

She bit her inner cheek, wishing for Beau's attention. Those thirty minutes had flown by and she wasn't sure he'd caught on to her advancement. She and Eva dumped their leftovers in the trash and waved goodbye to Julian and Caleb.

Beau hung back as his friends headed to work. "Are you leaving or are you hanging out?" he asked her.

"We're leaving," she said, more gleeful than she should have been—the picture of resounding hope.

"I can walk you to the bus stop."

"Okay." She hid her smile by biting her bottom lip.

True to his word, Beau walked them out of the mall to the bus stop. "Don't you have to be at work?" Cora asked, her shoulders up to her ears because of the cold. Even after all the time she'd spent with him, it was still hard to look him in the eyes.

On the other side of them, Eva pretended to be busy on her cell.

"I can take a few minutes," he said, shoulders up to his ears as well because he was only wearing a t-shirt with the store's bright red logo on it. Goosebumps speckled his arms.

Cora pushed her hands into her coat pockets to keep them warm. It was the eighth of November, but it felt more like early winter to her. "Your friends are cool. Like really cool," she said.

"Yeah." Beau smiled down at his boots. "Listen, thanks for coming today. My friends are idiots, especially Julian. I hope he didn't offend you or anything."

"Nope. I had fun."

"I should head back before my manager loses it. "See you later, Cora. It was nice seeing you too, Eva." He waved at her. "Get home safe."

It was the last thing he said as the bus pulled up to the curb, but Cora had a hunch they'd be seeing more of each other and quite soon too if she had her way.