Episode 10

“I’m not sure what the protocol at balls are but I’m pretty sure that you’re supposed to be dancing with your friends inside.” I told Taylor as I sat down on the bench next to her outside the hall where the ball was hosted. I saw that she had come out of the bathroom earlier but made her way out of the building before anyone could stop her.

I looked at her then saw that she had been crying for some reason. Her tear stained makeup and reddened eyes behind her spectacles oozed with sadness but her body language was rife with anger.

“I’ll be inside in a minute.” She replied then cleared her throat.

“So will I guess. Needed some fresh air.” I was her bodyguard so there was no way I was going to allow her to sit outside on a bench by herself. “So who’s the boy?”

“What boy?”

“The one that caused all this?”

“It’s no one.” She clearly wasn’t going to open up to me about this. Her friends were inside having the time of their lives but I couldn’t exactly leave Taylor alone and go call them.

“What did Logan do?” I overheard her friends teasing her about some boy named Logan so I was guessing that he was the one who broke her heart.

“He didn’t do anything.”

“There’s no one else around so if you want to talk about it then I won’t tell anyone. I can take you home if you want to as well.”

“I don’t want to go home.”

“Then talk to me.” I was probably being a little too pushy there but she wasn’t giving me any other choice.

“Fine.” She angrily agreed. “I heard some girls in the bathroom say that Logan and his friends were taking them to the cabin after the ball.”

“Do you want to go to the cabin as well? I don’t mind taking you and your friends there after the ball.”

“We can’t just show up there. The sports teams own the cabin so you have to be invited by them.”

“What’s so special about that place then?”

“What do you think they do there?” She turned to me and rolled her eyes. I figured out what the cabin was used for when she mentioned who ran it but I needed her to get her confidence back at least.

“Do you want to make him and every other guy in there jealous?” I casually asked her with a slight shrug of my shoulders.

“How?” I had her attention now I guess.

“Magic. What’s the point of having it if you can’t have a little fun with it every now and then?” I suggested with a smile but she still looked confused. “Give me your specs.”

“What are you going to do?” She sounded a bit skeptical but I couldn’t blame her.

“Just trust me.” She slowly handed me her spectacles so I hung it over my front pocket. “Disparaître.” The item immediately vanished so I turned my attention to Taylor.

“My eyesight is kind of bad without my specs you know.” She informed me.

“Perfect Image.” I activated the spell on her. Her ruined makeup immediately became fixed with no sign of her ever crying tonight.

“What did you do to me?” She touched her face to feel the difference but there shouldn’t have been any. It was probably just tingling and sensitive because of the spell.

“Body Enhancement: Eyes.” I activated on her as well. “That should do it.”

“This is so cool. I can see perfectly.” She happily stated.

“Great. I put a spell on you that makes you look even more beautiful to everyone who sees you but the spell’s effect starts wearing off slowly after an hour. Your eyesight will return to it’s normal state tomorrow morning as well but I will keep your specs safe until then.” I informed her of everything the spells did and warned her so she just needed to remember that.

“It’s so dark but I can see clearly.” She was clearly more impressed by her newfound eyesight than anything else.

“Welcome to the real world.” I jokingly told her as I released a chuckle then stood up and turned to her.

“I’m supposed to be your date/bodyguard tonight so I owe you at least one dance. Can I have a dance?”

“Definitely.” She agreed. I offered her my arm and she immediately hooked hers.

“So does your mom know about Logan?” I asked as we made our way inside again.

“Hell no. If she knew about him then she’d literally have someone stalk him to see if he’s worthy of being with me.”

“She sounds a bit overprotective.”

“A bit?” Taylor’s question got us laughing as we entered the main hall. I immediately saw people staring at us and whispering to their friends, probably about Taylor. I ignored them and continued leading Taylor to the dancefloor where the DJ was thankfully playing a slow song. Dancing wasn’t really my strong suit and was mainly limited to ballroom so this played into my strengths.

“You ready?” I asked her while we positioned ourselves.

“Actually nervous right now.” She answered then released a slow breath.

“Just have fun with it.” I didn’t give her a chance to reply as I slowly started dancing. My movements were smooth but easy for her to follow and I was glad that she didn’t step on my feet but some of her movements could definitely use an improvement.

“If one of the athletes ask you to go to the cabin with him tonight then will you accept?” I hoped that I could get her mind off dancing with the question so that she could relax a little more and not be nervous anymore.

“All of them are pieces of shit so no.” Her reply got a smile out of me.

“10 minutes ago you were dreaming about being with one of them.” I reminded her.

“Yeah well Logan can go break a leg.”

“I’m pretty sure your mother would’ve had someone beat him up for breaking your heart. Still don’t want to tell her?”

“Nope and you can’t either.” She threatened me.

“Keeping something secret from your mom, I have some experience in that department.” This time I left her smiling.

“You and Becca looked like you were having a nice time at your house.” I wasn’t surprised that she changed the topic but I was surprised by the new conversation she wanted to have.

“I was just trying to keep her entertained. She said that she doesn’t get along with you and the rest of your friends that well.”

“Becca just travels too much with her parents so it’s hard to have a good relationship with someone who’s here today then gone tomorrow.”

“True. At least you girls aren’t excluding her from the group so that’s a good sign.”

“She’s fun to hangout with so she’ll always be welcomed in our group.”

“Time for the finale.” I informed her as I heard the song ending.

“Finale?” The visible confusion on her face was quickly replaced by fear once I spun her along the length of my arm before spinning her back again and draping her over my arm. Her scared expression brought a smile to my face as I brought her up again to stand in front of me once the song ended. I looked around and saw that we were only ones that were still dancing while everyone else stood on the edge of the dancefloor and cheered for us.

“Looks like you did a good job.” I whispered in her ear then turned to the crowd and gave them a bow. I released Taylor then began clapping for as well while she nervously smiled at all the attention she was getting. The DJ began playing upbeat music again so more people began entering the dancefloor and dancing with each other. I saw that Taylor’s friends had made their way to her so I decided to disappear into the crowd of dancing high school children. I went towards the non-alcoholic bar in the venue and got me a glass of juice then looked over at the tables where some people were still sitting and enjoying their conversations with each other while others sat alone and played with their cellphones.

I did notice one person in particular sitting alone at a table so I grabbed another glass of juice and made my way towards the table. I still kept an eye out for Taylor since I was still her bodyguard. She and her friends were engrossed in the sea of dancing teenagers and they looked to be having fun. I was glad that I was able to brighten up her mood at least.

“When you said that you didn’t really get along with them, I didn’t think that meant you sitting at a table while they’re having fun on the dancefloor.” My sudden presence didn’t surprise her even though she was sending a message to someone on her phone.

“You are a cheater.” I honestly didn’t expect that reply. I kind of expected some snarky reply or just a plain and simple ‘whatever’.

“What did I cheat at?” I asked as I sat down next to her then placed one of the glasses of juice on the table in front of her.

“You used magic to defeat me at chess earlier just like you used magic to do whatever you did to Taylor.” That explained things. I was relieved that it wasn’t something serious but now we could have a conversation at least.

“I didn’t need magic to defeat you at chess, I’m just better than you.” I cockily replied.

“Sure.” She sarcastically agreed then took a sip of the juice.

“You are sleeping over by my house tonight so we can have a rematch tomorrow morning while your brain is fresh, no that it will matter anyway.” I could see that she knew I was challenging her but she remained deadly calm. She switched her phone off and placed it on the table as she stared at the writhing bodies on the dancefloor. She was playing this extremely cool.

“Sounds fair to me.” She agreed then took another sip. “So besides cheating and belittling girls, what are your other hobbies?” Her arrogant smile immediately got me riled up but I wasn’t going to let it unsettle me. Two can play at that game.

“Reading, writing and sleeping I suppose. I do exercise regularly, you should try it sometime.” That quip had nothing to do with her weight. Her slender figure could actually use a bit more meat. I was just trying to figure out a way to get her unsettled. The slight twitching of her left eye told me that I was getting through somehow.

“Besides alienating yourself from your friends and trying to prove that you’re smarter than boys, what are your other hobbies?”

“Same as yours but not as boring. I like shopping and going out but also staying indoors and watching movies.”

“RomCom?”

“Stereotypical much?”

“I was just trying to figure out which movies you can take me to go watch.”

“And I would take you out because…?”

“As a reward for defeating you tomorrow morning.”

“God you’re an ass.” That left me chuckling. Despite our banter, I was actually enjoying our conversation.

“You’re not exactly easy to get along with yourself.”

“You’ve clearly never had a girlfriend.” She suddenly stated. It’s true but I still wanted to know her reasoning.

“What makes you say that?”

“It shows.” Her smile began brightening but she refused to look at me.

“I am married though, see.” I pulled up my necklace to show her my ‘wedding ring’.

“That’s an earring.” She pointed out.

“It’s symbolic.”

“Of what? Your virginity?” I had to stop myself from laughing as I looked at her confident body language now. She clearly didn’t know who I was or what I had been through.

“Wow, tough talk from a girl who can’t even talk to guy without insulting him. Did you create this charming personality before or after you realized you’d never get a boyfriend?” There’s that twitch again. I guess I really was unsettling her.

“What’s up with the weird butterfly? Wearing it won’t prove you have a sensitive side that girls might like.” That’s where I had to draw the line. The butterfly on my chain was more than just a piece of jewelry so I wasn’t going to allow anyone to badmouth it.

“It’s just a weird butterfly.” I quickly drained my glass then stood up. “I need a refill so I will see you later.” Her confusion was evident but she didn’t stop me from leaving. I put my glass down at an empty table and decided to go to the bathroom first. It was empty when I entered it but someone entered as I washed my hands. I looked in the mirror and saw someone I actually wanted to talk to.

“Logan right?” I asked him as he used the urinal. He had his back turned towards me while I watched him in the mirror.

“Yeah.” He tiredly answered. He took out a small flask and took a gulp of what I could only assume was alcohol while he relieved himself. He really was an ass.

“You going up to the cabin later?”

“Hell yeah.”

“You mind if I bring 3 juniors? They’re hot and they want to party.”

“Bring all the girls you can. It’s going to get wild. I already got my two blondes for tonight but I can do more.” He laughed as he zipped up his pants then made his way towards the sink.

“Effacer Mémoire.” I activated the spell once he was next to me.

“What did you just say?” He turned to me and I immediately gave him a headbutt. “Son of a bitch. Fuck!” He cried out in pain as he laid on the bathroom floor covering his bleeding nose. I took out his small flask then quickly emptied out the rest of the liquid on him. He wasn’t going to remember any of this but if someone was suspicious then they would just think he was drunk and fell in the bathroom.

“That was for being a dick.” I dropped his flask on him then casually walked out of the bathroom.

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