I was positive my eyes were as wide as saucers. “Admit I have feelings for him? No way!”
“He might react in a completely different way than what you think.”
I shook my head. “He can’t stand me.”
“That’s not true.”
“Well, he certainly doesn’t look at me like he likes me in that way. I mean, if I ever admitted I had feelings for him, and he told me he didn’t feel the same, it would…” I exhaled and closed my eyes. “It would break my heart, Kristin. I’ve tried for so long to forget him. To forget that every time he walks into the same room as me, my heart feels like it skips a beat. Or my stomach does a nosedive. And the rare times he does give me that smile with his dimple, butterflies dance in my stomach. Gah! I wish I didn’t feel this way about him. There have been plenty of guys I could have dated and slept with to forget about Lucas, but I’m always comparing them to him. What is wrong with me?”
“You’re in love with him.”
I groaned. “Stupid, stupid, heart!”
Kristin sat up and an evil grin spread on her face. “Put a spell on him.”
I stared at her for a few moments before I busted out laughing. “I think you have me confused with Sarah. She’s the witch.”
Kristin shook her head. “Hollie, you have the power in you. I know you do.”
“Have you lost your mind?” I asked. “Did you spike the tea?”
Kristin jumped up and went over to my bookshelf. She ran her fingers along the spines until she found the book she was looking for. She walked back over and held it up.
“What are you doing with our old journal?” I asked.
She started to fumble through the pages and stopped at one. “Once upon a time, you were interested in the craft, Hollie. I don’t know what changed. I have an idea, but once upon a time, you believed. I think, deep down inside, you still do, and you have a gift. Use it.”
“Kristin, I don’t have any gifts except knowing how to throw a good party.”
Shaking her head, she looked up at me. “You do things without even noticing you do them.”
Frowning, I asked, “What kinds of things?”
Looking up from the journal, she said, “Answer questions before they are even asked.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “I do not.”
“Yes, you do. I can’t tell you how many times you’ve done it with me, your parents, other people… At first, I thought it was just a coincidence. Then it kept happening, and one time, I was thinking of asking you if I could wear that royal blue dress of yours, and you just said, ‘Of course, you can wear it.’”
Shaking my head, I replied, “You asked me if you could wear it.”
“No, I asked in my head, and you answered.”
I blinked a few times at her before I folded my arms over my chest. “You probably didn’t realize you asked it out loud.”
She rolled her eyes and looked back down at the journal. “Today is another example. You said you felt Lucas at the shop before you even saw him. What about the time I cut my hand, and I couldn’t get to the phone, and you showed up at my place right before I passed out? I asked what you were doing there, and you said you had a feeling something bad had happened.”
I chewed on my thumbnail. It was true. I had a weird intuition on some things. All I could do was shrug.
Kristin shook her head and kept reading until finally coming to a stop and turning the book so I could see it.
“I think this is the spell we wrote to make Johnny Harris like me. Remember?”
I laughed. “We were, like, twelve.”
“Come on, let’s just try it. If you truly don’t believe in it, then no harm. All you want is for Lucas to just show you a bit of interest. Then you can do it from there. I do suggest you wear some shirts that show a bit more cleavage.”
Shaking my head, I stood. “No.”