Little Red Gem (16 page)

Rose petals were not the
easiest things to sort. They either got stuck to my fingers or they
tore apart. Still, I peeled off seven petals and rubbed oil into
the rest.

“
Crush the cinnamon stick
and place it in the burning charcoal with the scented rose petals.
No, not those ones, the ones you placed the oil on. Okay, now focus
your heart to take in love. A good way to focus is to stare into
the flame.”

I looked intently into the
flame and was overcome by memories of the last night Leo and I were
together. The log cabin had a fireplace. I hadn’t set foot inside
the cabin to see it, but the scent of burning wood had tickled my
nostrils from outside. I remembered the vibrant laughter of the
boys coming from inside the cabin and the stab of jealousy that had
coursed through me. Had I asked Teri to cast the wrong spell when
what I really wanted was to reverse time? If I could have gone back
to that night, I’d have handled things differently. I wouldn’t have
acted jealous or angry. I’d have done the golden light breathing
exercise and had a strong cup of honeyed tea to calm me down. I
certainly wouldn’t have blown up at Leo for lying about drinking.
And I wouldn’t have demanded that he prove the depths of his love
to me.

Wouldn’t I?

My reverie was broken by
Teri recanting the spell. “Write the word ‘love’ in gold ink on the
seven petals you put aside earlier.”

“
Are you serious?” If
carefully peeling seven rose petals between my fingers was bad
enough, writing on them was next to impossible. “Are you sure there
isn’t a magic potion?”

“
I’m sure. Now, when
you’re done, float the petals gently in the bowl of
water.”

Don’t ask me how I
managed, but I wrote the word ‘love’ on seven paper-thin petals and
placed them in the bowl, half expecting something to happen, like
smoldering smoke, flashes of lightning, fireworks, a frog turning
into a prince, heck I’d have settled for a frog in the garden
outside croaking. Absolutely nothing happened and I felt beyond
cheated.

“
Sit in the circle and
breathe in the scent of rose and cinnamon,” Teri instructed. “Take
time to centre yourself and build up charged energy. Open your
hands, open your heart, and repeat your request seven times with
genuine feeling. Repeat after me, ‘Oh Anael, Angel of
Venus’.”

“
Oh Anael, Angel of
Venus.”

“
I call upon you to fill
me with love, that I may feel a joyous heart.”

“
I call upon you to fill
me with love, that I may feel a joyous heart.”

“
I ask that I may share
this love with another who will come to me of his free
will.”

I sighed loudly, as loud
as water gushing out of a burst seal of a dam wall might
sound.

“
Audrey!”

“
Okay.” Reluctantly I
repeated the chant, and I was genuinely surprised when an energy I
could best describe as a warm glow traveled around inside my
body.

“
Together we shall know
the beauty of a loving union. I ask this for the highest good of
all.”

Teri coached me in
repeating the spell and at the end of the seventh chant of
“Together we shall know the beauty of a loving union. I ask this
for the highest
good of all”, she told me
to say “thank you”. I did, and because she then told me blow out
the candles I did that as well. After a brief further instruction
from Teri, I closed the cord clockwise and took the water outside
to pour into the earth of our little garden.

“
We’re done,” Teri said
when I reappeared in the kitchen.

“
What now? I sit around
and wait for this universe business to take effect?”

She smiled wistfully. “It
will happen if it’s meant to.”

“
It had freaking well
better,” I grumbled to myself on my way up to my room.

***

The thing about charms was
they were like an invisible essence, remaining invisible until an
act of conversation or magic made them visible. In all the time I’d
known Leo he’d never spoken a word to Audrey.
I’d
hardly spoken a word to her and
she and I were related by blood. So I was a little worried that
neither the magic charm (the spell) nor the real charm (my
flirtatious efforts) would work. Teri had said the love spell would
need a few days. She’d also said I wouldn’t need the water from the
spell bowl, but I couldn’t be too sure I didn’t, so while I’d
tipped the water in the bowl out into the herb garden, I’d poured a
tiny bit into a vial that Teri used to store ground up fairy dust
or eye of newt or whatever.

Now, rummaging around
inside my school jacket pocket my hand tightened around the plastic
vial. As soon as I touched it my insides glowed. Forget about
spells and wishes, this part of the plan called for good
old-fashioned manipulation.

Leo’s first period was in
the red-brick building identical to every other building except
that it had a giant B on its front facing wall. I knew this because
I’d memorized Leo’s timetable back to front, which meant our paths
wouldn’t cross till lunch so for the entire morning I was stuck in
the red-brick identical in every way except that this building was
marked as C block. The cafeteria sat somewhere in the middle of the
two, inside a U-shaped building with a faculty lounge and an
administration office. In the middle of the U were about twenty
outdoor tables, chairs, and a few bricked-in gardens. The school
was built so long ago it hardly resembled a place to inspire
learning anymore.

Today, Leo was seated at a
table closest to the elm tree which provided shade better than the
plastic umbrellas pitched above the plastic tables. He wasn’t
alone. His two best friends, Simon and Thomas, were standing on top
of the table, locked together inside a bubble of animated
conversation. Leo’s expression appeared lost, though it could have
been because he was staring up at the tree. I hurried over before
the cackle of cheerleaders I spied at the water cooler arrived and
stole my boyfriend.

Standing before Leo, I was
suddenly unable to speak. In front of Leo sat a tray with an
untouched burger and fries. Also in front of him sat a can of Coke.
Interesting. If I could slip the potion in through the small
mouth-hole.

Leo looked up and a
flicker of surprise crossed his face. “Hi,” he said.

My voice was thick.
“Hi.”

His eyes rounded when his
face registered something else. Recognition? Fear? He pulled his
head back a few inches and studied me and my heart hammered inside
my chest. Was he searching for his beloved Ruby?
I’m here.

“
I know you, don’t I?” he
asked.

I bit my lower lip, the
nerves were increasing. I’d rarely been this close to Leo without
touching or kissing him.

“
I’m Ruby’s sister,
Audrey. We met in the music room the other day. Plus, I saw you at
Ruby’s funeral.” Now that I’d found my voice, I couldn’t reign it
in. “Well, I’m her half-sister technically. Her dad is my dad. Only
my mom changed back to her maiden name, Adams, so you’d never know
we were sisters. Well, half-sisters technically.”

Jeez, I hated being
fifteen.

Jeez, I hated the word
jeez.

Leo clicked his fingers
together. “Yeah, sure. This week has been a bit of a blur for me,
but I recognize you, of course I do. I’m sorry for your
loss.”

“
I’m sorry for your loss
more.”

Leo scooted over a few
inches and patted the empty space on the seat beside him. I quickly
occupied it. Simon and Thomas chose this moment to check back into
the scene, and they jumped down to stare at me with half smiles. I
didn’t get what was so amusing.

“
You eating those?” Simon
grabbed a handful of fries off Leo’s plate and shoved them into his
mouth.

Leo pushed the plate
toward him. “Knock yourself out.”

Thomas snuck a few fries
and asked, “So are we gonna practice this weekend or
what?”

Leo shrugged his
shoulders.

Simon chewed and reached
for the Coke can. “I’m not saying you gotta move on, far from it,
but music is useful in the healing process. Maybe he’ll listen to
you,” he said, winking at me. “Tell him he should express his loss
through music.”

Ordinarily I’d have agreed
with his logic. Not today. “Leo should do what his heart tells him.
And if he doesn’t believe he should be rehearsing, he
shouldn’t.”

Simon laughed. “You’re not
supposed to take his side.”

“
You idiot,” said Thomas.
“She’s a female of the opposite sex. What’d you expect her to
say?”

Simon winked again and I
couldn’t stop the blush rising to my cheeks. “She is a fine example
of a female of the opposite sex.”

Damn Audrey’s teenage
hormones. I was supposed to detest the two guys Leo would rather
spend the rest of his life with, instead I found them charming.
Meanwhile, I watched the perfect moment to tip my vial of love
potion into Leo’s drink get gobbled up quicker than the fries when
Thomas swiped the can. He downed the contents in one go and managed
to drive away all thoughts I’d had of him being charming when he
let out an ear-shattering burp.

Leo scowled. “I hadn’t
finished that.”

Thomas grinned then lifted
Simon up by the scruff of his collar and dragged him toward the
exit. Thomas was laughing as he tapped his chest with his fist.
“Come and get me then, loser. I dare you.”

Leo watched the boys
disappear with very little interest registering on his face. I was
glad I hadn’t poured the contents of the vial into the can and
inadvertently made myself the object of Thomas’s desire.

“
Where are they going?” I
asked.

“
Music room. We’ve got a
gig in two weeks.”

“
Oh. Shouldn’t you
rehearse with them?”

With his fingers he
flicked the top of the can on the table, causing it to spin. When
it stopped, he repeated the action and became absorbed in watching
the can spin. “Nah. They don’t get my need to write something
else.”

“
What do you want to
write?” I asked, my mood suddenly lifting. I was on such a high,
sitting beside Leo talking the way we used to talk. This was the
most ‘me’ I’d felt in ages.

He looked me dead on, and
then looked away. “I want to write…meaningful songs.”

I giggled. “You mean love
songs?”

“
No. Anyway, even if I
did, I don’t think I could ever write a love song. Not now. Maybe
not ever.”

“
Not even for the Reach
For The Stars auditions?” I asked, hoping this would bring a little
cheer to his face. It didn’t. His face sagged the way if had at my
funeral and I was immediately sorry I’d broached the
subject.

“
Ruby and I had a bet on
who of us could write the best love song,” he said
softly.

I nodded like I hadn’t
known this already. “You can still enter. Dedicate the song to her
memory.”

“
It hurts too much. I keep
expecting her to walk through the door.” Leo flicked his gaze to
the entry way and I found my eyes following. His demeanor suddenly
changed. “I didn’t know Ruby had a half-sister. She never spoke
about her family, except for her mother.”

“
Ruby and I aren’t exactly
close. I tell myself it’s because we’re nothing alike, but the
truth is I avoid her out of loyalty for my mom.”

“
You referred to Ruby in
the present tense.”

Yikes. I pretended to
smooth invisible creases in my dress. “Did I?”

His eyes lit up slightly.
“It’s okay. I like it. Everyone keeps saying I’m young and I’ll get
over this. They’re wrong. I’ll never get over her and I’ll never
move on.”

I expected a heavy weight
to lift off my shoulders, but I was just as despondent as
before.

“
I’m more depressed than
ever,” Leo whispered.

“
That’s
understandable.”

The bell rang, ripping me
away from our moment of shared insight. The ringing got so loud, it
wasn’t until it stopped that I remembered I hadn’t given Leo the
love potion. But we’d been talking the way we used to that a part
of me believed I no longer needed to. We had our own magic going
on.

Leo pushed himself up and
dragged his feet toward C block. I jumped up and almost lunged
myself at him.

“
Any time you wanna talk,”
I blurted out. “I mean like after school or something. About
anything. Or nothing.”

He hesitated and when he
turned around I saw he looked slightly embarrassed. “Sorry about
what I said before. I shouldn’t be dumping that stuff on
you.”

“
It’s okay. That’s what
friends are for.”

He nodded. “I guess we can
hang out. Come to my house after school. I’ll give you the address
and my phone number.”

I already knew them both,
but I dived into my backpack to retrieve my phone anyway. The
screen was blank. Great. I’d killed Teri’s phone too. What was it
with me and phones? I pretended to punch his details into my phone.
Then Leo said goodbye and walked toward C block. I had no choice
but to walk along the corridor that led to my next class in A
block. The gap between us grew so big I might as well have just
gotten off a spaceship that had landed on Mars.