Love Struck (12 page)

I put the key in the ignition and got a little rush as the engine started. Then I pushed down on the gas pedal and before I knew it, I was whizzing past store after store. The Gap and H&M on my right, Pacific Sunwear on my left, and, fast-approaching, was a jewelry kiosk right where my go-kart was headed. I tried to swerve, but I wasn't quite there yet with my driving, and I smashed straight into it.

Luckily, I didn't knock it over, but there was jewelry everywhere. There wasn't any time to spare so, instead of cleaning up, I just kept going.

I passed the food court. And Courtney. She had a soda can in her hand. I grabbed it and kept driving. I deserved a beverage.

Then I passed a soft-serve machine that was calling out to me. So I just put my mouth underneath the spout, pulled the lever, and let the ice cream drip straight in. It was like a dream come true!

When I passed the music store, I saw a frozen Cole and Gabi. They were sharing headphones, listening to something. I went right inside and looked to see what was playing. Some sappy Mara's Daughters love song!

No way. Not on my watch.

I took the headphones off of Gabi's head and pulled her to her own station. She seemed to weigh a lot more frozen. But the floor was slippery, so I was able to slide her most of the way. Then I went back to Cole. I had to change his song selection. I did a search for the word
angel
. Something by Jimi Hendrix came up. I wasn't quite sure who he was, but I didn't care. As long as the name Angel was pumping into Cole's head, I was happy. He needed to think about me.

I raced back to my go-kart and drove right into Bloomingdale's to the teen section where I had seen my mom. She wasn't there. But I could tell she had been. Clothes were strewn all over the place.

I drove past the shoes and the purses, basically following a trail of destruction. I finally spotted her and Lou at the perfume counters. I parked and moved in closer to hear what they were saying.

“What do you think?” Mom asked him, misting one fragrance into the air. “Like this one?”

“Nice,” Lou said.

“
Nice?
I want better than nice. Maybe this one then?” Mom questioned, picking up a different perfume. This one she sprayed on her wrist and ran it under Lou's nose.

“Mmm,” he said.

“That's better,” Mom answered. “I wonder if Lance will like it, too.” She was totally taunting Lou—trying to make him jealous.

“Why do you care about him?” Lou asked, dropping Mom's bundles of clothes onto the counter. “I'm the one with powers. He's nothing special.”

“Nothing special?” Mom said. “Everyone is in this mall because they came to see him. That makes him pretty powerful in my book. How many people are here to see you?” Her voice was teasing, but Lou wasn't laughing.

“You want to see how many?” he asked. “Just watch. Remember that guy I granted the wish for? The one who wanted the magic bag? The one you were being all flirty with? Well, I'll do the same thing for the whole mall. Grant them all wishes. Then they'll be begging for
my
attention. And every single one of their souls will be mine. Then you'll see who's all-powerful.” He stormed out of the store.

I cringed. I did not like where this was going.

I followed him out. Lou waved his hand toward the wall. Moments later, a sign was emblazoned there. A sign encircled with flames. It said MAKE A WISH.

Then he snapped again and everyone came back to life. “Step right up,” Lou called to everyone around. “It's your chance of a lifetime. Star in a documentary where I make your wish come true. Whatever you want. Yours for the asking. Step right up.”

Now, me personally, if I had seen a sign made of fire and a man offering me my heart's desire, I'd have been spooked.

Apparently I would have been in the minority. Because Reid wasn't the only one dumb enough to fall for my father's claims. A line immediately started forming. It even rounded the corner. People were jumping at the chance to have Lou make their dreams come true. To be in his documentary. To be “soul-ed out.”

I didn't know what to do. My body just stood there motionless as the first man walked up to Lou.

“I want to win the lottery,” the guy said.

“No problem,” Lou answered, patting him on the back. “Just sign the waiver.”

The man took the pen. He didn't even read what he was signing. I'm sure at the bottom in very small print was wording that gave away his soul.

Although, I have to admit, I've done that, too. Not given away my soul, but signed without reading. All those computer games. They have a million rules and regulations. I never bother to look at them all. If I survived today, that was going to change.

“So these are really the winning numbers?” the man asked, clutching onto a lotto ticket.

“That's right,” Lou said. “After tonight you'll be a mega-millionaire.”

“I guess I don't lose anything either way,” the guy said, stuffing the ticket into his pocket.

He was definitely wrong. He just lost big time.

“Next,” Lou said with a sweeping gesture.

Max shuffled up to my father.

Not Max!
If anyone's soul didn't belong in the underworld, it was Max Richardson's. Even if he
had
thrown a book at me. How was I supposed to stop this?

“And what can I do for you?” Lou asked Max. “What's your secret desire? Your biggest wish? Anything you want is yours!”

Max swayed back and forth on his feet and looked down. “Well . . . ,” he said.

“Go on,” Lou pressed.

“Well, I wish Angel would love me.”

“NO!” I screamed. “Wait. Don't grant that.”

The love spell was supposed to be over. No one was supposed to be crazy in love with me anymore or care what I thought about them. I looked around at the crowd. None of them did. None of them even noticed I was there.

No! This wasn't the result of powers, this was the result of Max's monster crush. “Max,” I pleaded, “this is not what you want. You were just joking, right?”

Max couldn't even look at me and his shoulders slumped more than usual. “But you must hate me after everything I said to you today. I need to fix that.”

“I don't hate you,” I told him.

“But I threw a book at you before!” he screamed. “I don't even know why I did it. There's no way you'd ever like me now . . .” His voice trailed off.

“It's okay,” I said. “I forgive you.”

“She's probably just saying that,” Lou said. “I'd sign the waiver and make the wish just to be safe.”

Some dad.

“Lou, can we talk for a second?” I said. I wanted to take his arm and drag him off. But I was afraid to touch him. He might have sliced off my hand.

“What?” he asked, stepping a few feet away from Max.

“Don't do this to me. I'm your sister. You don't want your sister under a love spell.”

“A wish is a wish,” he said. “What do I care?”

“Because I have powers, too. And if I'm under a spell, who knows what I'd do in the name of Max? Maybe I'd try to make him the ruler of the underworld.”

“Then I'd just undo it. You barely know how to use your powers. You're not much of a threat. Besides, even with powers, that kid could never beat me.”

We both looked at Max. He had both of his hands covering his face, and he was shaking his head back and forth. Lou had a point.

“Maybe not. But why would you want the extra headache? Wouldn't it just be simpler to ignore his wish? Come on,” I pleaded. “Do it for your favorite sister.” I gave him a big smile.

“Fine,” he relented. “If it means not having to deal with you anymore then I won't grant it.” He rolled his eyes. “You're quite a pain.”

Huh . . . I had to admit, I was surprised by how much Lou's words bothered me. Lou never got fed up with me before. He liked having me around.

“All right, kid,” Lou said, moving back to Max. “Make another wish. Nothing to do with her.”

“Umm,” Max said, making sure not to look in my direction. His face was pretty red. “How about I never have to go to school again, and I get paid millions to play video games all day.”

“No problem,” Lou handed him a pen. “Just sign the waiver.”

“Don't do it, Max,” I said, pushing his hand away.

Lou glared at me, but I didn't care. This was Max. I didn't want to date him, but that didn't mean I didn't care about him.

“But I want to stay home from school, and I love video games,” he mumbled.

“Well,” I answered. “You say you love me, too, right? But if you really do, you won't sign that paper. If you care about me at all, you'll just walk away. Go home.”

Max's face got redder as he glanced from Lou to me. His expression was a combination of embarrassment and feeling torn.

“Don't listen to her,” Lou said. “She's doesn't even like you. She doesn't care about what's best for you.”

“That's not true, Max. Please go.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

His mouth fell open a little as he looked at my fingers over his.

“Please,” I said again.

He nodded. “Oh . . . okay . . .” He handed Lou his pen and turned and left.

Thank God.

One soul saved. One zillion more to go.

“Don't you ever interfere with one of my deals again. Do you understand me? I've been very nice to you, but I'm getting tired of it. I have important work to do.” Lou's normally light eyes turned pitch-black.

I stood my ground. “What you're doing isn't right. This isn't you—not anymore.” Even if Lou still wasn't perfect, he was better than the guy standing in front of me now.

“You don't know anything about me. I never even met you until this morning.”

His memory lapse was more than annoying. It was dangerous. “Fine. You're right. But these people at the mall, you don't want their souls. Don't you want scary, evil people? These guys are good.” At least I figured they were. Most of them anyway.

“I'll take any soul I can get. I'm going to build up my team—make the underworld a powerful place. Show everyone”—he looked toward the store where he had left my mom—“how no one can compare to me. It's going to be awe-inspiring.”

The sound of his voice, the excitement there, I had never heard him so happy. Not even when I said I'd let him in my life.

“I need a huge team, masses of people to do whatever I want,” Lou went on.

“This is crazy,” I said.

“No.” He shook his head. “This is fun. And it's just the beginning.”

Lou loved his life. He loved what he was doing. How did you talk someone out of following their dream? Even if it's a demented dream.

“Make a wish. Just get in line.” That voice caught my attention. Not just because it was recruiting people for the devil. But because it was my mother's.

“Mom!” I called out. But she didn't even look my way. Which made sense. She didn't consider herself a mother. “Tammi . . . I mean Maggie,” I called out.

She guided people out of Bloomingdale's and toward the end of the line. Then she made her way over to me. Well, over to Lou, to be exact.

She winked at my father. “I decided to help you.”

“Maggie!” I shrieked.

“What?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder, then gave me an annoyed look.

“What?” I repeated. “How can you help him?” I wanted to shake her.

“Why wouldn't I? His powers can do incredible things.”

“Sure. But at what price?”

She rolled her eyes at me. ROLLED her eyes! “Will you lighten up? It's not hurting anyone.”

“Are you kidding me?” I yelled. “It's hurting them all. He's taking their souls.”

“Whatever,” she said. “He's giving them what they want, why shouldn't he get something in return?”

Was this really my mother? The same woman who made sweetness serums? Who cleansed auras? Whose best friend was the third face on her totem pole that warded off evil spirits? She wouldn't help the devil hurt people. Not knowingly. She had to have thought the soul thing was a joke. If she needed me to spell it out for her, I would.

“Mo—Maggie, have you forgotten that Lou is the devil?”

She winked at him. “I remember.”

Okay, I knew Lou had used some hocus-pocus to make her understanding of powers and the supernatural, but this was
too
understanding.

Mom smiled at Lou. “I think it's kind of hot.”

It was
me
who had forgotten.
This
Mom liked bad boys.

“And y'know,” she said, “it doesn't mean he's evil. He's nicer to me than my so-called friends. You should have seen what happened to me during cheerleading practice yesterday.”

Mom had been a cheerleader? She never told me that.

“Kristin Temblin intentionally dropped me from the top of the pyramid. I fell right in a big puddle of mud. And instead of rushing to my side, everyone laughed. Hello! I know Kristin did it on purpose, too. She was just mad that I told her she was too fat to be on the top. Plus she's always been jealous of me. I can't help it if all the boys like me best.”

Oh. My. God. My mom was Courtney Lourde.

The woman who raised me would have been the same girl who tortured me in the lunch room if we had been classmates.

“I have an idea!” Mom clapped her hands together and turned to Lou. “I can totally pay Kristin back—with your help! Give her a face full of zits. Make her break out into the hokey-pokey anytime someone says her name. Or better yet oink like a pig. Will you help me?” She batted her eyelashes at Lou.