Potionate Love (2 page)

Swallowing down a
lump, I nodded.

"
A'ight
," she said, twisting to pick up scissors from a
table next to us.

Before I could say
anything, she snipped two of my fingernails. Then sweeping my shoulder length
hair back, she took a lock from the nape and cut it off too.

Coming out of my
stunned shock, I glanced at my friends and saw them as surprised as me.

"Hopefully,
that won't show," I joked. "I'll never get Ronny to take me to the
dance if I have a bald spot. Potion or no potion."

Nathan scowled.
"If you
wanna
go to the dance so bad, Istanbul,
I guess I could force myself to take you."

"Thanks,"
I said through clenched teeth, trying to tamp down the kernels of hurt his
words caused. He had to
force
himself?

"Yeah,"
he continued. "You clean up okay. You wouldn't be a total
embarrassment."

The kernel popped
like Orville Redenbacher's in a microwave. "Wow, what a fantastic
offer," I retorted. "But I wouldn't want you to lose your
creds
with the other geeks. I know you guys only date
supermodels."

"It's
okay," he said with a smirk. "Any sacrifice for a friend."

Reaching up, I
gave a yank to a clump of his hair. "I wouldn't be seen on a date with
anybody who had a messy mop like this."

"
Oww
," he protested, rubbing his head. "
Sheesh
. Are you trying to give me a bald spot to match
yours?"

Aunt
Vandi
, peering down her long nose, contemplated Nathan and
me for a few moments before making
a
tut
tut
clucking noise with her tongue.

"I take these
to make potion.
Beeback
." With that she swept
through a beaded curtain and disappeared into the bowels of the house.

About five minutes
passed with Nathan harping at me and me sniping in response.

"Honestly you
two,"
Gracella
said. "If you don't knock it
off, I'll leave you here and you can get back to town through the
gator-infested marsh."

As she finished
the last word, her aunt stepped back into the room. Aunt
Vandi
walked past Nathan, and he jumped, startled.

"What is it,
bohbo
? You act
like I may turn you into toad or
sompin
."

"
Hehe
." Nathan tried to laugh.

Aunt
Vandi
stopped in front of me and held up a capped vial.
Inside was a brownish red powdery substance. "
Dis
potion. It make this Ronny guy take you to the dance and it bring you love.
Dis
what you want?"

I nodded, and took
the vial with trembling fingers.

"Take
care
no one but your guy swallows
dis
mixture."

"Swallows?"

Nathan snickered.
A genuine laugh this time.

Duh, Tina.
Somehow it hadn't occurred to
me I was going to have to get Ronny to
take
the love potion.

* *
* * *

Gracella
held one side of the sign against the lip of the
table as I held the other. Applying a piece of the tape, I affixed my side
before standing back to take a look. The signed screamed in block letters:
Lacrosse Team Fundraiser Bake Sale.
Brownies $1
.

We'd set up in a
corner of the cafeteria, and a few pre-lunch students milled around us, eyeing
our progress. On the table, we had three-dozen brownies. Each had been wrapped
in plastic and decorated with a slender ribbon bow. The ribbons were red and
blue on the
normal brownies.
We'd
decorated two
special
love
potion-filled brownies with yellow ribbon and then hidden them safely inside a
picnic basket.

"Tell me
again why we have two s
pecial
brownies?"
Gracella
asked.

"We have a
spare, just in case something happens to one."

"Like
what?"

"Like it
falls to the ground."

"This isn't
going to work."
Gracella
shook her head and
wrung her hands.

"It will
work," I said, arranging the brownies in precise spaces on the table.
"Our target loves brownies. I've noticed him getting one every time they
have them in the lunch line."

"Why would we
be fundraising for the lacrosse team? We aren't on the team, and we aren't on
the insipid cheer squad."

"So? Anybody
can have school spirit," I defended. "It's common knowledge the
school board cut funding for athletics and everything but football is
suffering. Besides, we'll actually donate the money, so we aren't cheating
anyone."

"What if
Ronny doesn't eat lunch inside today?"
Gracella
asked.

"
Shhhhh
," I whispered. "Don't say his name. Just
say target."

"Okay, what
if the target—"

"He
has to
eat lunch inside. If he doesn't,
we're walking the halls with the brownie until we find him. The dance is
tonight. This is the last chance."

Gracella
frowned, and her lips formed a pout. "How do
we sell these things?"

Pushing past her
with a huff, I swiped one of the trays from the table and put two brownies on
it before thrusting the tray at her. "Just hold this out and say, '
Would
you like to buy a brownie? Only a dollar to support
the lacrosse team.' Can you remember that?"

"Maybe I
should write it down." She glared at me, hands on hips. "Of course, I
can remember that."

When the bell for
lunch period rang, we were inundated with customers. We quickly got down to our
last dozen brownies.

"Crap,"
I said when we reached a lull. "I didn't think we'd sell this many. What
if we run out of cover brownies before he shows up? Sell slower. Let's raise
the price."

Nodding,
Gracella
got out a sharpie and was drawing a line through
the dollar price when Nathan sauntered up.

"Poison Ronny
yet?" he asked with a chuckle.

"
Shhhhh
." Scanning the nearby students, I didn't see
anyone who seemed to have heard him. I grabbed his arm. "I'm warning you,
Nathan. Shut
the frig
up or else. Don't mess this up
for me."

"Okay,
okay," he said, twisting out of my grip and throwing his arms up in
surrender. "I'll be good."

He walked over to
the table. "Can I have one of these things?"

"Oh all
right," I said, waving in his direction.

I began to worry.
What if Ronny didn't show up? I'd discounted
Gracella's
comment earlier, but we were getting to the end of the lunch period and he
still hadn't come in.

"I'm not
gonna
get a tainted one am I?" Nathan picked a brownie
with a blue ribbon and eyed it.

"No, of
course not. Those are hidden."

At my answer,
Nathan opened the wrapping and stuck the entire thing into his mouth.

Just then, Ronny
entered through the cafeteria's swinging doors. My heart leaped into my throat
before racing as if I'd started a fifty-meter dash. Whirling on my heel and
giving an excited hop, I ran to the table and opened the basket.

"He's
here," I whispered to
Gracella
as I got out the
two yellow ribbon brownies and put them on my tray. "This is it. Keep
Nathan busy so he doesn't interfere."

She nodded, and I
turned back only to see the target had passed us and was on his way toward the
lunch line.

"Ronny,"
I called in a panic. "Fundraiser for the lacrosse team?"

He glanced over
his shoulder. Tossing his blond hair back and out of his eyes with one motion,
his brows converged in confusion. "Fundraiser?"

"We're
selling brownies."

"Brownies?"
He smiled and crossed to me as he inspected the contents of the tray. Then he
examined my face. "Do I know you?"

"Yeah."

"You aren't
on the girls' team are you?"

"Team?"

"Lacrosse."

"No. I'm in
the science club."

He frowned.

Stupid, Tina.
He can't understand why you're doing this.

I hastened to add,
"But I love to go to the games and it's a real shame about all the funding
that was cut."

"Yeah."
Nodding, Ronny thrust a hand in each of his pockets. After digging around, he
shrugged. "Sorry. I don't have any money today."

He started to walk
away. Damn, damn, damn.

"That's
okay," I said before he could take more than two steps. "Brownie's on
me."

He turned back.
"Really?"

"It's for a
good cause."

"Hey,"
he said, taking one brownie and appearing to toast me with it.
"Thanks."

"You're more
than welcome." Relieved, I smiled and placed the tray on the table.

He pulled off the
yellow ribbon, opened the plastic and took a bite. After making a yummy sound,
he swallowed. "I love brownies."

"I
know."

"What?"

"I mean
that's good."

After he finished
off the brownie, he gave me a half smile.

Woohooo
. The love potion was already working.

"I know where
I've seen you before," Ronny said. "Math class. You're the girl who
always knows the answers."

Better to be known
as the beautiful one, but at least he'd noticed me. No need to be choosey.

"I've been
wanting to talk to you about something," he continued.

"What?"

"Well."
He glanced around him. "It's kind of a long story. Can we meet somewhere
later?"

Omigod
, that brownie was a miracle. He'd already asked me
out.

"A
date?" I said, trying to keep my excitement hidden but failing completely.
Be cool, Tina.

"
Ummm
." He glanced around again before turning back to
me. "Okay. A date. But I'm not sure where we should..."

"How about
the Science Fair Fiesta Dance?"
Way
to be cool
.

He blinked.
"Why not?" He grinned. "How about if I meet you out in front of
the school about seven?"

He's not going to pick me up?
was
my first thought.
Don't
look a gift jock in the mouth. At least he's going to the dance with you,
was
my second thought.

"Yeah,
sure," I said.

 
"See you there," he tossed
over his shoulder as he walked away.

With an excited
wiggle, I ran over to
Gracella
who was selling a
brownie a few feet away. I clutched her arm mid sale, and her tray of brownies
spilled.

"Hey—"

"Never mind
those," I said as the customer gave a disgusted huff and stalked off.
"Ronny asked me to the dance."

"You're
kidding." She jumped up and down, giving a little clap. "That's
great. Wow that was fast. Now we can rub it into Nathan that we told him
so."

In concert, we
turned to the bake sale table and saw Nathan stuffing another brownie into his
face. Three wrappers lay abandoned on the tabletop: three pieces of plastic, a
blue ribbon, a red ribbon and
..
.
a
yellow ribbon.
The
yellow ribbon.

"Oh my God.
Nathan what have you done?" I exclaimed.

He gawped at us as
he swallowed the last of it. "What?"

* *
* * *

Pushing open the
door to the boys' restroom, I yelled, "Make yourself throw it up."

A freshman washing
his hands at the sink, reeled back as if I'd struck him. Staring at me
goggle-eyed, he quickly fumbled with the faucet handles to shut off the running
water. He checked his fly. Was he concerned he hadn't hidden the equipment?

"You said
that already and it isn't helping. I can't just barf on cue." Nathan's
tortured voice bounced off the tile walls and echoed out to me.

"Stick your
finger down your throat," I shouted.

"It isn't
working. I'm trying."

"Try
harder."

"Tossing my
brownies wouldn't be necessary if you hadn't poisoned me."

The freshman
flinched then swayed, close to fainting. Trembling, he made for the door without
drying his hands. When he passed by me, the kid leaned away as if he was
playing limbo and I was the pole.

"What are you
looking at?" I demanded.

At that his eyes
widened further, and after clearing the door, he began to run down the hall.

Gracella
, who'd gone to get her cell phone from her locker,
rounded the corner and came in to view. She almost collided with the freshman
going the opposite way.

When she reached
me, she shook her head. "It's no use. I can't reach Aunt
Vandi
. I left a message but that's the best I can do right
now."

"Great."

"How's it
going here?" she asked. "Is Nathan—"

The flush of a
toilet interrupted her question. Nathan staggered out of the stall and lurched
to the sinks. Turning on the water, he first washed his hands and then cupped
some water into his mouth. After sloshing it around and spitting it out, he
splashed some water on his face.

I backed out of
the door with a grimace and a shrug. "It might be okay. He didn't seem any
different. In fact, the way he's been yelling at me, I'd say he's not in
love."

"Good. Maybe
we won't need my aunt."

Nathan came out of
the boys' room.

"How do you
feel?"
Gracella
asked.

He nodded.
"Fine. Great, in fact."

"I'm so
sorry, Nathan." Shaking my head, I grasped his arm. "I don't know how
to make it up to you."