The Magician

Chapter 12

After spending the evening with Chandra, Jennifer took her books out and started studying for a few hours. Eventually, she fell asleep on her bed with her hand still holding a book.

The dream she had that night was crazy. There was a lot of magic, actual magic. People disappearing behind a flash of fire and objects transforming into other things - sometimes into animals. Then there was some other stuff. She couldn't tell what since they were so entangled. She woke up when she saw Chandra stabbing a notebook with her pen. when she did, it was 9:20 a.m.

Jennifer was alone at home. Her brother was at his friend's place, her mum had taken Penny (who Jennifer found out returned home that night a few minutes before Jenniffer) to the dog park and her dad was in Stockholm doing whatever. She had breakfast, then took her phone out and started scrolling on YouTube.

She saw quite a few videos of people doing magic tricks. . They reminded her of Alejandro and the trick he did in front of that police officer. It was really impressive, she'd never seen anything as good as that. Almost as if it wasn't a trick, but actual magic.

All of that made Jennifer want to also be able to do something, so she spent the next two hours learning three tricks with cards and practiced them. At last, she decided to put on a little show for herself.

- And now, ladies and gentlemen, I will require a volunteer. You there! Yes perfect. Now, pick a card!

At the end of the show, she applauded herself and laughed at all the silliness.

"Alejandro should put on shows like this". The thought occurred to her as she was putting the cards back in their pack. "He'd be pretty famous if he did."

She walked to the kitchen, humming a song to herself when another idea hit her. She gasped.

- I should show the tricks I learned to him!

She felt a tingling sensation of excitement; the idea of impressing Alejandro gave her the butterflies. The butterflies were tiny, but they were there.

And with that, Jennifer was out of the house in 15 minutes and back at Alejandro's door. Once there, she knocked on the door three times and waited.

After a few seconds, the door opened and Alejandro showed up. He was holding a little sketch book and a pencil in his hand. "Hey Ophelia!" He greeted Jennifer with a smile as she clenched her jaw. Alejandro sniggered. "Come on in!" He seemed a bit pale, like he was sick.

"Are you okay?" Jennifer asked, walking inside. "Yeah I'm fine." He put the pencil and the sketch book on the table. "What were you drawing?" Jennifer picked it up again and went through some of the pages.

- Oh nothing really...

There were sketches in the notebook. They were simple, but the simplicity of them was what made them unique and beautiful.

- These are so pretty! I didn't know you can draw?

Alejandro chuckled, hoping it was good enough to cover up his nervousness. (Spoiler alert: it wasn't)

"Well there's quite a lot you don't know about me..." he murmured to himself while fidgeting with his hands. It went unnoticed by Jennifer.

"So anyway." She put the sketch book back on the table. "I've something to show you!" She pulled out her own deck of cards and showed the three tricks that she had learned to Alejandro. He smiled throughout all three of them, like a proud father watching his kid ride a bike without assistance for the first time.

"That was pretty impressive!" He said once the last trick was over. Jennifer smiled with pride. "I know right!"

- Now let me show you a trick. See this?

He held one of the cards in his hand and twirled it around his fingers. "Boom!" The card was gone with the snap of his fingers. Jennifer's eyes went wide.

- Check your pocket.

The card did turn out to be there. "That's so cool!" Jennifer said. "You should really consider putting on shows and stuff!"

The expression in Alejandro's eyes changed. It was a mix of nostalgia and sorrow. He let out a short nervous laugh that faded away quickly. "I actually did used to do it. "

- Really? When?

- A couple of years ago.

- And how did that work out?

- Pretty good.

- So that's why you looked a little familiar! I think I've seen you on a poster or something. But why did you stop tho?

"Because..." Alejandro hesitated. "Reasons. It's all in the past anyways, nothing to do with the present. Want me to give you a tour of the garden?"

But he was lying.

He still thought about those times, when things were good.

- It's okay, I should probably head home. My mum will be back in a bit. Did I tell you Penny came back?

***

It was well past midnight when Alejandro suddenly woke up with a deep pain in his body. Something was wrong. Something was really really wrong and he knew it.

He tried to ignore the pain and go back to sleep, but it was impossible, although he desperately needed and wanted to sleep. It was like he was being tortured.

He struggled for a while, shifting around in his bed, hoping that his position was the reason for his restlessness. But nothing seemed to change. He was helpless, his body was tense..

What could he do? There was only one word - person, that came to his mind.

Help.

Ophelia.