Love Potion and Other Disastrous Things

02 | are you a wizard?

"EXCUSE ME. You- what?" The brown-haired boy in front of her, Liam, asked in utter disbelief. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his mouth dropped. Ixora noticed how his dimples were so deep even when he hadn't smiled. She wondered how he'd looked like when he smiled.

His pupil had been dilating the entire time they were talking. He must've been too shocked to take everything in. He ran his hands across his long chocolate hair, and for some reason, to Ixora, it looked super cute. He shut his beautiful blue eyes, and she could see his long eyelashes fluttering as he did that.

Liam was her classmate, but she hadn't actually talked much with him before. Their class was filled with cliques, and she was obviously not in his- his social circle seemed quite narrow; he only had a few guy friends. In fact, she hardly noticed him interacting with anyone.

He was kind of cute, but due to his shy demeanour, girls didn't really approach him. He wasn't buff or sporty, just average, but you could tell he didn't really work out. That was probably also one of the reasons why girls never took interest in him- or at least, Ixora didn't take interest in him. Most of the time, she would tend to forget his presence.

They were at the school rooftop right now. Truth to be told, she never knew this place existed; she was pretty sure many people in school didn't know either. That was probably why Liam brought them here- to find temporary shelter from the guys under the spell of the love potion. Moreover, it seemed almost like nobody came up here, so it felt peaceful and quiet, what with the natural wind blowing across their faces and the silence they had all to themselves.

"I don't really want to repeat the entire story," Ixora replied softly, still embarrassed at what she had done. At any rate, he probably wouldn't believe what I just said, or he would think I made this up, she thought miserably, or he would definitely laugh at how much a big joke I was. Or maybe he would judge me and call me desperate or something. Either way, I know he's going to say something mean.

"No, I mean," he finally opened his eyes, a look of concern flashed over him as their eyes met, "Are you okay?"

Ixora blinked, not quite expecting his reply. "Uh. What?"

"Did the boys hurt you anywhere? Or did they touch you and make you feel uncomfortable?" Liam's eyes frantically searched her body for signs of injuries or harm. He took a hand out to her but immediately withdrew it, not daring to lay a hand on her.

Ixora's heart felt a little warm at his reaction. "Yeah," She looked at him straight in the eye, "I'm fine."

Liam sighed in relief, "Thank God..." Then he paused. "Wait a sec.You mean you just accepted a random stranger's potion just like that?"

Ixora nodded.

"What the-? What if it wasn't a love potion? What if it was a poison or a trap? What if it caused you to die?!" He grabbed his head worriedly, his eyebrows furrowed even deeper. His anxious blue eyes were staring at her green eyes, making her realise the extent of his worry.

"You're really concerned for a classmate like me," Ixora replied quietly. They weren't even close, but he seemed like he minded a lot over her safety.

This caused his cheeks to grow cherry red. "I-I... j-just," he stuttered as he avoided eye contact, "I don't want e-everyone here to be d-dead, because of you."

Ixora shrugged, "Don't worry, they won't. I already tried spraying it five times. It didn't seem to kill anybody so far."

He nodded, allowing everything to sink in before pausing and shouting, "You sprayed it five times?!"

She covered her ears. "You can't blame me," she muttered, but loud enough for him to hear, "I was desperate after all..."

Liam kept silent immediately, his eyes still staring at her, but she was looking away the entire time. She found it awkward for a classmate to know a little too much, especially when they weren't close at all.

He cleared his throat, "How so we break the spell?"

Ixora opened her mouth for a moment. She tried to recall what the woman said, "I need to be together with someone."

Liam's eyes widened, "Huh?"

"I guess that meant I need to fall in love? I don't know..." Ixora said uncertainly.

"How the heck would that be possible, with all the guys running after you in a herd? They're practically vying for you!" He bit his lip.

Speaking of. "Why're you the only one not affected by the love potion, though?" Ixora pointed at him curiously. She was glad someone wasn't affected by the spell, but it was really funny how he was the one who wasn't affected by it. Had he some sort of magical powers she didn't know of?

"How'd I know?" His eyebrows furrowed again.

"Are you a wizard?" She blurted out without thinking twice. The woman was probably a witch or some sort so she gave her the potion. And the only reason Ixora could come up with about this guy being the only one not under the spell, was that he was a wizard. Or at least, not a normal human being.

Liam paused for a moment before bursting into laughter. "How'd you come up with that?"

Ixora stared at him in awe. His dimples were deep, and it was probably the first time she had seen the way his white teeth shown and the way his eyes would crinkle when he laughed. She hadn't really seen him laugh in class before- she barely noticed his presence. It was kind of dazzling...

She shook her head to stop herself from admiring his beauty. "I mean. You must have some form of magic power in you to be able to guard off the wonders of the love potion."

He looked up for a while, seeming to be deep in thought. "Well, maybe," he walked to her, and they were now abut thirty centimetres apart, "I have something in me that's able to guard the power off." She didn't know about him at all, huh.

Liam flashed her a cute smile, making her admire his face once again.

Ixora didn't get what he said, but she decided to let him off on the account of him flashing his million-dollar smile at her today.

"So... you agreed to help?" Ixora looked at him hopefully. He was her only hope. She didn't know what he could do to help, but somehow she felt like he was trustable. Maybe it was because he was my classmate? She came up with a conclusion after half a day.

He looked at her for a moment, his eyes unreadable. He sighed, "Of course I'll help you. No matter how hard it'll be." No matter what problem she was facing, he would gladly help her out- even if it cost his life.

Ixora sighed in relief. "Time to formulate Plan A," She mumbled agonisingly.