Different Kinds of Magic

The Leprechaun

Leaving the shop, Aidan looks for the girl and finds only an empty bench. The back of her neck prickles briefly. She shakes it off in favor of concentrating on Corey.

Walking back down the charming street in the darkness seems much more pleasant than earlier. Aidan and Corey return to their places behind Celia and Jason in the procession, once more watching them walk hand in hand ahead.

Now, the distance between Aidan and Corey is not as large as it had been. The fabric of their jackets keeps brushing each other at their elbows. They both have their hands shoved in pockets. Aidan fingers the key ring in her pocket, warming the silver.

The streetlights are modeled after old fashion lamps. Circles of light illumine cobbles beneath them. Flowers circle most of them. A few have ivy crawling up their posts. This strip is like a setting from a fairy tale, especially after sunset. When it is quiet, you can hear the river below, small boats bumping on the docks and occasionally the low horn of barges.

Aidan listens to Celia and Jason ahead. But they have a rhythm and move farther ahead, their voices low. Aidan cannot make out what they are talking about.

"A book store, huh? Are you the male version of the creepy librarian?"

"This coming from the nerd researching magic?"

"Fair enough. We're both a little weird, I guess."

Their steps clunk on the cobblestones in the silence.

"Not your idea of a first date, huh?"

"It's not a date," she responds immediately.

"That's right."

More silence.

"Do you want to do this again?"

"You're gonna ask me to help you with Mr. Morgan's bookstore. I figure we'll be walking from my house to here quite a bit in the future."

Corey looks at her, watches her ponytail dance, her eyes focus on the street before her. She is not even aware of his gaze.

"So is that your way of putting me in the friend zone?"

She mulls over his words. She lets the silence drag on until he is not sure she is going to answer.

"Let me think about it," she says. She does not look at him.

While this may have deterred lesser guys, Corey made up his mind that very moment that they were going to be more than friends whether she liked it or not.

(Good boy.)

"So why don't you like Mr. Morgan." He thinks this is a safer topic.

"I don't not like Mr. Morgan. Why does everyone keep asking me that?" She shakes her head. Her fingers tighten around the silver symbol in her pocket.

"Because the every time you hear his name or see him, a little vein in your temple ticks."

She doesn't respond.

"OK. What would you like to talk about?"

"Nothing." The vein in her temple jumps.

The streetlights are not the only illumination. It is still early, and a few stores are still open.

They move from the shadows of Thumbalina's into the light of the Leprechaun. Sparkly things always catch her eye.

Aidan slows and peers through the windows. Bracelets, earrings and necklaces lay artfully amid piles of black, white and blue velvet.