My Strange Addiction➳ Carlos De Vil

Love Spell

Carlos plays on his computer while occasionally scratching Dude, who rests on my lap.  I scroll through my new phone and play a game Rachel showed me, Pixel Shot 3D.  It's pretty addicting.  Mal furiously flips through her spell book and Evie sews a new dress.  Jay bursts through the door, flashing his new #8 jersey.  I clap and Carlos whistles.  I nudge him, "Where's yours?"

He beams proudly, "At our dorm.  I can't believe Coach Jenkins actually let me on the team."  I smile, "Congrats.  I'm proud of you.  You deserve it."  He blushes, ducking his head.

Jay leans forward towards Mal, "Did your plan work with Jane? Are you going over to see the wand?"  Mal looks angrier that he mentioned it, "Do you think that I would be going through every single spell in this book if I hadn't completely struck out?"

Jay hold up both his hands and mutters, "Oh, someone's in a bad mood."  Mal snaps, "My mom's counting on me! I can't let her down!"  She smacks the back of Carlos's head and he looks around as if silently asking, "What did I do?"

"We can do this..." Jay begins, but stops when he realizes we're all staring at him.  He has never said "we."

Ever.

He finishes, "...if we stick together."  Mal nods, "And we won't go back until we do. Because we're rotten..."  We all finish, "To the core."  Evie rambles, "Oh, yeah. I found out that Fairy Godmother blesses Ben with the wand at coronation and we all get to go. I have nothing to wear, of course."  We all stare at her, "What?"

"You're just telling us this?!" I exclaim.  She shrugs and continues sewing as someone knocks on our door.  Mal rolls off her bed, "Hold that thought."  She throws it open and Ben stands on the other side.

"Hey, Mal.  I didn't see you guys today.  I was just wondering if you had any questions or anything... that you needed..."  I join Mal at the door.  Boy, he stammers and stutters a lot.  Mal looks at us, "Not that I know of."  Ben nods, "Okay. All right. Well, uh, if you need anything, just, uh..."  I stop him, nudging Mal, "Oh, wait! Um, is it true that we all get to go to your coronation?"  Ben smiles and nods, "Yeah, the whole school goes."  Mal quickly catches on, "Wow. That is beyond exciting. Do you think that it's a possibility that the four of us could stand in the front row next to the Fairy Godmother...just so we could soak up all that goodness?"  Ben momentarily hesitates, "I wish you could.  Up front it's just me, my folks, and my girlfriend."

Mal starts thinking quickly, "And your girlfriend?"  Ben nods, "Yeah. I'm sorry."  Mal nods vigorously, "Okay. Thanks, bye.  Ben thinks we're upset, "Oh, but, no, there's plenty of..."  I close the door on his face and Mal grins at me, "I think it's time that Bennyboo got himself a new girlfriend.  And I need a love spell."  Carlos tosses her her spell book and we chuckle, high fiving each other.

Mal points to the next step, "All right. It says that we still need one tear, and I never cry."  Carlos shrugs, "Let's just chop up some onions."  Mal shakes her head, "No! It says that we need one tear of human sadness.  And this love potion gets the best reviews so we have to follow it exactly."  Jay rolls his eyes, "A tear's a tear."  Evie shakes her head, "That's not true, Jay. They both have antibodies and enzymes, but an emotional tear has more protein-based hormones than a reflex tear."

I grin and nudge her, "Listen to you."  Jay quickly cleans up, "Yeah, I knew that."  I laugh at the ceiling, "Did not."  Jay frowns, "Yeah, I did."  Suddenly, Lonnie- Mulan's daughter- bounds into the kitchen and Mal quickly covers up the spell book, "There you are, Mal!  I was looking for you. You know, all the girls want you to do their hair!"

She notices the mix, "Midnight snack, huh? What you guys making?"  Mal glances at us, "Umm..just some cookies."  Lonnie leans forward, dips her finger, and tastes the mix, "No, no, no!"  We wait and she giggles, "What?  I'm not gonna double dip."  I stare at her, "Feel anything?"  Mal nods, "Yeah, like maybe it might be missing something?" Jay strides in front of her and gives her a charming smirk, "Hey there."  Lonnie blinks and says, "It could use some chips."  Jay looks rejected and mouths, "Chips?"

Lonnie heads to the fridge and Mal asks, "And those are?"  Lonnie returns with a bowl of brown drops and adds a handful, "Chocolate chips. Just the most important food group."  Mal mixes them in and Lonnie thinks for a second, "Wait, didn't your moms ever make you guys, like, chocolate chip cookies? Like, when you're feeling sad, and they're fresh from the oven, with a big old glass of milk, and she just makes you laugh and puts everything into perspective."  I look down with the others.  

My dad lost my mom in the woods and they separated and never found each other.  That's why I was scared to be alone for so long.  Even today, I hate being by myself, for fear I will get lost and no one will be there to find me.

We look at Lonnie and she lightly chuckles, "Why are you all looking at me like that?"  Mal shakes her head, "It's just different where we're from."  Lonnie shrugs, "Yeah, I know. I just...you know...I thought- even villains love their kids."

"Madison's father loves her...but she lost her mother.  The rest of us..." Evie's voice trails off. "Oh... How awful."  Lonnie puts her hand on my arm and a tear rolls down her cheek.  I kick Mal's leg and she looks up.  Seeing the tear, she wipes her tear and adds it to the mix, "Yeah, well, big bummer- but we have to get these into the oven."  She pushes her towards the door, "So thank you so much for coming by. Really, really have a good night. I'll see you tomorrow. Evil dreams."  Lonnie waves, "Good night."  Mal waves back, "See you tomorrow."  She leans against the door for a second and then clasps her hands together, "Okay, boys, cookie sheet. Evie, Madison, oven."  I salute, "Yes, ma'am."

Lonnie words roll around my mind as I lay on my back in my bed.  Rachel is quietly snoring but I am restless.  Just another lonely, sleepless night...