Periphery

Eloise Sewell and Violet Quinn became friends because of her tarot deck. Violet was the new girl from Chicago who moved to Hood River to live with her great aunt. And Violet's great aunt Meredith owned a New Age store that mostly stayed afloat by selling natural remedies and essential oils. Everyone in town pretty much thought Meredith was a witch and this was supported by her home that just happened to be in the middle of the woods. Seeing Violet with a tarot deck wasn't a big shock and it motivated Eloise to approach her at one of the picnic tables outside and ask for a reading.

Throughout high school any other witchy abilities seemed to just manifest in Violet's ability to predict the weather and the break-ups of many of their peers (much to Violet's sadistic delight). Eloise never outwardly asked if Violet was a witch even if all evidence pointed to yes and sometimes even forgot that Violet could be anything else but a moody teenage girl. Then, as most stories tend to go, a boy arrived in town. From New York no less, Sebastian Galloway was tall and handsome like a movie star.

Eloise had stared like a sunflower following the sun as he approached them during lunch time at their usual table outside. Violet was shuffling her deck, her long fingers moving the cards in a well-practiced rhythm. Her friend didn't even bother looking up as Sebastian Galloway took a seat opposite Eloise on the picnic table and smiled at her with his perfect teeth.

"Hi, I'm Bash," His eyes were a mesmerizing blue. "And you are?"

"Eloise," She offered, brightly. "And this is Violet."

"Violet Quinn? The witch?" He was watching Violet shuffle the cards with interest. "How about you read my fortune?"

Violet stopped shuffling and spread the cards out on the table in a graceful arc, her white fingers moving the cards delicately. Eloise had always loved when she did that. It felt like her friend was doing a spell though the truth was it more aesthetic than real magic. Meeting Bash's gaze, Violet told him to pick a card.

Bash selected a card in the middle, flipping it over and revealed a picture of a grey wolf howling at the moon. The Moon it read in Violet's loopy cursive. His face stilled like a statue's as he stared at the card. Violet was watching him like an intriguing puzzle before she smiled that pleased catty smile she liked to give to their classmates before she predicted their break-ups or failing a test.

"Something is troubling you and you don't know to handle it," Violet said. "But don't worry. It'll all work out eventually."

Bash's face was still impassive. "Oh? What makes you say that?"

Violet was pulling the cards back and was shuffling them again, declaring, "I'm rarely wrong."

"I see," Bash turned to Eloise and gave her that perfect smile again. "This was fun and it was nice meeting you. I'll see you in class."

Eloise could barely let out a word of protest as he got up and hightailed it out of there, leaving her confused about what just happened. She turned back to Violet who'd spread the cards on the table again.

"Pick one."

Sighing, she obeyed and flipped over a card to see the smiling baby under a yellow sun. The Sun. The happiest and luckiest card as Violet had explained to her long ago. She didn't feel all that lucky at the moment seeing as her crush practically ran away from her.

"Things are good or will get better soon," Violet hummed as she reshuffled the cards again. "You can't really mess up with that card."

Eloise wanted to believe her. Violet was rarely wrong.

______

It was a good thing Meredith liked Eloise considering the amount of time she spent at her house. Eloise's parents were usually out of town and she probably would be surviving on ramen and biscuits if Meredith didn't feed her. Eloise even had her own little drawer in Violet's room to make it more convenient for her to sleep over. Her parents would go on business trips that would last from a month to almost half a year (hello again, Sophomore Year) then return for a few months before disappearing again.