Misfire

A Bit of Irony Part 4

Agatha had a hard time trying to avoid Simon. Sometimes, it was like he was purposefully trying to seek her out. She knew of course there was a good reason why. But she didn't want Simon to break up with her just because he was on some love spell. And with Baz, no less. She knew as soon as Penelope found a cure, they'd be back together, but she still felt weird about breaking up with him. Something felt wrong about it.

Why though? She does love him. He still loves her deep down; so why does it hurt so much for them to be split apart for the moment? For the first time since dating Simon, she had the space and clarity to make sense of her feelings for Simon. She thought. Long and hard about everything he meant to her, and in the end she realized something. She didn't love him. Of course, she'd always love him, but she wasn't in love with him.

Why not then, take the chance and break up with him now? Then, she would be able to test her feelings for him.

During dinner, to which Simon walked in late, she walked up to Simon and Penelope's table. "Hey." she said. Suddenly the conversation stopped in its tracks. Both of her friends stared like she'd just woken up from a coma. Simon blushed like he was guilty of something and Penelope just stared like she was watching a crazy soap opera. "Hey, Agatha." She next to Simon and held his hands, hoping to push her initiative. As she expected, Simon practically jumped away from her and said, "Agatha, can we talk in private?" feigning surprise she said, "Oh? Okay."

When they returned to the table she was a single woman. Free to love whomever she wanted. It didn't feel great though. She felt like she'd lost something, a connection she might've taken for granted, but it felt necessary at the same time.

"Do you think it'll be awkward for us to be dating and sharing a room?" Simon said. "Do you think we're moving to fast? What if he gets sick of me?!" Neither Penelope, nor Agatha could give an answer. Agatha questioned coming over in the first place. "So Simon," Penelope said, "I found this quiz in my psychology textbook, it should give you some answers." She pulled out a thick pink textbook, the page cornered and with a heading of, "Love Spell Potency Level Quiz". Agatha saw instantly but Simon was too distracted to notice. "I'll ask you a question and you'll give me an answer on a scale from one:never to five:always." Simon nodded along. "Okay, first. How often do you think about Baz?" without hesitation Simon answered, "Five." Penelope lightly circled 'Five' in the textbook and moved on. "How often do you think of having a future with this person?"

"Three."

"How often do you make physical advances when you are around this person?"

"Penny-"

"Simon-"

"...Four." Agatha frowned. "You guys share a room, have you-" Simon nodded as his face turned red and bashful and he explained everything that happened in the past day. Penelope closed her textbook. She didn't know what to make sense of this. Did Baz actually like Simon? Was the spell contagious? Or was he just trying to avoid Simon going into a meltdown? Baz was definitely not handling this situation well. Didn't he know that Simon really didn't have feelings for him? It was a spell, why was he acting like it was real?

Or maybe he used the bow on purpose. Maybe for some malicious or sad desperate reason, Baz used the bow on purpose to get Simon to fall in love with him. As Simon babbled and babbled about Baz, Penelope spotted Baz from across the room, trying to enter without being detected by Simon. She caught eyes with him. " I think I see Esmerelda across the room, I'll go speak with her a moment and I'll be right back."

Penelope and Baz stepped outside in the freezing cold behind the dining hall. "What in the world are you doing?!" Penelope said. "Of course he tells her everything." Baz thought. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Simon is in love with you and you're playing along!"

"Why not?" Neither of them expected that. "Baz," Penelope said. "Are you in love with Simon?" He felt is face growing hot and he choked on his own air. "No!"

"Then why did Simon tell us of all the things that you did with him? The kissing, cuddling? The-"

"Bunce, I never meant to take advantage of him, I just wanted to keep him from going crazy."

"You seem to be really enjoying that."

"I'm not!"

"Listen to me." She was sure now. "Do. You. Love. Simon." She washed all the anger from her face and took a step closer. "I won't hold it against you. You can lie to me, or we can find a way to help him before things get out of hand. I understand that if you do it might be hard to go through all this. To be loved like this from someone you want to be loved by. But you need to tell me. We can help him, together."

Baz turned his nose down towards the snow and stared down at his feet. "I do." he said "I've liked his since our fifth year, and it's just my luck for something like this to happen."

Penelope didn't know what to do she wasn't expecting a confession, and she knew hugging wouldn't work for Baz like it did for Simon. "That's a bit ironic."

"That we're destined to kill each other one day, and yet I- I care about him?"

"No." she said. "Simon's been obsessed with you. With the idea that you're a vampire, that you're plotting and all this time, you've been obsessed with him too."

"He's been obsessed with me?" Baz wanted to say. But he didn't. "You cannot tell anyone."

"Of course." She was a good liar when she needed to be.