Chapter 104 - Two-way Street
Soon after Jenna, Livy, and Tyler left, Morrigan pulled out her phone and texted Emma. She was tired enough to fall asleep if she just closed her eyes for a few minutes, but Emma was a priority.
“Guess who got their phone back.”
She laid the phone on her chest after sending it and closed her eyes. Surprisingly, it vibrated within a minute. She tilted it up to see Emma had already responded.
“About time! Hey, did you hear anything about Hilda fostering you? She submitted the paperwork.”
“Not yet, and couldn’t bring it up myself. Since I technically shouldn’t have been able to talk to you.”
“Quick! Delete that message! You’re leaving evidence!”
Morrigan smirked. “Don’t worry, I will.” She still wasn’t sure if going with Hilda was what she wanted or not. It was an exciting idea, but she also didn’t want to leave Pepper. She shifted her gaze over to the younger girl who was sitting up in bed, knees curled up to her chest and reading a book.
“So how about another meet-up tonight?” Emma texted.
“As long as you won’t get in trouble.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m already grounded anyway so what more can they do?”
“Send you to a boarding school?”
“Then I really will run away and join a coven of witches.”
Morrigan smirked as she sat up, not feeling so tired all of a sudden. “So how much trouble did you get into?”
“Let’s just say I’m on house arrest until graduation, apart from approved school events.”
“Sorry, didn’t mean for you to get mixed up in my crap.”
“Don’t be. Besides, it’s more about mom finding out I’ve been with Hilda than it was about you.”
“Does she really have that much of a problem with Hilda? That seems a bit excessive.”
“I know, RIGHT!?” Emma sent, then it showed ‘Emma is typing’ at the bottom of the screen for a long time, and Morrigan knew she was about to receive quite a long rant.
“She’s acting like Hilda is some kind of criminal just because she’s a witch. It’s so unfair! Hilda’s my cousin, and she’s been nothing but supportive. Just because she practices magic doesn’t mean she’s a bad person. And just because I’m getting into magic doesn’t mean anything bad is going to happen to me. I mean, come on! We’re witches, we’re from a family of witches! It’s in our blood! My grandma was a witch, my aunt, cousin, probably a dozen other people I don’t even know about because my mom keeps me away from them! It’s one thing if she doesn’t want to practice magic herself but it’s wrong to just isolate herself and me from our entire family over her damn prejudices!”
Morrigan began typing a response but stopped as she saw the ‘Emma is typing…’ notification pop up again, so paused and waited for Emma to finish.
“And another thing! She’s acting like I’m some rebellious teenager dabbling in dangerous stuff, when all I’m doing is trying to understand my own heritage! It’s not like Hilda and I are out there casting curses on people or anything. Well, that’s not MAINLY what Hilda does anyway… but either way, she hasn’t taught me any of THAT stuff yet so it doesn’t matter. She’s mainly taught me about healing spells, protective charms—things that can actually help people!”
Morrigan thought she was done, but then—
“Anyway, if she won’t respect my choices, why should I respect her arbitrary rules?”
After the flurry of messages finally stopped Morrigan texted, “Feel better?”
“A little. So glad I have you to vent to again.”
“Any time.”
“Sorry, I’m probably being selfish. You’ve been going through a ton more crap lately. So how are you holding up?”
Morrigan thought about it for a moment but decided not to worry her over the whole Jenna situation for now. After all, Morrigan was pretty sure she could handle those bitches.
“Eh, I’ve had better days,” Morrigan texted back, downplaying the stress she was under. She didn’t want Emma to get too concerned, especially with everything she had going on with her mom. “But nothing I can’t handle.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
There was a pause before Emma responded. “You sure? I know you’re tough, but it’s not good to carry everything alone.”
Morrigan glanced at Pepper, who was still curled up with her book. She thought about telling Emma more, about her struggles here in the shelter, how she was tired all the time, and the pressure she felt building up. But… she didn’t. “I’m fine, really. Little tired maybe. Getting my phone back was the first good thing to happen in a while. I just need to get some sleep and I’ll be good.”
Emma’s reply was instant. “I get it. But don’t push yourself too hard. You’ve got people in your corner looking out for you. You’re not alone.”
Morrigan smiled softly at that. “Thanks. I know. I’ll be okay.”
Somehow Emma wasn’t satisfied with that answer. “Seriously. I know it’s hard for you to open up about stuff but please try to at least do it with me. I mean, I rant your ear off all the time but it’s a two-way street. You’ve got a ton of rant credit built up at this point.”
Morrigan sighed, rolling onto her side to face away from Pepper with the phone lying on the bed in front of her. Geeze, what does she want from me?
“I do open up when things get bad enough,” she pointed out.
“Yeah, but you shouldn’t wait that long!”
Morrigan didn’t know how to respond, so she tried changing the topic. “I miss you.”
“I miss you too. Glad we can talk a little easier now, but I still wish we could just hang out again… Maybe go out on a date.”
Morrigan blushed and hugged her pillow a little tighter at that. She momentarily didn’t know how to respond but eventually sent, “Who’s treating who? We’re both broke.”
Emma responded almost instantly. “Doesn’t matter. I’d say we can sneak into a movie, but with our luck, we’d probably get caught ^^”
Morrigan smiled, shaking her head. “Oh, you underestimate me.”
“True, true, and I’m sure I can get Hilda to teach me a cloaking spell too.”
“Oh yeah, speaking of which, can you ask Hilda to draw another protection ruin for me? Something simpler for my roommate. She wants to try sewing something like that onto her clothes.”
“Sure, what kind of protection is she looking for?”
“I don’t know… what are the options?”
“I recommend talking with Hilda to nail down specifics, but there’s protection from curses, evil spirits, demons, illness. Pretty sure there’s one to protect from sunburn, too. Magic can really be used for anything, you know.”
“Heh, right I’ll text Hilda in a bit.”
There was another lull in the messages until Emma sent, “So what else could we do on a date?”
Morrigan rolled onto her back, holding the phone above her face. She felt her heart jump at those words. She’s coming back to that topic, huh? Morrigan began to type but paused. Should I say go on a walk? No… I can’t say something like that… It’s too… Uuuuh… Crap, why do I feel nervous all of a sudden?
Morrigan finally picked something and sent it before she could second guess herself. “I’d like to try moon harvesting again.”
“Yeah! We could do a whole camping thing again. Even if we don’t go all the way into the mountains!” Before Morrigan could send a response Emma continued, adding, “Though, I’d kind of like to do something alone, just you and me for once.”
Morrigan clutched her phone against her chest. There was no denying it, her heart was definitely beating a little faster now. Damn, what with Emma saying something like that all of a sudden!? She rolled back to her side gripping the phone tight and staring at the text. Should I just say ‘me too,’ or is that way too simple after she said something like that? I don’t really know what else to say though… aaaaah! EMMA!
She eventually sent, “Me too.”
Emma responded with a heart emoji.
Morrigan’s heart fluttered as she stared at the screen. Emma seemed to be getting more serious about their relationship. She smiled softly at the heart emoji and placed the phone on her chest, letting herself soak in the feeling. For a moment, the stress of the day, Jenna’s threats, reaping, her mom, everything else—it all faded away.
She closed her eyes, breathing deeply, trying to calm the racing thoughts in her mind. But she didn’t think it was anxiety this time. It was something softer, more comforting, but made her heart race all the same. For once, Morrigan found herself trying to embrace the feeling gripping the center of her chest. Instead of just stifling it and pushing it down.
“Morrigan?” Pepper asked, sitting up straighter. “Are you okay?”
“H-huh!? Yeah, I’m great, why?” she felt like she said that a little too loud.
Pepper’s head turned, her soft innocent voice asking, “I don’t know, you look kind of funny. Are you getting sick?”
“Ehhh… I don’t think so. Just tired maybe.”
Pepper tilted her head slightly, watching Morrigan with those wide, curious eyes. “Maybe you should take that nap. You’ve been up late a lot lately.”
Morrigan chuckled awkwardly, feeling the warmth of embarrassment still lingering from her text conversation with Emma. “Yeah, you’re probably right. I’ll crash for a bit.” She rolled back to her side, still clutching the phone against her chest. “But don’t worry, I’m not sick or anything. Just a little... out of it.”
Pepper blinked, her gaze shifting between Morrigan and her book, clearly uncertain. “Okay... if you’re sure.”
Morrigan gave her a thumbs up, pulling the blankets up over herself and nestling her head into the pillow. She closed her eyes and tried to let her mind settle, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Emma’s texts. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she replayed the conversation in her head—Emma wanting to spend time with her, just the two of them. It was a strange feeling, knowing that Emma was so serious about them being together.
She finally texted back. “I need to get some sleep now, but talk soon. Okay?”
“Sleep now,” Morrigan muttered to herself, rolling over.
As she started to drift off, her phone buzzed again. She cracked one eye open and reached for it, expecting another message from Emma, but instead, she saw a different name on the screen.
It was Hilda.
“Hey, I heard you got your phone back. That’s good news. Call me when you get a chance, we’ve got some things to talk about. Nothing serious. Take care.”
Morrigan sighed, placing the phone back down on the bed. The fostering situation. Right. Another thing she’d have to think about. But not now. For now, she was going to take that nap she was long overdue for.
Click here to read up to 20 additional chapters on Patreon now!