Chapter Three

June Crystals

Veda

My mother had not been home in ages.

Our house was across the street from the school. I lived there with June. Originally, the house had a separate suite on the top floor which June rented from my mother. When my mother went away, went away, and went away, June had a staircase put in so that she and I could meet without having to go outside. Eventually, my mother came home and saw it. She patted the banister fondly, like she knew it would be there.

That evening, after lunch with Antony and Salinger, June sat me down. In the front room, we had a bay window. That was where the crystal ball was kept. During the day, the ball was covered with a tea-cozy to hide its true purpose.

“I'd rather have a tarot reading,” I said dully. “Cards seem more dependable than a crystal ball.”

“Tarot cards don't have the same flexibility to show your future as a crystal. The cards are set and they can't be reset until the following day. Trust me,” June said, “I've seen this go better.”

I thought she preferred the crystal ball because she could have a nosy conversation with me and advise me. I liked getting her thoughts whether they came from the ball, the spirits in the air around us, or out of her own head. Her guidance was invaluable in the place of my mother.

She lit up the crystal orb and started by asking me a question. “Have you got a date for graduation?”

“No.”

“Would you like me to get you a name for who you should ask?”

I crossed my ankles under the table. “I'm not sure I want a date.”

June's face creased in irritation.

I relented. “Okay. Ask.”

She gazed into the ball deeply and for the first time in my life, I thought I saw clouds gathering inside the clear crystal. I had to be imagining it. Then I saw a purple spark cross the sphere.

“Is the light underneath shorting out?” I pulled up the table cloth to look underneath. Even though I had lived there all my life, I had never once looked under the table. The light used to illuminate the crystal ball was a yellow and black plastic flashlight taped to the table with duct tape. I chuckled.

Could there be a less sophisticated operation?

Over the table, June was spacing out. She didn't usually space out. “I'm seeing letters from two different names. One is familiar. The other is not.”

I propped my elbows on the table and rested my chin in my palms. She was spreading it a little thick.

“The familiar letters are bouncing up and down. They are so excited, they can hardly keep still long enough for me to read them. It's Antony. The appearance of Salinger has made him desperate. Before his arrival, he felt sure you would accept his confession. There's no need to ask him to be your date for the ceremony. He will ask you, before the end of the week.” She peered into the glass deeper. Her eyes grew enormous and reflective. “The letters of the other name are uncurling. Salinger. Wait, now they’re curling back into themselves and breaking apart. If you had wanted to ask him, your opportunity is gone. Extending an invitation to him will have an unfortunate ripple effect. You must not ask him.” She blinked and straightened herself.

Since she was finished, I gave her a shrug. “That was an impressive show,” I said. “By the way, those are the only guys who the coven would find remotely acceptable. Feels sluggish. Why couldn't you come up with a name I never heard of before and send me on a wild goose chase to find him?”

She wasn't listening to me. She looked away from the light and blinked. “I feel awful,” she said sadly. “I gave Emi a reading that felt like that once. She packed her bags and left us for good. Why should asking about your graduation date be so ominous?”

I got up. I didn't know if I believed in crystal balls. “Why don't you let me do a reading for you?”

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“Do you know how to look into a crystal ball?”

“I'm still a teenager. No one knows how to let their conscious mind go like a teenager. We're all slightly brain-dead.”

She got out of the chair with a mild shrug. “I've never thought of it that way before.”

When we were done changing places, I centered the chair in front of the orb and frowned. Looking into it felt like looking into the sun. “Can I turn off the light?”

“Do you want me to get you a bowl of water instead?”

I did not laugh, even though it was supposed to be a joke. Instead, I retorted. “Why would I try scrying when this crystal has been lying in the light of the full moon for the past three nights?”

She grumbled. We both thought we were full of it. Fortune telling wasn’t the kind of magic we were good at.

I turned off the flashlight, looked into the ball, and let my mind wander. Finally, something started to come clear. “There's something. It's a solitary mark. Not like a letter, but like a… person, a figure wandering alone.” I didn't look at June. I had to try to make sense of what I was seeing without letting her expression influence me. I had never once thought of June as a lonely person. She was the most sociable witch in our coven. I felt less concerned when I saw that the person was not her. “It's not you, but she's sort of like you. She's lonely and sad.”

“Do you see anything else?”

“More marks have appeared. They’re not people. They’re letters. They’re swaying and bending like grass in the wind around her. I can't read them. Ok. I see an I, an H, a T, an E, the letter A, and another T, but that doesn't spell anything.” I looked into the orb longer to see if there was any more to the vision. When nothing came, I broke the trance by shaking my head and rubbing my eyes. “I wonder what that could mean.”

June scratched the letters on a notepad. “They might not mean anything.”

“All the same,” I said as I picked up the lined paper. “Don't throw this out for a bit.”

Just then, the house phone rang and June picked it up. “Hello. Yes, she is, but you can talk to me. What can I do for you?” Pause. “She returns from school at four-thirty. You may collect her after that… No car? You don't need one. The bus to downtown takes under ten minutes. It would take longer than that to find a parking space… It will probably still be wet on Tuesday.” She chuckled. “I don't control the weather. I'll advise her to wear her boots. Good-bye.” She hung up.

I waited for her to explain since she was clearly talking about me.

“That was Salinger asking you out on a date,” she informed me.

I groaned. “Why wouldn't you let me speak to him?”

“I worried you might turn him down just to be contrary. You have a few days before Antony asks you to grad.”

“I plan to refuse him.”

“Is he getting on your nerves?”

“Yes.”

“Are you planning to refuse Salinger as well?”

I sighed. “If things work out the way I want them to, I won’t have to reject him. He said he wanted to speak to me privately, obviously because he’s speed dating all of us. His invitation is not special. He’s inviting everyone, so I’ll allow it. I hope he doesn’t choose me. It would make everything so much easier for all of us.”

June paused before giving her final thought on the subject. “I accepted the date with Salinger for you as a gift, because I worried you would be too stubborn to even talk to him. I’m relieved you would have gone anyway. I read his book this afternoon. It was adorable. I’ll tell you one thing, if I was picturing the perfect man for you, he would have written something like that.”

I put my hand to my heart like I was swearing an oath. “I won't feel anything when I read his book. I never feel anything.”

⚘⚘⚘

On Tuesday, I got home from my ordinary high school, where they worshipped the lacrosse team instead of magic, and changed my clothes. I didn't like the high school kids to see me in my witch apparel. I still wore black, but I had to dress down by several notches or I was teased by the students who wore normal clothes. That day I wore black jeans, army boots, and a loose baggy sweater. In my room, I struggled with what I should wear for my date with Salinger. June was right and the weather was bad. My jeans were the warmest thing. If I had been going out with Antony, I wouldn’t have taken them off.

I put on my leather dress. It was only for special occasions, but something whispered that this was special. The dress was fitted until above the knee where it had a spectacular ruffle. I put on a wool coat with a fur collar and knee-high black boots. It was May, but it was still chilly outside in Edmonton.

I got to the front door just as Salinger rang the bell.

“Hi,” he said, flashing a white smile at me. He had very pointed canines, which made his smile more fatal than the average man’s. I tried not to be affected.

“Hi,” I said. “Where are we going?”

“Downtown. I'm taking you to dinner. Didn't June tell you?”

I shook my head and started walking toward the bus stop.

Salinger stopped me by twisting one of my ringlets between his fingers. “I rented a car.”

His touch was unnerving. I didn't like being touched in general, but I particularly did not like him touching my hair in that casual way. It was almost like he was taunting me about my exaggerated femininity, which was fine when other people did it. When he did it, it was almost like he had whispered in my ear, “All this beauty is for me, isn’t it?” Of course, he had not said that, but my cheeks burned anyway.

“Why didn't you listen to June?” I asked to mask my true discomfort. “There's no place to park.”

“I've got all that worked out,” he said as he opened the door for me.