Page 54 of Practically Magic

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“And then I said, ‘The party is back on! I am not doing the rituals with you! You do some and I do some and after that, I don’t want anything to do with you,’ ” I tell Laney. “I haven’t seen her yet today, but I think she’s been gathering her own materials for the ritual.”

“Well, I’m glad she isn’t coming to your party,” Laney says with a sniff. “I can’t believe she cast a spell to make you invisible to boys. Tonight is going to be epic.”

“As long as the world doesn’t end.”

“Which you won’t let it.”

I nod. Usually I’d be so excited to be having everyone over to my house. I sent a party evite out to the grade right after my fight with Harry. Colton was the first one to RSVP. Ryan said yes as well and so did Hunter. It looks like there are tons of people coming, which I keep reminding myself is a good thing. I won’t invite any vampires in. There has to be some Hadley magic still working in this house. And then I can keep an eye on all my classmates, duck all the magically lovesick crushes from my past, and make sure the Headless Horseman doesn’t rise.

Piece of cake.

At least Laney and I don’t have to waste time with decorations. This house already looks haunted with torn wallpaper and cracks in the walls. Laney came over early to help me clean up the best we can and put away any witchcraft items I don’t want out at the party, even though I do need some for the spells later. We’re also trying hard to keep the garden gnomes outside, but it’s an uphill battle.

“There’s something I don’t get though,” Laney says, yelling over the ABBA album she put on for cleaning. “If Harry confessed about the spell and you both apologized, why is the house still falling apart?”

“I don’t get it either,” I admit. I look over at the nearest wall. The cracks have splintered, snaking in every direction. Plus, as an added bonus, green goo is oozing out of them too. I can’t shake my uneasiness. Is this party a good idea or a bad idea? Am I wrong about casting the rituals separately? Mom did say the spells have to be cast by “hearts that beat as one” or whatever. I shove another handful of candy pumpkins into my mouth. “But it’s definitely her fault. This whole thing is her fault. Which is why, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t even have a sister anymore.”

The house rumbles. Laney and I jump as a crack carves along the floor.

“You don’t think the house is going to fall down around us, do you?” she asks. “Maybe we should have the party outside.” She looks out the window at the lake and swallows a scream as one of the kraken’s tentacles pulls a deer under the murky water. “What was that?”

“A kraken,” I say, starting to panic that Laney might be right. But outside is no better. The garden gnomes have taken over all the flower beds, uprooting my mother’s favorite lilies and growling at the squirrels.

“Kat!” Laney protests. “I take it back. People are not safer at the Hadley House. This is the gateway to hell. There’s a portal to the ice realm in the kitchen. A kraken in your lake. The only place that’s safe is the greenhouse!”

“Actually, that’s off-limits too,” I say, gnawing on my lip. “Victor, our Venus flytrap, seems to have grown five times his size overnight. I’m worried he might have acquired a taste for something bigger than flies.”

Laney drops her feather duster and stares at me. “OMG. You’re keeping Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors in your greenhouse?”

This is one Broadway connection I don’t think my aunts would appreciate. “It’s going to be okay. I put up signs.” When I gesture at the “Danger, Keep Out” that I handwrote on printer paper and taped up in the kitchen, greenhouse, and by the lake, Laney’s frown only deepens. “Everyone is still safer here at the house than they are walking around Mystic Hollow. It’s better if we keep everyone close. Colton texted me he’s telling everyone he knows to be here. He’s texted me a ton today, actually. He said he can’t wait to see me again tonight.”

“Yeah?” Laney asks.

I sigh deeply. “And it’s all because of the spell, isn’t it?”

She gives me a sad smile, then pulls me in for a hug. “I’m sorry, Kat. This really sucks.”

“That’s not the worst part,” I mutter into her shoulder, as she squishes me closer. “I don’t even think I like him anymore.”

As we do our best to mop the walls—they’ve started bleeding now, which is mixing with the green goo for a truly appalling sludge—I fill her in on how Colton only wanted to talk about himself and how he was so in love with himself.

“That might be the only thing you have in common,” Laney says with a small smile. “You both love Colton Croft.”

I flick some goo at her. “Yeah, right.” I sigh. “It’s not like I can expect to find a guy who actually has things in common with me. Like, who would that be?”

Laney gives me a look. “Yeah,” she says sarcastically. “It’s not like there’s one guy who’s been literally trying to do all the same things you do, all the time. Who challenges you to be the best version of yourself and gives you free coffee.”

My cheeks burn. For some reason, I don’t want to tell Laney that Zach has fallen to the love spell, too.

Because does that mean that I secretly had a crush on him this whole time?

I look at Great-Aunt Aida’s portrait for answers, and I swear, if she had laser eyes, she would have hit me with them by now. The hand in her portrait has moved as well, and she’s now pointing directly at us, which doesn’t feel like a good sign.