Page 16 of Uncharmed

Annie’s brows shot up. ‘That’s just books?’

Maeve, Annie noticed, did not hold back an eye-roll, which surprised her. ‘There’s no such thing as just books,’ Maeve said, stretching the sleeves down on her jumper. ‘You might have gathered that the conversation around here isn’t exactly stimulating so . . .’ She shrugged.

‘You don’t spend a lot of time hanging out with your classmates, I take it?’

‘Would you?’ Maeve said, before giving another eye-roll so cutting that Annie was strongly reminded of Morena. Annie turned to see what had earned such a reaction from Maeve and her hands flew to her mouth as one of the boys pulled down his trousers and pressed his entire bare backside against the glass windows.

‘If you have a spell to successfully pluck my eyeballs from my skull, I’d appreciate prioritizing that one,’ Maeve said coolly, closing her sketchbook and leaning both elbows on the thick cover to rest her chin on her hands.

‘Are they always like this?’ Annie hissed, entirely horrified.

‘Oh no,’ Maeve said calmly. ‘They’re actually being far more gentlemanly than usual. You have to feel sorry for them really. This is them genuinely trying their absolute level best to impress you.’

‘But they’re . . . awful,’ Annie said in disbelief.

‘Yes. They’re teenage boys,’ Maeve said. ‘What did you expect? Having said that, the girls aren’t much better. I’m telling you, this school is dishing out lobotomies for free somewhere. Just waiting on my invitation to arrive any day now.’

Annie blinked at her. Maybe this girl wasn’t quite as unsure of herself as she had first thought. ‘It’s starting to make sense now why you build a book barrier.’

‘It’s generally considered embarrassing to be publicly literate at this school, so I try to remind them as often as possible. It helps ensure they all maintain a wide berth.’

‘Can’t say I blame you,’ Annie said, reaching for a brownie herself now. ‘So you’re a bookworm, hey?’

Maeve tugged down her sleeves again. ‘Reading or drawing, most of the time.’

‘Maybe you can give me some recommendations, seeing as we’ve got a fair bit of time to spend together?’ Annie said softly, feeling triumphant when she earned an uncertain but slightly proud nod in return.

‘Sure, I can do that.’

‘Great! I thought we’d go back to Celeste – that’s my bakery in London – and have hot chocolates while we chat about how this is going to work and how you’d like to approach . . . you know, the m-word.’ Annie silently mouthed ‘magic’ just in case of confusion, to which Maeve gave her a slow, obvious nod. ‘How does that sound?’

Maeve faltered. ‘How will we get there?’

‘Don’t you worry about that – magical transference is a wonderful invention. I can carry your bag for you, if you like?’

‘That’s okay. I long ago resigned myself to future back problems.’

‘Seriously, pass it here,’ Annie insisted, tugging the hefty backpack towards her. She reached for her briefcase and unclipped the golden fastenings so that it sprung open. It was jam-packed with various cosy fleece materials adorned with feathers, a few iridescent skincare products in fancy-looking glass bottles, a sequinned notebook . . . Essentials. With a huff, she plonked Maeve’s backpack on top of it all, then closed the case. Under the weight of the lid, the backpack compressed down like a deflating balloon that exhaled a stream of pink sparks, until it was flattened to paper-thin with the rest of her things and Annie snapped it shut easily. Maeve shot to her feet, peering awestruck over the top of her glasses.

‘How did you . . .’

Annie gave her a smug smile. ‘Magic.’

Maeve looked as though she was daring herself to say something. ‘Can you . . . Can you teach me how to do that?’

‘Sure! That’s actually a pretty easy one, a simple Leve Bona incantation that I sprinkle onto . . . well, every handbag I think I’ve ever carried, actually. I’m not really one for travelling light; I like to have options. Do you want to put those in too?’ Annie gestured towards the stack of sketchbooks that were at Maeve’s elbow. Maeve hurriedly gathered them in her arms and clutched them close to her chest.

‘No, thank you, I can carry these.’

‘Okay! In that case, shall we make a move?’ Annie said as she rose from the table and gave Maeve what she hoped would be an encouraging nod. Things were already proving a lot dicier to navigate without the spell in place to make sure that she could always say the right thing. At least the brownies were working, though.

This time, with fewer eyes on her, it felt lighter to walk through the crowded canteen. She turned to make a joke about it with Maeve, pleased that they’d all lost interest, and only then realized that Maeve had fallen behind. A gang of girls had closed in on her and blocked her path, one of them asking loudly who her new friend was.

‘Can’t get any of your own around here, so you have to hire some old woman in to be your mate? That’s actually embarrassing,’ that same orange girl said.

Old? Annie was about to protest when Maeve immediately bit back.

‘Jessica, I don’t know when you found the impetus to organize your very own Moronic Ignoramus convention, but congratulations, I’m glad to see it was a roaring success. It’s about time they gave you a promotion in the field,’ Maeve said. She was bolder than Annie was expecting, jutting out her chin as she spoke.