Page 49 of The Soulmate Bakery

MAYA

I’d probably be happy to know what to avoid.

SILAS MOON

I need you to agree with me so I can continue my potions hate.

MAYA

*Unnecessary hate?

SILAS MOON

If you weren’t my lucky charm, I would block you.

MAYA

‘Heart emojis?’ Raven asked, her chin dipping to rest on my shoulder. We were in her bedroom – I was sitting opposite Sofia who was painting my nails. ‘You’ve progressed fast.’

‘We’ve been studying together,’ I said, feeling my neck go warm. Raven joined us on the bed, taking a seat beside Sofia, so I faced them both. ‘And – you know – we – we just started talking more.’

‘About?’ Sofia asked, as she painted my nails with the Maple Falls High colours for Silas’s upcoming game.

It hadn’t been that long since our first study session, and a week since I perfectly cast the protection spell, but we spoke almost every day. We hung out at school; we were almost constantly in each other’s orbits. It felt like our relationship was progressing fast, but it felt genuine.

‘Everything,’ I said, but it wasn’t the entire truth. We talked about most things, but I didn’t tell Silas everything. I didn’t ever tell him if I was feeling strange with Mum, or if something was really bothering me. I couldn’t. It was too early, and I wanted to be his lucky charm, not someone he needed to look after.

‘And is he everything you imagined he would be?’ Raven asked, curiously.

‘He is.’ I nodded, and I couldn’t fake the wistfulness in my tone. ‘He’s kind and funny, and genuinely so sweet.’

The door opened with a bang, startling me and Raven and Sofia, revealing Orion in the doorway. The nail-polish bottle went flying. Without really thinking, I muttered a spell: Spill, splash, make sure you make that catch.

The nail-polish bottle stopped in mid-air, just before a droplet of vivid red was about to hit the surface of the carpet.

The room was full of dead silence. Not because the spell was complex, or because I had done some great feat of magic, but because I had done it effortlessly.

‘Guess I’m not such a bad teacher after all,’ Orion said, breaking the silence with so much smugness that I couldn’t help but throw one of Raven’s pillows at him.

He caught it deftly, but he was smiling. The animosity from yesterday seemed a distant memory. The way Orion was looking at me now, with something akin to pride in his eyes, kicked my heartbeat up a notch.

‘That was amazing,’ Raven said, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. ‘For that, you can get extra maple syrup in your popcorn.’

‘Does she want extra maple syrup in her popcorn?’ Sofia asked, mild disgust in her voice. We’d quickly discovered she was much more of a savoury person.

Raven mock gasped. ‘Who doesn’t want maple syrup in their popcorn?’

‘People who value their teeth,’ Orion offered, and Sofia nodded in agreement.

‘Rich coming from the guy who literally carries enchanted toffees in his jacket pocket,’ I said, a smirk curling around my mouth at the fake outrage on Orion’s face.

‘I told you that in confidence,’ Orion said, and then he folded his arms over his chest. ‘I liked you better when you were nicer to me.’

It was said in jest, but it struck a chord, nonetheless. ‘Guess you lost that privilege a while ago, Hawthorne,’ I said, equally light and airy.

No one else seemed to notice the tightening of his jaw, or the way his mouth curved down ever so slightly. I wished I didn’t notice it either. Being able to forget these minute details of Orion would make my life a thousand times easier.

‘I’m going out,’ Orion said, cutting off the conversation. ‘And Mum wants you downstairs.’