Page 52 of The Soulmate Bakery

The professor made a reluctant noise of agreement, but then his gaze narrowed on Silas. ‘Now, Mr Moon,’ he began, and collectively, the class winced. Our potions teacher had never been a fan of Silas, likely because he had taught all of Silas’s older siblings before him, and they’d been a handful. ‘One from you?’

‘Uh, I’m not sure, I only really know the ones that affect us.’

I felt Silas’s leg against my chair, as he gently pushed me closer to Sofia, away from the oncoming verbal massacre.

‘See, Mr Moon, if you spent half as much time studying as whispering to girls during class …’

Everyone stopped paying attention as he went on to lecture Silas, who was staring down at the paper in front of him. All except Sofia, who was watching the exchange with a gaping mouth.

‘This is normal,’ I told her, wincing as Professor Malt’s voice rose. ‘He’s always like this.’

‘But that’s not fair,’ Sofia replied, aghast.

‘Yeah, well, Professor Malt has a vendetta against the Moons, and Maple Falls isn’t exactly brimming with potions professors,’ I remarked, echoing my mother’s words the first time I complained about Professor Malt.

‘Maybe I could talk to Frost – he’s friends with Malt,’ Sofia said, and I felt myself tense. ‘Once he’s back to normal, that is. This week he’s resorted to crying out his feelings – it’s kind of sad, actually.’

Guilt gnawed at me, and Sofia must have seen it on my face, because she was quick to squeeze my arm. ‘Hey, no – you’re doing everything right, OK? You’re basically ready to cast the spell. See?’ Sofia said, pushing a paper showing my charms grade out of my folder. A big fat B sat on top. ‘You’ve been improving.’

I nodded, trying to find that confidence that swept through me when I got the result in our last class. I was feeling more sure of my magic with every passing lesson I had with Orion, but the doubt was never fully quiet.

‘And things with Silas are going well.’ Sofia’s voice went even quieter, her eyes darting to the werewolf who still had his head down.

‘Yes,’ I said, but then bit my lip. ‘But I am a little worried about telling him the whole soulmate part.’

‘OK,’ Sofia nodded, agreeably. ‘Why not just confess now?’

‘Are you insane? No.’ I shook my head, vehemently. ‘I need somewhere out of school. Not in the library or his house during our study sessions. Somewhere neutral.’

Sofia looked like she wanted to say something, but our conversation was cut short by the loud, whiny voice of Everly Catacomb who was sitting behind me. I didn’t turn to look at her – our parents had an agreement that we would minimize our interactions after the whole fang incident. But her voice still rang loud and clear.

‘You have got to be kidding me? They’ve shut Golden Shell Beach down on the same weekend as my birthday bash?’ Everly complained, the pout evident in her tone.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes – Everly’s parties were uber-exclusive, but she sure loved talking about them to anyone who could hear.

‘Yup,’ one of her friends said. ‘Unless you have somewhere else to host the party, you’re going to have to cancel it.’

‘Maya has a place to host the party.’

I stared at Sofia in complete shock. She’d turned away from me to face Everly and her gaggle of friends sitting behind us. After a beat, I finally risked turning around as well. Everly, pale, pink-cheeked and dressed entirely in yellow, curled her lip at the sight of me. Her two fangs seemed to lengthen, and I reminded myself that vampires were not allowed to bite other creatures in Maple Falls.

‘Maya has a place to host the party?’ Everly asked, her voice haughty. ‘Is it somewhere where she goes to mess up spells? Remove vital parts of a person’s face?’

I winced, but Sofia, unperturbed, continued on. ‘Maya has a place you can throw your party. It’s big enough and away from prying eyes.’

The vampires all shared a look, a silent conversation passing between them. I tried to have the same one with Sofia – mainly so I could ask her what she was thinking – but she studiously avoided meeting my eyes.

‘Fine,’ Everly finally said, though she didn’t sound pleased. ‘Maya, I’ll text you the party details, and you send me the venue. And remember, it’s for my party – so if you insist on coming, the venue better be amazing.’

And with that, we were dismissed. We turned back in our seats, and I shot Sofia an incredulous look.

‘A party is neutral, right?’ Sofia whispered at me. I gave her a puzzled look. ‘You said you wanted to talk to Silas somewhere neutral, and he’s a pretty busy guy. He has Maple Mart shifts, rugby practice, study sessions with you and he’s popular. But at a party, you could steal him away for a bit. Talk to him.’

It wasn’t a bad idea, but it did leave me with one particular problem.

‘Please tell me you have a place to host this party?’ I asked, desperately.

Sofia shook her head, and I resisted the urge to scream. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll help you find a one asap.’