Page 72 of The Soulmate Bakery

But my favourite time was mortal week, when we watched a genre of mortal films every month. This time we were going to watch something called The Pumpkin Massacre.

‘You’re not afraid of horror movies?’ Silas asked, as we stood in line for popcorn.

‘Nope,’ I said, smiling. ‘My sister and I are big horror movie fans.’

Silas’s smile was a little strained at the edges. ‘Fun! That’s … fun.’

I nodded excitedly, but Silas didn’t quite match my enthusiasm. Instead, he went straight to ordering the snacks and waved me off when I suggested paying. Afterwards, we were directed to the other side by a bored-looking pixie, who was filing her nails while taking our orders at the same time.

‘So, how were your mid-term results?’ I asked Silas, as we headed over to our screening.

Silas winced a little. ‘Not great, at all. I spent two hours being grilled by my mother about my potions grade.’

I sucked my teeth sympathetically. ‘I’m sorry I wasn’t a better study partner.’

Silas shook his head quickly. ‘Please, those study sessions were just my excuse to hang out. You know that right?’

I grinned, feeling all pleased inside. ‘I kind of guessed after we didn’t get past chapter one of our textbook.’

‘Hey, but we did have a riveting debate about whether I would look more attractive with my hair dyed brown.’

‘And here you were saying all our conversations were about complimenting me,’ I teased, and his laugh made the tension in his shoulders loosen. I wanted to keep it going, so I segued into a topic I knew he loved. ‘Are you excited for the game on Friday?’

Silas’s eyes lit up, and he launched into his game strategy almost immediately, beginning with how important this game was, and how he wanted it to be a reward for his teammates. And while I didn’t find rugby to be interesting in the slightest, I did like watching the way Silas became animated when talking about it.

‘Plus,’ Silas added, a little breathless now, ‘we’ve got a coach coming from one of the big-league towns. Hopefully he’s going to be scouting for new talent.’

‘Really?’ I asked, suddenly painfully aware that I’d never considered if Silas wanted to leave Maple Falls once we graduated school.

‘Yeah,’ Silas continued, eagerness coating his every word. ‘That’s why you have to be there – I don’t think I can physically play without my lucky charm.’

‘Well, that’s a lot of pressure – you’re saying you winning all depends on me?’ I smiled, cheekily.

Silas shrugged exaggeratedly. ‘I mean, if the shoe fits?’

‘Now, Silas, a good captain wouldn’t pin his mistakes on a spectator in the crowd,’ I said, putting on my best stern voice.

‘I would if she was pretty enough to distract me,’ Silas said, and his eyes glimmered with amusement.

I felt my cheeks go hot. ‘Well, seems only fair given how much you’ve distracted me in potions.’

His smile turned a little wicked at the edges. ‘You saying you were watching me, Maya?’

‘Only as much you were watching me,’ I retorted, because there was no way I was actually going to tell him how hard I’d been crushing on him.

In the speech I’d planned for later, I wasn’t going to tell Silas I’d liked him for years. I was going to tell him I’d started having feelings for him at the start of the year, and I cast the soulmate spell to see if there was any truth to those feelings, because I’d been hurt before. He could be mad that I’d done it, that I cursed the town – I could only hope five days would be enough to get over it.

But in the happier version of this day that I envisioned, Silas was reciprocating. Understanding. And vowing to help me. It ended with Silas seeing me and not leaving.

As we found our seats, Silas became suspiciously quiet – maybe he was one of those serious theatregoers. One of those who couldn’t handle even the slightest of noises. Note to self: do not crunch your popcorn loudly.

The lights dimmed, casting us all into darkness, and the trailers began. I felt myself being swayed on a boat as a trailer for some siren and pirate movie rolled on to our screens. I glanced over at Silas and saw he was looking queasy. I quickly looked forward again, unsure of what to do.

Midway into wondering if I should offer for Silas to hold my hand, or whether that would seem like I was trying too hard – someone caught my eye.

It was a flash of familiarity. But it couldn’t be.

Yet there he was. Orion Hawthorne.