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My mouth opened and closed a few times. Was she for real? “Mom, have you slept at all?”
“Of course not,” she said, like what I said was ridiculous. “No time to sleep. I need you to go out right now and buy some things—I’ve got the list. We’re going to need some Germin powder, too, and remember the roots I sent about four months ago, that you said looked like worms? You know, the ones that can purify enchanted objects?” She didn’t even let me answer. “You’ll need those, too. Have you used them up?”
“Erm…”Usethem? I had no idea where I’d evenleftthat box with those strange-looking worm-like roots. I’d been too disgusted to even look at them properly.
Mom was suddenly panicked. “Teddy—you haven’t thrown them out, have you?”
“No, no, no. No—I haven’t used them. I’ll find them. They’re around here somewhere.” I looked at my apartment for a second, then decided the bathroom was the first place to look. I’d probably hidden it somewhere in there so I wouldn’t have to see that box ever again.
“Good,” Mom said with a sigh. “Good. Now get up and get dressed. I’m sending you the list.”
“Mom, calm down,” I said because the more I analyzed her, the more I saw how jumpy she was and that her hands were shaking enough for me to make it out on camera.
“I can’t calm down, honey. You’rewhite.My baby girl is not white. She’s pink and perfect. And you’re going to be pink and perfect again as soon as you make this.”
“You shouldn’t have stayed up all night, Mom.” It made me so guilty to see her like that, even though it was stupid. I was her daughter—of course, she was worried, and of course, she couldn’t sleep. I’d have done the same for her in a heartbeat. But I’d always felt like I didn’t deserve to be on the receiving end of all that care, and it had everything to do with my magic. As hard as I’d tried to fight and ignore that feeling all my life, it was apparently still there.
“It’s okay, baby. Don’t you worry about me,” she said. “Just…just go get those things, will you? I just want to see that it works.”
“But it’s okay if it doesn’t. Remember, I’mfine.And the drug’s effect doesn’t last longer than a day or two. It fades away on its own.”
“Well, I don’t have a day or two. That thing is getting out of you right now.”
It made me laugh. Her determination was admirable. I swear, if she was here, working in the ODP, she’d own this whole place within the week.
“Okay, Mom. Give me until nine a.m., and I’ll call back with everything on that list. Okay?”
“Okay, baby. I’ll be waiting.” And she blew me a kiss on the camera.
“I love you, Mom. I love you so much,” I said, and my voice broke and tears pooled in my eyes, too.
Mom smiled brightly. “I love you, too, honey. More than anything in the world.”
If there was one thing that could pick me up and pull me to my feet, it was my mom. My family. It was knowing that I was loved unconditionally.
By the time I finished the report for the Chief and sent it in, it was eight-fifteen, and I was feeling…good. Tired, a bit sore, but good. Putting on a jacket, I left the apartment to go searching for everything my mom had put on that list—red roses with fresh petals, rafflesia flowers, blood grass, something called witches’ hair, some black magic leaves—andyogurt. She was probably going to tell me toeatthat yogurt, but I got it at the grocery store anyway.
People stared at me a lot more than when I was pink, which was a surprise. Everybody was always curious about a chick with pink hair. Not that it was an uncommon hair color—girls dyed it pink all the time, but it was the eyes, too. But now that I wascompletelywhite, it attracted even more attention.
I was used to it by now so I didn’t mind, but I did avoid my reflection whenever I could. I never really liked pink, but apparently, I liked itwaybetter than white.
Back at my apartment, I put everything on the dining table, feeling more energetic by the second. It probably had something to do with the large latte I’d gotten first thing when I walked out of the apartment, the cup now almost empty. The one I’d made myself was ice-cold in the mug by the sink now, but oh, well. I found the disgusting roots Mom had sent me in her monthly package in the cabinet under the sink in the bathroom, just like I thought. There were more things my mom had sent me there, powders and liquids and things I had no use for, and I stored everything there because it was cooler and always dark.
And once I had everything prepared, I called her. She picked up the phone the second it rang.
“Did you get them?”
Even her voice was pitched high, her eyes wide and bloodshot, from lack of sleep and probably a gallon—if not more—of coffee she’d drunk all night to stay awake.
“Yep, I got them all.” I flipped the camera on my phone to show her.
“The roses, the roots, the black magic…okay,” she said under her breath. “Okay, yes. This looks good.”
I put the phone down and I smiled. “Okay. I’m ready. What do you need?”
My mom cleared her throat and straightened in her chair. “Two bowls, two glasses of water, one lukewarm, one cold, a mixer, two wooden spoons, and a tiny bit of vanilla extract. You know, for the taste.”
“Got it.” I turned to the cupboards to get everything she asked.
