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The idea of casting the spell burns at the back of my mind all day, during classes and club meetings. I can barely think about our upcoming event at the end of the week when tonight we’re going to try to do magic .

I can barely sit through dinner. Má raises an eyebrow when I only have one helping of curry—she even got fresh baguettes to dip in it—but I can barely taste it.

I help wash dishes, scrubbing the turmeric stains off bowls until I’m buzzing with anticipation.

She drops me off at Erica’s after I promise I’ll be home by eleven, and I’m breathless by the time I reach the door.

Jenn is already there, chatting with Mrs. Liu about the prom and our shared limo plans.

“Hi, Brenda,” Mrs. Liu says. “Are you excited about prom?”

I groan. “Don’t talk about prom, those flowers gave me nightmares for weeks.”

“You girls work too hard,” she says. “I’m so glad you have your dragon nights, it’s important to have fun.” Mrs. Liu looks around. “Are the boys late?”

“Oh, it’s just us tonight, Mama,” Erica says, shaking her head as she gestures me and Jenn toward her room.

“Have fun with your dragons!” Mrs. Liu says.

“We will!” Jenn says, stifling a laugh.

“What happened to Adib and Ryan?” I ask as we settle into Erica’s room. I pull the two teleportation boxes out of my backpack. It feels weird to be doing this without the guys; it feels like we’re splitting the party. Never a great option in D just a printout of LA and we estimate ten miles from Erica’s house to Koreatown and draw an X at our destination.

Jenn places the map on the diagram and studies it. “Shouldn’t we use coordinates?”

Erica shrugs. “Maybe they don’t use the same system. Maybe a map is more accurate?”

“If we’re being this specific—”

“Let’s just follow the instructions,” I say. “They probably don’t want the instructions to be too complicated. This is supposed to be like Easy Bake for spells.”

Everything looks ready. My name and information in Jenn’s neat block print looks strange standing out from the intricate runes on the large diagram sheet.

It should look funny, the checkered patterned bowl and the mug of soil and the candle sitting on top of this premade thing we got at Target, but it feels—otherworldly.

Expectant. Like there’s something about to happen, something tingling in the air.

“Wait,” Jenn says. “We need a plan for you to come back.”

“Right.” I nod. “Let’s do the other one.”

Jenn gets to work copying my information onto the diagram from the second box, and I print out another map with Erica’s house as the center.

Fancy meows plaintively from Erica’s bed. She’s been put out all evening; instead of lots of attention and pets, she’s been completely ignored. She settles and sits on top of Erica’s forgotten D&D binder and character sheets, giving us judgmental looks.

I scritch her behind the ears. “It’s okay, you’ll get lots of attention soon.”

Erica hands me another Ziploc full of soil, a bottle of water, another candle, a lighter, and two bowls. I stuff everything into my bag along with the folded diagram.

“Okay, you ready? You have your return spell?” Erica giggles. “Can’t believe I just said that.”

“You say much weirder things every day,” Jenn points out.

“Yeah, but within context,” Erica says.

“All right, so—if anything happens to me—”

Erica gives me a solemn salute. “It’s been great knowing you.”

Jenn shakes her head, like she still can’t believe we’re doing this. “The worst that can happen is—nothing, right? And we’ll just be staring at you standing on this thing we drew.”

My heart pounds. I saw another world. I met Kat. It was real. I know it was.

What if it wasn’t? That voice of doubt rears inside me again.

“Let’s see if this works,” I say decisively. I take the instructions, scanning the incantation I have to read. “Open the window.” The spell requires fresh air to start.

Erica pulls out her phone and starts recording. “It’s always helpful to review,” she says with a wink.

I nod at her and step toward the edge. I light the candle.

The flame flickers merrily, and I gulp.

“ Candle flame burning bright ,” I read aloud, even and slow. “ Draw cherished mana with your light…”

Suddenly the air seems to tighten around us, and the rest of the room feels darker. I wonder how this is for everyone in Kat’s world when they cast this, this sense of anticipation in the air.

Erica’s eyes widen, and she gestures for me to keep going.

A gust of hot, dry air drifts inside the room, even though it had been completely still just a moment ago.

I keep reading. “ Depth of our oceans, winds of change…”

The air swirls around me, and I can feel a warmth of energy flow through me. It’s similar to that feeling in Target when that mana surge first rushed through me, but where that was a roaring hurricane, this is a gentle stream, curious and inviting.

“Fertile earth, fresh and pure…”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Fancy eyeing the spell diagram, eyes sparkling with a curious glint at the huge piece of paper outstretched on the floor.

I think about Kat, the curve of her smile, the warmth of her eyes, and wonder what she’s doing right now.

Fancy leaps off the bed, scattering the binder to the floor. Character sheets and maps and probably Erica’s secret campaign plot fall out of it, and one of them lands on my diagram.

The last words jump to my mouth, as if I can’t stop. “ Guide me to my destination, swift and sure. ”

I feel a sudden jolt and the world seems to spin—it’s like someone is yanking me in every direction, and I fall over, getting dizzy. Erica’s bedroom spins and spins around me, and then—

I look up and see nothing but darkness.