Page 30 of How to Flirt with a Witch

As he tells me about catching up with his high school buddies out in the suburbs, a pang of sadness hits me. I’d kill to see Hazel over the holidays. Ever since the guy in her program, Sean, asked her out in November, they’ve been blissfully attached. Glued together, really. It’s great to see her so happy, but it means I haven’t had a chance to tell her about the exploding doll or the fact that Natalie and I have been texting.

And although she was adamant that I don’t tell anyone… I can’t hold in something that weird. It’s eating away at me, and I have to bounce ideas off my bestie—starting with the theory that I accidentally adopted a cursed kitten.

Standing in the domestic terminal at Vancouver International Airport, my mouth falls open as I process the sight of a familiar face walking toward me. She’s in ripped jeans and a black varsity jacket, her hair in a loose braid, and a full backpack over her shoulders, looking effortlessly cool until we spot each other.

“Hazel!” I scream, dropping my cardboard sign.

She screams back, and we meet in a jumping hug.

“Surprise!”

“Oh my God! How long are you staying?” My voice is muffled against her shoulder.

“Just three days. I need to go home for my family’s Christmas thing—”

“Of course.”

“—but I had to come visit you while I could.”

My heart is ready to burst as we step apart. “We have to jam-pack these three days. Ugh, we have a lot to catch up on.”

Hazel raises her eyebrows, and my stomach twists in anticipation. Finally, I’ll be able to get her opinion, and she can help me come up with a plan.

Over her shoulder, my family pushes through the crowd rolling their carry-on luggage, all smiles and waves.

I scramble to pick up my handmade cardboard sign, holding it high.

Welcome home from prison, Alyssa, Pearl, and Nicky!

They dissolve into giggles, enveloping me in a group hug—my sisters, Hazel, Mom, and Dad. Everyone looks the same as ever, a reminder that it hasn’t been as long as it feels. Alyssa is in full makeup and a knee-length trench coat, with fresh highlights lightening her brown tresses. Pearl is sporting her usual ponytail, her coat open over loose jeans and a white tee. Nicky’s dark hair is long and wavy, her willowy legs peeking out from beneath a down jacket and a short skirt—definitely something that would’ve sparked an argument with Mom about bare legs in the winter. Dad towers over us in aviators and a jean jacket that make him look helplessly like Alan Grant from Jurassic Park. Mom, the shortest of us all, is swathed in a calf-length down jacket, leaving only her round, smiling face, signature pearl earrings, and black bob exposed to the cold.

To my horror, my eyes prickle and my vision blurs. When was the last time I hugged someone who wasn’t a cat? It feels like thawing out by the fireplace after a long day in the snow.

Luckily, nobody notices my watery eyes because everyone is shouting over each other.

“Nicky was sitting next to a guy who snored the whole flight—” Pearl shouts.

“I had to pee so bad—” Nicky says.

“I tried to flirt my way into getting bumped up to first class—” Alyssa says.

They keep it up during the entire van ride to the vacation rental, which is a few blocks from my place. I’m going to bring Ethel over and stay with them for the week.

“We have to visit Grouse Mountain—”

“—and Stanley Park—”

“Will you show us the UBC campus?” Hazel adds, contributing to the din and earning her title as an honorary Alexander sister.

“—aday trip to Whistler—”

“Can we eat sushi every day?”

I laugh, my shoulders dropping as my homesickness melts away. “Yes to all of it.”

I promised the sushi in Vancouver is better than anything they’ve ever had at home, and I can’t wait to prove it.

A skip of excitement shoots through me at the prospect of showing them around. It hasn’t felt like my city to show until this moment.