Page 16

Penny

WHILE THE PERFORMERS RUSH AROUND GETTING READY FOR THE DRAG show, Penny is locked in the café’s back office, staring at her laptop with bloodshot eyes. She’s spent every free moment googling curses and witches . Unfortunately for her, there’s no online database of covens in her area. All she’s found so far are forums full of people attempting love spells on assholes and research papers about the Salem witch trials.

Maybe it doesn’t matter, because Penny isn’t the kind of person who breaks curses. She can’t even vote.

Ron bursts through the office door, and Penny quickly closes her laptop.

“It’s madness out there,” Ron says. He’s looking very official with his clipboard and costume of jeans, cowboy boots, and a suede button-up. He always co-hosts the drag show with Penny’s mom, and after a lot of back-and-forth, Penny finally agreed to be her mom’s replacement onstage, mostly because they might get more donations to cover Anita’s medical bills. Already anxiety is roiling in her stomach, but Penny’s mom always said being seen is a skill. It takes practice, like playing the piano or making the perfect latte.

“Naomi here yet?” Ron asks.

Penny winces. “Did I forget to tell you about Naomi’s food poisoning?”

“Food poisoning?” Ron throws up his hands. “That’s it. I give up. This is a disaster and I’ll never live it down.”

“Can’t you get one of the stagehands to run sound?”

“Both of them canceled last minute.”

Penny sighs. “I’ll do it.”

“Excuse me, li’l miss, how do you expect to do three jobs?” There’s a loud crash from the hall, and Ron gasps. “Miss Baja Kali, I have told you twenty times not to attempt a fouetté backstage. We cannot afford another hole in the plaster—”

Ron disappears in a cloud of agitation and perfume. Penny rubs her neck, steeling herself for a long night. Normally she loves working the drag show, but this is her first time back at the café since her mom’s accident. She expects to see her mom around every corner, and it hurts worse each time Anita isn’t there.

She reluctantly puts away her laptop and enters the chaos of “backstage,” also known as the back hallway, which is now overrun with performers doing last-minute costume checks. Out in the front of the café, it’s getting crowded. The tables have been replaced by rows of chairs with an aisle up the middle. Against the wide front window, there’s a miniature stage with a backdrop of silver sequins and a sign that reads IDOL WOOD REVUE . A smaller sign below it reads: BENEFIT FOR ANITA EMBERLY, A TRUE BIO QUEEN !

Time to conquer the sound system.

Ten minutes later, Penny is hunched over the control board, her mouth open. She might even be drooling, but whatever. There are entirely too many dials, so she finally pulls up a YouTube video for help. Just when she thinks she has it, she presses a button that makes an earsplitting honk . People gasp and cover their ears, sending glares her way.

“Sorry!” Penny says weakly, cowering behind the counter. When the chatter starts again, Penny straightens up. “Come on, Emberly. You’re not even old. You can figure this out.”

“Or I could help you,” says a familiar voice.

Penny flinches. She discreetly wipes away the drool before she looks up.

Alonso De Luca stands across the counter, decked out in sequins and eyeliner.

Of course. His friend Aidan Lostis is one of their performers, so Alonso is always at the drag show. Penny should’ve mentally prepared for this, but he’s caught her in an unguarded, exhausted moment.

She looks away, continuing to fiddle with the mixer. But Alonso doesn’t leave.

“Do you need concessions or something?” Penny asks.

“Here,” Alonso says, leaning over the counter. “Don’t turn these two dials at the same time. It’ll create interference.”

“I’ll figure it out,” she says, hoping he’ll get the hint and leave. Penny is normally a pleasant person, but nothing about this moment is normal, and she can’t make herself act like it is.

“So you hate me now,” Alonso says.

The word hate comes out so strong Penny recoils from it—and from him. He notices, and his mouth turns into a thin line.

“Look, I… I’m feeling a lot of things right now,” Penny says. “And I don’t want to process those things in front of you.”

“That’s vague.”

“I’m allowed to be vague.”

“You’re allowed to be whatever you want.”

Penny throws up her hands. “What does that mean? What do you want from me, Alonso? Do you want me to absolve you because you feel guilty? I’m not going to do that.”

“I’m not here to ask for forgiveness,” Alonso says. “I’m here because I want to help.”

“I said I’ll figure out the mixer. I already found this video—”

“I’m not talking about the mixer, Penny.”

She stops, trying to figure out if she misheard him. “But you said—”

“I know what I said.”

Even though it’s not smart to hope, Penny can’t help it. She places both hands on the counter and whispers, “Then your magic…”

Alonso frowns. “Yeah. I have it.”

He has magic. Alonso has magic . Penny wasn’t seeing things in the woods all those years ago—one minute the cat was dead in his arms, and the next thing she knew, it was alive. It was clear in that moment what she was looking at—it was something superhuman, something beautiful. But their conversation at Village Blues Records had made her question everything.

“You lied to me,” Penny says.

Alonso smirks and it’s almost playful. He leans in, and this time, Penny doesn’t reflexively lean back.

“Yeah, I did,” Alonso says, and she can feel his breath on her face. Surprisingly minty. “But you don’t look mad.”

Penny is about to say she’s extremely mad, but she never gets the chance. Because a hand grabs Alonso’s shoulder, and he yelps as he’s pulled backward. The excited chatter in the room dies immediately.

In front of Alonso stands Corey, fists clenched.

“Oh no,” Penny mutters, her heart plummeting.

“Real brave to come here while Penny’s mom is in the hospital because of you ,” Corey growls, his voice too low for the crowd to hear.

“Technically, it’s not because of me,” Alonso says. “That was Grandpa De Luca. I just inherited his good looks—”

“Are you trying to be funny right now?” Corey doesn’t wait for an answer; instead, he turns to Penny. “You should stay away from him. I thought you knew better.”

Penny’s face goes bright red. “Excuse me? I can take care of myself.”

Alonso smirks. “Yeah, what the hell, Corey?”

Corey looks like a long-dormant volcano on the verge of eruption. He doesn’t bother responding; he goes straight for the kill.

As the entire room watches, Corey shoves Alonso.

Alonso gasps as he stumbles back. His arms flail as he grabs for purchase on something, anything as he falls. One hand comes close to the counter, but he overshoots it and grabs the laptop Penny was using to run sound.

Time slows as the laptop falls. Penny lunges for it, but she’s too late. It hits the floor, and the screen cracks, going fuzzy before it goes black.

Penny’s hands fly up to her mouth. She registers the sound of heavy footsteps and then Ron bellows, “What in sweet hell is going on here?”

Nobody answers. Ron’s eyes go from Alonso to Penny to Corey to the computer. Understanding dawns on him.

“You two,” he says, pointing at Corey and Alonso. “With me. Now.”

“ Oooh ,” the crowd says as they follow Ron into the back. Penny runs after them, the laptop momentarily forgotten on the floor.

“Close that door behind you, Penny Anne,” Ron says when they get into the office. He’s wearing his cowboy hat and lipstick, and it’s hard to take him seriously when he crosses his arms and widens his stance. He stares the boys down, and Corey and Alonso shift uncomfortably.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Corey says, his voice even. “It was an accident.”

Ron raises an eyebrow. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened here. I went to high school with your parents. They’re the reason Idlewood Central doesn’t offer archery anymore.”

Alonso’s jaw drops. “We used to have archery?”

“What I really want to know,” Ron says, “is why you two are harassing my Penny.”

“They weren’t harassing me,” Penny says. “It was a misunderstanding.”

“Now that I believe,” Ron says. “All the drama with your families seems like one big misunderstanding. I suggest you two leave before you cause more trouble.”

Penny panics. She can’t let Alonso leave. He was going to tell her about his brilliant plan for breaking the curse. And Corey—wait. Why is Corey here?

At that moment, Corey glances at her, concern in his eyes. Which Penny appreciates, sure. But her mind is busy doing a million calculations, and maybe she’s wrong, but something tells her Corey didn’t come here for the drag show.

Penny needs to talk to Corey and Alonso. Alone.

She steps forward, turning her back on the boys and focusing on Ron. “What if they could pay us back somehow?”

Ron looks like he’s about to shut her down, but he stops. “Pay us back?”

Penny gives him a look.

Ron finally gets it, and an evil grin spreads over his face. “What an interesting idea.”

Corey and Alonso visibly shrink.

Ron counts off on his fingers. “That laptop was used, so it was worth about five hundred bucks. We pay fifteen an hour, and if you divide that into five hundred, it averages to about thirty hours of work, or fifteen hours each. We could use some janitors around here to help us clean at closing time. But! I’ll cut those hours in half if you’ll do one more very important job for us tonight.”

Corey clears his throat. “That’s fine. What do you need?”

This is like watching a lion sneak up on two gazelles. Two very stupid gazelles.

“Our stagehands canceled on us tonight,” Ron says.

Alonso’s soul appears to leave his body, but Corey just looks confused.

Ron’s grin only grows wider. “This is gonna be great advertising.”