It was true. For a while the previous year, Call and Celia had walked Havoc every night together. But now he wasn’t allowed out alone with Havoc. Tamara and Jasper were taking turns walking him.
“Yeah, I’ve been …” Call’s voice trailed off. He wondered if it was possible to have a conversation entirely in sentences that trailed off. If so, he and Celia were definitely on their way to an epic example.
“Where did you get those?” Celia asked, suddenly laughing. Call glanced down and realized that she was pointing at the books on his table.
Fire Elements and Love Spells, a Primer.
The Alchemy of Love.
Water Magic and Commitment Spells: How to Get Her to Say Yes.
He was going to murder Jasper.
“I — well, I was just — it’s for an assignment,” Call said.
Celia put her elbows on her knees and looked at him meditatively. “If you want to ask me out, Call, just ask me out,” she said. “We’re third years now, and I’ve liked you since Iron Year.”
“Really?” Call was amazed.
She gave him a tentative smile. “You couldn’t tell? All those times walking Havoc together. And the kiss. I figured you knew, but then Gwenda said I should just tell you, so here I am.”
“She said you should tell me?” Call felt very stupid, echoing her, but his mind had gone almost completely blank. Was he supposed to thank her, as though liking him was a compliment? That didn’t seem right. Probably he should tell her he liked her, too — and he did like her — but what would telling her that mean? Would they be going out? Would they have to kiss? Would it mean they couldn’t walk Havoc together and joke around anymore?
As Call opened his mouth to say something — although he still wasn’t sure what — Tamara and Jasper raced up the stairs to the landing. Aaron and Havoc dropped from above. The Chaos-ridden wolf began to bark. Aaron looked ready for a fight.
“Stop right there!” Jasper shouted. Fire ignited in Tamara’s palm.
Celia spun around, eyes wide.
The flame guttered out abruptly. Tamara clasped both her hands behind her back. “Oh, hi,” she said with an awkward and slightly hysterical laugh. “We were just —”
“What are you doing here?” Aaron demanded. Some of the light of battle was still in his eyes and he didn’t sound as kind as he usually did. They must have been really surprised when they saw that Call wasn’t alone — surprised and scared.
“Call was about to ask me out,” Celia said, confused and clearly upset. “Or at least I think he was. What are you all doing here? Why was everyone yelling?”
For a long moment, they were all quiet. Call had no idea how to explain any of this to her. Maybe I should just be honest, he thought. Sort of honest anyway. He didn’t have to tell her about the whole Captain Fishface angle. But, then, he realized, none of it made any sense without mentioning Captain Fishface. Still, he had to say something. She was his friend.
“The thing is that someone is trying —” Call started, his whole body flushing hot with embarrassment. He was sure that he was going to say something stupid and that Tamara was going to see him do it and make fun of him. He was sure Celia wasn’t going to understand.
“I came to ask you out,” Jasper said suddenly, loudly, breaking in on Call’s explanation. “That’s why I said ‘Stop right there.’ Because, uh, I wanted him to stop asking you out before I got a chance. Don’t go out with him! Go out with me.”
Aaron’s eyebrows shot up. Tamara made a choking sound. Call couldn’t believe his ears.
Celia looked at Jasper in surprise. “You like me?”
“Yes!” he said, a little wild-eyed. “I definitely do like you.”
Call remembered that when Jasper had asked Call if he liked Celia, he’d also said that maybe he wanted to ask her out. Did he? Or was he just trying to throw her off figuring out what was going on? Or was he trying to annoy Call? The last one seemed the most likely.
Celia cut her gaze to Call expectantly, as though he was supposed to say something or do something. He gazed back at her in total bafflement.
Finally, she sighed and turned to Jasper. “I’d love to go out with you,” she said.
“Well, I think we can all agree that that was a total bust,” Aaron said as they trudged back toward their rooms.
“Not for Jasper,” said Tamara, who, to Call’s annoyance, seemed to think the whole thing was a little funny. Actually a lot funny. She’d nearly exploded trying to keep herself from laughing after Celia had agreed to go out with Jasper. Call wasn’t sure who’d looked more nonplussed, him or Jasper, but Jasper recovered quickly and began telling Celia what a great time they were going to have at the Gallery.
At that point, Call had given up. He’d left the library. Aaron, Tamara, and Havoc scrambled after him.
Tamara was dancing along beside Havoc now, making him jump up to put his paws on her shoulders. “This is going to be the best date ever,” she said. “Jasper doesn’t know anything about girls. He’ll probably bring her a bouquet of eyeless fish.”
“It’s not going to be the best date ever!” Call snapped. “Jasper’s doing this to annoy me. He’ll probably be really mean to Celia. He’ll hurt her feelings, and it’ll be my fault.”
“Oh, for goodness sake, Call,” Tamara huffed. “He’s not going to be mean to Celia. Not everything is about you.”
“This is about me,” said Call.
“Maybe not.” There was an edge to Tamara’s voice. “Maybe he just likes Celia.”
“I think both of you are losing sight of the big picture here,” said Aaron as they rounded a corner where the corridor narrowed. “What if Celia’s the murderer?”
“What?” said Call.
“Well, she came when she knew you’d be alone in the library,” Aaron pointed out.
“To see if I was going to ask her out,” Call said.
“That’s her cover story. I bet she showed up and sensed something wasn’t right, so she bluffed.”
“Why would Celia want to kill Call?” Tamara demanded. They had reached their rooms, and she used her wristband to pop the door open. They went inside the dim living area. Havoc quickly leaped up on the sofa and stretched out luxuriantly, ready to sleep.