Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 50

"Dude!" Ashleigh exclaimed when she and Fawn had returned to her room after the two of them, Monica and the Tillman twins had finished putting the living room back together. "You're an elemental witch! Holy freakin' shit!"

"Would you keep it down!" Fawn whispered. "I'm still having a hard time believing I'm a normal witch, let alone a special type of witch created by Nature to defeat an evil sorcerer."

"Oh, man this is sweet!" Ashleigh said, flopping down on Fawn's bed. "And we're practically best friends! I'm friends with an elemental witch! Best day of my life. No doubt."

Fawn sat down at her computer desk and rested her head in her folded arms.

"Hey, Fawny. You okay?" Ashleigh asked in an almost baby talk-like tone.

"Okay, one, don't ever call me 'Fawny' again," Fawn said, her voice muffled in her arms.

"What ever you say, friend."

"And two, no I'm not okay." Fawn let out a long sigh. "Holy hell . . . what was Nature thinking? Clearly I'm not fit to be a witch . . . let alone an elemental -- I can't even perform magic."

Ashleigh made her way over to Fawn's side and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You know what's worse than others denying what you're capable of?" she said, gently squeezing Fawn's shoulder.

Fawn slowly shook her head. It was more of an automatic reaction than anything else.

"You denying what you're capable of," Ashleigh said. "You'll do magic when you're good and ready. But the first step is believing you will."

Fawn finally lifted her head.

"Yeah, Mama said the same."

"Well, listen to ya Mama!" Ashleigh said, laughing.

Fawn could see a smile spread across her face in her blank desktop screen.

"Look at you," she said. "Being all advisor-y."

Ashleigh flopped back down on Fawn's bed.

"That comes from all the hours I spent in my guidance counselor's office. God, I bet I let him down when I dropped out."

Fawn spun around in her swivel chair and stared at Ashleigh.

"Looks like you could've used your own advice," she earnestly said.

Ashleigh, who was looking down into her palms as she twirled one of her rings between her fingers, nodded.

"I know, right?" she said quietly. Then she looked up, eyes wide. "Hey, I have an idea!"

"What's that?"

"Well, when I was in school, music used to help relax me while I was studying or doing homework. Maybe it'll help you perform magic."

"I don't think it's exactly the same," Fawn said.

"No, come on, try it!" Asche said, getting to her feet.

Fawn turned back toward her computer monitor and booted it up.

"Fine," she sighed. "I guess it's worth a shot."

"Right," Asche said, grabbing her handbag from the end table on her side of Fawn's bed and pulling out a small notepad. "It's not exactly a grimoire but I've scribbled down some really easy spells for practice." She clicked her tongue as she flipped through the notepad. "Oh, here's an easy one! Addo Concergio. The levitation spell. We were just doing this one in the living room before you came home. It's really easy! Kids' stuff. Even you should be able to do this one."

"Oh . . . wow. Thanks, Asche," Fawn said, smiling.

"I didn't mean it like that and you know it," Asche said, grabbing a pillow from Fawn's bed. "Okay, just do what I do and say what I say exactly how I say it. Okay?"

Fawn nodded.

"Sure."

Asche stomped.

"No, not sure. That's your problem, always 'sure'!"

Fawn nodded again.

"I've got this!"

"Okay, then. Music?"

Fawn played a random song from her playlist. It was an instrumental to one of her favorite R&B love songs.

"You've got to be kidding -- okay, what the hell is this?" Asche asked after a few moments.

"It's one of my favorite love songs," Fawn said.

"There aren't even any lyrics!"

"It's just the instrumentals." Fawn turned back around to face Asche. "Sometimes lyrics can ruin a song -- believe it or not."

There was a glint in her gray eyes.

"I agree," she said. "I disagree with this song, though. Find something more . . . upbeat. More motivating. A depressing love song is the last thing we need."

"Fine," Fawn said, standing. "Why don't you find a song for us, oh Queen of Tunes."

"Gladly," Asche said, taking Fawn's seat. "Okay, let's see what ya got." She began scanning Fawn's playlist. "Boring . . . boring . . . nope . . . too old . . . never heard this one . . . ew, why do you even have this one . . . oh, this one's a classic . . . aha! We have a winner!" Asche played the song. It was a fast-paced pop song that Fawn had long forgotten existed in her playlist. "This'll have to do," Asche said, standing. Time to do some magic."

"How is this relaxing?" Fawn said, slightly moving her body to the beat.

Asche smiled.

"Okay maybe it's not all that relaxing but I like this song, so hush," Asche said, laughing. "Now watch me."

Asche placed the pillow at the foot of Fawn's bed. She took two steps back and and stretched an open palm toward the pillow. She took a deep breath. "Addo Concergio!" she enunciated.

The pillow effortlessly levitated into the air. Asche navigated the pillow with her fingers.

"See? Easy stuff. Now you try it."

Asche landed the pillow on Fawn's bed. Fawn stepped before it.

"Come on, Fawn," Asche said. You can do this. I know you can."

"I know I can, too," Fawn said. "Alright. Here goes." Fawn closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. She opened them. "Addo Concergio!" she firmly said.

And watched in horror as her whole bed was set ablaze.

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To be continued in Chapter 51...

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