The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 22

"Okay, can I just say, I'm picking the movie next time. That was awful," Cora said, shaking her head. Stretched out in the back seat of Zoe's mom's little sedan, her iced cappuccino cradled in her hands, she felt normal for the first time in days. Spending so much time with Warren was making it hard to remember that she had a life outside of school and magic, and the magic just kept making her look at things weird. She wondered how many other things were hidden in the world, things only small groups of people knew about. What if Sasquatch was real? And UFOs? The world was already a whole lot stranger than she'd thought, and who knew how much more there was to it.

Zoe made a harrumphing noise and crossed her arms over her chest. "It wasn't that bad. And it had decent reviews when I looked it up online. Besides, I thought you liked mindless action movies."

"I do, but I like the good ones. Unlike you, I have taste."

"It really wasn't all the great, was it?" Moira sighed, her naturally black eyelashes fluttering slightly as she looked down at her own iced lemonade. "I think part of the problem was that that actress who played Charlie couldn't act. And it was nothing like the book."

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be on my side?" Zoe said.

Moira's soft smile belied her words. "I'm on the side of good movies."

"You can't argue with that," Cora said, laughing. Moira might be quiet and look like a gentle little mouse, but she had a wicked mouth on her. One of the many reasons she and Zoe worked so well together.

Zoe looked from one to the other and made a face. She knew she'd been outmaneuvered and there was no way she could beat their combined front. Suddenly she smiled, eyes on Cora. "Why didn't you bring Warren along? Or doesn't he like action movies?"

She rolled her eyes both at the topic and at Zoe's blatant attempt to change the conversation. "Why would I bring him along?"

"Well, with you two spending so much time together now, I assumed you'd started dating and just hadn't told me yet."

"Warren's just a friend and you damn well know it. We're just working on a project together is all. Sadly for your attempts to frigging marry me off, there's nothing more to our relationship than that."

Zoe feigned disbelief. "You go over to his house pretty much every day after school and expect me to believe nothing's going on? And you keep denying it so much... I think the maiden doth protest too much."

Cora grimaced. "You need to stop shipping us. Seriously. It's weird and I legit don't see Warren like that. Me and him are... we're just work together really. He's not a bad guy, but I can't imagine myself dating him."

"Only because you've never dated anyone. I'm sure that-"

"Enough," Moira said, staring straight at Zoe. "You've bugged Cora enough about it. She says she's not dating him, and even if she were, it's none of your business. You're too nosy for your own good. It's why people don't like you."

Zoe choked while Cora chuckled. "She could be way worse."

Moira snorted slightly. "She could be a lot better too."

"Hey, I'm right here!" Zoe said. "What's with you two ganging up on me today?"

"You make it easy," Cora replied.

"You keep doing things that make us want to," Moira said at the same time.

"Why do I hang out with you two again?" Zoe asked.

Moira and Cora exchanged a glance before grinning. "Because you love us," Cora said.