Experimental Magic ✔

Distractions

Millie tossed and turned in her bed as she groaned. All she wanted was to be able to sleep in, but Misty was making that impossible. She'd been rage making potions from 5 am - 11 pm ever since Meadow left. It'd been three days, three days, of banging pots and pans and random bouts of profanity every time something went wrong. Which was often because Misty was so obviously trying to distract herself and failing miserably. 

"Goddammit!" Misty shouted from downstairs as metal crashed against the hard wood floor. 

Here we go again, Millie thought to herself as she pulled herself out of bed.

"What'd you do now?" Millie said as she entered the kitchen.

"Nothing," Misty said quickly. 

She rushed to the sink, yanked at the faucet handle and plunged her hand into the cold water bringing instant relief.

"Just burned myself that's all," she said in an attempt to appear nonchalant. The painful grimace on her face told a different story.

"Let me fix it," Millie said and grabbed Misty's hand. 

She held her palm over the burn, closed her eyes and whispered a healing spell. It cleared up the burn instantly and took away the pain.

"Right," Misty said, looking down at her hand. "I forgot we could do that."

She quickly opened and closed her hand a couple times to test for damage, then went straight back to frantically stirring the bubbling pots on the stove. Millie watched her half in amusement and half in concern. It really was a sight to see her normally cold and calculated sister in such a frenzy. Without context, Millie would've laughed, but she knew it was coming from a place of hurt. So she kept it to herself. 

"Can I say something?" Millie said, trying to draw Misty's attention away from the potion making.

"Sure," Misty said without looking up or even taking a second away from what she was doing.

"I miss Meadow," Millie said.

She thought maybe if she shared her own feelings, Misty would address her own. Misty stopped stirring abruptly and stared off into the distance with a quizzical look on her face. Millie jumped inside thinking it had worked but it didn't last long.

"She'll come back," Misty said and then immediately went back to stirring like a madman. 

"Yeah but," Millie said softly as she stepped closer. "What if she doesn't?"

Meadow probably thought she  was in heaven living with Markos. She was sure she was having the time of her life living without rules and structure. Markos wouldn't force her to study or get up early or make her try to better herself. No doubt it was an absolute free for all over there.

"She will," Misty said with confidence, but Millie doubted how real her confidence was. 

Either way, it was clear to Millie that Misty was not ready to face reality. 

"I gotta get out of here," Millie said, grabbing her backpack and tossing it over her shoulder. 

She didn't know where she was going to go or what she was going to do, but she just needed a break from all the suppressed frustration and denial. 

***

Millie wandered around a bit before she found herself in the middle of town. She didn't venture into town too often as she wasn't a big fan of boutique browsing. It seemed like a major waste of time to shop around when she could get anything she wanted with a single snap of her fingers. But she was desperate for a distraction.

She walked around aimlessly just looking at the shops but not going in until she came across one that actually interested her. Bea's Bath & Bubble. It honestly looked like a unicorn threw up in there, but a little relaxation might do them some good. So despite being sick to her stomach from all the pink, she went in. 

Millie walked around looking for nothing in particular. The place was overflowing with pastel rainbow bath bombs with scents like lavender-rose fantasy, orange-vanilla sunshine, and cotton candy birthday party. There was even a bunch of them that smelled and looked like cupcakes. She'd never seen anything like it. Frills weren't really their thing.

She had to laugh when she came across an iridescent bucket filled with pink and purple swirled bath bombs that were absolutely covered in glitter. Fairy Princess Pixie Dust read the little tent card. Okay, Millie thought to herself, what could that possibly smell like? Bored and a little curious, she picked it up and took a sniff. Glitter and an overpowering smell of baby powder and vanilla frosting shot up her nose sending her into a coughing fit. 

"Gross," she said putting it back where it belonged. 

She quickly dusted the pink glitter from her jet black jeans, hoping it wouldn't stick. She didn't have much luck, but she tried for a good thirty seconds anyway. Eventually she gave up and just accepted that her jeans were past the point of salvation. 

But as she was about to find out, the trip wasn't a total waste. When she looked up from dusting herself off, she spotted a little patch of black peaking out from a sea of pink. Finally, she thought, something worth looking at. She made a beeline for the black bath bombs, happy to find something that actually suited her. 

Before she got her hopes up, she grabbed the little descriptive sign to see what they were all about. Witch, Please! - get lost in black magic with this licorice and black pepper scented bath bomb made with activated charcoal, baking soda and Epsom salt. 

"Now that's what I'm talking about," Millie said.

Unlike every other bath bomb bucket in the place, this one wasn't filled to the brim and practically spilling over. Slightly annoyed, Millie grabbed at the bucket and tilted it forward to see if there were any left. She was disappointed to see it was empty. Of course the one thing I want they don't restock, Millie thought to herself. She looked around to see if they were hiding anymore someplace and got excited when she spotted a couple more. There was only one problem. They were on the highest shelf and she was short. Even when she jumped, she still couldn't reach them. 

"Here," she heard a deep voice say from behind her. "Let me get that for you."

He reached over her and grabbed the black bath bomb with ease. Millie turned to see who the mystery boy was. She was somewhat surprised when she saw a freakishly tall, dark and handsome boy smiling down at her with perfectly white pearly teeth. At first she couldn't quite place the face, but then it hit her. It was the boy from the party. Will or Elliot or whatever. And he was even cuter than she remembered. 

***

P.S. this chapter in no way reflects my opinion on frilly bath bombs. Millie hates them, but I absolutely love them!  🤗