I had become obsessed with strange things lately. This included: my neighbor's lawn gnome that jumped at the sound of dogs barking, a black cat that escorted me to and from school but most importantly, I was fascinated by every inch of golden-brown skin that I could see peeking out of David Hale's school uniform.
Paranormal studies was the perfect class to enable this bad habit.
I sat right behind David and had a clear view of his neck, sitting close enough to brush my finger across the edge of David's collar. I picked at my nail cuticles instead, watching and waiting. A little flicker of something moved. My back straightened. I saw it again, slithering across the bottom of David's curls.
A snake.
Technically, a king cobra.
Like an animated tattoo, the outline of a snake eyeballed me and wiggled its skinny tongue. I smiled, holding back a wave goodbye as David's snake disappeared underneath his clothing again. That was the fifth time this week. I was officially not crazy and seeing things... well, at least I wasn't seeing things.
"Mr. Hale," our teacher, Mrs. Sambury lorded over David's desk with that furrowed brow she wore more often than deodorant. She was built like a wonky bookshelf, tall, awkwardly structured, and covered in baubles. "This is a paired activity. You must choose a partner-"
"But I don't respect group activities, so I don't deserve to participate in them." David smirked and leaned back in his chair like he was going to spill out of it.
"I'll pair with David." I raised my hand.
The entire class turned in that moment, David's face fell.
It was probably the first time anyone had perceived me, the new kid, which somehow shared the same feeling of everyone shouting at me at once. If only I knew a spell that could let me crawl inside myself and vanish. David looked about as pleased as fresh roadkill.
"Thank you, Mr. Keys," Mrs. Sambury said in a forced way and stepped away from David's desk. Just in case his attitude was contagious.
Before I knew it, class was over, and I was standing by David at his locker.
"My place or yours?" I innocently asked.
Rolling his eyes, David acted like I needed him to spell my name out for me. "Mine, obviously." He could deliver rejection like a punch to the gut.
My spirits were growing increasingly low for making a friend.
David led me to the portal gates at the end of the grounds. A wall of golden ornate gates that were shaped like archways, welcoming witches to walk through the holographic pools shining in their middles. Portal Gates were faster than a broomstick or by car, but they required a portal on the other side, which means magical families needed to afford them, which translated to hunks of cash.
David announced, "The Hale Estate."
In a burst of blinding white light, I was sucked through like a fish on a hook. When we reached the other side, I dropped to my hands and knees, gasping for air on grass so green it must've been enchanted. The amount of magic in the air tickled my nose hairs.
"What a rush!" I said, but David didn't respond.
He never really did. This was our routine. Nothing seemed to affect him, which frustrated me as much as when my socks slipped down my shoes. I tended to feel too much about everything. It must be nice not to care. David honestly spoke more in a series of eye rolls and sighs than with words.
His existence was a riddle I so desperately wanted to crack. If only I was smart enough. If only David wasn't actively trying to stand out of my view. It was a chase that David didn't realized he was involved in.
But David had made a mistake.
On my first day at Radcliffe Academy for Magic, I nearly fell down the staircase. No one had warned me that the ghosts relished haunting the stairs and would scream and grab at students' ankles for fun. I was nearly flung over the railing, but David grabbed my arm and yanked me back on solid ground.
David said, a twinge of amusement pinching his lips, "Watch it. We can't replace your mother's son."
Obviously, David didn't remember me.
But I remembered him.
"So..."
My voice echoed in David's house. It wasn't empty. Not by a longshot. There was stuff everywhere, but the ceilings were so high, there were a thousand corners for my voice to bounce off and jump around. Honestly, it reminded me less of a house and more like a museum. Everything was beautiful, carefully chosen, and curated... but nothing was meant to be touched. Nothing was open to comfort. I kept my hands firmly by my side to avoid accidently brushing something and setting off some sort of alarm.
"Do you guys actually use every room in this place? Or are there like locked rooms or something? Don't tell me. The ladder sounds creepy. Do you think someone is secretly living here?" I couldn't stop the rush of questions circulating in my brain and I absolutely couldn't stop them from tumbling out of my big mouth. Once, I had given myself the hiccups from talking too fast. Might do it again today. "That sounds creepy too. I wouldn't listen to me. My parents said they dropped me a lot as a baby-"
David gave me a withering look, the kind that could spoil fresh fruit. "No."
"No to what?"
"Everything."
"My new house is the biggest we've ever moved to my whole life. Once, we lived in New York and my room was so tiny, I swear it was a closet. My dad gave me twenty bucks to drop it and if that's not an admission of guilt then I'd eat my shoe-"
David whipped around and I stumbled back, thrown by the severe look in his dark eyes. If he could, David would set me on fire. "What are you playing at?"
My neck nearly snapped from the whiplash. My face flushing, I insisted, "I-I'm not-! I'm not playing about anything. I don't even know what you're talking about." Out of instinct, I held my hands up in surrender to show I harbored no weapons of mass destruction.
Honestly, a baby duck could take me in a fight.
Not that I'd ever fight ducks. Or babies.
"I know you're the new kid, but that's not a good excuse to put on this stupid act. You're not the first witch at school to try to get close with the headmaster's kid. I can't get you any special privileges."
"Whoa. I'm not-"
"And I can't help fix a failing grade."
"David! I don't want that."
"Then what is it? What do you want from me?"
"Nothing!" My voice cracked and a blush seeped up from my neck and stained the rest of my face and ears. "I just... I just want to be your friend."
That only deepened David's scowl. "No, you don't. Nobody does."
"I do. And don't get so cocky." I pointed a warning finger at David, letting my confidence build back up. If this guy thinks he can intimidate me, he was dead wrong. I've ridden dragons with a meaner scowl. "You'd be lucky to be friends with me. Consider it an honor that I'm even trying."
"Whatever." David rolled his eyes again, obviously relying on a crutch.
He took another step forward when a pair of voices stopped us both. One, I recognized as the Headmaster's baritone, the way it boomed and reverberated in my bones. I was too new to have already caused trouble at school, but the way the Headmaster spoke made me feel a twinge of unease and guilt for everything I had ever done wrong. Every failed test and every failed presentation took a stab at my resolve all over again.
I couldn't imagine living with that.
The Headmaster said, "I've had it with that boy. He's making a mockery of the school on purpose."
"Stop it, Hyrum," a woman spoke. "He's gone through a lot. It's no wonder he fell behind."
"Fell behind? Is sitting in detention every day falling behind? Is turning in blank tests falling behind? He's a Hale, Judith. David is holding himself back on purpose. If he doesn't get his act together, I will send him to a boarding school that won't allow him to coast on his name alone."
"Hyrum. Imagine being fifteen and losing both your parents at once. You lost your brother," Judith whispered, her voice softer than velvet and sadder than rain. "But he lost his father. Try to understand."
There was a horrendous pause.
Hyrum finally admitted, "David looks just like him."
"I know."
I glanced at David as his face twisted into what some might write off as anger or hate, but I could see the trickle of tears forming in the corners of his dark almost black eyes.
Tilting his head to meet David's gaze, I smiled softly. "You have to be my friend..."
David looked up as he fought with all his might to keep his tears from falling. He shook from the unreleased pressure. A single loose brick kept that dam together. My hand itched to remove that brick and release all of David's emotions so they could rush out in a tidal wave and then, he'd achieve an ounce of relief.
"Because all that emptiness that you feel right now..." I timidly lifted my hand and pressed it over David's thrumming heart. "I'll fill it. I'll fill it with joy if that's what you want." I took back my hand. "But I do want to know. Why are you holding back?"
Whatever anger that had melted froze over again behind David's eyes. His edges stiffened, wrapping him in thorns sharp enough to cut me to shreds. "I'm not holding back. What they said is true. I'm falling behind."
"I know you already have your Familiar."
David blinked. His eyes scanned me as if for the first time, which made me smile in satisfaction.
Yes. My heart thumped. Notice me.
Familiars were important in our world. They were an extension of a witch's soul when our magic was too powerful for our mortal bodies. Only witches with powerful Familiars could succeed in creating truly formidable spells.
Most witches didn't conjure Familiars until they were in college.
David and I were only fifteen.
I quirked my brow. "He's bonded to you, like a tattoo, right? I've never seen that before. It's really cool."
David glanced at the door where his aunt and uncle were still talking. Taking a step closer to me, I swallowed a yelp and he whispered, "You saw him?"
"He sticks his tongue out at me in class."
"Traitor," David snapped at his arm and the little snake wriggled out of his sleeve and curled around his wrist. Its form wavered until its head popped out of David's skin, all brown scales with yellowish crossbars and golden blinking eyes. For a snake, it was as cute as a puppy dog.
"I don't think they should love you based on your merit..." I explained, raising my fingers to the little snake on David's wrist. The snake bowed its head and allowed me to pet him, which made me grin wider. "But you're only punishing yourself in the end. Maybe you don't want to be the spitting image of your uncle. I wouldn't either. He kind of sucks-" David snorted, and a hand flew over his mouth, which just added gasoline to the fire burning in my stomach. "Don't be great because of them. Do it to spite them. Become great because you can, and I'll help. I'll stand by the side lines and cheer for you, David. Not because you're a Hale, but because I think you can be awesome."
I looked up at David's dumbfounded expression. With a laugh, I stood straight and rested my hands on my hips. "I sound smart, don't I? Now you'll never call me stupid again."
"Sorry about that. I-I didn't mean it."
"It's okay. Just promise to be my friend until we die and come back as ghosts. Have I told you that I'm definitely going to come back as a ghost? I just know it."
"You're so weird."
And then, David laughed.
Laughed and smiled with all teeth and crinkled up eyes and the kind of dimples that forced me to take a breath. David said, "Fine! Let's be friends. Friends forever."
"Promise?" I offered my pinky.
He played along, locking his finger with mine. "Promise."
In that moment, an odd feeling pooled in my stomach. I didn't know it at the time but promising to be David's best friend forever was something I'd regret nine years later.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Hello girls, gays, and the undecided. Welcome to FROG KISSER, my cozy fantasy romcom. It's Scott Pilgrims meets Practical Magic. It's Ghosts of Girlfriends Past meets A Marvellous Light. Basically Olivia Rodrigo's Sour album in book form, but with wizards and it's gayer. It's really just a fun time.
Let me know what you think! What are your first impressions of David and Calvin? Do you think they'll be friends forever? And let me know, are you pro prologues? Or anti prologues?