me."
"How can a
brownie like you like you?" he
joked. "A brownie is inanimate...except for those singing ones in the TV
commercial."
"You know
what I mean," I screamed in frustration. "The brownie made you like
me like me when you don't really—"
"Before we's
lost in 'like mes'," Aunt Vandi inserted. "I tell you nothin in dat
potion I gave you 'cept cinnamon, mint and a few red pepper flakes."
We all fell silent
at her words. A few shocked seconds passed before I fully realized the
importance of what she'd said.
"Then Nathan
wasn't drugged," I mumbled.
"Yeah,"
he said. "I already told you that eating that brownie only gave me the
excuse I needed to act on feelings I've had since freshman year."
A happy bud of
giddiness took root inside me. "So really, there was no magic at all
involved."
"I won give
powerful magic to the irresponsible hands of chil'en," Aunt Vandi said.
I couldn't really
protest the irresponsible part. We had accidentally
poisoned Nathan. Or we would have if the brownie had been truly tainted.
Aunt Vandi gave an
enigmatic arch of her eyebrow and one side of her lips curved up. "But
aint it nice you got zactly what you wished fo?"
I thought about
it, and she was right. She'd said the love potion would get Ronny to take me to
the dance and that I'd get love. Even though she hadn't given me an actual love
potion, I couldn't help thinking the root doctor had done something magical.
But anything she'd done had only nudged Nathan into admitting feelings he
already had and had kind of made me do the same.
"You're
right." I said. "I didn't get what I thought I wanted but I got what
I really wanted. Thank you."
Aunt Vandi
inclined her head. "You mose welcome, chile."
Nathan took my
hand and dropped a kiss on my smiling lips.
"Come on,
Istanbul. Let's go back and finish our date. There's a refreshment table to
explore. Maybe they have my new favorite food: brownies."
"I think
they're my new favorite too." Squeezing his hand, I went up on tiptoes and
kissed him back.
# # #
FATED
HEARTS
Chapter One
"Let's go
behind the bleachers and do the nasty, Eve." Hot breath tinged with
spittle sprayed against my neck as Quinn shouted in my ear to be heard over the
booming throb of the music.
My date was
ruining the song—one of my favorites by Kanye.
Quinn sidled
closer, pulling at the open collar of his white dress shirt as if to give me a
view of the expanse of his hairy chest. He pressed against my side, making me
cringe. Inching backward, my spine met the cold concrete block of the gym wall.
Almost the entire
high school might be here at the Fall Fling dance, but it wasn't so crowded
that he needed to invade my personal space. Bad enough the perennial dirty-sock
smell of the gym threatened to overcome me, but Quinn and his liberally applied
cologne made me want to gag.
Oh why had I
agreed to go on this date? Just because Lashonda pushed me?
"He's
popular," she'd said. "And your school rep could use a infusion of popular. "
A small bit of
help with my social standing at Richard Johnson Academy— known to
students as Double Dick—now didn't seem any kind of inducement. Heck,
being voted home coming queen wouldn't be worth this horrid date.
"Come on,
Eve. I'll play Adam," Quinn said with a chuckle. "Get it? You're Eve
and I'm Adam? Adam and Eve?"
"Yeah,"
I drawled. "Hilarious. I've never heard that one before."
He hooted a laugh,
grabbed my upper arm and tried to pull me into an embrace. In response, I
twisted out of his grasp.
"Back off,
buddy."
"Okay,"
Quinn said. "You don't wanna do the full tilt boogie. We can just go
make-out a little. We gotta capitalize on this sitch, ya know? No one'll notice
if we sneak away." He paused for effect before continuing. "I'll even
let you touch it."
Eww. That was
supposed to be an enticement?
Before I could
even flinch, Quinn's hand shot toward me and he molested my breast.
"Hey, stop
it." I twisted and stepped way from the wall pushing
"How can a
brownie like you like you?" he
joked. "A brownie is inanimate...except for those singing ones in the TV
commercial."
"You know
what I mean," I screamed in frustration. "The brownie made you like
me like me when you don't really—"
"Before we's
lost in 'like mes'," Aunt Vandi inserted. "I tell you nothin in dat
potion I gave you 'cept cinnamon, mint and a few red pepper flakes."
We all fell silent
at her words. A few shocked seconds passed before I fully realized the
importance of what she'd said.
"Then Nathan
wasn't drugged," I mumbled.
"Yeah,"
he said. "I already told you that eating that brownie only gave me the
excuse I needed to act on feelings I've had since freshman year."
A happy bud of
giddiness took root inside me. "So really, there was no magic at all
involved."
"I won give
powerful magic to the irresponsible hands of chil'en," Aunt Vandi said.
I couldn't really
protest the irresponsible part. We had accidentally
poisoned Nathan. Or we would have if the brownie had been truly tainted.
Aunt Vandi gave an
enigmatic arch of her eyebrow and one side of her lips curved up. "But
aint it nice you got zactly what you wished fo?"
I thought about
it, and she was right. She'd said the love potion would get Ronny to take me to
the dance and that I'd get love. Even though she hadn't given me an actual love
potion, I couldn't help thinking the root doctor had done something magical.
But anything she'd done had only nudged Nathan into admitting feelings he
already had and had kind of made me do the same.
"You're
right." I said. "I didn't get what I thought I wanted but I got what
I really wanted. Thank you."
Aunt Vandi
inclined her head. "You mose welcome, chile."
Nathan took my
hand and dropped a kiss on my smiling lips.
"Come on,
Istanbul. Let's go back and finish our date. There's a refreshment table to
explore. Maybe they have my new favorite food: brownies."
"I think
they're my new favorite too." Squeezing his hand, I went up on tiptoes and
kissed him back.
# # #
FATED
HEARTS
Chapter One
"Let's go
behind the bleachers and do the nasty, Eve." Hot breath tinged with
spittle sprayed against my neck as Quinn shouted in my ear to be heard over the
booming throb of the music.
My date was
ruining the song—one of my favorites by Kanye.
Quinn sidled
closer, pulling at the open collar of his white dress shirt as if to give me a
view of the expanse of his hairy chest. He pressed against my side, making me
cringe. Inching backward, my spine met the cold concrete block of the gym wall.
Almost the entire
high school might be here at the Fall Fling dance, but it wasn't so crowded
that he needed to invade my personal space. Bad enough the perennial dirty-sock
smell of the gym threatened to overcome me, but Quinn and his liberally applied
cologne made me want to gag.
Oh why had I
agreed to go on this date? Just because Lashonda pushed me?
"He's
popular," she'd said. "And your school rep could use a infusion of popular. "
A small bit of
help with my social standing at Richard Johnson Academy— known to
students as Double Dick—now didn't seem any kind of inducement. Heck,
being voted home coming queen wouldn't be worth this horrid date.
"Come on,
Eve. I'll play Adam," Quinn said with a chuckle. "Get it? You're Eve
and I'm Adam? Adam and Eve?"
"Yeah,"
I drawled. "Hilarious. I've never heard that one before."
He hooted a laugh,
grabbed my upper arm and tried to pull me into an embrace. In response, I
twisted out of his grasp.
"Back off,
buddy."
"Okay,"
Quinn said. "You don't wanna do the full tilt boogie. We can just go
make-out a little. We gotta capitalize on this sitch, ya know? No one'll notice
if we sneak away." He paused for effect before continuing. "I'll even
let you touch it."
Eww. That was
supposed to be an enticement?
Before I could
even flinch, Quinn's hand shot toward me and he molested my breast.
"Hey, stop
it." I twisted and stepped way from the wall pushing
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