Chapter XVIII

The months that followed the resolution to the situation with Brad were, much to Lilly’s surprise, rather normal. Despite Vinny’s insistence that telling Brad about the gem was a bad idea, the football player kept his word and hadn’t told a soul about its existence. In addition, he never once asked for them to use the stone to help him cheat a second time. Instead, he asked Lilly to help him find a better tutor and Alice wound up recommending Ellie to help him out. Ever since, while Brad’s grades hadn’t dramatically improved, he was certainly no longer in danger of failing. And, on occasion, he and Lilly would meet back up in the library to study together.

As for Jay and Alice, the strained relationship Lilly had with them at the beginning of the school year was gradually becoming more relaxed and genuine. In addition, both were keeping the stone secret as well. They even accompanied Lilly to the clubroom a few times after cross country practice ended. Then there was the fact that Alice and Vinny seemed to be getting closer by the day, something Lilly and the rest of the club found baffling.

With all of the tension worked out, life at West Wilham was becoming strangely peaceful despite the presence of actual magic in the club. Cross country ended in November and so, after killing it in sections, the season ended with their team in high spirits and, with a lot more free time on her hands, Lilly had taken to going to the club nearly every day after sixth period, something that would have been inconceivable for her just a mere few months prior.

Luckily, there were no more major incidents regarding the stone after Jay’s theft nor did they use it for any more risky plans. Instead, they’d continued with various experiments in the clubroom to learn more about it. Combined with the lag in Lilly’s swap with Brad and the accounts of Jay and Alice, they decided to test if there was actually a time limit after using it. Sure enough, there was a couple of minutes after swapping that the gem was inactive, something they couldn’t exactly explain.

Not like we can actually explain much anyway though, she mused.

Damien still refused to use the stone and Jay didn’t seem particularly interested in trying it again. Liz made it clear she wouldn’t swap with any of the boys, but she and Lilly had given it a shot a handful of times just for fun. Alice even got in on it at one point when Liz wanted to test what would happen if multiple people tried to touch the stone at once, and that experiment only ended up with them getting randomly shuffled around.

God, so much has happened in one measly semester, Lilly realized. And now here we are, at Christmas, with finals looming and my life couldn’t be any weirder.

The girl couldn’t help but to smile as she glanced over at the fake Christmas tree in the corner of the apartment, sparkling in various colors, the light reflecting off of a plethora of ornaments. There was holiday music playing in the background, giving the room a very cozy vibe.

“Lilly? What’s taking so long? It’s your turn!”

She laughed softly, turning her attention away from the tree and to the little girl sitting on the opposite end of the table from her, holding a deck of cards and frowning in clear impatience.

“Right, right! Sorry, Natalie,” she replied, as she quickly considered the cards in her own hand. “Let’s see…”

The game they were playing was as simple as getting her hand down to zero by matching either the suit or number of the card to the one on the pile. There were a few cards that could enable her to either skip her opponent or make her draw but unfortunately, her hand was full of nothing but numbers. When she glanced at the pile in the center of the table, she saw that she could either play a spade or a seven.

She shrugged, not having any clever moves and simply opted to play a six of spades.

“Six. Spades,” she announced, placing her card on the pile.

Natalie grinned excitedly and it was immediately clear to Lilly that the girl had something mischievous up her sleeves. The little girl slowly felt along the top corners of each card to check which was which. The specific deck they were using had dots and shapes in the corners so that she could feel which number and suit they were. Once her fingers stopped on a certain card, she smiled slyly and held it out.

“Sorry, Lilly,” she said with very little remorse. “You’re gonna have to draw.”

Lilly sighed, taking Natalie’s card and placing it down on the pile. It was a “plus 3”.

“Man, and here I was getting close to victory,” she mused, drawing three cards to bring her total number up to eight. However, she noticed that she drew a “wild plus 5” and couldn’t help but to laugh. “Oh but you’re gonna regret that, Nat’, because now you have to draw five.”

Lilly placed the card on the pile as Natalie frowned.

“Aw! You’re so mean!”

The little girl reluctantly reached toward the draw pile and pulled five cards, bringing her up to seven. They were now back to the number they’d initially started with and were tied.

“Alright, what’s the suit?” Natalie pouted.

Lilly considered her question, glancing back down at her hand. It was mostly made of clubs so that’s what she decided to go with.

“Clubs,” she replied.

Natalie’s pouting increased. “Clubs?! Why clubs?!”

“Cause I have clubs,” Lilly said simply, enjoying teasing the little girl more than she probably should have.

Natalie sighed then reached for the draw deck once again, pulling a two of clubs on her second turn. Lilly regarded her own hand to decide what her next move should be, and was about to play her turn when a sudden Christmas tune interrupted her thoughts not from the stereo but from on the table beside her. She glanced down to see her phone vibrating.

Oh that’s right. I forgot I changed my ringtone, she thought with a chuckle. Although I never thought I’d actually get a call. Usually the club just texts me.

She reached out and flipped her phone over to see who was calling and found herself surprised by the name at the top of her screen.

Alice? She’s calling me?

“You can get that if you want,” Natalie said cheerfully. “I can wait.”

“Oh, thanks. I’ll be quick then.”

Lilly grabbed the phone, got to her feet, and went to the front door so she could step out into the hall for some privacy. There wasn’t anybody out and about so, once she was sure she was alone, she answered the call. She knew she was being slightly paranoid, but she wasn’t one who liked talking on the phone within earshot of anybody.

“Hey, Alice,” she greeted pleasantly. “What’s up? Everything okay?”

“Oh my god, absolutely! Everything’s great! I’m so happy!”

Lilly was instantly taken aback by the girl’s insanely enthusiastic tone and couldn’t help but to cringe. She might have decided to be a better friend to Alice and Jay but that didn’t mean she was completely used to them yet.

“That’s…great,” she stuttered. “Why?”

“Oh, sorry! I should calm down. I’m just really happy!” Alice repeated.

Lilly gave her a moment to calm herself as she leaned up against the wall and glanced around to make sure she was still alone.

“Okay, I think I’m good,” Alice finally said. “Sorry about that. I just really wanted to tell somebody and I couldn’t get a hold of Ellie and Jay probably wouldn’t care so I figured I’d call you!”

Lilly cocked an eyebrow, surprised that she was even Alice’s third choice. She had always believed her to be a popular girl but as it turned out, Jay and Ellie seemed to be her only close friends.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Lilly assured her, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. “So what’s the good news? Did you win the lottery or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” Alice said. “Actually…it’s about Vinny.”

Lilly frowned. “Vinny?”

What could Vinny have possibly done to make her this excited?

“What about him?” she pressed.

Alice giggled in a way that greatly resembled a stereotypical schoolgirl before replying. “Well…just this morning, he called me up and asked me out on a date! We’re going to the Main Street Christmas tree lighting next weekend!”

Lilly could hardly contain her shock.

“He…asked you out?! Like…boyfriend-girlfriend stuff?!”

“What else?” Alice teased. “Yeah! I don’t think I told you, but I’ve had a bit of a crush on him ever since…well, that day but I wasn’t sure how he felt so I didn’t want to make the first move. But now he did so I don’t have to worry anymore!”

Well, shows what I know, I guess, she thought to herself.

She had noticed Vinny and Alice hanging out recently but she figured they were just friends. She never even entertained the possibility that either could have stronger feelings for each other.

Especially considering how strange Vinny can be, it’s crazy to think that a girl like Alice could fall for him.

“I mean, I’m happy for you,” Lilly said after a moment. “I honestly am, Alice. As odd as Vinny is, he’s a good guy…however, I do need to ask, but, aren’t you a little worried about how that’ll look to the rest of the school? Vinny isn’t exactly respected by anybody, you know?”

She didn’t want to come across as rude or to burst Alice’s bubble, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but worry about that. She knew better than most just how negatively an association with the Magic Club could affect someone. Just hanging out with them like she had been in the recent months had been enough to alienate her from much of the class. She’d been dealing with weird looks from the rest of the student body, and as far as she could tell, she was officially lumped in with the others as being a magic nut. Brad even confirmed for her that the rest of his buddies all considered her a weirdo now. Even knowing magic existed, she still found it hard to accept that she was being viewed as an outcast. She couldn’t imagine what dating one of them might do to someone’s reputation.

But Alice simply laughed and brushed her worries aside.

“Oh, I don’t care,” she said, “I think people are too quick to judge him. And it’s not like it matters what they think. I’ve got friends and I know you guys won’t judge me so it’s all good.”

Lilly sighed, baffled by how easily somebody could just brush that aside. “I guess that’s fair. As long as you’re happy and not worried about it then I’m rooting for you guys. So congrats.”

Alice giggled again. “Thanks. And don’t worry! Your time will come, too!”

Lilly cocked an eyebrow. “My time? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know, when you get a boyfriend,” the other girl clarified. “Or do you already have one and just aren’t telling us?”

Lilly snorted. “Not at all. And I wouldn’t get your hopes up. I don’t date.”

“Oh please,” Alice laughed. “It’s not that you don’t date. You just haven’t found the right person yet! Oh, I know! Why don’t you ask Eric out? He’s single and you guys seem to get along well.”

“Eric?” The girl shook her head. “Not likely.”

“Oh whatever. You’re no fun.” Alice went silent for a moment. “Well, I guess I’ll let you go. I’ll see you at school tomorrow, Lilly!”

“Yeah, you too. See you.”

“Bye!”

When the call ended, Lilly removed the phone from her ear and looked down at it, her thoughts fixated on what Alice had said, but she quickly forced herself to forget about it, knowing there was no point thinking about something that made no sense.

Me and Eric, huh? Yeah, like that would ever happen. I couldn’t ever fall for anybody…let alone Eric Reiner.

She told herself that, yet a part of her couldn’t help but to entertain the thought, if only for a moment. She imagined them walking together, holding hands and being close with each other. With Christmas at the end of the month, it was a season where going on a date would be fun. It was only when she realized her cheeks were turning red that she quickly turned her thoughts elsewhere and rushed back into the apartment, wanting to finish the game.

***

Renee returned home a little after nine and so, Lilly bid goodbye to the Hills and left, taking the elevator back up to her apartment’s floor. It was Sunday so she would be getting up early the next morning to go to school. Therefore, she wanted to get home and finish up some last minute homework before she went to bed. If she didn’t, she knew she’d be forced to hurry it out at lunch and she really wasn’t in the mood to waste a break period on homework.

The elevator arrived on her floor and she made her way toward her apartment’s front door. She pulled her keys from the pocket of her dark red jacket and unlocked the door and when she stepped inside, she was greeted with the smell of cookies and knew her mother had probably made dessert for the family.

Awesome. Mom’s cookies are the best. I could really go for one right about now.

She slid her shoes off in the entryway when she suddenly stopped, her body freezing as she listened to the conversation taking place inside. She could hear her father’s voice as he spoke to somebody but, much to her surprise, it wasn’t her mother or sister he was talking to. Instead, the person replying was somebody Lilly knew but would never have expected to hear in her house.

How in the hell…?

She hurriedly pushed her shoes into the corner and hurried out towards the living area. When she did, she was greeted with the sight she both expected and utterly dreaded.

Sitting at the dining table was her father and across from him was Eric Reiner, dressed not in his uniform but in comfortable looking blue sweatpants and a dark black shirt with a blue jacket on over it. There was a plate of green and red frosted sugar cookies in the middle of the table and the two were snacking on them as they spoke. The Christmas tree in the background casted colorful light over the room, giving it a very festive feel. However, it was such a surreal sight that Lilly just stood there for a moment, staring at the two in bewilderment.

How on earth did Eric figure out where I live?!

Both looked up when they noticed her presence, smiling as they noticed her.

“Ah, sweetheart,” her father greeted. “Welcome home. Would you like a cookie?”

Lilly opened her mouth to reply but couldn’t seem to get the words out. When she looked around the room, she didn’t find any sign of her mother but she did see Alexa on the couch, her phone in hand. However, her older sister was looking at her with a cocked eyebrow, as if curious to see how she would react to Eric’s presence.

“Um…” she finally stuttered. “Sure. I’ll take a cookie.”

“They’re very tasty,” Eric commented. “Your mother is quite an exceptional cook.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Lilly muttered, taking the offered cookie from her father. It was in the shape of an ornament with red frosting, her favorite color. “So…what are you doing here, Eric?”

The boy grinned cheerfully, leaning back in the chair as he helped himself to another cookie. “You forgot your math workbook in the clubroom on Friday. Since I was in the area, I figured I’d drop by to return it.”

“Oh…thanks,” she murmured, still trying to figure out how he even knew where she lived to do so.

“You never mentioned you were in a club,” Alexa said from the couch, eyeing Lilly with clear suspicion. “I thought you said club’s were stupid.”

“Well, I—”

“Well, she’s not technically in the club,” Eric interrupted. “She’s more of an honorary member. She does drop in quite often though.”

“Right, I meant to ask,” her father began, “but what does your club do? I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my daughter actually has friends, let alone is in a club. I want all the juicy details, Mr. Reiner.”

Lilly immediately looked to Eric, silently pleading with him to make something up. However, the boy clearly didn’t notice as his grin widened at her father’s question.

“That is to be expected,” he replied. “After all, we are a secret society.”

Her father laughed. “Secret? You mentioned that earlier. You mind letting me in on the secret? I promise I won’t tell a soul. I happen to be a master secret keeper, you know?”

Lilly could tell her father was enjoying Eric’s unique personality and she desperately wanted to get them both to shut up, but all she could do was stand there in silence as she watched one of the most embarrassing scenes of her life unfold before her eyes.

“I can tell,” Eric said. “You seem like a man I can trust, Mr. Harper. Very well. I shall tell you what we are up to.”

The man grinned. “Thank you. I won’t let you down!”

“I would think not, for you see, we are the Magical and Other Anomalies Investigation Team!” Eric said, spreading his arms out for dramatic effect and nearly dropping his half eaten cookie. “Our job is to search out magical anomalies and find the cause so that they won’t harm the mortal world. Your daughter has been a great help in our most recent case: the stone of doom!”

I want to die! Lilly inwardly shrieked. Kill me! Right now! I don’t want to watch another second of this!

She could see Alexa looking over her shoulder at Eric in part bafflement and part irritation while their father simply enjoyed the show.

“Ah, I see,” he replied. “So you guys are pretty important then. Wouldn’t want the mortal world harmed, after all.”

“No, we wouldn’t,” Eric agreed.

Her father chuckled and glanced up at Lilly slyly. “Well, sweetheart, I’m impressed. You better take good care of the mortal world. I’ll be disappointed if something happens to it.”

She couldn’t help but to glare at him despite knowing it was the reaction he was going for.

“Also, eat your cookie,” he said, pointing toward the treat till in her hand. “I hear it’s good for mortal world saving.”

Lilly grit her teeth before reaching up and taking a bite of it. It was as good as she expected it would be, but it didn’t improve her mood too much.

“Eric,” she grumbled through a mouthful of cookie. “Can we talk outside?”

“Absolutely!” he replied, getting to his feet.

She motioned for him to follow her before walking across the room and heading toward the sliding glass door that would lead to their balcony. The night was chilly when they stepped out onto the old wooden surface. Christmas lights were wrapped around the railing so they had plenty of multi-colored illumination. The sky was so cloudy that they could see neither the moon nor any stars. Lilly pulled her jacket tighter around her body and glanced over her shoulder as Eric slid the door shut behind him. She expected him to immediately smile in satisfaction so she was surprised when he merely scratched the back of his head and laughed guiltily.

“Too far?” he asked.

Lilly rolled her eyes yet, despite her earlier irritation, she suddenly found herself laughing.

“What is wrong with you?” she said between laughs. “What kind of person shows up to someone’s house unannounced and then acts like a maniac in front of their family? Did you really have to add the part about saving the mortal world?”

Eric joined in her laughter as the two wandered to the railing, placing their arms on its surface as they looked out over the street below. There were lit-up wreaths on the various streetlights and some of the nearby stores still had their own decorations turned on.

“Apologies, Lilly,” Eric said after a moment. “But to be honest, I was kind of hurt when I arrived here today only to realize your family didn’t have a clue who I was. Were we that much of an embarrassing secret to you?”

His tone was lighthearted but she could tell that he wasn’t joking either. The reason she never talked to her family about the club was simply because she was embarrassed to bring it up. She couldn’t exactly tell them about the stone and so, she didn’t want them thinking she was in the club for something stupid. It was hard enough for her to keep Alexa off her back with how everybody in her grade had decided she was now a Magic Club member.

“Fair enough,” she grumbled. “And it’s not that I was embarrassed by you guys. I just—”

“You didn’t want any outsiders getting suspicious of our investigations,” he interrupted, grinning down at her.

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, that’s understandable,” Eric stated matter-of-factly. “But I think you need not worry on that front. I have now sworn your father to secrecy. Like he said, he won’t tell a soul.”

“Suuuuure,” she grumbled. “Whatever you say, Eric.”

“He’s a cool guy, your father,” the boy went on. “Before you got here, he was telling me all about his high school golf days. Very fascinating, it was.”

Lilly groaned, covering her face in her hands. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. He made you sit through that?”

“Sit through that?!” Eric asked incredulously. “You make it sound like a bad thing! I loved every second of it! Especially the story about how he accidentally drove a cart into the lake.”

Lilly sighed dejectedly. Honestly…I mean it…kill me now.

“Well at least you enjoyed it,” she grumbled. “I’ve heard those stories nearly a million times at this point.” She then cocked an eyebrow, realizing they were getting too far away from the question she dragged him out there to ask in the first place. “So really, why are you here? Were you really just dropping off my book or did you need to talk about something?”

The boy shook his head. “Nope. I was just bringing the book back. Like I said, I was in the area and thought I’d drop by. I would’ve called first, but I thought it’d be fun to surprise you.”

“Surprise me?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “And was it supposed to be a good surprise or a bad surprise?”

He frowned in confusion. “Well, a good one, I’d hope.”

She stared at him for a moment, realizing that he genuinely thought she’d be happy to see him.

And…I guess he’s not totally wrong, she internally admitted, realizing she was enjoying hanging out with him.

“So how’d you know where I live?” she asked, turning the conversation elsewhere. “I’ve never told anybody.”

He laughed hesitantly. “W-well…to be perfectly honest with you…I just kinda…knew?”

“What?” she asked. “And that means what exactly?”

“Well, I was walking down this way with Vinny the other day and, when I saw this building, I just thought, ‘oh, Lilly lives there’.” He frowned, as if considering his words for a moment. “I’d never seen you go in or anything. It was a surreal feeling. Then, when I got here today, I kinda just followed my instincts to your apartment.”

Lilly listened to him without interrupting, her eyes narrowed as she processed what he was saying. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand what had happened.

“The stone,” she whispered. “It must’ve done something.”

Eric nodded. “I was thinking as much. But since it wasn’t a conscious thing, I don’t know how to test it. I asked Vinny if he ever experienced something similar but he said he hadn’t.”

“Maybe…” she began, “it has to do with how frequently you’ve swapped with someone?”

Since Eric and Lilly were the only ones in the club willing or allowed to swap cross-gender, they did so whenever they wanted to test certain hypotheses. Due to that, they tended to swap more often than most other combinations.

“It’s possible,” Eric muttered. “Like, there’s some cross-contamination of memories. I wonder…if you saw my house, would you know it was mine? And what does this tell us?”

Lilly sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. Developments like this just give me headaches.”

“I guess I’ll run it by Damien tomorrow,” he said. “He tends to handle explanations better than any of the rest of us.”

“Okay, sounds good,” she replied.

For a moment, the two stood in silence, staring down at the empty street below. It was a strange feeling for Lilly. Despite her early opposition to getting involved with the club, she found the silence to be comfortable. She enjoyed Eric’s presence and was glad that he was there with her even after he embarrassed her with her father.

God, what’s happening to me? she mused.

“Hey, Lilly?” Eric began after a moment.

“Mm? Yeah?”

The boy turned away from the street and looked at her, smiling cheerfully.

“There’s an annual Christmas tree lighting next Saturday on Main Street,” he said. “Would you want to go with me?”

Her eyes went wide at his question and she struggled to keep her shock from showing. She couldn’t help but to recall her earlier conversation with Alice.

The Christmas tree lighting? Isn’t that where Vinny’s taking Alice on their date? Does that mean he’s…asking me out?

“You might not have heard,” he went on, “but Vinny asked Alice to go with him and since Damien and Liz tend to go together, I’m kinda on my own. It seems this season is an ideal time for romantic endeavors and unfortunately, I’ve been left behind. So, as long as you're not busy, I thought maybe we could go?”

“Uh…” she stuttered. “You mean…like as a couple or…as friends?”

He chuckled. “Friends. I’m not confident enough to ask a girl like you on a date.”

She nodded, trying to calm her suddenly beating heart.

Of course it’s just as friends. Eric wouldn’t ever ask me out but…why do I feel kinda disappointed?

“Well…” She considered his question for a moment longer before once again surprising herself. “Okay. I’ll go. I’m not busy on Saturday.”

The boy smiled. “Awesome. In that case, I can’t wait.”

Lilly returned his smile as they once again returned to that comfortable silence. Then, as she was thinking about heading back inside, Eric spoke again.

“Ah, and so our first snow finally arrives.”

The moment he finished speaking, snowflakes began landing on the railing and on her hands. When she looked up, she could see flakes flowing down from the clouds, illuminated by the balcony’s lights. It was a serene image and one that put Lilly’s mind at ease.

“I’ve always liked the snow,” Eric said. “It’s peaceful.”

Lilly nodded, extending her hand so that some flakes would land in her palm.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “It really is.”