Love Charms and Other Catastrophes (27 page)

“What happens now?”

“We wait for a response. I don't know how long it'll be before he sends the bottle back with his message. It could take minutes or days.”

Ms. Ward wrung her hands, a blush to her cheeks.

“Do you mind if I ask who you sent my charm to?” Hijiri said when the silence grew between them. It wasn't a question she'd normally think of asking, but it felt right. This wasn't just about the charm working. This was Ms. Ward's past love. No matter how fleeting.

“He was a street performer,” Ms. Ward said, “playing the violin so fiercely I wanted to dance right there on the sidewalk. I remember the pitch of his whistle when he saw me coming, the zipper on his leather jacket gleaming in the light of the shop he stood in front of. Even though our eyes met, and it looked like he wanted to play for me, I had no change. I ran into the shop and got stuck waiting in line for the cashier. By the time I had my change, the violinist was gone.”

Hijiri could picture the missed connection perfectly in her head. The heart's memory must be even better. “Maybe you'll find out what happened now.”

Ms. Ward burst into a grin. “Maybe I will. Thank you.”

 

Chapter 19

SPOKEN AND UNSPOKEN

Fallon told Hijiri that they would be meeting at an outdoor café notorious for its noise level—the perfect place to hatch a plan without being heard. Also, with so many tables clustered together along the sidewalk, the twins would have to behave themselves.

The café spanned half a block, the open kitchen providing hungry patrons a view of their dishes being cooked. Femke, Mirthe, Ken, Nico, and Sebastian had already pushed together two tables.

Ken sat next to Sebastian, picking at the remains of a grilled ham and caramelized endive sandwich. His dark eyes were twin lakes at midnight, unfathomably deep and sad. If she looked too long, she'd drown in those eyes. Lucky for her, Ken had been avoiding her gaze.

Hijiri unbuttoned the top of her coat's collar to let in some air. She suddenly felt too warm in her layers. “My competition charm is just about finished,” she announced when she got there.

“That's great,” Sebastian said. “Can we see it?”

“Ms. Ward's testing it for me,” Hijiri said. “We'll all have to wait and see if it works first.”

“Have a seat,” Mirthe said.

Ken lifted his backpack off the ground and put it on the empty chair next to him. He went right back to his sandwich, his shoulders hunched.

Hijiri felt his rejection like a slap. She inhaled sharply and tried not to let the hurt show on her face. The only empty seat left was between the twins. She sat down. Having grown used to him sitting beside her, she felt disoriented without him. Like she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Femke passed her a laminated menu.

Nico looked at his watch and checked the street. No sign of Martin yet.

Fallon cleared her throat. “I think we should catch Hijiri up on the plan.”

“Last Wednesday's meeting was a success,” Mirthe said, “because I came up with a way to stop Stoffel.”

“Why are you taking the credit?” Femke muttered.

“Because the plan was mine first.”

Femke plunged her hands into her pockets. Bits of fog curled out.

“That's enough,” Fallon snapped. “No charms. Put. Them. Away.”

Femke slumped back in her chair, but the fog stopped.

“I think
we'd
better continue,” Sebastian muttered to Fallon.

Fallon nodded gravely and stood up, commanding the attention of the group. Even though the police had spread news and warnings about Stoffel all over town, including on Bram's radio show, that hadn't stopped couples from going out on Friday nights.

“Date nights,” Sebastian clarified. “Apparently, Stoffel attacks the most people on weekends.”

“The police can't figure out Stoffel's behavior patterns beyond that. They're running out of time. If Stoffel isn't caught, Detective Archambault is going to have the competition canceled.”

“She
can't
,” Hijiri said, gritting her teeth.

“I know. That's the last thing any of us want to happen,” Fallon said, “but pretending that everything's fine while a dangerous charm roams the town is not right either.”

They couldn't let this happen. If the competition got canceled, the rivalry it had bred between the new love charm-makers would only continue. The entire town could become a battleground instead of just Verbeke Square's stage.
Someone wants to be crowned the best in town
, Hijiri thought grimly.
Better it happens with the police watching and rules in place.

“Detective Archambault arranged for a stakeout next Friday.”

Nico checked his watch again. His brow creased.

“Grimbaud has a curfew now. We're all supposed to be inside with our doors locked starting at six in the evening. Only the police are allowed to be out.” Sebastian smirked. “We're ignoring those rules, of course.”

Hijiri rested her elbows on the table and told them about meeting Love in Lejeune and how her lovesickness had been cured. “Love said that Stoffel needed to be destroyed for the lovesickness charm to stop.”

“That's exactly what we're going to do,” Mirthe said.

In groups of two, the ex-rebels would pick spots around town to wait for Stoffel. Mirthe was already working on weather charms to use against the robot and asked the other club members to carry helpful charms with them for the night.

“If we're separated, how will we know if someone sees Stoffel?” Hijiri asked.

“My father has communication charms as a backup in case the radios on our boats ever broke,” Nico said. “He won't miss them for one night.”

“Bram and Ms. Ward have agreed to help us,” Femke said. “I don't think either of them could pass up another adventure. Fallon said she'd find a way to ask Anais and Bear to join us too. We could use Bear's strength for catching Stoffel.”

Fallon laughed. “Believe me, they'll say yes. Anais is always up for some mischief.”

As intimidating as the robot was, Hijiri had no doubt that Bear could throw him to the ground with his judo training. Of course, Bear needed to be where Stoffel was. And avoid getting locked in a hug. Hijiri hoped that they could stop Stoffel with charms, but she had to be open to different solutions if they were going to pull this off.

“What about the police?” Hijiri asked.

“Oh, I'm sure they'll see us, no matter how careful we are,” Femke said, unconcerned. “We'll have to dodge them as best we can.”

“Until one of us finds Stoffel.”

“That's right.” Femke frowned. “It's hard to trust the police after everything that happened with Zita. We can't leave this problem up to them.”

Hijiri nodded. “Sounds like as good a plan as any.”

“Then let's pick the groups and locations,” Fallon said.

Sebastian's hand shot up. “I choose the princess.”

Fallon huffed and wrote their names, her lips curling into a smile. “Okay. Next?”

“Martin's still not here yet,” Nico said, his worry showing, “but I'm sure he'd want us in a group together.”

Fallon scribbled their names down. She also put down Anais and Bear as a group, as well as Ms. Ward and Bram. “Who else?”

Mirthe stared at Femke.

Femke stared at Mirthe.

Neither budged.

Hijiri was about to raise her hand when Ken beat her to it.

“Pair me and Femke together,” he said.

Hijiri gripped her menu painfully. Her heart flinched like a shot bird and fell somewhere by her feet.

“Fine,” Mirthe said sharply. “Hijiri goes with me. The
best
group. We have the moped.”

Fallon hesitated a moment before writing their names down. She chose the locations and then passed the notebook around for everyone to see:

Sebastian and Fallon: Grimbaud High

Nico and Martin: The Main Barnes Canal Cruises Booth

Anais and Bear: The Belfry

Bram and Ms. Ward: Love's Park

Femke and Ken: The Tunnel of Love

Mirthe and Hijiri: Verbeke Square

“Keep my sister out of trouble, if you can,” Femke said to Hijiri.

Ken kept his head down. He didn't seem the least bit upset that they weren't in the same group.

Verbeke Square and the Tunnel of Love weren't terribly far away if something happened. If
Stoffel
happened. Hijiri tried not to show her disappointment. She hid her face behind the menu.

After discussing further details, the meeting ended. The twins ducked out, going their separate ways. Ken lingered, finishing his sandwich, while Sebastian commended Fallon on leading the meeting.

“They're like children,” Fallon said, rubbing her temples. “Someone needed to step in.”

Hijiri was about to sit down next to Ken and pry answers from him, if need be, when Nico shot out of his chair with a huge smile.

“Martin,” he called, “you missed the meeting!”

The student government president hugged a folder to his chest, his glasses sitting crooked on his nose. He was out of breath. When he bumped against a woman pushing a carriage, the folder spilled from his hands and papers flew out.

Nico rushed over to help him grab the papers.

“Don't touch them,” Martin snapped, scrambling to pick them up.

Nico ignored him and chased after a stray page that danced down the sidewalk. He read the page and gasped. “This is … a college acceptance letter.”

Martin grabbed it from him so quickly that he tore the page. “It's nothing. Just forget it.”

Nico looked weary. He dragged a hand through his hair. His eyes were wet. “It's your life, Martin. I care.”

“Maybe you shouldn't care as much,” Martin said. He crushed the folder and tossed it in the nearest garbage bin.

Hijiri turned her frustration and cracked heart on the boys. She grabbed both Martin and Nico by the wrists. “That's enough,” she hissed. “You're going to talk this out. Now.”

While Hijiri sat them down, Fallon retrieved the crushed folder from the bin.

“Thanks,” Hijiri said, taking the folder from her. “You can go back to the complex. I'll handle this.”

“Yes, you will.” Fallon smiled. “I believe in you.”

The compliment warmed her. It sounded like something the charm-boy would say, if he wasn't busy brooding over a sandwich. Hijiri looked over at him. Ken was still sitting at the table.
Perhaps he wants to see if I can fix this
, Hijiri thought, biting her lip.
I hope I can. He should be here to see me do it.
Knowing Ken was there, sulking or not, gave her a burst of confidence.

Nico and Martin sat down, their chairs facing slightly away from each other. Nico slumped forward, his elbows on his knees, head bowed. Martin crossed his arms tightly and tapped his foot.

Hijiri opened the folder with the torn acceptance letter on top. She had a quick look at the pages underneath and discovered that it was a welcome package for Martin—a potential student. A political science major. The university was in Wuyts, a city close to Lejeune. The commute by train would be almost as long as hers. “Do you want to tell us about this?”

Martin's fingers turned white.

Nico noticed and looked worried.

Hijiri waited a few moments, hoping her stare would be pressure enough to get Martin talking. It wasn't. “Let me tell you what Nico's been feeling, since you're not talking,” she said.

“I can guess,” Martin said solemnly.

“I should hope so,” Hijiri said harshly, “since he's been telling you this whole time. But you haven't been listening enough to do something about it, so maybe you need to hear it from me.”

Martin dug his nails into his arms. He kept his eyes on the ground.

Hijiri knew how Nico was feeling, now more than ever. She felt something like it herself after Ken pushed her away. “When you're not talking to him, it makes him feel deserted. It makes Nico question your trust in him. It makes him wonder if this one thing you're not telling him will lead to other things. More secrets. Martin, is this a secret you want to hide from him?”

Martin drew in a shaky breath. He dragged his eyes up to Nico. “I had wanted to keep it secret,” he confessed, “because I didn't want to confront it.”

“What do you mean?” Nico shifted in his chair to face Martin.

Martin nodded at the folder. “I'm not going to Wuyts.”

Hijiri handed Nico the folder.

Nico flipped through the pages. “Why not? Looks like a good university, at least from the pictures.”

“My parents made me apply there,” Martin said. “Both my mom and dad went to universities far-flung from Grimbaud and they think that I need to do the same.”

“Distance isn't a problem. It's not going to be easy, but we'll work on it,” Nico said, tentatively touching the back of Martin's hand. His voice trembled. “Just please don't tell me we're not worth trying, Martin.”

Martin looked incredulous. He stared at his boyfriend, wide-eyed, and shook his head. “Is this what I've been making you think?”

“Seemed like you had an expiration date on us,” Nico offered. “Doesn't graduation do that to people? Start a new life, forget the old one.”

Martin yanked Nico by his collar and kissed him fiercely. “Erase that from your head immediately,” he said hoarsely.

Nico caught his breath, his face flushed.

Hijiri hadn't thought to look away when they had kissed. She was still confused. “If distance isn't the problem, what is?”

Martin ran his hands over his thighs. “My parents want me to study politics at Wuyts, become some big-city senator. They love that I'm the student government president and expect me to pursue a career in that vein.”