Some Kind of Magic

“Oh my God, oh my God!” Christabelle paced back and forth in front of her mirror in one of the rooms at the resort. “We’re three minutes late! We need to go! Oh gosh, I don’t think I’m ready for this.” She ran her hands down her face. Her whole body shook with anticipation.

“The guests can wait. Isabelle!” Karlee’s voice chimed in and I turned around. “You forgot this.” She handed me a corsage and slipped it onto my wrist. I smiled at her.

“Thanks. Your sister is getting cold feet. I don’t know how to calm her down,” I said.

“Well I’m busy helping people find their seats. Can you try?” she asked and when panic flashed across my face she laughed and put her hands on my shoulders. “You can do it. Just remind her that she’s in love with Blade and that feeling this way happens to every woman who is about to be married.”

I nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”

“Good girl.” She gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and raced out of the room. Kayti and Marcy stepped in now and Christabelle looked up, her hands moving around furiously. “Chris, just remember,” I said, preparing myself to say exactly what Karlee told me. “You’re in love with Blade. Every bride feels that way.”

She frowned. “And do you know how many of those girls end up divorced?”

My eyes went wide. “Uhm . . . no.”

Kayti came up then and put a hand on my back for comfort. “Christabelle, this is completely normal.”

Marcy put her hands on Chris’ face and leaned forward. “Now shush. You’re being silly. You look beautiful, the ceremony looks beautiful, and Blade is waiting for you because he wants to marry you. So get your tush out there and declare your endless love for him like you’ve always wanted to.”

Chris blinked at her friend, then nodded. “You’re right,” she sighed and looked at me quickly. “I’m sorry, Isabelle.”

I raised a hand, not even the slightest bit offended. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Okay,” Chris said to herself, looking at the mirror one last time. “All right, I’m going to do this. I’m going to get married.” We all grinned at her. It had taken Blade long enough to propose to her, and he had spent months on end, dragging me around town with him to look at engagement rings so I knew that if Christabelle decided to run out on the wedding he would be pretty unhappy to have spent that much time finding a ring only to have her leave him—besides being heartbroken, of course. A fourteen year old didn’t have much of an opinion on choosing rings though, despite the fact that I was excited for him. But really, all I could say was “that’s pretty” or “she’d really like that one”. He picked my favourite.

Marcy and Kayti started fiddling with Christabelle’s veil and I headed for the door when Chris’s mother stuck her head in and said that everyone was ready, and it was her call. Chris quickly grabbed my wrist and pulled me back.

“Isabelle, I want to thank you,” she said sincerely. “Since you’re Blade’s sister, your opinion of me means a lot to me and I’m just really happy that you like me.”

I laughed. “You don’t have to thank me for that,” I said. “I like having a girl around the house. Two older brothers is the worst.”

She laughed. “I know what it’s like to have one but I can only imagine how you feel.” Chris’s older brother Aiden could be a real pain, but I only knew that because whenever they were in the same room together, all they did was annoy each other. He was super nice to me, but he and his sisters fought like cats and dogs. Aiden might as well have been my dad, except cool. Mine was a little off his nut. Blade and Aiden hung out a lot ever since he and Chris started dating so that also made me close to him. Out of their entire family though, I was mostly closest with Karlee and her step-sister, Emma. Their mom was a sweetheart too, and every time I saw her she would give me a big hug, but we didn’t run into each other all that much separate from family gatherings. My oldest brother, Eric, hadn’t been around for a while but would call every now and again to check up on us and make sure we were doing okay. But he and his family were invited to Blade’s wedding, so I had gotten to see him for a few minutes before I tended to Christabelle.

“Well,” she said, standing up straight and taking my hands. “I should probably let you go, huh flower girl?” Christabelle smiled. “I’ll see you out there.”

“Good luck,” I said, kissing her cheek. “And congratulations.”

“Thank you.” She gave my hands a squeeze and let go. I met her mother just outside the room and she passed one-year-and-one-month old Amelia over to me. Amelia was Chris, Aiden and Karlee’s half-sister. Their mother remarried and had a child with Emma’s father, Adam. I didn’t really talk to him all that much, but he was a nice enough guy to keep up a conversation with. Since Amelia was in the process of learning to walk but still could barely stand on her own two feet by herself, and I was—unfortunately—one of the youngest girls at the wedding, I was going to be carrying her down the aisle. The ceremony was placed in the chapel about a minute away from the resort, which made for an absolutely beautiful scenery during the summer.

Amelia had a little basket with rose petals in it and as I walked down the aisle with her in my arms, she tossed them to the ground, a huge grin on her face. This may have had to do with the fact that all eyes were on her and everyone was going “aww” really obviously. She started giggling and I put her down. She sat down beside her dad on the front bench and I headed for the front of the chapel, until I passed my mother. She was texting on her phone like always, and Blade was obviously unimpressed. The look in his eyes could have turned someone to stone so as I passed and took my flowers, I also snatched her phone out of her hand and shoved it in my bouquet. She looked up, shocked and I winked at her, before I took my place at the front. I smiled at Blade as I passed him and he smiled back.

“Thank you,” he mouthed and I returned it with “you’re welcome.” Marcy came down the aisle next, arms hooked with Blade and Christabelle’s friend Nick. Seeing as they were dating, it was appropriate for the occasion. Next was Kayti, who walked down with her boyfriend, David. Karlee and her boyfriend, Trey came last before Christabelle did, and everyone gasped in awe. She looked drop-dead gorgeous and I took a side glance at Blade, who couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off his face from the minute she stepped into the chapel to when she was at his side and they were holding hands.

Through the ceremony, happiness was just radiating from every single person in the room. Admittedly, my legs got a little tired but I just shifted my weight and ignored it, concentrating on Blade and Christabelle. Then finally, they slipped their wedding bands onto each other’s fingers and kissed with the instruction of the priest. They were married.

And it was about damn time.

A few hours past and at the reception, I sat with Karlee, Trey, their two best friends, Andy and Pax, and the bride and groom themselves. The maid’s of honor, best men and parents sat at the table beside us while the rest of the guests sat at round tables around a hardwood floor. Christabelle and Blade had decided they didn’t want to do anything traditional where all the most important people in the wedding sat at a long table pushed against the far wall, so they decided to divide it up a bit, but still keep us close together.

“I want to dance,” Andy said, standing up and taking Pax’s hand. “Let’s go, party boy. It looks like you’ve got ants in your pants.”

“Because I want to dance,” he grinned, completing her rhyme. They walked out onto the floor to join the other couples and small groups of people. The newlyweds had already shared their first dance, and now it was the party songs. I didn’t have anyone to dance with though, so I stayed where I was. Luckily, Karlee and Trey both hated dancing because they thought that they looked like fools, and Chris and Blade just felt like making small talk with us. I appreciated the company.

“So are you looking forward to grade eleven?” Karlee asked with a grin, crossing her arms on the table. I was confused.

“Uhm . . . I’m only in grade nine. I still have another year to go, you know.”

She looked over at Blade, pointing a finger at me still. “You didn’t tell her?”

“Tell me what?”

My brother shrugged. “I thought I’d wait until it got closer to the time,” he replied. “Besides, I don’t know how to discuss that kind of stuff. I’m not good with romance.”

Chris looked at him doubtfully. “Sure. Then this wedding was a big mistake,” she joked and all four of them laughed while I just sat there, baffled. “Okay,” she said, crossing her legs. “What we noticed is that a bunch of us have had luck finding romance in high school, but more commonly towards our third year.”

Karlee nodded. “Yeah, like these two were first, then Trey and I, and then Pax and Andy. Although to be honest, we didn’t even know anything was happening between them.” She glanced at Trey and narrowed her eyes. “Except this guy. He knew; he just kept his mouth shut.”

Trey put up his hands. “They wanted me to keep it a secret. Nothing against you.” He leaned toward her and kissed her lightly. Karlee smiled.

“Okay, you’re forgiven.”

“Thank you.”

“Marcy also fell head over heels in around that time, with that guy,” Blade added, pointing at her and Nick. “And then apparently Karlee’s friend Roxanne had it happen to her too.”

I laughed. “Maybe you guys are just cursed,” I said, taking a sip of my water.

“It’s more of a gift than a curse,” Chris replied. “Now, we’re not saying you should wait until grade eleven to get involved with someone. That totally isn’t our way of putting it.”

“Right. It’ll just kind of sneak up on you,” Karlee agreed. “But it may be grade eleven, it may be ten. It’s kind of undetermined, you know? Kind of iffy but what we do know is that by your third year in high school, you’ll have a pretty good idea of who you could end up with.”

“So you feel that way about Trey?” I asked, nodding to him.

She nodded. “Not a doubt in my mind.”

“Nor mine,” he said.

“And you two are kind of a given.” I pointed at Chris and Blade, who nodded. “Anyone else?”

“Oh! Yes, our friend Josie. On Valentine’s Day in grade ten, she started going out with the guy she had been drooling over for centuries. Although, a few people we know did get together with their beau’s after high school.”

“Yeah, but still . . . we didn’t have all that many connections to them,” Blade said.

“Except Kayti and David,” Chris pointed out.

I put my arms out. “There you go. Chain broken.”

“Still, you have to admit. It’s an awfully weird coincidence,” Karlee said.

I just shrugged. “Well, I’m not going to go out looking for love. I’m more interested in my studies than boys.”

Karlee and Chris both scoffed. “That’s what we said too,” they responded simultaneously.

“If I’m meant to fall for someone in high school, I will,” I said. “But I refuse to wait for it. And it does seem a little farfetched that you guys have some sort of love touch where all of your friends go crazy over someone during their third year of high school. I don’t really believe in it, even though you guys clearly do but if falling in love is supposed to happen for me, then it will.”

And it did.



“We’re going out tonight,” my mom said flatly, sitting down at the table with her cup of coffee in one hand and an orange in the other. She picked up the newspaper and looked it over, before forgetting about what she had originally sat down to do—eat—and becoming engrossed in the headlines and follow-up stories filling the page in front of her eyes.

“We are?” I asked, adjusting my tie. She looked up for a quick second, and then returned to the paper with an exaggerated sigh.

“Stop fiddling with your damn tie,” she mumbled under her breath just loud enough for me to hear. I couldn’t help it. Ever since she transferred me to a private school, I was stuck with a uniform and I was never going to get used to the whole “girls wearing ties” idea. But for the past month or so, my mom and dad had been badgering me to switch to an all-girls private school instead of a multi-gendered one. The thought of having their last child be surrounded by boys did not sit well with them, even though I had never had a boyfriend and was still waiting on my first kiss. Plus, the only boys I communicated with ever were my brothers and Aiden. I had just settled into a group of people I was comfortable with though, and I was not ready to leave again.

“And yes, we are,” my mother added quickly, returning to the earlier topic. “Your father’s been invited to an art gala and we’re being asked, or rather demanded to attend. Hopefully you didn’t make any plans because you’re coming with us. And our presence is very important.”

“Is Blade coming?” I asked, crossing my legs and clearing my throat when it cracked unexpectedly.

“Yes, he is. By ‘the Donahue family’, the invitation means the entire Donahue family,” she replied.

“Why don’t we invite Aunt Jessica then?” I asked with a tiny snicker. It was well known around the family that my mother’s sister was the wild one and it didn’t matter to her that she was in her late fourties; she didn’t have a plan but liked the spontaneity. Something like an art gala would just “harsh her mellow” as she liked to say, and she would probably end up doing something crazy to ruin the night, or drink too much.

Even though my mom knew I was kidding, she shot me a harsh glare. I put my hands up to apologize and grabbed my empty cereal bowl off the table, taking it into the kitchen to wash out. “What time does it start?” I asked, putting a hand on my hip and the other on the countertop.

“Seven. Your father and I will be coming home around half-past six so you better be ready when we get here,” she said. “Now go pack your bag. School starts in thirty minutes and I don’t want you to make Blade late for work.”

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the kitchen, grabbing my shoes and pulling them on. I was starting my first day at the private school today, and I was less than thrilled. I hardly even got the chance to say goodbye to my friends at the other school but I guess it didn’t make that much of a difference anyway because every time I called one of them up to ask them if they were interested in getting together over the weekend, they came up with some bogus excuse to get out of it and blew me off. At least now I knew they weren’t really my friends and were just kind of settling for me being around them. But I had never been at the same high school for more than a year. In grade nine, I attended the one farthest away and all the way across town because my mother liked to test me, or at least that’s what I always just assumed. Then she moved me to Blade’s old high school for grade ten, and then the private school for grade eleven. I was not going to let her switch me for grade twelve if I ended up enjoying my time at the private school. If I could graduate with solid friends, I would call that a noble victory but I wasn’t getting my hopes up.

Blade stepped off the stairs, struggling with his shirt. “Does this look stupid?” he asked, holding his arms out to the side so I could take a good look. He and Christabelle were staying with us while their house was being renovated, and a majority of the rooms were being redone as well. The only problem with that was if the house wasn’t done in seven months, we were going to have another person staying in ours. Christabelle was pregnant.

I was bent over to tie my black shoes still and so all of my hair on the right side of my head came in front of my hair. I pushed it back and gave him a nod. “You look fine,” I said, standing up and smoothing out my blazer in the mirror. “What about me?”

“Good,” he said, taking a deep breath and pulling on a pair of brown dress shoes. “They’re going to hate me, aren’t they? I remember when I was your age. Guys were dicks.”

“You’re overreacting,” I said, messing with my hair so it was doing what I wanted. “You do this every year. You know they’ll love you. And you’re wrong about one thing.” I peeked at him and smiled. “Guys are always dicks.”

“All right, missy,” he said, putting a hand on my back and lifting my bag off the floor. He gave me a light shove to the exit and reached around me with his one free hand to open the door. “Get in the car and stop being annoying.”

“I’m not annoying,” I argued with a frown, and took my bag from him. “I’m just a little nervous to start at another school. You’d think I’d be used to it by now but it always surprises me.”

“Relax,” Blade said, leaning down to my level so his face hovered beside mine. “They’ll love you there.”