Nearly Witches

Surprisingly, the walk to the exit was extremely comfortable. After Vic had met “Kelsy,” and didn’t seem to think anything of it, some of the tension in my body immediately left. Even still, I stayed pretty quiet, hanging back a little as I watched Vic and Jenna playfully shove at each other.

"How much did you guys even spend?" Vic asked, eyeing the bags that we were holding.

"Only like five hundred," Jenna replied, a pondering expression on her face. "Yeah, about five or five-fifty."

"Five hundred dollars!?" Vic exclaimed. His eyebrows near reached his hairline. "Don't you have enough clothes, Jenna?"

Jenna smirked, nodding her head in my direction. "Actually, this is all for Kelsy," She said, chuckling as Vic turned to me with the same shocked face. Fucking Traitor.

"Why'd you spend so much?" he asked, his voice going an octave higher in astonishment. I shrugged my shoulders and he shook his head, smiling at the ground. "You're really expensive."

I wasn't expecting that, so I ducked my head, smile slipping off of my face as his words made an impact. Did he think I was too expensive? Was that a deal breaker for him? Because, though we'd only spoken for a few minutes, I thought he was in to me, at least a little. What if this made him not want me? Now the only reason I didn't mind being a girl was gone. My inner panic was cut short when I felt a hand rest on my lower back. I snapped my head up, looking to my right, seeing him wearing a concerned expression.

"Kelsy? Are you alright? You just stopped talking," he whispered. Jenna was walking a few feet in front of us, so she couldn't hear us. I don't even think she noticed us fall a bit behind.

I nodded my head to Vic. "Yeah, I don't know what came over me, but I'm fine, I promise," I finished with a smile. He must have believed me, because he smiled back at me, murmuring out an "alright."

He walked alongside me with his hand still on my back, walking a little faster to catch up to Jenna. His thumb was rubbing my back until we got to the car.

-----

We pulled into the IHOP parking lot ten minutes later, pulling into an empty parking space a few feet from the door. Jenna put the car in park, and Vic was the first one out. He surprised me when he opened the door for me, ever the gentleman. He smiled as he took a bow, letting his arm stretch out, gesturing towards the door.

"Madam," he said in a poor French accent. I giggled and got out of the car. I walked beside him to the entrance, with Jenna a few feet behind.

We passed through the doors, Vic, again, holding the door open for me. He almost let it slam on Jenna, but realized quickly enough to grab to door and pretend that he was just "shifting his hand, Jenna." She didn't buy it, though and gave a faux irritated huff in his direction. When she turned to me, however, she ditched the face and gave me a grin as she nodded towards Vic. I rolled my eyes at her suggestiveness, turning towards the podium where the hostess was ready to seat us. Vic came from where he was behind Jenna, to stand beside me. When the waitress realized he was there, I saw her eyes roam his body up and down, not being subtle about checkin him out at all. After she was done, she looked up quickly to his face, a wide grin on her face.

"How can I help you?" She asked through her huge smile. Her eyes continued to bore into Vic's, not addressing anyone else but him. I glanced down to her nametag. 'Amanda' was written there.

"Can we just get a booth?" He asked in return. I could tell that he was feeling kind of uncomfortable with Amanda's blatant staring, but I guess he didn't want to be rude, so he kept eye contact. Amanda finally broke eye contact in favor of nodding her head.

"Of course, sweetie," She said in a sultry voice. She took three menus from where they stayed stacked in the back of the podium and gestured for Vic to follow her. As she began walking, I noticed her hips swaying more than seemingly natural, and I felt my heart clench a bit in my chest as Vic walked in front of me, but closer to the girl. I had to admit that Amanda was pretty. She had jet black hair like mine, but her's was straightened and went past her boobs. Her cheekbones were high, emphasized by a dash of blush. Her eyes were lined with eyeliner, like mine were, but her eyelashes had mascara caked on, making them appear to be longer and thicker. Her lips were a sinful shade of red and her face was blemish free. It made me regret not having Jenna put more makeup on me while we were in the restroom. I slowed my stride a bit, my self conscious thoughts kicking in my anxiety a little bit.

Finally, we reached a booth towards the back of the restaurant. We all sat down, me getting in first, moving towards the wall, while Jenna got in across from me. Vic slid into my side of the booth, and I felt my smile before I could control it. I expected him to sit next to Jenna, since he didn’t know Kelsy, but, even though there was plenty of room for him by Jenna, he chose to sit next to me, prompting butterflies to begin flying in my stomach. Amanda gave Jenna and I our menus by flopping them in front of us, while she gently placed Vic's in front of him, purposefully brushing his arm as she pulled back.

"Your server will be right with you," She said, finally looking at the rest of us, narrowing her eyes into a slight glare when she caught my eye. I looked down quickly as she walked away. I tried to figure out why she glared at me, but narrowed it down to only the fact that I was sitting next to Vic. I breathed out a quiet sigh, opening my menu to the waffles portion. I must not have been as quiet as I thought I was, though, because Vic gently nudged me with his elbow, dipping his head to whisper in my ear.

"Are you okay, Kelsy?" He asked me. I nodded my head, not really being able to say no, because then he would want me to explain what was wrong, and I didn't want to seem too much of the 'jealous girlfriend' type during our first meeting. Vic put his hand on my knee, giving it a squeeze. It did make me feel a bit better. I looked back at my menu, trying to decide if I wanted waffles or pancakes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Amanda coming back to our table.

"So, it turns out I'll actually be serving you guys today!" She said, brushing an invisible piece of lint off of her breast. All of us looked up to her as she pulled a notepad and pen out of the front of her apron. "So, what-" She cut herself off as her eyes traveled to where Vic still had his hand on my knee and her smile faltered. She grinned wide again, completing her question. "What would you like to drink?"

Vic and Jenna both ordered coffee (black with cream and sugar on the side- "it's too make sure it's done correctly, you can't mess it up or it gets bitter!"). Amanda smiled as she writes down the order, reluctantly looking to me for mine. "Um, a-a water, please," I managed to stutter out. She jotted it down on her pad, giving us a smile before starting to turn away. "Wait!" I called out. She looked back at me, flames in her eyes. "Um, no lemon in my water, please?" I say, voice fading out as she glared at me. She rolled her eyes, turning away with nothing else said. Vic rubbed my knee with his thumb, but I think it wasn't intentional because he was asking Jenna what she was going to get instead of asking me what was wrong or something. I realized that I still hadn't figured out what I wanted, so I looked at my menu, a few seconds later deciding on a waffle. I decided just in time, too, because Amanda was heading back with our drinks. I lowered my head, not wanting to see her glare at me again.

"Hey guys, so here's your coffee," She handed it to Vic. "And yours," She handed this one to Jenna.
"And a water." She placed it on the table, just barely not spilling it. I glanced up at it, seeing a lemon wedge on the side of the cup. I grimace, not at all looking forward to the slightly bitter taste my water was going to have. I see Amanda smirk. "Have you decided what you're going to order yet? Or do you want me to come back?" She asks. We all agreed to order now.

"Um, yeah, I'll have a french toast with whipped cream," Vic said, removing his hand from my knee to close his menu and hand it to the girl. As cliche as it sounds, my knee felt instantly cold after he removed it.

"Blueberry pancakes," Jenna ordered as she handed Amanda her menu. Everyone turned to me, waiting on my order.

"U-um, a Belgian waffle, please?" I asked. I handed her my menu as well.

"Okay, so blueberry pancakes, waffle, and French toast," She repeated, staring fondly at Vic when she said his order. "Is that right?" We all nodded, but Jenna widened her eyes, getting Amanda's attention.

"Make sure that there are no nuts in the waffle!" She exclaimed. "She's super allergic." I felt my cheeks blush at that, feeling embarrassment creep up as I realized I forgot to mention that. Way to be responsible, right? I felt Vic's arm drop around my shoulders and he pulled me into his side. He was laughing, probably at me, but I didn't care much. Being held by him, even in this casual way, made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Before my change, he never touched me for longer than a few seconds at a time, so the attention I was getting from him just in the past half hour was a little overwhelming. I smiled, my cheeks still horribly red.

When Vic let go, I expected the waitress to glare at me again, so what I saw when I looked up at her surprised me. Her eyes were amused and she was staring at me. Her smile was soft, but not fond. I looked at her confused, but she just turned away.

"Okay, well, I'll bring your food out to you guys in a bit!" She said all cheery, giving me one last smile before walking away. Seriously, what was her problem? She acts like she hates me, but then starts smiling at me? Maybe she realized she was being dumb. I didn't know what to do, so I stopped thinking about it.

The minutes waiting for our food passed quickly by with Jenna and Vic arguing over who was be better in bed. Vic argued that he had satisfied plenty of girls in bed, Jenna arguing the same point back. I was giggling like crazy, but Jenna suddenly turned to me.

"Who would you want in bed more?" She asked with a straight face. "This monster, with his supposed ten inch dick, or me, who will grind on you until you see stars?" She finished. I let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh my god, Jenna," I breathed out. Her expression didn't change. I glanced over to Vic, getting slightly startled when I saw him staring back at me. I looked back to Jenna. "You guys can't be serious."

"Seriously, Kelsy, this is for science, I assure you," Jenna said, leaning more towards me.
I thought about it for a few seconds, trying not to laugh while I watched them stare intensely at me.

"I would probably choose," I paused for a second, giggling when I saw them both lean even farther towards me. "Jenna."

Jenna immediately fist bumped, shouting out in triumph. Vic eyes just got wide and he jutted his bottom lip out. "How could you not choose me! I have ten inches!" I laughed again and reached out for his arm. He just shook his head, scooting an inch away from me. I leaned my body against his, smiling when he didn't pull away.

"Don't worry, I would pick you any other day," I said. Vic just gave me a confused look. "Well Jenna bought me tons of stuff and I don't want her to take it back, so I thought I'd give her this."

Barely any time passed between me finishing my sentence and a balled up napkin hitting me on my forehead. I looked to Jenna in mock offense. "What was that for?" I exclaimed. She crossed her arms, glaring.

"You know exactly what that was for, asshole!" She shouted. I was glad we were sitting a good distance away from any other customers, because I'm sure they'd be giving us all scornful looks. I laughed, sobering up a bit when I saw Amanda heading towards out table. She was carrying all of our plates on one of those portable tables, and I could already smell it.

When she reached us, She set up the mini table, giving us all a clear view of the food. I could feel my mouth begin to water. She placed everyone's order down in front of them, smiling at me when she set mine down. I still thought it was odd, but I let it go in favor of eating my delicious looking waffle.

I cut into the golden breakfast cake, noting the crunch it made when I broke through the outside, but how soft and fluffy it was on the inside. I dipped the piece into the strawberries and whipped cream on top, licking my lips as I went to bite it. When it hit my tongue, I couldn't help the way my eyes rolled back in my head and the quiet moan that left my lips. This waffle was orgasmic!

I lowered my fork back to my waffle to get another piece of this heavenly deliciousness, when I felt this kind of throbbing in the back of my throat. I didn't think much of it, stabbing another piece of waffle, until I realized it was getting harder to breath. I looked down to the piece on my fork, seeing a piece of an almond on the inside. My eyes widened in disbelief. Amanda did this! I looked around quickly, seeing her standing at some old couple's table. She caught my gaze, narrowing her eyes and smirking at me.

I looked back to Jenna and Vic, but they were too engrossed in their plates to notice me. It had been getting harder and harder to breathe, when suddenly, my breath stopped completely. My eyes widened even farther, this time in fear, and I dropped my fork in favor of holding on to my neck. The clatter gathered Vic and Jenna's attention, and I could see their eyes widen in concern.

"Are you okay?" I heard Vic ask. I shook my head violently, pointing to my neck as I felt tears build up in my eyes. Vic understood, I think, because he quickly reached for my arm, pulling me out of the booth with him. He turned me around and began to give me the Heimlich maneuver. He put his fists under my rib cage, thrusting against my diaphragm persistently. He must have thought I was choking on some waffle. I frantically shook my head, looking to Jenna for help. She furrowed her brows, but something clicked in her mind and she looked over to my plate. Seeing the nuts, she murmured,

"That bitch," before jumping up. "Vic! Stop, she's not choking!" Vic stopped, but looked at her confused. My hearing was tunneled, along with my vision, but I heard Jenna talk before running out of the doors. "I'll explain later! Just try and calm her down and I'll be back in a second!" She took off running immediately afterwards.

Vic turned me around in his arms, looked down at me and saw the fear in my eyes. His face softened. "I don't know what's going on, but I know you'll be fine. I trust Jenna with my life, and so should you. I know you don't know me, so it's hard to take my word, but just believe me, okay?" His voice was smooth, calm and collected as he spoke and I couldn't help but to calm down a little bit as

I stared into his eyes. I mean, I was still freaking out- I couldn't breathe for fuck's sake! But in the trance I was in, there was no room for me to panic as much. A few seconds passed and I felt someone grab my arm and something pierce my skin. Not enough oxygen was getting to my brain, so it took a few seconds for me to think to turn my head from Vic's face to whoever it was. When I turned, I saw Jenna injecting something into my vein. It was my epipien. I always kept it in my wallet, just in case. I remember now leaving it in the mess of shopping bags in the car.

My vision was almost completely black by the time my throat opened up. I took a huge gasp of air, it burning my throat at how deep my breath was. The black started to fade and my hearing returned to normal. I went slack in Vic's arms as I caught my breath. He tightened his grip around me. Vic was rubbing my back up and down, waiting for me to feel better. When he felt my breathing return to normal, he pulled me out to arm's length, staring into my eyes. It was then that I really realized what had happened. I felt tears well up in my eyes and I tore from Vic's grip, taking off in the direction of the restroom. I locked myself in the second stall and promptly began sobbing.

Jenna came into the bathroom a few minutes later and listened to me as I cried about my embarrassment. She told me that after she told Vic what was going on, Vic looked murderous. In my paranoid state, I immediately thought that Vic was mad at me, but Jenna quickly put out that flame of doubt after I voiced my worries.

We stayed in the bathroom for a few more minutes while I stopped crying and as Jenna reapplied my makeup with the emergency cosmetic kit in her purse.

Jenna and I made our ways out of the bathroom, heading back towards the table. While hiding away, I realized I was overreacting. I knew Vic, and I knew Vic wouldn't think I was gross or something because my allergies got kicked off. I did feel a bit bad though because I kept underestimating him.

We walked over to Vic, who was leaning against the table. As soon as he saw me, he quickly walked over to me, and pulled me into a hug. I was surprised, so I let out a yelp, but Vic just hugged me tighter. I put my arms around him. We stood there a few minutes, him swaying me side to side. I closed my eyes, relishing the moment. He was so warm around me- he made me feel safe. He pulled back a few seconds later, though.

"I told the manager," He said, looking into my eyes. He had me an arm's distance away, hands still resting on my shoulders. "What that waitress did to you, and he was outraged. He told me to point out the one that did it, and I saw her scurrying away to the kitchen," He chuckled a bit, and looked a tad to the left of me. "It's like she seriously thought she could just hide from this." He looked back into my eyes, his hands squeezing my shoulders.

"What happened to her?" I ask. I was scared to break eye contact in case I had actually died from my allergies and this would all go away in a blink.

"Well," he said and he gestured towards the front of the establishment. I saw the middle aged man with a red, red face, screaming into Amanda's face. She looked like she was near tears, but I thought she deserved it. Maybe she really did, or maybe it was just the hormonal change that was making me catty. Who knows? "And he gave me these."

I looked back to him to see him waving three cards in the air by his head. I couldn't tell what they were because he kept moving them, though, so I scrunched my face up trying to focus on them.

"What are those?" Jenna questioned, stepping up beside me. I had forgotten she was there, but I guess she was giving us our space or something.

"Free food," he replies, a grin lighting up his face. "Each card has ten crosses on it, and if we give them these, it covers the entire bill! No matter how many people!" Wow, that was really cool. I didn't even know why they had these, I mean, it seems like a lot of money, to be honest. And why did they give them to us? Maybe it was so we wouldn't sue. I wasn't planning on doing it before, but I definitely wasn't doing it now.

"So yeah, that girl's getting fired, so we should totally come back tomorrow, or something, yeah?" Vic asked. Although he wasn't looking at Jenna, he was looking directly at me. Wait, was he asking me on a date? Oh my god, he's asking me on a date. I felt my cheeks flush a little bit.

"Um," I say, my mind calming down and convincing itself that is actually not a date, and he's being nice to me because I'm a girl, and I nearly died. "Yeah, that'd be great." I smiled at him fondly. It still felt weird to smile in this weird, girl body, but I was getting used to it. Vic stepped forward, pulling me into his chest again.

"I'm glad you didn't die or anything," He whispered into my hair. "You seem really cool, Kelsy." With that, he placed a soft kiss onto my hair, pulling back and smiling at my blushing face. That made me blush harder, though, so I looked away, and my gaze met Amanda's. She was glaring daggers at me, and I quickly looked away. Maybe I won't come back for a few days, just in case.

All of a sudden, a wave of exhaustion came over me and I tried to stifle a yawn. It must not have been subtle, though, because Jenna came to my side, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Getting tired, sweetie?" She asked. It was common that I got tired after taking the allergy shot, so I wasn't really surprised at her question. I just nodded, my head dropping a small bit. "Vic, come help me get her," She ordered. I closed my eyes at that, but I was still awake. Just resting my eyes a little. I felt someone pick me up bridal style, and I had no doubt in my mind that it was Vic. His arms were to die for, and I felt them flexing under my knees and on my shoulder blades. I turned my body into his more when I felt him begin to walk. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes, but I felt the temperature drop, so I knew we had just walked outside. I shivered and I felt Vic walk a bit faster.

We reached the car, and before he could try and struggle with the door handle, Jenna was already by his side, opening it for him. I heard him mumble out a thanks to her as he settled me down onto the car seat. I probably should have given him a little some help by holding myself up, but I was just so exhausted. I was confused when I felt Vic sit next to me instead of going to the passenger seat, and apparently I wasn’t the only one.

"Are you not sitting in the front?" Jenna asked as he closed the door beside him.

"No...I'm gonna stay back here with her. She was shivering and I want to keep her warm," He explained as he reached around my shoulders to pull me into him. I heard Jenna shout out something that sounded like “not in my car,” but sleep was starting to pull at me.

"Shut up, Jenna," Vic retorted. I snuggled into Vic’s shoulder even more, my sleepy mind not caring if he minded or not.

The car went quiet after that, the only sound was Jenna starting the car and the heater kicking on.

The air blowing out was still cold, and I felt Vic’s arm tighten around me as I shivered. Soon after, the air blew warm and Jenna pulled out of the parking space, but as she turned, I felt my already slack body tip over and I was laying face first in Vic’s lap. Even though I was fine with staying where I was, I knew Vic was probably uncomfortable, so I went to sit up. Before I could try and lift my head, Vic rest his hand on my shoulder and rubbed lightly. I let out a soft sigh, taking that as a sign that it was okay to stay where I was. I moved my head, turning to face the heater because it was still pretty cold in the car. As I was slipping into sleep, I felt Vic’s fingers start to run through my hair and I began to smile, finally letting exhaustion win.