"I'd like a toasted cinnamon-raisin bagel with butter," a petite brunette ordered.
Brianna popped the bagel into the industrial toaster and rang up the order at the register. Even though she was at work, her mind was still on last night and how to make things right. She absently handed the buttered bagel to the customer.
Bleh! Brianna glanced at the clock. Nine a.m. Still six hours to go. Business was slow and the day was dragging. She busied herself with history homework. The twenty questions required answers in paragraph form. She didn't want to do it. Sighing, Brianna wished it were finished already.
Before her eyes, words appeared on the page, letter-by-letter, as if being written by an imaginary hand. One blink and the homework was completed. The answers were correct, concise, and well-written in Brianna's handwriting. All it had taken was a thought.
How was that possible? It didn't make any sense. Brianna remembered how hard her sister had always worked on her homework when they'd been kids. Then it occurred to her. Besides stealing every drop of power within Mandy, she had kept all of her own. Now she was more powerful than Mandy had ever been.
The door to the bagel shop opened and a group of ten teenagers sauntered in. Ugh. Go somewhere else.
One of the girls stopped mid-step. "I'd rather go to the diner."
"Funny, I was just thinking the same thing," one of the boys said. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.
Wow, maybe these powers aren't such a bad thing after all.
After work, Brianna showered and dressed. When she was ready, she drove her father's sedan to Valerie's house. On the front porch, Valerie waited in a tight turquoise tube dress and high-heeled pumps.
"It's so great to see you!"
Was it so great to see her, or to see her powers? But since Valerie was her only friend now, she just smiled and said, "Great to see you too!"
"I'm so excited for tonight! Come in, come in!"
Brianna followed Valerie into her black-and-gold bedroom. The materials for the Become Irresistible to Boys spell were already arranged in the center of the room.
"First, we do the spell. Then, we go out and party!"
"I don't think I need a spell to be irresistible to boys. I've already been attracting too much male attention."
"Is there such thing as too much?" Valerie laughed. "Let's do the spell so I can find out!"
If it hadn't been for Valerie's guidance, Brianna would never have attained her power in the first place. Valerie deserved a night of male attention.
This time the spell worked with ease. The girls clapped as the stems blossomed into enormous, beautiful red roses before their eyes. Other than their gigantic size, the roses looked, smelled, and felt just like real roses.
"Amazing," Valerie breathed. She placed a rose in her sequined pocketbook.
"Here." Brianna offered her friend the second rose. "Double the irresistibility?"
Valerie laughed as she accepted the flower. "You sure?"
Brianna nodded. "Absolutely. So what now?"
"Now we find some hotties!"
"We could try Burger Bop."
"No, I want to dance. What about Club Ice? Do you think we will get in?"
"Definitely," Brianna said.
"Yay!" Valerie clapped and then hugged Brianna. "This is going to be the best night ever."
Valerie's foresight was accurate. On the dance floor, they were surrounded by admirers. A tall, gorgeous hunk approached Brianna. They were dancing close when he proclaimed, "You are the most beautiful girl in the world."
Valerie danced with three guys at once, intermittently bestowing a bit of attention on each of them. When a song was played that Brianna disliked, she made eye contact with the DJ. In the middle of the tune, the DJ exchanged the techno beat for one of her favorite songs. Brianna laughed aloud.
The handsome blond asked, "What's funny?"
Brianna met his gaze, mesmerizing him further. "Oh, nothing. I just love this song. Let's dance!"
Once Brianna grew tired of the blond guy, she moved onto a gorgeous Hispanic guy, then a tall boy with huge muscles, followed by a brunet with striking green eyes. Before the night was over, she had dates lined up for every night of the week. The girls stayed until the club closed. Unfortunately, Brianna did not have the ability to stop time.
On the drive home, the girls replayed the events of the night. "I couldn't believe it when that dorky guy kept trying to dance with me! He was annoying," Valerie said. "But that surfer-looking dude with the long hair…he was so hot. Not the greatest dancer, but I still gave him my phone number. The other one with the spiky black hair… Wow, he could move! This spell was amazing. We should go to that store in the city to check out more spell books."
Brianna thought of Eva's sassy attitude, Dave's never-ending faith in her talent no matter how badly she sucked, and Pat's sense of humor and crazy hair. "Do you think they have any books on controlling powers?"
"Oh, I'm sure. There are a ton of books and the staff is knowledgeable, too. Want to go tomorrow morning?"
"I'm down."
"Sounds great. I'll pick you up at ten, at the bottom of your driveway."
"Perfect."