Cascade and I were alone in the writing center. It was a new day, which meant new makeup samples. I watched as she drew the highlighter over my skin. The blue looked more vibrant, and when Cascade smiled at me, I returned the gesture. I’d canceled archery lessons with Alex to spend the evening with her. I had no intention of abandoning him when he needed me, but today I needed space. Distance. And Cascade was my best friend. If I wanted to be distracted, she’d distract me—whether it went against her better judgement or not.

“You’ve done it,” I said.

Her eyes were bright. “Yes,” she replied, “Although I’m still lost for names, and I have to mass-produce these now.”

“I’ll help you out with that,” I said. “Just promise you won’t forget me when you’re the creator of a multi-billion-dollar beauty empire, okay?”

“No one could forget you,” she replied. “I think if I ever did, you’d break the laws of physics and just appear out of thin air in front of me. Like some sorcerer or something.”

“If I’m a sorcerer, do I get to wear a cool cape?” I asked.

Cascade pursed her lips together as if seriously considering it. “Only if it’s crushed velvet,” she eventually said. “Sorcerers can only wear crushed velvet. Didn’t you know?”

“I must’ve missed the memo,” I replied.

Cascade tapped the blue highlighter on my forearm. “Asteria, goddess of fallen stars,” she said.

“I approve.”

Cascade moved up my arm, pointing out the shades: Selene, Luna, Nyx, Artemis, Achlys, Hecate. Night goddesses, all of them. It was something I should’ve appreciated, but my mind was filled with thoughts of Alex. I remembered the way the moonlight had settled on his fur as a wolf and the way it traced his strong bones as a human.

“I like it,” I said.

“It’ll appeal to my witchy fanbase,” Cascade replied.

I hugged her. “Well done,” I said.

She handed me the makeup wipes, and I scrubbed at my arm. The silver and blue—Luna and Asteria—stubbornly remained on my skin. Regardless of what anyone might say about Cascade’s highlighter, it certainly had staying power.

“If it doesn’t come off, you’ll have to take your next appointment covered in highlighter,” Cascade teased.

“I’ll tell them I was attacked at the mall by an overzealous salesman,” I said. “He got me before I could do anything to defend myself.”

“I had a salesman that wouldn’t take no for an answer once,” Cascade said. “He sprayed cologne in my face. Do you know what I did?”

“Told him to take a hike?”

“Nope. First, I pretended that I wasn’t sure why he was spraying me with cologne. Then, when he told me that I was meant to buy it for the man in my life, I got teary-eyed and informed him that all the men in my life were dead,” she replied.

I laughed. “You’re horrible,” I said.

That sounded like the sort of thing Alex would say. I was finding him in everything these days. Alex kept making it worse, too. I told him I couldn’t make archery lessons because I was sick, and he responded by sending me several get-well texts, accompanied by an alarming number of emojis and memes.

He kept trying to make me laugh, clearly to raise my spirits. I wondered if I could be friends with Alex and not always desire something else. Something new and romantic, something involving kisses, banter, and sex.

This was dreadful.

“Hey, Nick,” Cascade said. “I have a surprise for you.”

“A sea witch to steal my immortal soul, so I don’t fall in love anymore?” I asked. “Do those exist, by any chance?”

“Sea witches, yes. Immortal souls? Unsure.”

“Unsure? But don’t witches always ask for your immortal soul?”

“No, it’s usually just your first-born.”

I sighed. “What about the opposite of a love potion? Instead of falling in love, it makes you fall out of love.”

“Yes, such a thing exists,” Cascade replied, “but it’s a last resort, always. Do you really believe you need a magic potion for that? Do you really think that would make this any better?”

“No,” I admitted.

Cascade squeezed my hands. “There’s nothing at all wrong with your heart,” she said. “It’s just bad timing is all. But guess what? Even if this doesn’t work out, you’re going to move on and meet someone who’s worthy of you. I promise.”

I squeezed her hands back, blushing at her praise. “You’ll meet someone, too,” I said.

“I know. As for your surprise, I happen to have invites to the same Mardi Gras ball you’re going to. No matter how awkward, I’ll be there to support you and kick Alex’s ass if he upsets you.”

“It’s not his fault I like him,” I replied. “I agreed to this arrangement, and now I want to change the rules. That’s not how this is supposed to work.”

“You can’t help feeling something,” Cascade said. “So don’t beat yourself up over it. If Alex doesn’t love you back, that’s his loss. He’s losing a wonderful guy, who’s funny, cute, and smart. And if he does that, he clearly has no taste.”

“Just because he doesn’t like me doesn’t mean you need to drag his name through the mud,” I said.

“I know I don’t need to,” Cascade said. “I drag names for free, dear. You’ve known me long enough to know that.”

Her smile revealed she was only teasing, so I didn’t press the issue. Sometimes, it was worth it just to let Cascade vent and promise to bring destruction down on my enemies. She’d never act on such threats, though not because she couldn’t. With her powers, Cascade could do a lot of damage, but she respected me enough not to act against my wishes. At the end of the day, she hadn’t even touched Brian.

I tossed the used makeup remover wipes into the trash can. My arm was finally free of its glittery restraints.

“Oh, crap! I forgot to take pictures,” Cascade said. “Dammit.”

“Next time,” I offered.

Cascade raised an eyebrow. “Like you have a choice? I know where you live, work, and sleep. I’d get you eventually, whether you wanted me to or not.”

Then, as if fate were playing a cruel joke, Alex strode in.

But why? He didn’t have an appointment. I knew because I’d obsessively checked the schedule of every single consultant, searching for his appointments. The next one was three weeks away.

I was supposed to be at home, very, very sick. I froze, unable to think of a lie quickly enough to counter the confusion in his face.

He furrowed his brow. “I thought you were sick,” Alex said.

Oh, crap.

“Oh, my God,” Cascade said. “You have no idea! He was in the bathroom throwing up all night and in bed for most of the day. He’s only here because I forgot something special I’d prepared for an appointment, and I figured I’d take him home after he brought it in for me. You should’ve seen him when he got here. He looked green—like puke-green. It was disgusting. That’s why we don’t have a trash bag. He threw up in it, and I had to run it out.”

Cascade pointed to the empty trashcan. I hadn’t even noticed it lacked a bag, and I couldn’t help but applaud Cascade’s quick thinking. I put a hand over my mouth and nodded slowly, trying to adopt my best still-somewhat-sick face.

“Yeah,” I said, trying to make myself sound hoarse. “We’re hoping it isn’t contagious, but you might want to keep your distance just in case.”

Alex nodded, although he moved closer anyway. Evidently, threats of night-long vomiting weren’t enough to deter him. “Well, I actually came because I thought I might’ve left my coat here,” Alex said.

“You’d have to ask Elaine,” Cascade said. “She keeps the lost and found in her office, and we don’t have keys.”

Alex looked woefully towards the locked door to his left. “I take it she’s out, then.”

“She should be back tomorrow morning. Probably around eight,” I offered. “But I’d call ahead. She’s not the most punctual person.”

“Great, I’ll call then,” Alex said.

“That’ll work,” Cascade replied.

Alex paused, opened his mouth, then closed it. And opened it again. After glancing at the ceiling, like he expected some divine force to make his move for him, he let out a long sigh. “Um, Nick. I don’t know if you even care, but just so you know, everyone really liked you. Good job. They had nothing but good things to say about you, although I don’t think introducing you to Ben was a good idea. I’m sure he wants you to join him in ganging up on me now. He’s kind of an ass like that.”

“Birds of a feather,” I said.

“I’ll let you get away with that because you’re sick,” Alex said.

“Wow. Thanks, Your Majesty. Truly, your generosity knows no bounds.”

Alex rocked back on his heels and averted his gaze. “And thank you, really,” Alex said, his voice soft. “I appreciate it, and you aren’t so bad. I feel like we have fun together. Doing archery and stuff. Maybe we could be friends after this is all over?”

Did I want to be friends? No. No, I wanted to be something else entirely, but what if it was friends or nothing? Did I want to deal with the persistent pining? The errant fantasies? Maybe I’d fall out of love with him, just like my ex had fallen out of love with me. Maybe it really was that easy and I was just making a big deal out of nothing.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” I said.

“Great.”

So great.

“Anyway,” Alex said. “I have to go. Get better or your archery game is going to deteriorate. I didn’t invest all my time making you this good so you could slack off.”

I forced a grin. “Of course not,” I answered.

“And I’ll text you about going out again? We can even do something kind of nerdy if you want. Not too nerdy, though. I’m not going to watch some foreign, silent film with you, but I might be persuaded to do something more relevant to your interests. That’ll be after we get you something to wear to this ball, though.”

Alex and I doing anything relevant to my interests was only going to make the situation worse.

“Sounds wonderful,” I lied.

“Good. See you, Nick. Bye, Cascade,” Alex said, before leaving.

Once he was gone, Cascade quietly rose from her chair and closed the door. She sighed and leaned against the hardwood. “That was a close one,” she said.

“I know. Too close. But at least we can be friends after this. That’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”

If I told myself that enough, I might start to believe it in earnest.

“I think that’s something you’ll need to answer yourself,” Cascade replied. “I think you ought to sit him down and talk about this. I mean, what if he likes you back? You have fun together, and he asked if you wanted to be friends after this. Clearly, he has some feelings for you.”

“But what if they aren’t the same as my feelings?” I asked. “What if I want to be boyfriends and he just wants to be casual acquaintances? Or that one friend that he just messages on Facebook every now and then?”

“Risk and reward,” Cascade answered. “Is the reward high enough to take the risk? Worst-case scenario, he won’t like you the same way you like him, and it’ll be awkward for a little while. Eventually, though, I’m sure the awkwardness will fade and you’ll be friends again.”

Her advice was good. Very good, actually. I could risk it and tell him. I could even mull it over and find a good way to do it. I could think of a way where—if everything went wrong—Cascade could bail me out. In this situation, the potential reward looked very promising, and although the risk was great, it was tempered a bit by Alex’s tentative offer of friendship. I took a deep breath.

“I’m going to tell him, Cascade.”