Lesson 73- Always take good care of your pens.

A couple hours later I have a list of terrible ideas about what to tell my brother.

*1- Tell him the truth? - Nope, then he will end up in just as much trouble as me!
2- Tell him the truth minus the magical stuff? - No way, he would probably try to murder Tori…
3- Tell him to just not ask where I’ve been and that it’s not important/ none of his business? - HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA as if. He would just get more curious, then he would never let it go.
4- Lie to him completely. Tell him I just got busy, I’ve been staying with a friend, some rubbish like that? - I don’t want him to think I don’t care or something.
5- Just avoid his questions? - … Same issue as both 3 and 4.
6- !!!!?!?!?!?! Why is this so HARD?!?!?!*

Okay, so my list isn’t actually going so well. But I don’t want to admit that Torin might have a point. I mean, really what I want to do is just tell my brother the truth. I’m sure he would understand. But I promised Torin and the others I wouldn’t tell anyone about them so that’s not actually an option. When I made that promise, it didn’t occur to me how difficult it would be to keep things from my brother. Although at the time I didn’t think I would be gone so long. I could explain away being unavailable for a few days, but the longer I stay here, the harder it gets to come up with a believable excuse. Ugh, why didn’t they just let me text my brother in the first place? It doesn’t help that I don’t know exactly what Torin has been texting him already. I should ask him to show me the messages or something. But later. I’m exhausted, I can work on this more tomorrow. I’m about to put my list away when someone knocks a pattern on my door.
“Come in!” I call out and Laura walks in. She looks as tired as I feel.
“Hey Laura.” I greet her.
“Hey hon. I just wanted to come say bye before I head home and get some sleep. Also… I wanted to thank you… For looking out for Kyle I mean. He doesn’t take enough care of himself, even though he spends so much time looking after everyone here. Of course he would never admit that he takes care of us, but he totally does. I swear I almost never actually make my own meals these days. He’s always cooking and sending me home with leftovers. You know, when he was in the hospital and at home recovering I went to look after him and he tried to convince me to let him cook me dinner! I was there to look after him! Of course he would never hear of me cooking for HIM so I just ordered in. But still, he was so determined.” She says the words fondly and I can’t help but grin.
“Did you have fun hanging out with him tonight? He was getting a little sick of me.” I tell her, doing my best not to sound like I’m teasing. Laura smiles and nods.
“Yeah, he was chattier than usual, I think he was more tired than he was letting on. We’re going to meet up before work tomorrow and carpool in together. You know he took a taxi today? He isn’t meant to be driving yet. I offered to pick him up until he can drive safely again.” She explains. I have to fight the urge to squeal in excitement. Kyle must be thrilled. Totally embarrassed and he will probably deny it with everything he has, but he’s got to be loving all the extra attention Laura is giving him. Maybe these extra car rides will give him a chance to ask her out properly. Or maybe he can use the excuse of needing to thank her for all her extra help and take her out somewhere. Oooh or he could have her over and cook her a special meal! That would be awesome. I’ll have to make sure to suggest it to him at some point.
“That was really sweet of you.” I tell her but I’m not sure she’s listening. She’s busy looking over at my dresser.
“Is something wrong?” I ask, trying to figure out what she’s looking at.
“Oh… No, nothing. I was just wondering… Where did you get a spelled pen from? Was it a gift from Torin? Or from a customer?” She asks curiously, approaching my dresser and leaning in close to look at the pen that Jane gave me.
“Spelled? I didn’t know it was spelled. Jane gave it to me.” I inform her, getting to my feet to join her in staring at the pen.
“The monster in the basement? You have the weirdest friends.” She smiles and I roll my eyes.
“Are you referring to yourself?” I poke her in the ribs and she laughs.
“How do you know it’s spelled anyway? It looks like a normal pen to me. Well, not normal, it’s fancy as hell. But you know, it doesn’t look… Magic-y” I point out awkwardly. Laura shrugs.
“That’s because you can’t see magic. It looks ‘magic-y’ to me. I just look at it and… I can tell.” Well that was not particularly clear. Part of me wishes I could see magic, and part of me is glad I can’t. It sounds confusing.
“So… What does it do?” I ask.
“I have no idea.” She answers and I frown.
“I thought you could tell it’s magic?” I say confused and she nods.
“I can, but I can’t tell what the magic does. I only recognise magic I know. Whatever the spell is, it’s not one I’ve cast before. Have you tried writing with it?” She suggests.
“Writing?” I repeat.
“Sure, it’s a pen right? If you’re going to put a spell in a pen, chances are it is activated by writing.” She explains.
“I haven’t tried. It’s an ink pen, I don’t have any ink.” I respond.
“You should try anyway. The pen might not work without ink, but the spell might.The motion of writing, or maybe even just putting the pen to the page could be what activates it.” She says excitedly. Her excitement is contagious, but I’m a little hesitant.
“Do I WANT to activate whatever the spell is? Should I be experimenting with unknown spells? What if something bad happens?” I ask. Laura shrugs.
“I doubt anything bad would be spelled into a pen. Besides, I’m here. I’m a pretty powerful witch, remember. I can probably handle whatever spell it is.” She says confidently. I nod my acceptance. I DO believe her, but also I’m pretty sure that Jane wouldn’t give me anything that might hurt me.

I grab the pen and sit on my bed. I flip the page of my sketchbook and use the pen to scratch a line on the back of the page. To my surprise it actually does draw a line.
“Huh? But I don’t have any ink.” Laura laughs.
“The pen is spelled to draw without ink. It’s a bottomless pen. Totally harmless, useful though.” She adds. I nod.
“Yeah it is.” I agree and I go to write my name. The blue ink is nice, although I can’t help but wish it was black. Then I could use it to outline my sketches. As soon as I think it, the ink starts coming out black instead of blue.
“Ooh, what did you do?” Laura asks curiously. I shrug.
“Nothing, I was just thinking it would be more useful as a black pen.” I explain.
“Try another colour!” She encourages. I nod and imagine the ink pink. Sure enough, in the next second the ink comes out as a deep shade of pink. Wow, this pen is awesome! Not only does it draw in whatever colour I want and never run out of ink, it draws so smoothly too! I run a finger over the lines I just drew, planning to pick up some of the ink and look at it. Is it normal ink? Apparently not because even though it still looks wet, the ink doesn’t smudge. Not one bit.
“Okay, this pen might be the coolest thing ever.” I admit and Laura nods.
“It is pretty awesome. I’m jealous. Would you mind if I looked at it sometime? I want to see if I can replicate the spell.” She says excitedly.
“As long as you don’t damage it I don’t mind. Oh, I should go thank Jane again. I didn’t realise how perfect a gift this actually was. She deserves way more gratitude.” I declare and Laura laughs.
“You do that. I left all the empties by the bar so you can give them to her.” She says with a smile.
“Thanks. I’ll go do that now. Night Laura.”
“Goodnight Rina.”