Date: Thu, 6 Nov 2008 20:08:09 -0800 (PST) From: Sebastian Fforde Subject: Jonathan Casts a Spell Chapter 6 Jonathan Casts a Spell Copyright 2008 Sebastian Fforde (BB, teen, high school, romance) This story is completely fiction. Well, most of it is, anyway. If you aren't interested in reading sexually explicit love stories about high school age boys, then you can stop right now. But if you ARE interested, then read on. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. Jonathan Casts a Spell Chapter 6 *** Mrs. Jankowski stopped her son as he was on his way out the door. "Where did you say you were going again?" "Fortune-teller," Alex mumbled, stopping to grab a handful of cookies out of the cookie jar. "What on earth do you need to go to a fortune-teller for?" Mrs. Jankowski asked suspiciously. "I dunno, thought it might be interesting," Alex shrugged, his mouth full of chocolate-chip cookie. "Are you going with that Jonathan boy?" "No, I'm going by myself." "But it has something to do with him, doesn't it?" "What do you mean, Mom?" "It has to have something to do with him. You were never into any of this nonsense until you met him. And you used to be such a pleasant boy. Whatever happened to Hugh and Oscar? I thought they were your best friends. Now every time you come home after visiting that Jonathan boy, you're always shaken up about something. And you've been so moody lately!" Alex put down his backpack. Now he needed a glass of milk to wash down all the cookies. "I'm fine, Mom! Everything is fine! I don't know what you're talking about!" "And how come you've never introduced Jonathan to me and your father?" Alex's mother asked, even more suspiciously. "He's been over the house before. Remember when he came over and helped rake the leaves?" "I do remember that, but you could have at least invited him in for some cocoa or something." "Yeah, I guess you're right," Alex said, putting the milk away and grabbing his backpack. "Well I gotta go," he said. "I don't want to miss my appointment with Aunt Constance." "I really wish you wouldn't go. And I wish you'd stop hanging around Jonathan. What about Hugh and Oscar? I think they're a much better influence on you then this boy from the weird bookstore." "I dunno, they've kinda been real jerks lately." *** Alex sat down in the overstuffed chair and looked around at all the ornate decorations in the little reading room of Aunt Constance - a psychic whose information he had gotten from the bulletin Board at the Chrystall Dragon Bookshop. It was decorated pretty much as he had expected it to be decorated: like a fortune-teller's shop in an old movie. Aunt Constance spread out the cards on the table in a haphazard manner. She barely even looked at the cards. She turned to Alex and started to talk. "Oh, I see that you are a very kind, loving and sensitive person," she said. "Sometimes you feel like people don't understand you. But I also see that you're going to live a very long and healthy life." Alex looked at the cards that were spread on the table. He didn't know the meanings of them, but one of the cards he saw filled him with dread: the Death card. Alex hesitantly pointed to the Death card. "If I'm gonna live a long life, why did THAT card come up?" "Oh, don't worry about that. People who don't read cards always think that means someone is going to die. What the card actually signifies is change. Do you feel that maybe you're going through a major change in your life right now?" Alex's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as Aunt Constance told him this. "You're right!" he gasped, thinking of Jonathan. His newfound feelings for the older boy had been quite a major life change for Alex. "Now, just judging from what I see here," Aunt Constance continued, "this change probably has to do with a new relationship. Is there someone special that has just entered your life?" "Yes!" Alex exclaimed eagerly. "Well, I can see there's a lot of struggle here. You have very strong feelings for her and I can see she also has strong feelings for you but neither of you know how to express those feelings." "Him," Alex corrected the fortune teller. "I have strong feelings for him." "Oh, okay. What is his name?" "Jonathan." "Well, I see a lot of difficulty and trouble for you and Jonathan in the near future. But if you want to know the final outcome I will have to do a more in-depth reading. This reading here can only tell me so much, and I sense that there is a lot more that you need to know. Things are coming to an urgent situation and you need information to make the right decisions to avoid catastrophe and heartbreak. Would you like me to do an in-depth reading for you now?" "How much would that be?" "Only a hundred dollars." The boy's face fell. The psychic had been leading him on! All she wanted to do was get more money out of him! "That's okay," he said, crestfallen. "I don't really have the cash today. Could you tell me what else you see in these cards here?" "I'm afraid I told you all I can see from these cards. If you want to know more you'll have to come back for a second reading. That will be twenty-five dollars, please." On his way home, Alex thought about what the fortune-teller had said. She had told him that she had `the gift' and had very powerful psychic abilities. If she had any psychic abilities at all, Alex thought, she would have at least been able to tell that Alex's main problem was that he was in love with a boy and not a girl. The fortune teller had just been telling him what she thought he wanted to hear. Still, the Death card had come up. Alex decided to go online and look up the meaning of that card, to see if what Aunt Constance said was true. At least she had been right about one thing. Alex was going through a MAJOR change in his life. He was starting to feel like a completely different person as these unexplainable desires began to awaken in him. Alex put more faith in the significance of the Death card because he had been able to research the meaning of the card himself. No matter what nonsense Aunt Constance would have told him, the Death card was there and he knew for sure that it had some real significance for him. *** Meanwhile, at roughly the same time, Jonathan was in his bedroom, burning incense and doing a second Tarot reading. He shuffled the deck, closed his eyes and cleared his mind for a moment, concentrating on his question. Then he cut the deck and laid the cards out in the Celtic cross formation. The cards were laid out in the following way: In the center was the Ace of Cups, signifying the start of a relationship. Crossing that card was the Page of Wands. That card most likely represented Alex. Representing the recent past was the Two of Swords, signifying barriers and difficulty in a relationship. In the distant past was the Tower, signifying a traumatic event which caused Jonathan to have to shed some of the illusions he had been harboring. The Ace of Swords was in the immediate future, representing new challenges, power and a possible breakthrough. The Sun was above, in the position representing the best possible outcome. Jonathan took the appearance of the Sun card in that position as a good sign. The Strength card represented factors affecting the current situation. The Nine of Wands appeared in the spot representing external influences. Jonathan read it as a long, weary journey to the final outcome. The Ten of Swords was in the position representing hopes and fears – everything going wrong. And in the last position, the Two of Cups represented the final outcome: Jonathan and his soul mate finally united. Jonathan opened a small notebook and drew out the details of the spread so that he could study it in more detail later. Then he sat and quietly contemplated the cards. As Jonathan gazed at the arrangement of the cards, he was pleased at how logically they seemed to fit together and tell the story. He was especially pleased by the Two of Cups in the final position. But he was a bit concerned about the appearance of the Ten of Swords in the position representing hopes and fears. Were these real disasters ahead, or was he letting his fears get the best of him? There was a knock on the door. "Come in!" Jonathan shouted. It was Jonathan's father. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything." "Just a tarot reading, but you can come in," Jonathan shrugged. Mr. Drexler smirked as he sat down on Jonathan's bed. "So what does the future hold for my devil-worshipping son?" "I'd appreciate a little less sarcasm, Dad." "Sorry, Jonathan. You know I can't take any of that stuff seriously. But there's one thing that I do take seriously, and that's the happiness of my children." "Glad to hear that, Dad. I'd be happier if you stopped making fun of me." "Well, I was wondering if we could have a sort of man-to-man talk. If you don't mind, that is." "I don't mind. What do you want to talk about?" "It's about you and Alex. I've been watching the two of you very closely." "And?" "Well, Jonathan. I have a pretty good idea of what you've been up to. The spells – well, I don't really know if those spells work or not, but I know that you've also been playing a lot of mind games with the boy." Jonathan looked up from his Tarot spread. "I'm determined to win his heart no matter what it takes," he told his father. "Either through magic or psychology or both." "That's why I think we need to have this talk," Mr. Drexler said. "You've got a lot to learn about love and relationships. You could break the boy's heart if you're not careful. Or get your own heart broken again." "I'll be fine, Dad. Really." Jonathan's father continued. "Jonathan, I know that the main reason you're focusing so much about this Alex boy is because you're still hurting from what happened between you and David. I guess what I'm trying to say is that you really have to be careful when you're on the rebound." "Yeah, maybe you're right," Jonathan agreed. "I still think about David all the time." He wiped a tear from his eye. "But I'm pretty sure now that Alex is the one I want to be with." "Well if you're sure, than go for it," Mr. Drexler told his son. "Just be careful. I don't want you to get hurt again, and I don't want Alex to get hurt, either. He seems really sweet, but I think he's even more naïve than you are." Jonathan was slightly indignant. "I'm not that naïve, Dad! I know what I'm doing!" Mr. Drexler put his hand on his son's shoulder. "Jonathan, you're only sixteen," he sighed. "You can't help but be naïve." After a pause, he added, "Just promise me you'll be good to him. When you find the right boy you really need to take good care of him. If you make him a promise, you have to keep it. And I'm speaking from experience. I've been through hell with your mom – maybe I'll explain a few things that happened to us when you get a little older – but in the end I think we're all glad we stuck together and made it all work out. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Jonathan smiled, although he was still a little teary-eyed from thinking about his ex-boyfriend. "Yeah Dad, I do. I'm glad we had this talk." *** Alex texted Jonathan just one word: HI. He wanted a response. Any response. He wanted to leave a voice message for Jonathan, but he didn't want to seem desperate. So he waited. It was agony. He wrote Jonathan a long, emotional email but then didn't have the guts to send it. Several days later, as Alex was walking home from school, Jonathan returned his text message. It simply said: HI ALEX. As soon as Alex got the message, he eagerly replied: I MISS U. Then he felt stupid for writing such a desperate sounding message. Five minutes later, Alex got a response: DINNER 2MORROW NITE? And Alex replied: YES. WHERE? And then came Jonathan's reply: MEET ME AT SHOP 6PM. I KNOW A NICE LITTLE TRANSYLVANIAN PLACE. Alex was overjoyed. His love spell was starting to work on Jonathan! But a Transylvanian restaurant? That made Alex smile. That little touch was typical Jonathan, for sure! He decided to take a detour through the woods, so he could skip and dance and jump around without anyone seeing him acting like an idiot. It was also the path that lead to the old graveyard, the very graveyard that he dreamt about kissing Jonathan in. Alex looked around until he found a beech tree. He took out his house keys and began carving into the tender bark of the tree: AJ + JD. Feeling proud of his handiwork, Alex turned around to a less visible part of the tree and carved the words ALEX LOVES JONATHAN. Looking at his true love's name carved in the bark of the tree filled Alex with immense satisfaction. *** Soon Alex's happiness was transformed into anxiety. That night Alex had bad dreams. The dreams were generally the same thing happening over and over again. In the dream, Alex was standing outside the bookstore watching Jonathan helping the customers, but for some reason Alex was unable to go inside. He would be standing at the window watching Jonathan helping a customer, who was always either a pretty girl or a handsome boy. Then the girl or boy would start to kiss Jonathan, and Alex would be stuck frozen in one spot, watching Jonathan making out with someone else. Alex woke up in the middle of the night with an intense feeling of jealousy and despair. The next day as he was getting ready for his date with Jonathan, he was more worried than ever. Just because Jonathan invited him to dinner didn't mean for sure that the spell was working. It didn't even necessarily mean that it was really a date. But it was a good sign. Still, Alex had fears of something going terribly wrong. He showered and put on some of his dad's cologne. He wished he had some of Jonathan's magic sexy cologne, but unfortunately, Jonathan had never gotten around to mixing up a batch for him. He tried styling his hair all different ways, then he remembered what Jonathan had said the morning after they had slept together – that he thought Alex looked cute with messy hair. Alex tried very hard to style his hair the right sort of casual messiness. He changed his clothes a total of seven different times. Just as Alex was almost out the door, his father caught him. "So Alex, who's the lucky girl?" he asked, eying his son's wardrobe and stylishly mussed-up hair. "No lucky girl. Just going out with a friend." "Smelling like that?" his dad laughed. "I told you, no girl! I'm just going to see a friend," Alex lied. Well, not really, he thought. In reality he was telling the truth – he was meeting a friend who wasn't a girl. His father smiled. "Okay, son, I'll pretend I believe you." He patted his son on the back. "Just relax, have fun and you'll be all right." "Thanks, Dad. I hope so." To Be Continued Are you enjoying my story? I hope you are. If you like, you can check out my other stories on Nifty: Tanner's Talent in the Adult/Youth section, Where's Willy? in the Encounters section, Smelly Sneakers for Skyler in the Young Friends section and Skyler Gives a Foot Rub in the Adult/Youth section. If you want to get to know me a little better, feel free to email or chat with me, or check out my MySpace page, which is http://www.myspace.com/sebastianfforde. My Yahoo ID is sebastianfforde.