#from one of my unfortunately underdeveloped stories 'psychic's apprentice'

[lovevalley45]

#fictober2019 day 1

“It will be fun, trust me.”

original fiction, 536 words

Mack looked up from their book as a pair of tourists entered the shop. It hadn’t been their idea to spend their day off loitering outside Ms. Thorn’s shop, but their friend Thea had texted them to ‘meet me outside!!!’ ten minutes ago. 

If not for that text, they would have been out in the waves. It was nearing the end of summer, where the stream of tourists filtering in and out of Apollo Beach was started to dwindle. It was prime time for surfing if you were a local, but they guessed they’d have to wait.  

They looked back down at their Robin Cook novel right before Thea burst out of the shop. 

“Hey!” She looked way too energized - never a good sign. Her hands were behind her back as she looked up at them, bouncing on her heels. If they had to describe her expression, they would mark it as mischievous. Then again, that was just her default face.

Mack marked their page and closed their book. “Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?”

Thea laughed, her curly hair falling in her face. “I only said ‘hey’?”

“You just have that look on your face when you’ve come up with a stupid idea,” they said. If they were talking to anyone else, it might have come off as rude, but she had known them since they were in elementary school. “What’s behind your back, Thea?”

She opened her mouth to answer, but Ms. Thorn peaked her head out the door to chime in. “It’s a luck potion.”

“Oh, God,” Mack said, bringing a hand up to pinch the bridge of their nose. 

“Hey-” Thea turned to her mentor, glaring up at her. “You were the one who wanted me to try making potions!”

“I didn’t say to make a luck potion and try it in the arcade, Anthea,” Ms. Thorn replied in that tired voice that Mack knew all too well. “I meant trying out a potion on one of my plants.”

Thea turned back to her friend, grinning widely as she revealed the potion. It glowed from its Dr. Pepper bottle, the green liquid filling them with a sense of regret. Getting involved in her more… magical shenanigans tended to end badly for the two of them. 

Not for the first time, they wondered why their best friend had become a witch’s apprentice instead of getting a real summer job. Then again, it paid more than their job at the surf shop.

“It will be fun, trust me,” she said, shaking the bottle. Behind her, Ms. Thorn looked as skeptical as they felt.

Mack glanced at the bottle, then at Thea’s face. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to make you drink it,” she laughed. “I already had some.”

“What?” Ms. Thorn exclaimed, breaking her usual calm composure. “Dear Gods, Anthea!” She looked at Mack with a sense of horror that nearly made them break into laughter.

Thea grabbed their hand with a surprising amount of strength. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go win that giant Pikachu.”

They gave Ms. Thorn one last pleading look before getting dragged down the boardwalk. So much for surfing.

#alli writes shit #fictober2019 #psychic's apprentice #sike i bet u all thought i was gonna come in here with some LoT fanfic #u were. mistaken! #from one of my unfortunately underdeveloped stories 'psychic's apprentice' #my favorite chaotic duo of OCs mack and thea #i might try to use my characters from this story and power payback bc i'm trying to branch out #besides i can't think of 31 LoT fic ideas come on #if y'all have any fandoms u want me to try hmu #or ship ideas for me to explore #also just for ref robin cook is a novelist who writes a bunch of medical horror novels #n mack is a fan of horror #so yeah. branching out #writing with Obscure References