Miss Fortune by Julia London

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Chapter Eight
    RACHELS night went from bad to worse, but all things being equal, the incident involving the police later went pretty well, considering Dagne was involved.
    After Myron had chased Flynn away, Rachel called Glinda the Good Witch from Fratangelos and convinced her to show up at her house a little later with some Chinese food and her spell book.
    For real ? Dagne asked, all excited.
    For real. I think. No, no, not for real , just I dont know
    Ill meet you in an hour, Dagne said, and hung up before Rachel could talk herself out of it.
    She finished her beer, left a sulky Myron, and went home, where she changed into black yoga pants and a hooded fleece jacket. When Dagne arrived a short time later, they laid out the Chinese food in the living room, lit a bunch of candles and a fire to keep the energy costs down, and sat on big floor pillows to dine on sweet and sour pork. Its hard to do witchcraft on an empty stomach.
    By this point, of course, Rachel had lost all confidence and had convinced herself that Flynn had to be put off by Myron at the very least.
    As she told Dagne about it, Dagnes chopsticks froze midway to her mouth, a piece of pork dangling precariously over the coffee table, and she remained that way, wide-eyed, until Rachel finished the story.
    Is that all? Dagne asked.
    Rachel nodded.
    Dagne suddenly shot her arms straight up in the air, miraculously holding on to the pork, and gave a shout of triumph before popping the bite into her mouth. This is fantastic !
    I wish, Rachel said, shaking her head. But I think its over, she said, staring into her container. He thinks Myron and I are together.
    Are you nuts ? Remember our spells? Dont you believe in anything ?
    I know this will come as a shock, Dagne, but I sort of have a hard time believing in witchcrafteven the good kind.
    Oh, sure, Dagne said, putting down her chopsticks with a thwack . You can believe in astrology and parallel universes and past lives, but noooo , cant believe in a little magic, can you? She folded her arms across her middle, pouting. Spirituality is so far out of the realm of possibility, isnt it!
    Its not that I dont believe in the possibility, Rachel patiently tried to explain, but I think its more likely that he got a good look at Ben and Jerry back here, she said, patting her butt, and Myron, and then wondered what drugs he was on.
    God, Rachel! Dagne said angrily. Why do you always have to put yourself down?
    Hey! When it comes to guys, I know of what I speak.
    Bullshit! Dagne said low.
    Okay, lets start with high school, Rachel said, jabbing at Dagne in the air with her chopsticks. Did I ever tell you that guys used to call me Miss Fortune? Get it?
    Lots of money, but what a misfortune that I was a fat one. And then, when I was a senior, this god asked me out. I mean, he was hot and the most popular guy in school, and he was asking me , tubby drama student with frizzy hair, out on a date! And the first date was greatwe went to a carnival. He won me a big teddy bear, and then took me home, does not kiss me good night, but casually asks if my sister Rebecca was home for the summer. You remember Bee? The beauty queen? Tall and thin and gorgeous and sleek hair? Then our second date, he comes over to pick me up, and didnt even get past the gate before he was asking if Rebecca was there. Well, long story short, the guy was only interested in Rebecca, and he was using me to get to her. And that , Dagne, was just the beginning of a long line of complete disasters!
    God, even though it had been fifteen years, it still stung like hell.
    What has that got to do with Flynn? Dagne demanded.
    Everything! Rachel shot back. The point is, guys like him are usually after something else, like, say, my sister . And even if you argue thats not the deal with Hynn, then I will argue that the situation is actually even worse, because now he thinks Myron is my boyfriend .
    He used to be.
    Are you ever going to let me forget it?
    No, Dagne