"Do you like this bra?"
Jax Novoa didn't bother to look up at the curly-haired blonde standing in front of his bedroom mirror. As far as he was concerned, she was not present. He'd told her to leave hours ago and yet here she was, magically trying on different lingerie and attempting to model it for him, begging for his attention. What else was new? From the faint smirk he was giving his iPhone, it was clear he was somewhere else.
Genevieve Hart glimpsed his expression in the mirror and turned around as casually as she could. She placed her hands on her hips and examined the hottest guy at Sydney Distance Education High School. He was sitting up in his bed, legs crossed underneath the covers. Not to mention his drool-worthy abs were on full display as he had yet to put on a shirt. His attention was fully focused on his phone—or, to be more exact, whatever new girl he was texting.
The blonde dove into bed next to him and stole the phone from his hands in one swift motion.
"The hell, Gen!"
"Oooh," she cooed when her eyes landed upon the waist-up nudes… she checked the name at the top… Ashley Martell had just sent him. "Hot, genius Ashley. I used to copy off her in math, you know. Failed the semester."
"Give it back." Jax wasn't even looking at her. He was looking straight ahead, hand out to the side, his facial expression somewhere between annoyance and impatience. "Now."
"She has nice tits," Genevieve decided. "Not as nice as mine, of course, but…" She ran her free hand over her red-lace-clad breasts and let her head fall back, directing a lazy cat smile his way. She sighed heavily. "What are ya gonna do?"
"Her, if you'd give me my phone back and get out of my house."
The blonde tilted her head from side to side and hmmed in careful consideration. At last she said, "Alright. I'm down."
This got Jax's attention. He turned toward her, not even tempted to look down at her scantily-clad body, and raised an eyebrow. "Repeat?"
"We'll do Ashley."
The wizard couldn't help it: he laughed. One single, short bark of laughter coupled with his signature mocking, cynical grin. "Uh, no."
"Oh, please. You have a blast every time we tag-team one of your desperate sluts."
If possible, his grin widened. For the first time since they'd woken up, he took his time running his eyes down her body, paying careful attention to every curve, every bare inch of skin. "So, if they're my desperate sluts, then you are…?"
"I'm the one you don't have to humiliate to end things with," she said, flicking her fingers in a semi-circular motion, causing her red magic to ignite on her fingertips.
As much as Jax hated to admit it, she was right about that one. Unfortunately for him, the only witch he'd discovered thus far in their school was Genevieve. Every other (human) girl in the school he could woo and wow with his powers, hook up with for a week or so, then erase her memory of the entire ordeal once he was bored. Well, mostly. The girl ended up completely forgetting she'd spent time with the school heartthrob, "coincidentally" only remembering they'd had amazing sex.
Since Genevieve was a witch and the memory wiping spell only worked on humans, Jax couldn't make her forget shit, much to his dismay, which meant she wasn't tossable. So, they'd fallen into what she called an open relationship but what he insisted, no, was a pattern: she jumped at any excuse she could possibly find to hook up with him, be it mutual boredom, mutual lack of plans (rare), even sharing him with his new girl of the week. She didn't care. She'd take sex with him any way she could get it and made a habit of overstaying her welcome after the fact, no matter how openly rude he was to her. He had an idea of why she did this, but that was no-no territory, and he didn't allow himself to think about it, ever.
"No, Genevieve," he said in a low voice, locking eyes with her and summoning the most serious facial expression he could. "You're the one I can't get rid of." He held out his hand once more, never breaking eye contact. "Phone."
She tried to repress a scowl and finally did as he said. Once he'd re-busied himself with texting Ashley, Genevieve began "casually" sliding her manicured hand higher and higher up his thigh…
"Alright." Jax set his phone down and looked at the girl inching her way toward feeling him up. "Get out. Seriously."
An over-exaggerated pout formed on her lips. "But—"
"I'm taking Ashley to the boardwalk festival in like twenty minutes and I do not want you along for the ride."
"Ohhh, now I get it," she said, her demeanor turning icy upon learning this information. "I forgot. You have fun in and out of the bedroom with any hot girl who'll drop her panties for you as long as she's not me."
Three sentences out of her mouth and this conversation already sounded like it was shaping up to confirm Jax's fear.
"You're looking at it wrong," he said in what he hoped was a tone that wouldn't egg her on. "Humans can't know about magic so I make them forget everything outside the bedroom, anyway. It's basically like that stuff never happened."
"You and I know it happened," she pouted yet again.
Welp. He'd tried.
"You wouldn't know anything happened if you ever left when I told you to," he snapped. "I have a date with someone who's not you. I need to get ready. Leave."
She leveled a seriously pissed off glare at him for a few seconds, but the moment her tough exterior began to crack, she tele-transported away.
Finally.
Jax stood, cast a few spells, and was ready in a matter of seconds.
"See, Gen?" he said to himself as he slipped on his leather jacket and grabbed his helmet, not bothering to fight the smirk off his face. "Getting ready takes a long time."
/ /
Jax had "dated" his fair share of Ashleys over the course of freshman year, but he had to admit, Ashley Martell was easily his favorite. She held onto him super tight while on his dirt bike, was an excellent kisser, and had a smokin' hot body—from what he'd seen so far, anyway. Sure, she was the least intelligent of Sydney Distance Education's Ashley crop, but hey, it wasn't like he'd ever been attracted to a girl for her brain.
When they arrived at the boardwalk festival, Ashley let Jax take the lead, satisfied to simply be in his presence. She held onto his hand and snapped her blue bubblegum, occasionally running a hand through her waist-length pin straight bleach blonde hair. Jax was more concerned with her outfit than anything else: a low cut white tank top, a black pushup bra, barely there worn-in denim mini shorts, and pink flip flops.
As if reading his mind (which, based on this girl's IQ, she was not), Ashley pushed her chest out and asked, "Like my outfit?"
The wizard fingered the hem of her tank top. "Sure do." He slipped his hand the whole way under the material and trailed it up her back until he reached her bra's clasp. "But I'd like it a whole lot better if it was off."
Ashley giggled, equally as eager for their private little after party. However, something behind him caught her attention and she gasped. "Look at that!"
He followed her gaze to a tent that read FORTUNE TELLER, $20. He rolled his eyes. "That shit's not real, Ashley."
"How do you know?" she challenged, crossing her arms so tightly it made her cleavage increase.
"Um, duh: I'm a real wizard with real powers. The people who run those tents are bogus."
"Okay," she said, a mischievous grin appearing on her face. "Then can't we at least go in so you can mess with the phony?" She did a very poor imitation of casting a spell because, in her mind, she honestly thought Jax might not understand she was referring to using magic.
He found himself smirking at this suggestion. For someone who was failing almost everything, Ashley actually had some good ideas from time to time.
"Okay," he agreed. Then he pulled her close and let his fingers wander dangerously close to her nearly-showing ass. "But I might need a little motivation first."
Ashley giggled and immediately started making out with the rebel wizard. She moaned when he grabbed her ass, pulling her so she was pressed right up against him. A sense of pride coursed through her veins when she realized he was just as turned on as she was.
Slowly, his lips disconnected from hers.
"Let's go," he said, leading her over to the tent. There was a line which Jax took care of with an easy spell, getting them up to the front in a second. Ashley squealed with glee as she always did whenever he used magic.
The inside of the tent was lined in a purple velvety cloth. A small table was set up with a crystal ball atop, an old woman with a "mystical" headscarf sitting behind it.
"I am Consuela," she said in an overly exaggerated voice, waving her hands around her crystal ball. "Sit and let me read your future."
"Oooh!" Ashley took one of the seats in front of her, reached into her tiny pocket, slipped a twenty across the table, and held out her palm. "Will I get a nose job before the end of the school year?"
Jax rolled his eyes and took a seat himself. He grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled it back. "She's not a palm reader, Ashley."
"Correct," the woman droned on in what was supposed to be a creepy, ominous voice. "I see everything through my crystal ball."
"Does it know if I'll get a nose job before the end of the school year?" the blonde prompted.
"Ashley, she can't see shit," Jax snapped. "She's a phony, remember?"
"Phony?" Consuela raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Oh I assure you, young man, I am no phony."
"Really?" He raised his hand and directed a spell at the crystal ball, intending for it to explode into a thousand pieces. However, a purple aura appeared around it instead, and Jax's spell was absorbed. His eyes widened in shock.
"Ahhhh," the woman said softly. "You are from the Realm, too."
The wizard eyed her up. "You actually have magic?"
"Perhaps next time you'll show a little more respect for your elders… Mr. Novoa."
Jax dragged his tongue along the backside of his top teeth, refusing to let this woman make a fool out of him. It didn't help when Ashley gasped, "How'd you know his name?"
"I know all," she said simply. She waved a hand over her crystal ball and concentrated for a moment. "You will get your nose job in three weeks, once school is over."
Ashley was so in awe, she didn't even whine about the answer. She grabbed Jax's wrist and exclaimed, "Now you ask her something!"
"Thanks, but no thanks," he said sardonically, pushing himself to his feet. "I have more important things to do than listen to some old hag make up stupid answers to stupid questions."
"You still do not believe?" Consuela raised her eyebrows with such exaggerated surprise Jax wanted to blow the top off her little tent. "Sit, Mr. Novoa. I will make a believer out of you. I will even do it for free… though you could afford to pay. You are the son of the wealthiest man in the Magic Realm, after all."
Jax still wasn't convinced this woman was legit—everyone from the Realm knew who his father was—but he decided to sit, anyway. Clearly Consuela, being an elder witch, was more powerful than him. For all he knew, she would put a shield up in front of the exit if he tried to leave and then she'd really make a fool of him. And in front of Ashley Brainless Martell, of all people. He drew his right ankle up to rest above his left knee and crossed his arms. "Aright. Go ahead. Make a believer out of me."
Apparently Consuela could tell he wasn't going to ask any questions, so she dove right into her little ritual all on her own. She waved a single hand over her crystal ball and looked deep within. After a moment, a small smile appeared on her lips. "One year from now, you will be a very different person."
Ashley was far more taken aback by this than the wizard next to her. "Ooooh! How will he be different?" she asked, her voice all breathy and serious. "Will he be even more popular than he is now?"
Consuela took Ashley in for a moment then smiled at Jax. "Prepare for your type to be broken."
"My type?" Now he was beyond amused.
"You know. Blonde and…" She searched for the least offensive term to describe Ashley's outfit. "…eager. In one year, you will have to work for what you want, and what you will want is something you are deathly afraid of letting in."
Jax tried his best to keep it off his face, but this woman was starting to freak him out. That last part resonated with him too much for her to have made it up.
"Fret not, young man. When the time comes, you will fear it no more. You will pursue it with arms wide open."
Ashley snapped her blue gum and looked back and forth between the fortune teller and the wizard. "I'm lost," she whined.
"You will be kind and you will be caring and you will be in love, Mr. Novoa. What's more: you will finally like yourself."
Jax grabbed the blonde's hand and stood. "I've heard enough. Let's get out of here, Ashley."
"Bye, Mrs. Fortune Teller Lady!" the girl called over her shoulder as Jax dragged her out of the tent. "Thanks for telling me about my nose job!"
Once they were a good five paces away from the tent, Ashley asked, "What did she mean by 'you'll finally like yourself'?"
"Nothing," the wizard snapped. "I told you: the people who run those tents are bogus."
/ /
Back in her tent, Consuela smiled into her crystal ball at the image of who she knew to be this generation's Chosen One. Standing next to her was her wholesome, "nice guy" human boyfriend. "Prepare yourself, Ms. Alonso," she murmured. "You are about to be Jax'd."