Raven's View

Who Do You Love

"I remember my first crush," said the witch. "What a rush. We were young, he was handsome, I was ugly."

"Ugly?" said the wolf. "Even then? I mean, you're sort of witch looking now, in a nice sort of way. but I didn't think you were like that way back then."

"Yes, I was," she said. "It was part of The Change, once puberty hit and my particular skill kicked in, so did the side effects. At first I looked like just another teenage girl with acne, but it soon morphed into warts, blotchy skin, crooked teeth, and scraggly hair."

"So not a prom queen? "said the wolf.

"No," she said. "But still hopelessly in love with Darius, the miller's son." She stared off into space. "Blond, blue-eyed, strong, kind, gentle yet with an edge to him, I think we all loved him."

"Was he a good friend too?" said the wolf.

"Sure, we'd been friends since we were six," she said. "Best friends. But around twelve I started to look at him differently. And him at me. Was weird."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I started having these feelings for him," she said. "When we were kids we used to run and play together, wrestle, hell, we even went skinny dipping. Then suddenly we were all shy and awkward around each other, staying apart, apologizing if we bumped into each other."

"Weren't we all like that back then?" said the wolf.

"I guess," she said. "But when my feelings changed it was a surprise to me. Before he was a best friend, and I really liked hanging out with him. Then suddenly he was all I could think about. I'd be staring at him all the time, get tongue-tied when he talked to me, and started having these weird dreams."

"Like erotic?" he said.

She slapped him. "No! I was like twelve. My mom had a talk with me about periods and stuff, but it was mostly about The Change as it affected someone's new magical abilities. Erotic was not on the menu."

"OK," he said, " I get it. You didn't jump Darius. So what did you do?"

"Nothing," she said. "At least not right away. We did that little awkward pre-teen dance together, and then, before either of us could get up the nerve to go further, I went away for the summer to magic camp."

"Did you know if he felt the same about you?" he asked.

"I think so," she said, "but we never really talked about it before I left."

"But he was all OK with his friend getting warts and stuff?" he said.

"That didn't really start until I got to camp," she said. "I think all the spell work triggered it. By the end of the summer I looked, well, like a witch."

"A big change?" he said.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Compared to only three months earlier? Pretty scary. Not that I really minded. For starters, all the other girls had changed too. And there were no guys there to worry about. And the kicker - we all had some awesome spell casting skills - me in particular."

"You did well?" he said.

"Top of the class," she said. "Even got a scholarship to witch college. And a job guarantee of an interview with The Grimms."

"But how did you face Darius, with that face?" said the wolf.

"I didn't," she said. "Used a spell. In his eyes I changed from a sort of nice looking best friend to a drop dead gorgeous beauty queen. I may have over done it."

"Let me guess," said the wolf. "You scared him away." He looked in the mirror and smoothed down an eyebrow. "Happens to me all the time, I'm just too much. I have to tone back that magical charisma the stories have given me."

"Yes, whatever," she said. "So what I did was dial back the beauty queen a bit and add an attraction charm. He calmed down and started asking me out on dates."

"And you lived happily ever after?" he said.

She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. "Is there a Darius in this room with us? No, we hung out, had fun at first, it was nice. I was still besotted, he was - interested. Then I realized he'd changed into boring, just a jock, looking to party with his buddies and flirt with all the girls he could. Even while we were dating."

"Even with you as a hot babe?" he said.

"Well, I was new at this magic stuff, so my cover up tended to come and go. Darius said it was no problem, but I overheard him joking to his buddies about my looks. Called me an easy lay, as long as the lights were off."

She gazed out the window. After 300 years it still hurt.

"Ouch. So you dumped him," he said.

She shook her head. "I was just about to," she said, "then I caught him doing more than flirting. I caught the bastard doing my best friend."

"Yeah, bastard," he said. "So you zapped him into a blotch of burnt carbon?

"No," she said. "Too easy. And after all those years it would have been weird to just not have him around at all."

"So?" he said.

She smiled. "You know that cute toad that lives down at the end of the garden?"