Felise and Magan are entertained by this. “We have a big wacky family too,” Felise says. “But not quite that wacky. And my boyfriend has a weird family.”
“I didn’t know this.” I prop my chin on one hand. “How so?”
“The first time they met me, they asked if we were going to have children.”
Hannah chokes on her wine. “Oooh. Kind of early for that.”
“Yeah. And when I said not right away, she looked at me and said, ‘If you’re not interested in having children, I don’t know what the point of being alive is.’”
My eyes widen and I snort-laugh. “Oh my god!”
“Yeah.” She rolls her eyes.
“Women aren’t worth living unless we procreate,” Magan says in a sarcastic tone.
“Um… do you get along okay with them otherwise?” Kesha asks.
“No.”
I bite my lip. “Oh dear.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of an issue.” She looks down at her wine.
“Oh no. Are things not good with you and Dallas?” I lean closer to her.
She makes a face. “I thought I could handle his parents, but… I don’t know.”
“Are you two talking about marriage?” Hannah asks.
“Not really, but we sort of talk like we’re going to be together forever. Long term. I’m starting to think I can’t do it.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, Magan.” I squeeze her shoulder.
“Thanks.” She leans her cheek onto my hand.
I see Kesha and Hannah watching us with warm eyes. I smile at them and they smile back.
“It’s so cool seeing you with your sisters,” Hannah says.
I glance at Magan and Felise. “I think it’s cool too.”
The music stops as they announce the start of karaoke. I straighten. “Let’s sing!”
“Yes!” Kesha and Hannah both agree. We do this all the time.
“My favorite is ‘Love Shack’!” I tell Felise and Morgan.
“Uh…” They exchange glances.
“You don’t do karaoke?” I ask them.
“Never have,” Felise admits. “But I’m game!”
“I couldn’t get Trace to do it,” I say. “The night we met. But I think now I understand why.”
“Why?” Magan looks at me curiously.
“Because of his brother. He said they used to play guitar and pretend they were in a rock band.”
“Ohhh.” Felise and Magan make identical sounds of sad understanding. “I guess we were too young to remember that.”
“That’s sad,” Kesha says.
“It is. He misses his brother. Well, his whole family.”
“That’s pretty amazing that he talked to you about that,” Magan says slowly.
Is it? We talk about all kinds of things. I nibble my bottom lip briefly. “Did you hear about my interview?”
Felise and Magan’s eyes pop wide, then slide over to Kesha and Hannah.
“They know.” I wave my hand. “It’s okay.”
“They… know?” Magan blinks at me.
“Yes. They’re sworn to secrecy.”
“You know the consequences if they tell someone else,” Magan whispers.
“I know. I trust them.”
Magan and Felise are silent.
For a moment I’m scared that I’ve done something to upset my sisters. I don’t want to upset them. But also, I hate keeping secrets. From all of them. I glance nervously between them and my friends.
“I guess it’s too late now,” Felise says to Magan in a low voice.
“True.” Magan lets out a long breath. She meets my eyes. “I understand why you did it, but you need to be careful, Romy.”
I nod quickly. “I know. They know.”
“Okay.” Magan nods. “And yeah, we did hear about your interview.”
“Some of it,” Felise says. “People gossip and things get all blown up out of proportion. A lot of the older witches are in an uproar about it. Apparently they weren’t happy about you calling them patriarchal and medieval.”
I wince. “Um, yes.”
“Did you really say that?” Felise’s eyes dance.
“They basically said women weren’t smart enough to be board members.”
“What!” Both Felise and Magan straighten. “That’s bullshit!”
“I know, right? They also didn’t like my apps.”
“You didn’t mention that,” Magan says.
“Tell us about the apps!” Felise bounces.
I take out my phone and show them the app I developed for tracking crystals and their magical properties, then the spell book app.
“Whoa. That’s awesome.” Felise looks up at me in wonderment.
“Also, I have an idea for a lunar calendar app.”
“This spell book app is sick,” Magan says. “You have to do more of this. Can you sell these to us?”
“I’ll give them to you.”
“No! You should make money from it.”
“That’s not why I did it. I just wanted to make things easier. Mostly for myself,” I admit.
“She’s smart that way,” Kesha says proudly.
“She is!” Hannah adds.
I shoot them a grateful glance.
“This is great,” Felise says. “It’s ridiculous that the elders think this is dissidence. Everyone could benefit from these things. And what is up with the misogyny?”
“Did you not notice it before?” I ask carefully.
Magan and Felise exchange glances, looking a little guilty. “I guess we did, but it didn’t really affect us, so…” Felise covers her face. “I’m so ashamed.”
I pat Felise’s shoulder. “It’s okay. Sometimes we’re so used to things being embedded in everything we don’t notice. It’s like… high-fructose corn syrup.”
Everyone stares at me.
“It’s in everything,” I explain. “But you don’t see it unless you look for it.”
“Huh.” Felise blinks. “Yeah. Well. We can do better.” She straightens. “We’ve got your back, Romy. The board may be upset with you, but we’re with you. You have another meeting with the board, right?”
“Yes. I’m going to apologize.”
“We’re going with you.”
“Whoa.” I shake my head. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Yes. We do. And we’re bringing friends. There are a lot of women in the Witchy Women group who are pissed off about this. They’ll have to deal with all of us.”
My heart nearly bursts with love and happiness. But… “I don’t want to cause more problems! The elders will extra hate me if this turns into something bigger.”
“You didn’t cause the problems. You just exposed them,” Magan says firmly. “We need to address this.”
“It’s about time,” Felise adds.
“I love you guys.” I lean my head into Magan’s shoulder, then Felise’s.
“Drink! To Romy’s fabulous brain.” Felise lifts a glass of pink bubbly. “Let’s make a plan!”