“I'm sorry, but are you pissed at me? Me? I'm the one who had your knee practically crushing my spine, buddy, so let's check the attitude.”

“Cal shrugged. "That's one word for it. I'm not all that thrilled with it either."I pushed the covers off and got out of bed, making sure my nightshirt didn't ride up. "Cal, I already have to deal with an angry dad today. Please don't pull some macho "bethrothed" thing on top of it, okay?"He caught my wrirst. "I'm not. And it's not you I'm pissed at. It's them. They shouldn't have taken you there."His hand was warm on my skin.”

“I didn't actually think you were hanging out at Hex Hall because of your burning love for me. But that's what I'm telling all the girls back at school," I said, stabbing a forkful of eggs. "I'm thinking 'heartbreaker' might be a nice addition to my 'avenging witch' reputation.”

“Must be weird for you, having your mom here.""Weird for me, weird for her, probably weird for you since you had to give up your swinging bachelor pad.""Mrs. Casnoff let me install my heart-shaped Jacuzzi in my new dorm room.""Cal," I said with mock astonishment, "did you just make a joke?""Maybe.”

“Whatever. I can't even imagine having a fiance.""You probably have one, you know."I stared at him. "Excuse me?""Your dad is a really important guy. I'm sure he made a match for you when you were thirteen."I didn't even want to get into that. The thought that there was some warlock out there who was planning on making me his missus one day was too much to handle. What if he was here at Hecate? What if I knew the guy? Oh God, what if it was that kid with bad breath who sat right behind me in Magical Evolution?I made a mental note to ask my mom about all of this as soon as I decided to speak to her again.”

“I'm sure your wondering why I've brought you here."I moved to the center of the room, my strappy sandals clacking on the marble floor. "I'm assuming this is where the punishment part comes in," I said. "So do I need to clean all these mirrors, or do I have to,like, stare at myself until I feel shamed or something?"Surprisingly, Dad gave a tiny smile. "No,nothing quite that abstract. I want you to break one of the mirrors.""Excuse me?"Dad leaned back against the now-drapeless window and folded his arms over his chest. "Break a mirror, Sophie.""What what, my head? Because I'm pretty sure that'd be corporal punishment, and Mom would not be cool with that.""With your powers."Ugh.I took in the dozens of mirros and muttered, "I think I'd rather use my head.”

“Now, Sophia, would you care to tell me why you're here by the pond instead of reporting to your next class?''I'm experiencing some teenage angst, Mrs. Casnoff,' I answered. 'I need to, like, write in my journal or something.”