Trouble's Brewing (Stirring Up Trouble) (5 page)

Anya was going to her aunt’s this afternoon, so I didn’t have to dread dealing with her.

On Thursday, Anya’s mother picked her up at 5:15, and Finn arrived at 5:30.

“Perfect,” I said when I answered his knock.

“The coast is clear?” he asked, glancing warily into the house.

“The coast is clear,” I confirmed.

“Excellent!” he said, coming inside.

With a nod at the large brown leather briefcase he carried, I said, “I think you might need a new bag if you’re going to be bringing lots of stuff.”

“Oh dear,” he said, looking down at the well-worn leather. “I’ve had this for years.”

“It doesn’t match your new look.”

He followed me to the kitchen and set the briefcase down. “I suppose you’re right.” Tugging at the plaid shirt he wore over his T-shirt, he said, “What do you suggest?”

“A backpack,” I said. “A non-descript navy blue backpack. An expensive one from the University bookstore so it doesn’t break.”

“Consider it done. My apartment is only a few blocks from there.”

“You live on campus?”

“More campus-adjacent than on campus.”

“You live in Fort Sanders?”

“I blend in best down there. No one gives me a second glance.”

“But it’s kind of gross, right? Some of those houses are so old.”

“Many are in a shameful state of disrepair.”

“Is your apartment okay?” I didn’t want him sacrificing too much to tutor me. He’d grow to resent me, and having him as a mentor meant everything to me.

“My apartment is satisfactory.”

My expression must have given away my disappointment because he added, “I found a basement apartment that is quite comfortable. The adjacent space was unfinished, and I have converted it into a fine laboratory. I designed a revolving bookcase to enter the space, and my landlord is none the wiser.”

With a smile, I said, “Sounds cool. I’m glad you aren’t living in a slum.”

“I have something for you, Zoe.” He opened his bag and removed a small ring box. “I asked the Council to provide a rapid response mechanism in case of crises with your potions or science projects.” He opened the box to reveal a simple silver ring with a round purple stone. “You may press this to summon the Environmental Emergency Aversion Unit.”

“I’ve never heard of a ring like this. I shouldn’t have any problems if I use rubber gloves.” The rubber, safety gloves in chemistry class worked to block the magic. A fortunate happenstance for witches.

“We use these quite often for high school and college witches who brew potions and have chemistry classes, and for the poets who are taking courses which could trigger undesirable results.”

He handed me the ring, and I slipped it on my finger. “What if I push it accidentally?”

“You won’t. You have to trigger it with the index finger on your right hand. No other contact will trigger it.”

Good. The last thing I needed was to accidentally call for help. I couldn’t even dial a phone number with nines and ones in it without worrying I’d mess up and call 9-1-1. I hadn’t shared my fear with anybody.

Once I knew the ring wouldn’t activate accidentally, I had to admit it looked good on my finger. “Thanks, Dr. Finnegan!”

“Finn,” he said.

He started unloading books and an iPad from his bag.

I grabbed a bottle of water for each of us from the fridge and sat on the stool across from Finn.

Before we could dive into the potion text, the doorbell rang.

My mother had already left for the late aerobics class, so I went to see who was here.

I opened the door to find Jake standing there, a fat toad in his hands. “Yikes!” The whole toad thing was taking some getting used to.

“He was sitting on your porch,” Jake said, then leaned down to return the frog to the porch.

“Jake? What are you doing here?”

“I thought we could study,” he said, holding up his biology book.

“I have my chemistry tutor,” I said. “You knew that.”

“I guess I forgot,” he said, but he didn’t meet my eyes as he said it.

“No you did not. What is going on?”

He raised his eyes and admitted, “Anya showed me a picture of your tutor.”

“She what?”

“She had a picture of you and this guy on her phone.”

Anya had taken a picture of the picture? What a freak. “Why did she show you?”

“I don’t know. I guess she wanted to taunt me.”

“So you came over here to what? To check him out yourself? To threaten him?”

Jake laughed. “No, I came over so he’d know you had a boyfriend.”

“Jake, this is ridiculous. He’s here to teach me.”

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I kind of feel like an idiot here, Zoe, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

His chagrin was endearing. “Come in and meet him and then you have to leave. I have work to do.”

I moved out of the way to let Jake in the house. As I shut the door, Finn stepped into the kitchen doorway and held up his cell phone. “Hey, Zoe, my girlfriend is on the phone. Is it okay if I step out back for a minute to talk to her?”

For a minute, I stared. Girlfriend? Then the situation slowly penetrated my shocked brain.

“Zoe?” Finn urged.

His girlfriend phone call was a stroke of genius. “Uh, yeah. I mean, first meet my boyfriend Jake, and sure, I’m ready for a break anyway.”

“Hey, man,” Finn said with a nod at Jake.

“Hi,” Jake said.

“Gotta take this.” Finn motioned to the phone and turned to go out the back door.

For those short minutes, he perfectly channeled a 19-year-old guy.

“Well,” I said to Jake as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you happy now?”

“He seems like an okay guy.” He looked sheepish, which I found adorable, so I didn’t mind the whole jealousy show.

“Good. Now get out. I’ve got p—chemistry to work on.”

Jake stepped closer and put his hand on my waist. “Your tutor’s on the phone.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “We could spend a few minutes together.”

The thought of stealing a few minutes to kiss Jake appealed to me way more than it should have. If only I hadn’t been all too aware that Finn was not on the phone. He was not otherwise occupied. The ninety-five-year-old man who I was eager to impress was waiting for me to resume my studies, and that same man from a previous century had nothing better to focus on than my whereabouts. No way was I going to make out with Jake right now. I held my hand against his chest to keep him at bay. “Not a good idea, Jake.”

“I think it’s a great idea.” He leaned in again, and gave me the lightest of kisses on the lips.

“Can’t,” I said with a sigh. “I really can’t. My parents are paying for my sessions.”

Jake stepped back and shoved his hand through his hair. “I guess your dad is still freaked out enough over us dating.”

If he hadn’t found out by seeing us smooching on Sheree’s front porch, he might have handled it better.

“Call me later,” Jake said.

“Of course!” I risked giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “Now go.”

Jake started walking to the door, and as he reached out and touched the door knob, Finn called out from the kitchen, “Nice to meet you, Jake.”

I jumped as his voice boomed out. Jake merely raised a brow in question and said, “You too.” Then he left.

Finn had been way more focused on us than I even feared. Thank goodness I hadn’t spent ten minutes with Jake’s tongue in my mouth. He’d have totally busted us. I wanted him to see me as a serious student, a prodigy. I didn’t want him to think I was a boy-crazy moron like Anya.

“Sorry about that,” I said to Finn when I settled back on my stool. “I think Anya was trying to cause trouble.”

“Darling girl, that Anya,” Finn said, almost sounding serious, as he opened a notebook.

I snorted. “I can set you up if you want.”

Finn’s head jerked up, his eyes wide with alarm.

I couldn’t help laughing. In fact, I laughed until my eyes teared up. “I’m sorry,” I said, trying to regain my composure. “You just—”

“Had that deer in the headlights look?”

“No.” I shook my head. “Your expression would make the deer look calm and content by comparison.”

“Should we get back to work?” he asked.

After wiping a tear from my eye, I said, “Yeah. You were awesome, by the way. How did you come up with that girlfriend phone call? That was a stroke of genius.”

“I’m not exactly a dummy,” he said. “Although, for all you know, I was on the phone with a girlfriend.”

“Yeah, right.”

Finn didn’t say anything.

He just got to town. He couldn’t have a girlfriend. Plus he was 95 and looked 19. Although he did have a movie star look to him. I eyed him for a moment. Was he dating somebody?

Finn winked at me.

Yeah, he could certainly snag a girlfriend with that wink and that grin.

“You are just messing with me, right?”

“I am, in fact, just messing with you.”

I let out a breath. “Good. I think things are complicated enough around here without adding another non-magic person to the mix.”

He nodded. “I would agree that we have quite enough reasons to avoid letting our guard down.” He took a sip of his water. “I have to admit our pursuit would have been much more manageable had we retired to my estate where we could work in earnest.”

“Speaking of work,” I said. “I wanted to talk about the substitution research.” I may as well broach the subject of the unicorn horn now.

“I’m afraid the matter of assisting with the toad slime substitution is closed,” he said with a frown. “I appealed the decision, but they denied the request.”

“Oh, it’s not about that. But thank you.” I realized Dr. Finnegan, as odd as he was, was a kindred spirit. “I appreciate you trying. I have a proposal though. I’d like to work on another potion substitution. I promise it won’t interfere with my studies.”

“Zoe, I appreciate your passion. I truly do, but we have work to do.”

“I’ll work on it on my own time. It won’t interfere.”

“What about your schoolwork?”

“I’ll make sure my homework for school and for you come first.”

Finn sighed. “I must say I am eager to hear what your second quest might involve? Eye of newt perhaps?’

“I did consider it, but I chose something else.”

“Oh dear,” he said. “Unicorn horn.”

“Good guess!”

“Zoe, I’m not certain that is the best use of your time.”

Chapter Four

Not the best use of my time? “I have to work on something, Dr. Finnegan. I need to work on something. Only in my spare time. I promise.”

Finn was silent for a few moments, although I suspected the gears in his head were running a million miles a minute.

I shifted on my stool, determined to avoid begging, and not at all sure I could withstand the urge to plead for permission. I couldn’t imagine the next few months without something to work on, something to play with in the back of my mind, twisting and turning and churning away at the problem.

“I suppose there wouldn’t be any harm in allowing you to puzzle over the issue.”

“Yes!” I yelled, pumping my fist in the air. Then I ran around the kitchen island and gave Finn a big hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” I said.

“You are quite welcome, my dear,” he said as he awkwardly patted me on the back.

Now that I was touching and smelling him, I realized he was very much a real young person. “You won’t regret this, Finn,” I said as I released him from my hug and went back to my side of the counter.

As I reached my seat, Finn muttered something under his breath that sounded a little like, “I hope not.”

I didn’t have time to figure out what I’d heard. I had a potion substitution to find.

“Where do you plan to start?” he asked.

Yeah. About that. “I haven’t actually had any inspiration yet, but it will come.”

“When you get your inspiration, I’d like to watch your first session with the problem. I’m interested in your process.”

“Sure,” I said. “Saturday should work.”

“Saturday? Are you certain?”

“I’ll come up with something by then,” I told him. “No worries.”

Finn gave me a funny look that I assumed was amusement at my confidence.

When Mom got home, I told her the news. “He’s going to let me work on unicorn horn!”

“What? You never mentioned anything to me at all!”

“I guess we’ve both been busy,” I said. “But I want something to work on.”

“Zoe, you have plenty going on. Finn, school, Jake, and your friends. I don’t want to see your grades slipping.”

“Please,” I said. “Don’t be ridiculous. My grades will be fine.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Tell me about your ideas for the substitution.”

“That’s the weird thing. I really don’t have anything yet. But I will.”

“Of course you will,” Mom said.

The tone she used told me she wasn’t sure, but it didn’t matter. I was sure.
I got this
, I told myself.

I knew I’d need something to magnify the magic in the substitution. Unicorns had tremendous inherent magic. I was thinking I would use three cat’s meows to start, and one, if not two, other magnifiers.

The obvious starting point would be some kind of bone. I didn’t feel good about bone as the base though. Bone just didn’t “feel” right.

I didn’t think it would be as easy as a rhinoceros horn. Plus, I needed something more easily approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Exotic animal parts could be a problem.

I was puzzling with the base for the potion as I lay in my bed later. I wanted something hard that could be reduced to a powder. I yawned. I’d have to think about it tomorrow.

“Sorry about yesterday,” Jake said on Friday morning. He’d waited for me outside the school until my bus pulled up.

“It’s okay,” I said. “No harm done.”

“Can you do something tonight?” he asked. “We could grab something to eat. Or go to a movie. Something besides hanging with Sheree and John.”

I wanted to spend time with him, but not tonight. I had planning to do for tomorrow. Finn and I were going to start the unicorn horn, and I still didn’t have a starting point. “Actually, I have to do some things with my mother. What about tomorrow night?”