Page 96 of Finding My Charming

I dragged myself up the stairs and flopped onto my bed the second it was within reach. I contemplated grabbing a sad book and reading until I fell asleep, but my mother was right. I was running out of time, and Beth was the last person to go through this. If anyone knew what to do, it would be her.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called my older sister.

“Hi, Elle. What’s up?”

“Hi. I need your help or advice, I guess.”

She laughed lightly, and her breezy voice filtered through the phone. “You sound so dejected! Did someone cancel your favorite show?”

“Not funny. This is serious, Beth.”

“Obviously it is, since you never, ever call me.”

“Phones work both ways, sis.”

“Good point. Now, tell me how I can help.”

As much as I truly loved Beth, I hated having to do this. She acted like she was always right and knew best for all of us. Admittedly, she usually had good judgment and gave sound advice, but I hated living in her shadow.

“Grandma told Mom that not only do I have to know who my potential soul mate is in order to fulfill the spell, but we also have to say “I love you” to each other.”

A moment of silence passed before she answered. “I didn’t know that.” She seemed a little confused.

I paused. I hadn’t expected that to be her answer. “Grandma said that’s how the spell works. Do you think she was making it up?” I was suddenly filled with hope. Maybe she is just trying to scare me or something.

“No, I don’t think she would do that. She knows how much stress you’re under as it is.” She paused again. “Finn and I met at a mutual friend’s house, and he asked me out that night.” She was silent for a few more seconds as if she was trying to remember. “After that first night, we were pretty much inseparable. I think we ended up saying it to each other after three weeks of dating. We were within the time limit without even knowing.”

Of course she had been. She’d been in the clear from the beginning. She’d also been smart enough to notice when the charm had changed to red, so she hadn’t lost so much time trying to figure out what guy it was.

“Great.”

“I’m sorry, Elle. This has been an insane few weeks, and you’re under a lot of pressure, but you’ve always known your heart, so just trust yourself.”

I didn’t know what she was talking about. I am the second-guesser. The over-analyzer.

“What do you mean?”

“Since you were little, you’ve always done what you wanted. You ignored me and April if you weren’t interested in what we were doing. April has always been one to follow the crowd, but you definitely don’t. You have goals and focus on things no one your age things about. You know what is important to you and go after it.”

I hadn’t ever thought about myself like that, but it made sense. I’d always thought I was more of an outcast, but maybe she was right.

I just choose to focus my attention on the things that matter to me instead of caring what everyone else is doing.

“Thanks, Beth. That’s really nice of you to say.”

“It’s true. So, if you think you like this boy, maybe you’re just afraid to admit to yourself that you love him. There’s nothing wrong with falling in love when you’re young. Society may say that it isn’t real, but trust your heart.”

“I’ll try. Thanks for talking to me.”

“You’ll figure this out. If you have any other questions or you need to talk to someone, just give me a call.”

“I will.”

“I love you, Elle.”

I knew she did, but hearing her say it made me smile. “I love you, too.” I fell back and stared at the ceiling, taking a moment to think. Someone knocked on my door, and I called them in without looking up.

“You okay, honey?” My mother crossed the room and sat by me on the bed.