Page 83 of Novice Girlfriend

“I got this,” she promised.

And she did. We counted down and then I let out the magic that I infused with the toys to help familiars and handed her the first piece and then took one for myself. She handed me something next and took one for herself. That was our pattern, and faster than I normally make the toy myself, two were done.

“That was a rush,” she breathed when we finished. “I felt the magic like circling me, dancing over me, but not like making me work for it. Maybe a bit through me, but not like in a tiring way. Just sort of recognizing me?”

“I felt it too,” Wyatt said the same time Tracey did.

“You know them best,” I told Tracey and gestured for her to go ahead.

She moved closer and scanned them with her magic, chuckling when she was done. “I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if I hadn’t seen which one you each did. Amazing.”

“May I?” Wyatt checked before doing the same. “I can’t feel an energy difference. It’s Bevin’s magic. I would want to check them against other toys like that.”

None of us could wait, so Tracey went to get some and they confirmed that it was the same, everyone excited with the possibilities.

“So could I like learn the toys and help you when you have toy magic blocked off?” Clare asked while studying my schedule on my wall. “I don’t see it here anywhere.

I sighed. “I don’t really have toys built in. Just kind of running with it.”

It led into a really good point that apparently Tracey, Mrs. Reid, and Wyatt had been wanting to bring up. They wanted more structure to the sessions when right now it was who caught me during the blocked-off times or who decided that they needed it. The council members amongst themselves and who paid it.

It was time to start organizing better after the initial help that everybody had been getting to really figuring out who was getting more attention. Logging it better than my notebook and honestly not having a gatekeeper for me like I couldn’t handle it. Not like they were the boss of me, which would cause more issues and the problems would lock in on.

But more a manager how the stars had it and they had the gatekeeper and nobody got through. We kept going round and round about it, but then the next drama came up and we never settled on anything.

And the assholes who wanted direct access to me, knowing they could get further with me, used that. They knew I would have a harder time saying no to their familiars and I was socially inept.

They used me. Shocker.

But we didn’t want it to be Kate because Kate would get run all over just as much as I would and she didn’t have my abilities to make threats to keep them in line. Basically, the same thing we kept saying but never had the time to make it a reality.

Again… Shocker. Maybe if I could get a fucking week without something major happening?

Probably not.

So Kate needed to get all the reports from everyone and give me the updates, but the sessions need to be handled through “the adults.” My priest and Mrs. Reid. And Tracey wanted to be looped in more because while she was overloaded with her own stuff, she was tired of feeling uninformed on too much.

We shared a look on that, completely on the same page.

We took thirty minutes and set up a real process, looping in Mrs. Reid who would handle it with anyone council-related going forward. Wyatt would handle the rest. Winter’s friends. Taylor’s people. The others around here.

Tomorrow they were meeting to list who was allowed sessions and to log who already had them. Calendar it all out for the council to see how much I’d already done so they could stuff it and for people to see how big it was.

And then start downsizing it. They needed to start putting in their own work. Council members did not need two sessions a week, especially when they weren’t putting in the work.

No. No more. They needed to focus on their own fucking jobs and keeping their people safe.

Relief filled me and Tracey seemed the same. Through that, we could figure out more with the toys and everything because we’d promised our customers that we were going to be ramping up. Now that I had been doing so much more, the stock was already dwindling because we’d been focused on blankets and brushes and treats.

So now, at least with Clare, maybe we could use two of the “session” blocks during the week and make it time to make toys. Double the amount focused on what I could do now during like four hours a week? That would be big.

It was a good plan and I felt comfortable with it, and we outlined some more things for the last part of school before finals. I texted Kate that I was hoping for a time that we could go over exactly what everything would be going forward since we didn’t have the time over break. I apologized for that because I knew she had wanted to do that.

I felt like I blinked and it was time to go to bed.

Wyatt muttered that he should go but looked so sad like he didn’t want to leave, but he probably knew he should. It was awkward, but I asked if he needed to get ready for classes tomorrow.

Unfortunately, he took it as a hint that he should go, clearing his throat and thanking me for letting him take up my whole day. I stopped him, and maybe I shouldn't have, but I knew that feeling—that moment of not knowing what to do next. When it was something I didn’t know how to handle by myself, and if he had to leave with Quinn, then I had to take the bubble back off.