It wasn't a secret in my little group of misfits that I didn't have much in common with my mother. She was driven, smart, demanding, and difficult to get along with. One out of four wasn't nearly enough for us to be on the same page.

"Dr. Hughes," Butterfly said in her customer service voice. She remembered that I was there and that we weren't exactly close, right? "I have all of your usuals in stock now.

"Great. Thank you. I had a long day, and all I want is to take a bath with one of your bath bombs. There must be some sort of extra magic you put into them, because I can't use anything else to wind down," my mom replied with a laugh.

There was probably no difference between Butterfly's and anything she could buy on Amazon for much cheaper, but it wasn't like I could say anything. One, I didn't want her to know I was there, and two, I also liked to spend money.

I grabbed Dominic's wrist and pulled him with me into the back room labeled employees only. There were plenty of memories in that room, but I pushed them all out of my head as I ran my hand through my hair and shut the door behind us.

"Nope. I cannot deal with this today. I already feel like enough of a failure, so I really don't need to hear it from her right now," I said, and I wasn't sure if it was to Dominic or to myself.

"We'll get the talisman back, Lindsay. If it found its way to you in the first place, it'll find its way back. Don't be stupid and pretend you haven't noticed the pattern here." Dominic hesitated like he wanted to add something else, but he didn't.

"I just hope we didn't notice that it was missing too late," I said.

Dominic nodded. "Yeah, me too."

What happened to everything is fine and it will work out and you have nothing to worry about?

I spent years of my life not bothering to care, and now that I had a few things to care about, all it was doing was stressing me out and making me miserable. Jack never believed me when I told him that indifference was the key to happiness, and over the past few weeks, he, Sierra, Dominic, and the talisman had worn me down. But there was plenty of evidence that I was right all along.

Then why was there still a part of me that found excitement in the situation as a whole as well? My mother was just outside, the talisman was missing, I was just beginning a new something with someone I used to hate, and it was almost like I was experiencing life for the first time.

Life was a scam, as Dominic once told me.

The door to the back room swing open, and Butterfly stood in the doorway. "Why are you hiding back here? She's your mother."

"Couldn't you have just lied so she would leave? I'm obviously going through something right now, and she's the last person I need," I whispered.

"Never make an enemy of your gynecologist," Butterfly replied as she headed back out to the shop.

I glanced over at Dominic as the door shut behind Butterfly.

"What do you think?" Dominic asked.

"I mean, that seems like really good life advice, but it's not actually relevant to me or our situation," I said.

"Not the gynecologist thing." Dominic shook his head. "Don't be stupid. Where do you think we should go from here?"

I hesitated for a moment. "I think I should care and live my life."

"That's very vague."

Was it though? I looked down at Dominic's hand, and as much as I wanted to reach for it for one last bit of reassurance, I pulled my hand back. He certainly wasn't the most touchy-feely person in the world.

"Just follow me," I said.

"I've gotten pretty good at that, haven't I?"

I smiled. He certainly had, and he didn't even need the guidance of the talisman anymore.

Before Jack and Sierra had time to notice that I was missing for a moment, I headed back out to the shop. I had lost the talisman and a lot of my sense of self, but it must have been replaced with something else, something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. But that wasn't anything new to me. Not knowing was reassuring in itself.

Thinking ahead, I had quite a bit on my plate. Getting the talisman back was not going to be easy, especially since I had the suspicion that Harvey had it in his possession. That had to be why he let us get away so easily. He didn't need us anymore.

Dominic had tried to use the talisman once, and even though I was very sure that he didn't take that attempt very seriously, it didn't work. Maybe it was connected to only me, and it wouldn't work for Harvey either. But maybe it wasn't.

Either way, I had to get it back, and if there was thing the talisman represented, it was power. Perhaps Harvey would be willing to settle for something with a much more grounded power: money.

My mother, still in her scrubs from work, held different colored candlesticks between her fingers like she was the Wolverine as she browsed the shelves by the entrance. All my life, she always burned them at the front door when we were expecting company, and she told me that it had something to do with negativity or something like that. I would always ask her if she learned that in med school. She didn't think it was funny.

Before I had the chance to say a word, my mother looked up from the items on the shelf in front of her. "Lindsay." She paused for a moment, and when I didn't have anything worth saying back, she continued. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not done paying back Butterfly for wrecking her store that one time," I said. She didn't need to know the entire truth. "I broke a lot of stuff."

Mom nodded with a tight-lipped smile. "Shouldn't you be studying, or have they kicked you out of school for wasting their time and resources?"

It sure was a good thing I didn't have the talisman in my back pocket. Otherwise, Butterfly's shop would be in ruins. Again. "I'm actually doing well in all my classes right now. I know you don't care, but I'm doing it for myself," I said.

And Dominic, and Dr. Reed, and the talisman, but mostly myself.

Neither one of us said anything for a moment. I had lost track of Jack and Sierra, but wherever they were, they were looking at something that made a clinking noise. It was the only sound in the shop.

I rolled back onto my heels. What else could I say? It was a little awkward just standing there.

"Is this your boyfriend?" she finally asked and nodded in Dominic's direction.

"Kind of, yeah," I said.

She forced a smile at him. "Hi."

Dominic leaned in closer to me and whispered, "Does she not like me? I really don't give a shit either way, but I want to know if I should say hi back."

I shrugged. "I don't know, and please keep in mind that not everyone is as deaf as you. She one hundred percent heard that."

Mom nodded. "Yep."

"Well, hi," Dominic finally said out loud.

That was about a million times worse than the conversation before.

Talisman, I know I accidentally abandoned you, but on the off chance you hear this, please kill me. Thanks.

Just in time to save me, the bell to the front door rang out, and in with the person came the strong scent of cigarette smoke. Dominic coughed, and I looked up at the door.

"So you lost it?" Dr. Reed asked.

I looked over at Dominic. "Did you—"

He nodded.

"Well, thank you, because I so do not have this under control," I said with an awkward laugh. It was a relief to get the tension out of my system in the old-fashioned Lindsay way, but it seemed to only work for me. Dr. Reed, Mom, and Dominic looked at me with judgy eyes.

It didn't matter, though. One tiny pressure release was all I needed to clear my mind.

"What did you lose now?" Mom asked, but I didn't reply. Instead, I turned my attention to Dr. Reed and Butterfly.

"Bridget, it's good to finally meet you in person. I'm sorry I couldn't make it out. Family emergency," Dr. Reed said and extended her hand out to Butterfly. "Dr. Cora Reed."

"It's Butterfly, actually," Butterfly said as she didn't shake Dr. Reed's hand. Instead, she bowed her head slightly.

Curiosity must have gotten the best of Jack and Sierra as they came out from between the shelves to stand next to Dominic and me.

"That's what you go by?" Dr. Reed asked.

Butterfly nodded.

"People are truly fascinating with their self-expression. It's what got me into anthropology in the first place," Dr. Reed said. I was half expecting her to laugh at the ridiculousness of the name, and I wasn't even sure why.

Butterfly smiled. I wasn't sure if Dr. Reed's comment was a compliment or not, but there were worse ways for her to react.

Since no one answered her question the first time, my mother took the lull in conversation as her chance to ask once more. "So what got lost?"

"Top-secret university business. Keep on shopping, lady," Dr. Reed replied.

I smiled, and before I turned to my mother to introduce the two of them, I made sure that expression was gone from my face. "Dr. Reed, this is my mother, Dr. Angela Hughes, and Mom, this is my professor for my Socio-Cultural Anthropology class, Dr. Cora Reed."

When Sierra and Jack were first kidnapped, I didn't imagine the escape plan ending with my mother, Dr. Reed, Butterfly, Jack, Sierra, Dominic, and talisman-less me in Sherwood, but it could have been worse.

"So you're not a real doctor, then," my mother said.

"Having a doctorate earns you the title, not graduating last in med school," Dr. Reed said.

I wasn't sure what kind of academic gate-keeping was happening, so I changed the subject before any top-secret university business could slip out. Apparently, I wasn't the worst person in the room at carrying out conversations with my mom. "Well, this has been fun, but I know for a fact that I've been starving my roommate Sierra when I promised her chicken nuggets, so she probably hates me right now."

Sierra nodded. "It's true."

"Lindsay, why don't you invite your colleagues over for dinner tonight?" Mom suggested.

I hesitated. I wasn't even aware I was invited over for dinner tonight with my mother, and the last thing any of us needed was a reason to sit down and talk. There were a few differences in opinion and experience in the magic shop, and no amount of forced politeness (or desire to show off a nice home) was going to overcome that.

"Yes, please," Sierra said.

"Fantastic," Mom said, and before I had the chance to explain that was a horrible idea, she picked up another candlestick. "Your boyfriend seems to have a lot of negative energy that I do not need in my home, Lindsay."

"You sense it too?" Butterfly asked.

Mom nodded, and I assumed that meant that she didn't like Dominic very much after all. Of course, I didn't like him for quite some time either, but that was a different story.

Maybe the talisman was good luck and protection from negativity after all.

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Hi everyone! Thank you so much for reading! I'd love to hear any feedback you have, especially if it's along the lines of proofreading/editing. I try to look over everything I post, but sometimes things slip past me.

So how do you think this dinner is going to go with two doctors, a witch, and four college students who occasionally try their best?