"Deep breaths," Henry muttered to himself, "you can do this. You practiced. Everything will be fine. Who cares if she says no? No isn't the end of the world, right? It's just a dance."

And then, before he could even finish psyching himself up, there she was, Alexis Mayweather. Alexis was, and always had been, stunningly beautiful. Maybe not conventionally, but definitely in all the ways that really counted to Henry.

It was a lot of the little things that drew him to her. The confident way she walked. The way her cheeks flushed red whenever their teachers called on her. Her loud, infectious laugh.

In the fifth grade, when Henry had first sat next to her, Alexis was the only one at their table willing to talk to him. She'd smiled and let him borrow a pencil when she realized he'd forgotten his. And later, in middle school, she gave him money for the bus because she'd seen him walking home in the rain. She was always trying to be kind and selfless like that.

Henry opened his mouth to greet her, but before he could get it out, she had already opened her locker and was engaged in deep conversation with her friend.

"Um, hey, Alexis?" He tried again, but it came out as a whisper.

Right as he'd steeled himself to really go for it, Alexis slammed her locker shut and the sound ripped Henry from his thoughts. Worse, when he'd jumped, his binder had flung from his arms and popped open, sending an explosion of papers across the hallway.

"Oh! Sorry, are you okay?" Alexis asked.

"Not really, but it's okay. Just feel like dying is all."

It was meant to be a joke. It was how him and his friend Wyatt always talked to each other, but it only made Alexis look even more concerned.

Every time Henry opened his mouth, it was a mistake.

"I ... Um... I came to talk to you," he said, awkwardly gathering his things into a pile.

"Do you know him?" Her friend, Amanda asked.

"Kind of," Alexis replied, "we've had classes together before. Harry, right?"

"I... No. It's Henry," he managed.

"Oh, right. What did you need?" She asked with a friendly smile.

Henry's cheeks were burning. His eyes darted from face to face. Some of the kids in the hallway had stopped to stare and whisper. Henry knew that even the ones who weren't saying anything had to be thinking about what a loser he was. How could someone like him think that they had a shot with someone like Alexis Mayweather?

They all pitied him. He could see it in their eyes, and the worst part was, when Alexis looked at him, he was convinced that he saw it in hers too.

He couldn't do it. Not after messing up so badly already.

"Nothing, nevermind. I'm actually late, I have a meeting thing," he said, before he hurried down the hall.

Once he'd turned the corner and made sure no one was looking, Henry dropped his bag to the floor and sank down beside it. Sighing in defeat, Henry reached for his water bottle and took a long drink.

Henry was too busy wallowing in despair to notice that his legs were sticking too far out until he sent someone sprawling

Wyatt pushed himself up off the floor and glanced around, his eyes landing on Henry's bag. ".. Henry?"

Henry was absolutely hopeless. He couldn't even be invisible right.

"You know I can't tell if you're nodding, right?"

"Yeah, it's me," Henry confirmed, his voice sounding pitiful even to himself.

Wyatt waved his arm around the spot next to Henry to make sure he wouldn't crush his best friend and then sat down beside him.

"You know, chugging a potion like that in the middle of a building full of humans was stupid reckless. Bringing it in the first place was stupid reckless. Someone could have seen you, and then everyone would know what you are."

Henry sighed and pulled his knees up to his chest. "I just had a feeling I'd need it today.

"What happened? What made you go all ghost mode?"

"I screwed up."

"It couldn't have been that bad."

"Trust me, it was that bad. I tried to ask Alexis to the dance."

"Didn't go well?" He stopped to wait for an answer, but when he didn't get one he continued. "She's not that great anyway, dude. Trust me, you'll find someone even better."

"I guess..."

"I'm sorry, man. If she knew me better, I'd definitely wingman for you and discreetly find out if she liked you."

"That's it!" Henry exclaimed.

"What's it?" Wyatt asked.

"There are other ways to find out if she likes me."

"No there aren't. There are rules about that kind of thing, Henry."

"Yeah, now, but there weren't always. Who do we both know who was around back then and still clings to the old ways?"

Wyatt groaned. "... Henry, no."

"It could work. I bet you anything your grandma still has the recipe in one of her books, and you're the best witch I know."

Henry's own potion abilities were unreliable at best, but Wyatt came from a much older, much more powerful line of witches. His magic had awoken before Henry had even learned to ride a bike.

"Henry, you know I'd do almost anything for you, but..."

"But?"

Wyatt shifted uncomfortably. "But you're asking a lot here."

"Please, Wyatt? I swear, I'll never ask you to do anything for me again. I really, really need you to do this for me," Henry begged. "You can't see me, but I'm doing that lip thing."

Wyatt rolled his eyes, but his resolve had broken. "Yeah, okay. What exactly did you have in mind?"

***

The next day, Henry was a jittery, nervous wreck. He'd arrived early to wait for Henry at his locker, but the bell was about to ring and the boy hadn't yet shown up. Just as he was about to give up and head for his first period, Wyatt entered the building and waved Henry over.

"Well? Did you get it?" Henry asked.

"Yeah, I got it," Wyatt replied, sliding a pendant out of his bag, "but are you really sure about this? There's a reason we aren't supposed to mess with love magic. It's invasive. You could get into so much trouble."

"It's technically tracking magic."

Wyatt rolled his eyes. "It's technically illegal. The council won't pardon you just because it's a multi-class spell."

"No one's ever going to know. I just... I need this, Wyatt. I can't be alone forever."

"You're not alone, man. I'll always be here for you... Even when it means stealing from my own grandma."

"That's not what I meant. I need to know it's possible for someone to love me."

Wyatt's expression softened and he pushed the potion into Henry's hands. "Then I guess I hope you find what you're looking for."

"Me too."

As the warning bell rang out, Henry slipped the necklace on and followed Wyatt to class.

The whole way, he would pause next to various people, waiting to see if the enchantment reacted. It never did.

"You realize it won't just react for everyone, right? It's only supposed to light up for the person you're really supposed to be with. True love, end of the road kind of thing."

"I know, I just... Really want this to work."

"They might not even go to this school, Henry. You should be prepared for that. The likelihood that it's someone we already know is so slim."

Henry deflated a little with that. "Yeah, okay."

When they entered the room, Henry froze, his eyes immediately locking onto Alexis. Her and her table partner were the only two in the room, so it was impossible for him to go unnoticed.

He wanted to be invisible again.

"Hey, she probably already forgot. Don't worry about it."

Henry nodded, but as they passed by her table, he stopped, rooted in place.

"Hey! Henry! Come on," Wyatt called from their table, snapping him out of his daze.

Henry dropped into his seat at the table and smacked his friend's arm, a giddy smile spreading across his face.

"Ow, what the fuck."

"It's Alexis."

"No shit. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, the necklace lit up and got really warm for a minute right when I got up to her, and it stopped when I walked away."

"Guess we've got work to do then."

Mrs. Peterson chose right then to walk into the room, cutting their planning session short. "Alright, class, today's the start of that new project I was talking about. I need everyone in groups of four by the time I ring my bell."

As soon as the words had left the teacher's mouth, Wyatt grabbed Henry's arm and shot up, making a beeline for the table at the front of the room. When they got there, he nudged Henry and waited.

It wasn't that Henry didn't understand the cue, he did, he just couldn't bring himself to actually ask. Instead, he stared wide eyed and frozen at the girl in front of them.

The problem with magic was that it couldn't stop Henry from being himself.

"Hey, Alexis? Want to group up? The four of us?" Wyatt asked, swooping in and slinging an arm across Henry's shoulders when it became obvious the boy wouldn't speak.

"Oh, um..." Alexis paused and shot a look to the boy sharing her table before she turned her attention back to Henry and Wyatt. "Sure?"

Wyatt gave Henry a look and he finally managed to unfreeze himself.

"Great, cool, yeah. How about we all meet up at my place tomorrow?" Henry suggested.

The boy, Henry thought his name was Mason, shrugged. "Works for me."

Alexis smiled and Henry's heart just about stopped. "I guess we'll see you then."

***

"Hey, you're the first one here."

Wyatt pushed his way inside and made himself at home on the couch.

"I'd hope so, anyone else would be pretty concerned by that Sorcerer's Apprentice shit you're pulling back there," Wyatt said, gesturing to the living room, where a broom was sweeping the floor by itself.

Henry snapped his fingers and the broom clattered loudly to the floor. "Whoops, my bad, forgot about that. I'm just excited."

"You're a danger to yourself and our entire subspecies."

"You're just paranoid."

"I'm not paranoid, our laws are paranoid. And with good reason."

Henry rolled his eyes. "The witch trials happened centuries ago, and I hardly think we're headed that direction again."

The doorbell rang and Henry gasped. "Oh no, they're here. Maybe they heard you and you're the one who exposed our existence."

"Ha ha. Just go let them in."

Henry walked over to the door and took a couple of long, deep breaths. Everything would be fine. He knew now for sure that him and Alexis were meant to be together. She was destined to fall in love with him. All he had to do was help her see that.

As soon as Henry threw the door open, the necklace warmed against his chest.

Everything went perfectly from there. They managed to get most of their work done, they talked, Henry only stumbled over his words a handful of times. He'd even managed to get her to laugh a few times, granted mostly at his own expense when he did something stupid, but he still got to hear it and that was enough for him.

Time flew until it was nearing the end of their team meeting. In what was perhaps the third time that night, Alexis reached for popcorn at the same moment as Henry, their hands brushing against each other. He pulled his back quickly, but internally he was walking on air. Suddenly, Henry's life was an awful rom-com instead of a tragedy. Everything was finally going his way.

"Oh, sorry," he said.

Alexis smiled and shrugged like it was no big deal before she went back to her work.

Abruptly, Mason stood up. " Hey, where's your bathroom?"

"Down the hallway, second door on the left."

Mason slipped out of the room, and Henry's entire world shattered in an instant.

"Henry? Are you-"

Henry all but shoved Alexis out of the way before she could finish speaking, knocking the bowl of popcorn off the coffee table on his way to the kitchen.

"I think I'm going to be sick."

Henry ripped the pendant from his neck and threw it onto the kitchen island, backing away as though it might explode.

"Dude, what happened? Are you okay?" Wyatt asked, coming up behind Henry.

Henry raked his hands through his hair. "I'm not okay. I'm not okay at all. Wyatt, I fucked up."

"What are you talking about? You're doing fine, honest. Don't even worry about it, she's not going to judge you for being a little awkward, promise. Besides, the enchantment-"

"It isn't her."

"Huh?"

"It isn't her. It stopped!"

"What do you mean it stopped?"

Henry grabbed the necklace from where he'd discarded it and held it out to Wyatt, his hand shaking. The once warm pendant had grown cold, and the soft glowing had faded back to dull silver.

"That doesn't make sense. When?" Wyatt asked.

"Just now, when Mason got up to go to the bathroom. He's been with her every time I saw them, so I just assumed... This can't be right, Wyatt!"

Realization dawned on Wyatt's face. "Hey, Henry, it's okay. Breathe."

"I don't get it. I've never ... I like Alexis. I'm not gay, Wyatt."

"I mean, according to the necklace, you are at least a little. Dude, I told you not to mess with love magic. You should have gotten to figure this out in your own time. You just took maybe years of self discovery and jammed them into one afternoon study session."

"I can't go back out there. Make something up. I had to leave."

"Why would you have to leave? It's your house."

"Shit."

"Dude, the necklace just lets you know who you'll end up with, right? Who you're tied to? Nothing's saying you have to go get married today. I'm sure he's not into you yet either."

    "Yeah... Yeah, okay. You're probably right."

    "Just act normal. No one said you have to act on it yet. Give yourself some time to come to grips."

    Henry nodded, but internally he was still freaking out. His entire identity had just been flipped upside down. He'd never been interested in a guy before, or he didn't think so anyway. One time, him and Wyatt had kissed on a dare, but it didn't mean anything. He hadn't hated it, but he certainly wasn't interested in his friend, and he'd never had a crush on a guy before.

"Hey, Henry?"

Henry just about leapt out of his skin when Alexis poked her head into the kitchen.

"I've got to get going. Family emergency," she said, before she rushed to gather her things.

Henry followed her back to the living room, his own fear suddenly overtaken by concern for Alexis. "Is everything okay?"

"No. I don't know. Are you okay getting home by yourself, Mase?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. See you tomorrow?" he asked, looking pretty worried himself.

"Let's hope so," she said, offering a shaky smile before she rushed off, Wyatt in toe to lock the door behind her.

The two boys sat in awkward silence for a painfully long time. Wyatt wasn't coming back, and Henry was sure that it was on purpose. He could never mind his own business.

"... I hope everything's okay." Henry finally said.

"Yeah... I'll check in with her later tonight to make sure."

"You guys are pretty close, huh?" he asked.

"Yeah, we go way back."

"Are you guys like... Together?"

Mason snorted. "Fuck no. You've got my blessing."

"Huh?"

"Oh, come on, you've been tripping over yourself trying to impress her all day. You're not exactly subtle."

"Was it really that bad?" Henry asked, not even trying to hide the horror in his voice.

"Oh, it was awful. Don't sweat it though, I'm sure she thought it was cute."

"If by cute you mean completely embarrassing."

"I definitely just meant cute. It was awkward, yeah, but charming awkward. She'll go for it if you ask, I'm sure."

Henry wasn't wearing the necklace anymore, but he still felt his chest warm with the compliment.

"... Hey, if you want, I can give you a ride home."

"Depends, do you drive as well as you walk? Because I've seen you almost fall over yourself at least five times since I got here."

As they laughed together, suddenly all the raging thoughts in Henry's head went quiet. For that moment, he couldn't help but think that maybe Mason wasn't the worst person he could be destined to be with.