2. Selena

Selena

“Why would I want to transform into you?” I asked, confused.

Nothing against my bestie. She was awesome. But as much as I admired and appreciated Torrence, I didn’t want to be her. I was perfectly happy being myself.

Except for my missing magic. But that couldn’t be fixed with transformation potion. Transformation potion would make me look like Torrence on the outside, but I’d still be me on the inside. Missing magic and all.

“Other than your magic igniting, what’s the one thing you want most in the entire world?” Torrence asked.

“To be allowed off of Avalon.” I didn’t have to stop to think about my answer. “But my parents won’t allow it. You know the rules. They won’t let me?—”

I cut myself off, the pieces clicking together as I stared at the bright red potion in Torrence’s hand.

“They won’t let you off the island,” she completed my thought. “But I can come and go as I please. Like I do every weekend when I visit my mom in LA.”

“You really think it would work?” My eyes widened, my heart racing with excitement and anticipation. “That I could pretend to be you and leave the island? Just like that?”

My entire life, my parents had drilled it into my mind that I’d never be able to leave Avalon. My mom was an Earth Angel—the only one in the world, and she was the leader of our island.

So many people on Earth—demons and supernaturals alike—would come after me if I stepped foot off this island. They’d want to take me and use me as leverage against my mom. Combined with the fact that my magic was non-existent, giving me no way to defend myself, it was too risky for me to leave.

Which meant I had to stay here. Forever.

That was a long time. Especially since because of the island’s magic, once we reached our mid-twenties, we stopped aging and became immortal.

I held out hope that at some point in the future, Earth would be peaceful enough that I’d be allowed to see it myself. But until that time came, this island was all I’d see and experience.

I loved Avalon. I had a great life here. But even though I loved it, I still wanted to see the world.

And right now, Torrence was giving me that chance.

“I know it’ll work.” Torrence’s eyes sparkled with mischief again. “You know me better than anyone. If anyone can convince my mom that they’re me, it’s you.”

“Maybe,” I said, since it wasn’t a terrible idea. “But we’ll need to practice.”

“There’s no time for that,” she said. “It has to be this weekend.”

“Why?” I asked. “I mean, I know the potion expires after twenty-four hours. But you created it once. Couldn’t you create it again?”

“Of course I can create it again.” She tossed her hair over her shoulders, like it was silly of me to even ask. “But along with expiring after twenty-four hours in the vial, the potion will only keep you transformed for twenty-four hours after drinking it. And you know the deal I made with my mom when I was accepted onto Avalon.”

“You can attend the academy here as long as you visit her every weekend.” I was the one who’d suggested Torrence offer her mom that deal when her mom was hesitating about letting her go to school here. Torrence and I had clicked the moment we’d met, and I hated the idea of her not being able to stay. Having her here five days out of seven was better than nothing at all.

“Even though it’s Friday, I was able to stay tonight because there was no way I was missing your birthday,” she said. “Which means my visit home will be cut short this weekend. I head back tomorrow. Well… you’ll head back tomorrow. As me.” She pressed the pads of her fingers together, like a conniving villain in a superhero movie.

My head spun with excitement… and with all the possible ways this could go wrong.

“What’s up?” Torrence asked, dropping her hands back down to her sides.

She knew me well enough to know I’d have questions. And knowing her, she’d already thought about what I’d ask and what the answers to those questions would be.

“A bunch of stuff,” I said. “Firstly, thank you. This gift is amazing.”

“I know.” She smiled proudly.

“But how will I get to LA? I have no magic. I can’t teleport.”

“I’ll teleport you straight to my room,” she said. “I always drop my stuff off there first, anyway. Then I’ll pop back to LA the next day and take you home.”

“Okay.” I nodded, since that worked. “But I can’t do magic, and the transformation potion won’t change that. Won’t your mom wonder what’s up if I need to do magic and I can’t?”

“My mom’s always telling me I should rest my magic more so I’m fresh and ready for the school week.” Torrence rolled her eyes. She loved using her magic, but preferred using it for personal use instead of for classroom exercises. “Just tell her there’s a big test on Monday and that you’re resting your magic so you’re ready. She’ll be thrilled. That’ll be your reason for coming home earlier on Sunday, too. You need to study for the test.”

The test that didn’t exist.

“All right.” I nodded again, liking the sound of this more and more. “But what about me? And by that I mean the lack of me here on Avalon. People will notice if I’m gone. Especially since my parents’ big anniversary dinner is tomorrow night.”

“Easy.” Torrence shrugged. “I’ll create another transformation potion tonight, using your blood. It’ll be ready by tomorrow. I’ll drink it and take your place while you’re gone.”

“So we’re swapping places.” I sat forward, unable to help laughing at how crazy this all was. It was also perfect. Because if any two people knew each other well enough to swap places and pull it off, it was me and Torrence.

“Exactly.” She smiled again. “You in?”

“I am,” I said, since how could I not be? The possibility of twenty-four hours off of Avalon was the most exciting thing to happen to me since… well, it was the most exciting thing to ever happen to me. “But what happens if we’re caught?”

I already knew the answer to that.

Anyone caught trying to get me off Avalon would be accused of treason. There were no set punishments for anything here—punishments were decided on an individual basis. But treason wouldn’t be taken lightly.

“Are you doubting that the potion will work?” She raised an eyebrow in question.

“No,” I said. “You’re one of the best witches on this island. I’m sure it’ll work.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I’m just trying to think everything through,” I said. “So we don’t make any mistakes.”

“No one will notice that we’re not who we say we are,” she said. “I can be you. You can be me. No one knows that I know how to make transformation potion, so they won’t think this is even a possibility. Everyone on Avalon will be too focused on your parents’ anniversary celebration to be paying attention to me. My mom’s used to my mood swings, so she won’t notice anything different with you. And it’s only twenty-four hours. What could possibly happen in twenty-four hours that would get us caught?”

“I don’t know,” I said, my stomach doing somersaults at the realization that this was going to happen. I was going to see the world beyond Avalon. Sure, it would only be a sliver of the big world out there, but it was still more than I ever thought possible.

“We’d have to mess up badly to get caught,” she said. “And we’re not going to do that. You’re going to see LA, and you’re going to have a great time. No one will ever know you were gone.”

“I guess.” I did my best to squash down the worry in my stomach.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Was I really going to say no because I was scared?

Hell no, I wasn’t.

So I buried the worry so deep that all I could focus on was my excitement. “You definitely win the prize for best-present ever,” I said, nearly squealing with anticipation.

“Told you so.” She beamed. “Now, give me your hand so I can take your blood. Transformation potion isn’t the easiest thing to make, and I need to have the second vial ready by tomorrow.”