“Hey Evy! Nice seeing you here! Come sit with us!”

The goth girl took her by the arm, leading her to their table.

“What do you want to drink?” She asked, pushing her down on a chair enthusiastically, “I’ll pay today!”

“Ah, I was just going to order a cinnamon cookie.”

“I’ll get that one for you too. Now, would you like some tea? You look like you could use some tea.” Liv’s smile was wide, though some concern for the girl was showing through.

“Chamomile is fine with me.”

“One chamomile tea and one cinnamon cookie are coming up!” She winked and then left to order at the counter.

“I didn’t know you knew this place too? So, how did church go?” Evan asked.

Evy nodded. “Well, I had to wear a headscarf to hide my pink hair. My dad doesn’t like me having unnatural colored hair, especially not in church.” She took off the scarf that she had draped around her neck and unbuttoned her coat, revealing another ugly floral dress. “And this dress is made of nightmares. I want to burn it when I turn eighteen.”

Jamie chuckled. “We’ll be there for the ritual.”

A ritual didn’t sound bad.

“When’s your birthday anyway?” Evan asked, “We would love to throw you a party.”

“December the third.”

“Cool! We’ll plan something fun then!” Liv said, while placing the girl’s tea and cookie down on the table.

Evy looked up, a bit surprised that she was already back, and then smiled. She very rarely had other people throw her a party, she always had to organize it herself before. And even then, only a few people showed up from the group she invited.

“Sure!”

* * * *

 “Mind if we do a little post-Halloween ritual?” Liv asked, still chewing on a gummy worm. They were back at the club room and they were all digging into their Halloween spoils.

“A ritual?”

The girl nodded. “As Halloween was over the weekend and we didn’t really have time then, I wanted to do something today. Only if you’re okay with it though.”

Even though Evy had been in the occult club since the start of the schoolyear and she had always liked the idea of rituals, she had never experienced something like it. Strict parents and all.

“Ah, sure!”

“Great!” She turned around and looked at one of her boyfriends, who was making faces while eating some sour candy. “Evan, would you please get me my ritual box?”

He nodded and walked over to one of the cabinets shoved against the fabric-clad wall. From it he procured a red box covered in various black symbols. He handed it over to his girlfriend.

“Thank you, sexy.” Evy caught Liv winking slyly at the now smirking boy.

She opened the box, to reveal a selection of various magical items, such as candles, stones and tarot cards. There was also the silver blade of a small dagger. The pink-haired girl didn’t wanna know how they had managed to smuggle it onto schoolgrounds.

The blue-haired goth pulled out a piece of chalk, some candles and incense, and then a piece of red string. Evy must have looked confused, because Liv quickly explained the ritual.

“Even though Halloween or Samhain is originally a day to remember the dead, I felt like today would be a good day to celebrate us being alive and officially inviting you in to our group as a true friend.”

A warm feeling blossomed in Evy’s chest and a lump started to form in her throat.

“That way you’ll know we’ll be there for you, no matter what.” The girl smiled, her honesty and kindness radiating off of her.

Jamie gave her a light shove. “You’re gonna make her cry, Liv. You always do that with your words.”

Evy looked at the tanned boy, and to her surprise he looked like he was closer to crying than she was. A small chuckle escaped her, making the others look at her with smiles on their faces.

They wouldn’t abandon her.

“I’ll start then.” Everyone agreed.

Liv instructed the boys to move the table to the side and grab some jars from their enormous stash. She then drew a circle with the chalk on the linoleum floor, encompassing the group and they were to remain in it until Liv ended the ritual. Then she lit five candles, placed them in the jars and set them down, at even intervals along the edge of the circle, all while silently chanting what Evy presumed to be spells. Lastly she lit the incense cone and placed it inside an ornately decorated incense holder that resembled a lotus flower. She placed it in the middle. The group sat down around it.

“This is the main part of the ritual,” Liv mentioned as she took the red string in he hands, “I’ve done a similar ritual with the boys, so they know what to do, but I’ll explain to you too.” She watched Evy’s expression for a few moments to check her state of mind, and then when she was satisfied, she continued: “We’ll place our dominant on the floor and then I’ll wrap the string around our fingers, connecting our hands. It symbolizes our connection to each other.”

Evy placed her right hand on the floor, Evan and Jamie their right too, and Liv her left. Slighty awkwardly, because she wasn’t used to using her right hand for delicate moments, Liv weaved the red string through their fingers. The string felt a bit coarse on Evy’s skin, almost like wool, and yet it made her heart soft like a marshmallow.

Then Liv told them to close their eyes. With her sight closed off, her other senses took over. The scent of the vanilla incense, the prickling feeling of the string between her fingers and the soft murmur of Liv’s spell.

But amid all these sensations, she felt something else. Something warm, like sitting in front of the fireplace in the middle of winter. Something fresh, like smelling the first flowers of spring. Something nostalgic, like the sound of the waves at the beach you went to with your family in the summer. Then, even though she had her eyes closed, she saw it. The red string, that connected the four of them. The vision was clear, almost like she was dreaming vividly. She had always been skeptic of anything paranormal, but if she had to describe was she saw, it would definitely be described as something magical.

Here they were, all four connected by their souls. All the holes others had left in her heart, slowly disappeared, repaired with the gold glitter of her friends’ love. Once again, there was that feeling. Everything that was happening now, she wanted more of that. Liv, Evan, Jamie, she never wanted to let them go. That thin line between friendschip and love blurred, and realisation hit her like a truck.

She opened her eyes. Liv had just finished her spell and the others had their eyes open too. Evy wondered what they had seen, what they had noticed. They looked at her, all smiles, and she blushed. They didn’t tease her for it, but simply were there for her.

After a short while just simply enjoying the present, Liv removed the thread from everyone’s hands and then stood up to undo the circle. Evan and Jamie helped Evy up from the floor and then proceded to place the table back in it’s original spot.