“So, Jay. I feel I have to tell you this, because a lot of people tend to have an issue with it when they find out.” 

“Okay,” Jay replied cautiously, expecting the worst. “I’m Wiccan.”

Jay glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, what is that? That’s like…witchcraft and devil worship and all that, right?”

Lorelai scoffed and Jay instantly knew he’d said the wrong thing. “Witchcraft yes, but there’s no devil worshipping involved. We don’t even believe in Satan, that’s a Christian concept. We don’t do blood rituals, human sacrifices, or anything creepy like that. But like I said, witchcraft and magic is involved. Does that bother you?”

“Not at all. I’m agnostic. I am interested, though. Tell me more about it.”

Lorelai smiled, obviously surprised. “Okay. Well, we believe in the natural power that the earth has. Wind, Water, Fire, and Earth—the four elements. Technically, there is a god and goddess, but only for lack of a better description. All of our power comes from those four elements.”

“So, it’s like that Avatar series?”

Lorelai laughed outright. “No, silly, we can’t airbend or anything like that. We just perform spells by drawing power from the elements. But it’s not as simple as waving a magic wand and saying incantations like Harry Potter. You have to call the circle, which means asking the guardians of each element for their help.”

“Are there good and evil guardians, or elements? Like black magic and white magic?” Jay asked, growing increasingly interested.

“That’s the biggest thing about Wicca. Real magic is neither black, nor white. It depends on the person casting the spell. If they have evil intent, it will work as well as a witch with good intent. Here’s the difference, any magic you do tends to come back to you times three. So if you cast an evil spell on somebody, that will end up coming back at you three times stronger, or three times as bad as your original spell. If you cast a good or helpful spell, it’s just the opposite. It will come back at you three times better than whatever you did. It’s the three-fold law.”

“So, it’s like karma?” Jay asked, turning a corner. Her entire religion was one that he’d been taught to reject, but he was starting to like the sound of it.

“Yeah, pretty much. Other than that, the only real rule is the last eight words of the Rede, which is basically the Wiccan bible, of sorts. It’s a long poem outlining what being a witch means. The last two lines read, ‘These eight words the Rede fulfill; An’ ye harm none, do what ye will.’ So basically—”

“It’s saying to do whatever you want with your powers, as long as you don’t hurt anybody else,” Jay finished. “And the consequences of breaking that are

having the bad spell sent back to you three fold. That’s really cool, Lorelai.”

“Really?” she asked. “You don’t think it’s weird?”

Nodding, he said, “Yeah, maybe a little bit, but all religions are a bit weird. But it’s not bad, and it definitely isn’t evil. I like some weird things.” He looked meaningfully at her, this strange, beautiful creature in his passenger seat. “And I definitely like some weird people.”

“Okay, is that a compliment?”

Jay chuckled. “You’d better believe it, beautiful.” Then he reached forward and turned on the CD player and pressed play. The car filled with the sounds of heavy guitar and drums.

“I thought you’d like to jam out to the CD I burned. It’s got Avenged Sevenfold, Bullet for My Valentine, Muse, and Blind Guardian on it. It also has some Dream Theater, if you don’t know who they are, it’s time for an education.”

They listened to the music and talked until they pulled into the driveway. Jay parked the car and got out to open Lorelai’s door for her again, taking her hand as she slid out of the car. He walked to her door with her and as they stood on her porch for a moment, he suddenly felt like he’d gone back in time to his first date when he was in ninth grade, unsure of whether he should kiss her goodnight or not. He knew he definitely wanted to kiss her, but he wasn’t so sure about her feelings. Everything he knew about her pointed to the obvious conclusion that she’d been hurt somehow, and he didn’t want her to think he was pushing himself on her. When she hugged him goodnight, and he felt her body pressed against his in that slinky dress, he couldn’t resist. He pulled her in closer and slanted his mouth over hers, pausing to see if she would pull away. When she didn’t, he finally covered her lips with his. He felt her body stiffen and for a moment, he thought she was going to run away. Then she softened, her arms came up around his neck and she was kissing him back. He deepened the kiss, his tongue dancing with hers and his lips firmly pressed against hers, kissing her as if they were magnetized to each other. He couldn’t pull away from her if he tried. His hands roamed her body, molding to her hips and waist and pulling her against him. He heard her moaning, and he noticed how hard he had become from a single kiss. They clung to each other tightly, but after a moment, they each drew their head back to catch their breath.

After such a steamy kiss, Jay wasn’t exactly sure what to say, and she seemed to be in the same predicament. Finally, Jay simply brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Lorelai,” he said softly.

She smiled beautifully, and he felt proud of himself for remembering she was a hopeless romantic. To amuse her, he stepped back, put his left hand behind his back and bowed slightly, her hand still in his. She giggled and curtsied low in her small dress, before going inside and locking the door.

Jay got into his car and drove home. He was halfway there when he realized his head was still spinning so much from their kiss that he’d forgotten to buckle his seatbelt.