Sonya met Derek at the front of the store. He couldn't see the things she had in her basket from where he was standing near the door, but she twirled her arm to instruct him to turn around while she made her purchase. In a few minutes she approached him with a bag full of whatever it was and they left the store.
"That guy was pretty helpful. I told him what kind of stuff I was looking for and he knew exactly where to find it." Sonya had a persistent grin on her face their entire walk back to their car.
"He's a little old for you," Derek commented as he unlocked his door. Sonya shot him a playful grin.
* * * * *
That night, Derek drove to Sonya's house to pick her up for the party. She told him to come a little bit early just in case there were any "complications." Derek hoped whatever "complications" meant, that Sonya wasn't putting herself in some kind of danger. From what he'd heard of in fantasy stories, inexperienced magic users rarely fared well.
He rang the doorbell and Sonya's mother opened the door. "Hello, Derek. She's been in her room since you dropped her off earlier. She says you can go right on up. I'm taking her father out for a party of our own, but I want Sonya back here by one a.m., okay?"
"No problem," Derek smiled. He walked up the stairs and knocked on Sonya's room, anxious to see what she had prepared.
"Come on in," Sonya sang through the door. Derek loved that playful tone of hers. It was something she had picked up from doing theatre.
He slowly opened the door to an empty room. The clothes Sonya was wearing earlier were in a heap on her bed, and the shopping bag from the store was empty and discarded on the floor. He shut the door, looking around. "Sonya? Where are you?"
"I'm right here," he heard her say. "Can't you see me?"