The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic

by Breanne Randall

A sign I must not miss.

Some people needed flowers and pretty words. Sadie needed truth and kept promises.

Everything is fine. It’ll be fine,

Sadie hated that word fine. It was a Band-Aid, a sugar-coated pill to mask the bitterness beneath. Fine was what you used when it was anything but. But fine was what she had to be because if it wasn’t, everything would unravel. Sadie so often walked the line between who people expected her to be and who she really was, the lines blurred until sometimes she forgot who she actually wanted to be.

If you were in love, things tended to turn out too sweet. If dinner was bland, you needed some adventure. And if you burned a dessert—well, something wicked this way comes.

‘Disaster follows me around like stupidity follows a drunk,’”

He was the temptation Sadie had almost given into. Not out of love—nothing like it. But comfort. Companionship. Someone to hold her hand or listen to the story of her day. In the end, though, it wasn’t fair to him. He deserved more than lukewarm affection, especially since he’d been in love with Sadie since they were in grade school. Her need to do the right thing was greater than her desire for the relationship.

The message was clear as cold ice: “Something wicked this way comes.”

She never could hide anything from Raquel and found it rather inconvenient the way best friends could see into you even when you refused to look yourself.

She wondered when she’d become the friend who had to be talked off a ledge

“He was my first heartbreak. He’s the one who started my curse,” Sadie said with such force that her face flushed with the heat of memory.

“Your definition of normal could use a little work.”

you get hot over books you have no intention of buying.” “But they need me,”

He had sorrow in his eyes. Just a shadow of sadness, hidden behind the crinkle when he smiled. She used to make it her mission to make him happy. And she had. There was something about being the one that brought out his booming laugh. It unlocked something inside her. Made her realize who she wanted to be—the one who made his eyes smile. But she’d also never found out why he was sad in the first place.

It’s just a hug. A friendly hug,

“I trusted you,” she said in a quiet voice. “And you ruined me.”

“Do you know how hard it is for me to trust people? Do you know how much you screwed me up?” she demanded. As soon as the words were out, she winced. He wasn’t the only one to blame. She’d held on too long. And as always, she said too much around him, revealed too much. He was the one person she’d allowed herself to lean on, to tell her truth to, show her mess to. And then he’d left. She’d sacrificed her self-control for him, and when he’d gone, she vowed that no one would hold that power over her again.

The rational side said they could be friends and leave it at that. And the emotional side that she constantly tried to keep hidden whispered that it was impossible.

“I need time to think.”

daydreaming about the desires of your heart was the surefire way to make certain they never came true.

special things were meant to be used and treasured instead of simply stared at.

Damn it damn it damn it. She knew she was screwed.

“The future always needs bravery,

“It’s a curse of four heartbreaks, sugar.”

“People should like you for you. Not what you do for them. You’re always afraid people are going to leave, so you do anything you can to make them stay.”

“When you stop being so afraid of being alone, you’ll realize your worth and stop letting people walk all over you.”

Everything is okay, she reminded herself. This is a normal day. Just do what you always do.

“Your problem is you try to keep everyone at arm’s length. You’re so afraid to lean on someone because it means there’s trust there. And if you trust, it hurts worse when they leave.”

I’m too nice because I want people to like me,”

“There’s a difference between needing and wanting. You use that sharp tongue of yours as a shield, and you use those ca...

“Just because he’s not here doesn’t mean he’s gone,”

One day, I’ll be left completely and utterly alone.

Guard your heart, for from it flows the wellspring of life,’” she quoted. “But don’t guard it so closely that you’ll never get hurt. Because if you can’t get hurt then you can’t love,

Because when else are you so aware that you’re never going to get it? Not knowing meant possibility and dreaming and hopes. Instead, she looked away from those piercing eyes.

Maybe she could give in. Just once. That’s it. And then she could go back to hating him. Not love. But a meeting of needs. That would be safe enough.

there’s a difference between being happy and being fulfilled. Happiness you feel in your skin. Fulfillment you feel in your bones.”

“You know who you are. Never let anyone or anything mold you into something different. Don’t let those idiots tell you what to do or how to live your life.”

“They say that in a relationship there’s always the lover and the loved. But I don’t think that’s right. I think it changes. Sometimes you’re the one who loves more, and other times you’re the one who needs to be loved. That’s what a relationship is. Bracing the other person when they need it. Love is knowing you have open arms to fall back into.”

“God knows Revelares are too good at holding grudges, and if there’s one thing I regret, it’s not letting go of them sooner.”

Come closer, it said. I dare you. Let me show you what we’ve been missing.

“Hold on to hope no matter the cost, because as long as there’s hope, everything else is just the unfortunate side effects of heartbreak and magic.”