Why Should I Be a Magical Girl? I'm Overworked As It Is! — Chapter 12: The Consequence of Not Texting Back

Carmen’s phone had been buzzing against her nightstand for three hours, roughly every twenty minutes. She’d ignored every single one of them in her sleep.

Right now she was in her latest sleeping adventure, where she had a dragon helping her hoard her piles of gold. She laughed maniacally atop her castle, arms spread wide, cape billowing behind her, saying, “Yes! No one is taking my money. Burn them all!”

The dragon roared behind her, breathing a wave of fire into the sky as a warning to the government officials below. It would barbecue anyone who tried to collect Carmen’s unpaid taxes. In real life she always paid on time, but in her dream, she imagined what her life would look like if she didn’t—a perk of being a lucid dreamer.

She’d gotten the idea a few nights ago, after finally catching up on a series with dragons that a lot of people had already watched years ago. She could only watch half an episode here or there.

When the female character lost it two-thirds of the way with a fuck it attitude, letting her anger rage wild, Carmen had simply thought: valid.

It wasn’t that Carmen wanted to actually burn anything down. She just liked knowing the option existed somewhere, safely contained behind her closed eyes, where nobody got hurt and nothing had consequences. It had to be better than bottling it.

Not everyone could control their dreams, so Carmen made the most of what she had.

There was a horrid knock on her door that broke her out of her dream.

She surfaced groggily with a frown. Her eyes were crusty. She glared into the darkness, her blackout curtain making sure the sun’s rays didn’t touch her.

This was her day off. This was a sacred day.

“Who the hell is knocking on my door?” She groaned, ignoring it.

Knock. Knock.

Her phone rang, dimly lighting up the room as it vibrated on silent, showing the time as twelve thirty-five.

She took it and squinted at the screen. Nine texts from Maya, the most recent, sent twenty-three minutes ago, sitting smugly on top:

- I’m almost there!! :)

And another text landed as she watched.

- I know you’re home. I can see your location.

Carmen let out a guttural sound. She’d forgotten to text Maya. This was the consequence of her inaction.

She typed back with one finger:

- Give me a min

Carmen sat up, looked around her apartment and said, with total clarity, “Fuck.”

She launched into motion, scooping armfuls of laundry off the floor and chair, shoving them under the bed. She made her bed so that the flat sheet was longer on the side facing the entry, doubling as a bed skirt.

“Carmen.” Shuli’s voice came from the bathroom. Carmen popped her head in, looking annoyed, and hissed, “What?”

Shuli was in the sink, monocle and all. “I’m visible right now. So make sure to introduce me to Maya.”

“What? No. Go invisible. If she sees you, it’s over for me, you understand? She’ll guilt me for months if she finds out I had you then got rid of you! And I’m definitely going to figure out how, count on it!”

Shuli ignored Carmen’s proclamation. “I can’t. I have a cooldown period.”

“You’re telling me this now? You said you could choose!”

“Well, you see, I’ve used it too many times for too long over the past few days. Between watching you at work—don’t give me that look—and stalking the birds—I have no idea how they always sense me, darn them—and exploring your neighborhood, it appears that my magical reserves are drained. I was going to bring it up today, after you woke up. I didn’t think it would be a problem, because we were staying in.” 

Another text buzzed against the nightstand. Carmen went to it. It was Maya.

- Hellooooooo

“Okay, okay, hide, go hide, I don’t care where, just—”

“Why don’t you just introduce us? I promise I won’t speak, only meow.”

“Hide!”

“Where? You have a studio apartment. I can’t hide in the bathroom. What if she uses it?”

Carmen grabbed Shuli and placed her by the bed. She lifted the flat sheet and said, “Get in.”

Shuli made a face. “It stinks in there.”

Carmen nudged Shuli with her foot and kicked a stray sock and shirt after her for cover.

She looked at herself in the mirror—light blue sleep shorts with tiny carrots, an ancient matching shirt with a hole near the collar that had a smiling bunny, bed-head making her hair stick up in some spots—and ran back to the bathroom, grabbing her phone.

She texted Maya: 

- brushing my teeth, bad breath.

She grabbed her toothbrush and started brushing fast. She gargled mouthwash and splashed water on her face. She looked at herself one more time. The dark circles weren’t as intense, but her acne was still there. This was simply going to have to be who she was today.

She opened the door to find Maya standing there with her arms crossed, her hair loose. Maya wore a yellow sundress and tan sandals. She had a green bag overflowing with snacks. She was squinting her green eyes at Carmen like she was doing long division in her head and Carmen was the wrong answer.

“Nine texts,” Maya said, stepping past her into the apartment. “Nine. I was two seconds from assuming you were dead.”

“I was asleep.”

“Didn’t you get off before the evening yesterday? I would have thought you’d passed out as soon as you got home?”

“I read some web novels and one thing led to another and then before I knew it, it was one in the morning.”

Maya sighed. “Carmen, you really need to take care of yourself better—OH MY GOD! Baby Petunia?!”

Carmen realized her mistake. The damn dead succulent.

Before Carmen could defend herself, Maya sped across the apartment, nabbing the potted disaster. Maya was cradling the unmistakably deceased succulent in both hands like a war medic who’d arrived too late.

“You killed her?!”

“It wasn’t my fault! I don’t know what happened! You said they were hard to kill! We did research on it and it still died!”

Maya looked up at her, and the betrayal in her eyes could’ve powered a small city.

“…I’m so sorry,” Carmen added, deflating. “She had a good run, brightening up my space. She fought hard.”

“They’re made to survive harsh environments. They’re easy plants. They tolerate neglect. I even placed it next to your window. I told you to keep it there. I chose the soil. The pot. The little plastic plate for the drainage. Carmen. This takes effort.”

Carmen shuffled from foot to foot, nervously rubbing her arm. “I don’t know what to tell you. I kept forgetting about it, so I may have… overcompensated by overwatering it.”

Maya’s eyes narrowed.

“I knew you were hiding something from me. You were going to switch it out, weren’t you?”

Carmen said, “You caught me. I’m sorry.”

Maya turned, taking in the apartment properly now. She regarded the paintings on the wall.

They were her paintings.

“I give up, no more plants for you. I guess I’m just going to have to get you a painted rock. I wish you’d let me paint you some more flowers at least. I told you it isn’t a problem for me and it really livens up your place.”

“You already gave me like six paintings. I love them, but that’s a lot. You should focus on selling them. You need quantity, right? To open your online store. I’m telling you, I think you’re going to sell out. You should try to get as much money as you can so you can quit Max’s and have your audience before you graduate.”

Maya shook her head. They’d had this conversation so many times already. “So, where’s your cat? I have cat snacks for her and snacks for you.”

“I told you, she’s not my cat. And why would I have her? She’s a stray. What kind of snack?”

Maya opened her bag and pulled out a medium bag of Carmen’s favorite spicy chips along with an apple, a banana, a drinkable yogurt, and a bottle of red berry fruit juice. She set everything on the counter in front of Carmen. Everything except the chip bag.

“Thank you, thank you, thank youuuu!” Carmen drooled. “I’ve been craving those chips.”

“Annnnnd?”

“… and I’ll eat the fruits too.”

“Right now, this first.”

She handed Carmen the apple.

Carmen bit it, entirely focused on the chips Maya was holding hostage by putting them back in her bag.

“I’m sad the cat didn’t stick around. I brought so many snacks.”

A sneeze came from under Carmen’s bed. Maya peered around Carmen, who loudly started munching on her apple and talking with her mouth full.

“I think my neighbor has allergies or something. These walls are so thin, you know.”

Maya pushed Carmen aside and looked at Carmen’s bed.

“No, that came from in here.”

Another sneeze.

Maya got on her knees. She lifted the flat sheet.

“Wait! Maya, don’t look under the—”