"So tell me everything," Saira asked before I had even the time to sit down with my cappuccino. I so wished I made her offer to pay for my muffin. Instead, I decided to have a sip first. I wanted to think about what I was going to say. The coffee shop was busy and we went upstairs to have a little bit of privacy. It was not exactly private, but they were not people walking in and out all the time. Plus a lot of people were simply lazy to walk the stairs up when they had to carry their drinks. Sometimes I did miss a proper coffee shop, the kind I was used to in Prague.

"Everything?" I smiled, trying to sound mysterious. By the face Saira made, I knew I was successful.

"OK, who is he?" She said and her bangles tinkled as she leaned closer. I decided to look a bit puzzled as if I didn't know what was she talking about. It was a good idea to find out what she knew first. I liked Saira, but there was no chance I would tell her everything everything. She liked to talk to anyone about anything. I might have to go to the press. Though I did like some stories she created - of course, they were based on truth, but she was rather creative when it came to details.

"Meaning?" Call me miss mysterious... Or stupid, depending on the angle you want to take.

"Oh, come on Jane. This is High Wycombe. You went to one place that has music on. Of course, someone saw you." She couldn't wait to get my version of the events. I chuckled. It was so refreshing to have a girlie talk for once. Though I wondered how she knew - she did have a curious way to know about anything as insignificant as who I was kissing on Friday.

"That's just because you grew up here and clearly there is nothing exciting going on." I teased her. Though I was impressed. She knew about it within hours without even being there. And she didn't have even any kind of magic. I so wished I was more like her, just a regular girl.

"True," she admitted. "So, now the juicy details. I thought you were going out with Mike? How come you were seen snogging someone else?" She was one of the most curious people I ever met. I was just thinking of how much she could achieve if she ever decided to put all that energy into something more constructive than gossip. The sky would be her limit.

"Well, it was a bit odd. You know, with Mike." I decided to work with her version of the events, to give vague answers and wait for her to bring in details. Then I just needed to slightly shape them - I didn't want to make out of the whole situation a tragedy.

"I knew it. He is just too boring." I liked how all my friends were on my side, first Lee-Ann, now Saira. That's what friends are for, she met him once and she knew. Plus I realised she was right. There was nothing wrong with Mike. He would have been perfect if he weren't so..... boring. I thought I wanted some boring things in my life, but I guess it didn't apply to prospective boyfriends. I nodded in agreement to confirm that was it and Saira's face lit up. She liked to be right about a relationship advice. In fact, she simply liked to be right.

"I mean he is nice. And cute. But I don't know...." She added lost in thoughts. I knew. Though I wasn't sure she would say no if he asked her out. They would have been a nice couple actually. I parked that thought to be explored later on.

"So, who is the hot guy?" She clearly moved on from Mike to Jake. Would I call Jake hot? Maybe, under different circumstances. I didn't like the sharp edges around him that felt too much like Jonathan. I guess if you don't feel magic than you couldn't see them. In which case yep, he was hot.

"Well, a friend of Mike's." I waited for another clue about this version of the events.

"Wait, he brought a friend to a date?" I nodded. Saira spelt silently LOSER, her bangles clinked again as she moved her hands around. I nodded again. Not for a single moment, I felt bad about it.

"He joined us at the cinema. A coincidence I guess," I amended the story a bit. Mike looked bad already, he didn't need to win the villain of the year prize as well. After all, I didn't want to make Saira think he was a complete loser. Just not compatible with me.

“Yeah, right,” she said, not sounding convinced. Well, at least I tried.

“Ah you know, it's a bit tough to go anywhere, when Mike has so many friends. Anyway, it was all right in the beginning, but then we ended up in the pub and it was like, I don’t know. You know how it is when guys meet. It’s all bromance all over and somehow I was a bit left out.” She nodded and I knew she had no clue. But she was determined to keep up. Anyway, she had decided to be on my side before I even started, so it was not that hard.

“They simply forgot me there.” That was almost actually true. Saira looked at me sympathetically.

“And then Mike went to get us drinks. Jake started to hit on me.” Sort of. I thought it was good to make Jake the villain.

“And then he kissed me.” White lies don’t hurt anyone. Saira was reading my lips, absorbing every word as if it was the hottest gossip of the year.

“Well, and you know the rest.” I ended up my story. Saira nodded. I wondered again, what she knew really. Somehow I didn't think I painted the best picture of me there.

“You go, girl!” She giggled instead. No matter that the story didn’t make exactly sense, it was what she was willing to believe and she chose my side purely because we were friends. It had become the truth.

“Sooooo. How is Jake then? Going to see him anytime soon?” I was pretty sure Jake was more or less ok, considering I took away most of the troublesome memories. I like to keep things simple.

“He is fine,” I smiled. “I will see him soon I think.” Actually, he and his undead friend would meet me on Tuesday after the pub shift ends and we would go to dig out an old friend of theirs. I decided that it wasn’t exactly the time to be truthful.

“Has he asked you out yet?” She asked, completely omitting the fact that someone who would hit on a girl of his presumed friend was not exactly boyfriend material. To be fair, someone hanging out with vampires was not a boyfriend material either. Vampires are the ultimate bad boys.

“I am sure he will call,” I said instead sharing my side of relationship advice. Jonathan needed me, of course, they will call. Or use their creepy crystal.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I reached for it thoughtlessly before I realised who was sitting in front of me. Saira might not have any special powers or complicated opinion on anything, but she did have a sixth sense when it came to guys. That was really something to admire.

“Ohhh, is that him?” She asked as I looked at the screen. It was.

“No, nothing serious.” I shrugged and tried to hide the phone back in my the pocket after I realised that, of course, it was Jake. I underestimated Saira. She simply reached out and took the phone from my hand before I could hide it. She looked hungrily at the screen. She effortlessly unlocked the phone - I should maybe use magic instead of a password or use a proper password. She read the text.

“Are you up to anything tomorrow?” She asked when I thought it couldn’t have got any worse. She looked into my face.

“Lunch time is fine, right?” She smiled innocently.

“So that’s settled,” and she texted Jake back. Her smile widened when she saw the genuine horror on my face. I had really something to look forward to tomorrow I thought grimly. She responded his text, fixing the time, and handed me the phone back.

“You may read it now. Oh, that was fun. “ She smiled. Her eyes were shining with excitement and good intentions. Those are the worst. I glanced at the screen and scrolled through the messages. We were to meet the day after in the woods.

“He sounds so romantic. And eager.” She added after a pause and winked at me. I had to agree. How odd. He was not supposed to remember.

“Hey, wake up. No need to dream about him now. You shall see him soon. Let’s talk about the more important things. Who do you think will win the X-Factor?” She batted her eyelashes. How could I be angry with her? After all, at least she didn’t know about the McDonald’s.

And like that, she manipulated me to do her bidding. No magic involved.

All in all, I thought it was a nice afternoon. I couldn't stay angry with her anyway. By the time the coffee shop closed me and Saira covered everything. I was feeling great. We said goodbye to each other shortly after. I needed to get back to do the babysitting. I knew we would see each other on Monday in the class. Considering I was supposed to see Jake on Sunday, I knew that I would be due interrogation by then.