Sarah the Magician

“Alex. Nice job in class today,” Sarah says, stopping by your desk on the way out.

“You did pretty well yourself,” you smile, and she shrugs, as if to say: that’s expected.

“I’ve been reading up on a few magic tricks mentioned in our texts,” she says. “I need a practice partner. Are you keen to join me?”

“Sure thing,” you say, ignoring the slackjawed look that Vishal shoots you, and then her.

“You’ve got an odd friend,” Sarah asks, glancing at Vishal. She takes off before you can respond, leaving you hurrying to catch up to her.

“So… magic tricks in our textbooks. Have I gone crazy, or did I finally get accepted to Hogwarts?” you say.

“Neither. Did you forget the section about cold reading? Or maybe you simply didn’t read it.”

Sarah narrows her eyes at you, but you nod along, recalling the reference from your readings.

“I didn’t realize that was what you meant,” you say. “That hardly counts as magic. Guessing some details about a person’s life isn’t all that impressive.”

“You might think that now, but wait until I try it on you,” she says, coming to a stop by a bench. “Here, take a seat.”

You sit on the bench before Sarah, taking a second to appreciate her figure. Despite her blouse being a pretty loose fitting thing, the curve of her chest is unmistakable. Her make-up is impeccable (as it always is). The haughty look on her face though… there’s nothing you’d like more than to wipe that expression clean off. Preferably, with her bucking body beneath you.

“Show me what you’ve got,” you smile, spreading your hands.

“Alright, let’s start with your family life. You have siblings?” Sarah’s looking at you very intently as she asks, and while you do your best to keep your face neutral, something must give it away, because she smiles. “Yes. You do. A brother? No. A sister, then.” She pauses, scrunching up her face. “Two sisters? Three? Two. Definitely two.” She smirks at you, pleased with herself. “Older or younger? Well, one of them’s definitely older, right? Yes, older. And the other is also… hm… younger? No? Neither?” She takes a beat, and then says: “Twins. An older sister, and the other’s your twin. How’s that?”

Sarah gives you a smug smile, folding her arms across her chest. You shrug, feigning nonchalance.

“Half the people on campus knew that already,” you say. “You could have just heard that from somebody else. Or looked it up online.”

“I can keep going,” she smiles. “Let me guess. You like to think you get along with your sisters, but in reality… yes, it’s got to be the older one. Grinds your gears to no end. She’s never been kind to you, huh?” You roll your eyes at that. “Okay, that was the easy one. Your twin. What’s her name?”

“You want me to tell you, or you want to guess?” you challenge her.

“Figuring out names is a little tough for me,” she smiles. “I’m still working on that. But your relationship with her. I can tease that out. Is it good? Maybe not. Bad? Hmm.” She pauses again, clearly trying to work out something. “Complicated? Not that either. I’m confused. I can’t get a clear signal.”

“Not bad for a party trick,” you smile. “I bet you I can do better.”

“Is that right?” she says. “Show me.”

You get up from the bench, gesturing for her to take the seat. Now it’s Sarah’s turn to sit before you. You imitate her pose, crouching down to look deep into her eyes. She stares back at you defiantly, adopting a poker face that will be tough to crack. Luckily, you’re not planning to use the same techniques that she is.

“Unlike you, I’ll start by acknowledging what the public knows,” you say. “There are rumors surrounding you and the guys in our class. Have you heard any of them? It’s salacious stuff…”

“That’s all talk,” Sarah says. “You’ll have to do better to fluster me.”

“They say that you’re keeping a reverse harem. So many guys, all doing so much to try to please you. All so that they can have a chance with you.”

“What’s your point?” Sarah says, not denying the allegations.

“Of course, the question on everybody’s minds is the same. How many of them have you actually slept with?” you smile at her, watching her slowly blink in reaction to you. You can tell that you’re getting to her, even if she’s not breaking yet. “The running theory is half of them.” She blinks again. “So who? Mr. Mikey? Michael? He tries so hard in class, but… No. Not him. Xiaoming? You like the way he looks, don’t you? Yeah, I can tell. But nevertheless, he’s a No. How about Josh? Couldn’t be. No.” You run through the list of guys in her posse, concluding each with a “No.”

Her eyes narrow further and further as you get down the list, and by the time you finish, she has her arms crossed.

“So what’s your point?” she says. “You know who I haven’t slept with. Big deal.”

“But you’ve got to wonder, why keep all of them around if you’re not going to mess around with any of them?” you say. “The guys all think that you’ve slept with half the class except for them. You like the power this gives you over them. But you think they’re all pathetic. You would never sleep with any of them, would you?”

“You’re supposed to have the answer to that,” she says.

“I know the one guy that you’d consider,” you smile. You place a hand on her knee, and watch her sharp intake of breath. “Let’s talk about your dad.”

Sarah flinches at that.

“Whoa there,” you laugh. “He’s clearly an important guy to you, isn’t he?”

“What, your dad doesn’t matter to you?” she asks.

“Of course he does,” you smile. “He’s a big man. A strong authority figure. Man of the household, you know what I mean?” You nod. “You do. You appreciate that. He’s strong. Reliable.”

“What are you trying to imply?” she says, her breath coming across faster now.

“You call him daddy, don’t you,” you say. “Of course you do. He doesn’t take shit from others. He protects you. Strange, how none of the other guys who hang around you don’t do that, even though they want to please you so badly. Where are they now?” You shake your head. “They’re not here. I am.”

“What do you want?” she says, her breath coming in faster still.

“I’ll leave you to think that through,” you smile, standing up and straightening your back. “But the answer is most definitely not you.”

You walk away, leaving her shivering on the bench. That was a cold reading; next time you’ll show her what a hot one is.

Sarah +30