Rachel's Love Potion Pt. 02

"Yeah, yeah, you showed me the picture. She's hot. But she's notyou. She's going to expect things from me that I'm not really interested in doing."

"Are you saying I let you get away with too much?" I asked as I carefully caressed his balls.

"I'm saying... I don't even know what I'm saying. Why are you pushing this so hard?"

"I just want you to be happy is all. I mean, neither of us are getting any younger. You know I'm going to be your friend, just like now, no matter what. But don't you want to have love? Romance? Passion?"

But Knox rose up out of my grip, seating himself on the rim of my bathtub, clearly displeased. I wasn't surprised when he grabbed a handful of my hair and impaled my face on his dick. Face fucking me was a pretty standard go-to when he was feeling out of sorts, and even though he always went too deep and made me cry when I choked on his cock, I was only too happy to let the guy blow off steam. I simply hadn't thought this would be such a sore subject. Most of the guy friends I'd ever made hadbegged me to set them up with Joanna.

A few minutes later, he came, right down my throat and into my belly without my even having to swallow. Which was nice of him, I supposed. Knox knew how I totally hate the taste of cum, and this way I could barely notice it, skipping my taste buds altogether. Then he suddenly bucked me off and grabbed a towel while I gasped for air, nearly inhaling a mouthful of bathwater in the process.

"I'm a warlock, Rachel. If I wanted a girl to fall in love with me, I'd brew up a love potion and make her fall in love with me. Now drop it, OK?"

"OK."

But it was not OK.

By the time I wore Knox down to the point of agreeing to meet Joanna, more than a month had passed. Fall had officially arrived according to the calendar, and though it was really a bit late in the year for a pool party, Joanna had always been envious of my pool, and having not had a chance to take a dip all summer, she took the bait. Besides, I could tell she was secretly curious to meet my new friend, perhaps even jealous of all the attention he was absorbing that had once gone to her. I couldn't blame her. I missed her a lot too.

I was reclining on one of my deck chairs waiting for her when the gate to the back yard swung open and in she came. Joanna was looking great as always, her bright red swimsuit contrastingly gorgeously with her skin. Every time I saw her in a bathing suit it made me think I was doing it wrong with the tan; her porcelain complexion was too perfect. I hopped up and rushed over to take her bag, giving her a hug.

"You made it!"

"I said I would." She looked me over. "That a new suit?"

"Yeah, you like it? Knox picked it out for me." I spun in place. It was a g-string and a top so small I was constantly having to adjust it to keep my nipples covered. That was sort of embarrassing I guess, but the polka dots were admittedly cute.

"You let a 'friend' pickthat out for you? I mean, I guess it should've been obvious. Only a man would ever think of putting a woman in something like that." She hopped into the water near the middle of the pool, and I dove in after her. It was only sixty-some degrees outside, so with the heating element running all day, the water was actually warmer than the air outside.

For a while, Joanna and I just bounced around the pool, catching up on gossip and girl talk. I did my best to keep her in prime viewing positions for the underwater cameras; after weeks of my hinting (bordering on nagging), Knox had agreed he would consider meeting Joanna, if and only if she looked hot enough on the occasion. He hadn't been enthused, but it had shut me up at least, which had been sufficient.

For her part, Joanna had all sorts of questions about him. Glad the cameras didn't transmit sound, I did my best to help her make sense of things without getting into too much detail about the hard-to-explain stuff. I knew full well I was the beta in the friendship, and it was kind of awkward owning up to how much of a follower I'd become where Knox was concerned. I'd been the same way with Joanna, though she'd never taken it to the level of tattooing a warlock sigil on my butt cheek that proclaimed me as her property.

(On the rare occasion someone in the gym locker room said something, I said it was a Gaelic symbol for peace. Easier to explain.)

"So let me get this straight," she said when I'd filled her in on the basics, avoiding the more controversial things like how he'd destroyed my clothes, dressed me up like an inflatable sex doll, used me for his gratification whenever he wanted, and always left the toilet seat up. "This guy comes out of nowhere, you randomly decide to befriend him, and then... Rachel, I barely understand half of what you're telling me, but it sounds like from the moment this Knox asshole walked into your life, you've turned into his fucking pet!"

How had she gottenthat out of my description when I'd left so much out? Maybe my old friend simply knew me better than I knew myself.

"It's not like that! I do stuff for him, yeah, but he does lots for me, too." Like be my friend, which was all I'd ever need from him. I wished there were awards for being the most awesome friend imaginable, so I could nominate him for one. For all of them. "I know how it sounds, but he's actually a really cool guy. If you met him, I think you'd really like him. Who knows, you two might even hit it off."

"What, you mean he might dress me up like a baby hooker and cut me off from the world, too?" She sneered. "Fat fucking chance of that."

"Come on," I pressed. "I've let you talk me into going out with some really sketchy guys over the years. I'm telling you, I think you guys have a lot in common. What could it hurt to meet him? Let me call him. Knox lives around the corner and down the block. He could be here in three minutes." He was actually in my bedroom, peeping on Joanna via the pool security cams, but she didn't need to know that she was being auditioned, too.

Joanna looked like she was going to need more convincing, but to my relief, her face softened, and she relented. "Fine. You know what? I'm actually kind of curious to meet this asshole. I want to know what kind of guy turns my sweet, level-headed friend into a fuck buddy who dresses like a porn star on her way to an audition on the casting couch."

"So you'll meet him?"

"Bring the son of a bitch on," she said, whacking a beach ball out across the deep end.

"Great! Wait here. I'll run inside and call him over. And you want a drink? Margarita?"

"Margarita sounds awesome," she called out after me as I darted inside.

"Well, what'd you think?" I asked Knox as I made my way up to the bedroom, still dripping, shivering from the cool fall air on my almost naked skin.

"OK, you were right. She's definitely super fuckable, OK?"

I squealed in triumph. "I told you!"

"But she justlooks like a bitch. I could see it on her face while you guys were talking about whatever you were talking about, but she has resting bitch face like nobody I've ever seen."

"Oh, don't go so hard on first impressions. She just doesn't like sharing me any more than you do. Come on. I'm making us all drinks. Take a minute to put yourself together, run a comb through your hair maybe, then come down and join us. I told her I was calling you over from home, FYI, just so our stories are straight."

"Fine. Hopefully we'll drive her off soon, because your ass looks crazy fuckable in that bikini."

"Play your cards right, tiger, and who knows, you might just talk Joanna out of hers."

"Yeah, sure."

Poor Knox. The guy didn't have half the self-esteem he ought to. I know it's easy for guys to be intimidated by a fox like Joanna, but I wish I could make him see he's deserving of her. If he isn't, who is? Really, I was more worried Joanna wasn't good enough for Knox. She could be a handful, all right.

I poured the drinks, and waited.

I heard Knox leave through the front door, and sure enough, a moment later he strolled into the back yard through the same gate Joanna had. She was still in the pool, drifting along the edge near the diving board, when she noticed she wasn't alone. She lowered her sunglasses and gazed up at him; I'd known her long enough to know she wasn't impressed by what she saw. I got it. Admittedly, there was something about Knox that was simply a little bit... off. At least on first impression. Maybe it was a warlock thing, or maybe weird bone structure. I didn't know, but I got why she'd made the face she did. Heck, there had been a time I'd been super creeped out by my neighbor, too. Joanna would have to get over it, same as me.

I couldn't hear their conversation, and between the distance and the fading light, there was no reading lips either. Faces I could make out. Joanna, haughty and disdainful, probably making some heavy-handed attempt to defend what she perceived as my besmirched honor. Knox, oscillating between sneer and scowl, no doubt annoyed at being made to. It wasn't her fault. Joanna was doubtless identifying with the part of my friendship with Knox that sometimes bothered me, too - all the groping and sucking and fucking and fingering and spanking and titty-fucking and being jizzed on and called demeaning names and being told how and when to dress or undress and having my body permanently stamped like I was a shipping crate. No relationship was perfect, after all. But she hadn't had a chance to see all the awesome yet, like how he made me smile when he walked into a room, or how close I'd gotten to getting him to take interest in some of the things I liked.

I watched for another minute before I decided I better get out there. It didn't look like things were going well.

"... get off telling Rachel how to dress? Where did you even find a bikini like that, some truck stop sex shop? I don't-"

"Hey guys!" I called out. "I brought the good stuff! Knox, long time no see." I gave him a quick hug as I handed off his beer. Hopefully Joanna didn't see him squeezing my ass as I did so. "Joanna, I see you guys already met, so I guess no need for introductions."

She slid off her floatie and held up a hand for help. I still had our drinks, so Knox actually had to help her. She shot me a look like she begrudged me for having to touch him. Oh, please let this work. I couldn't stand any more months of not seeing my second-best friend, and I definitely couldn't stand the thought of choosing her over Knox.

For a moment, I was about to hand her the drink in my left hand until I remembered myself and offered the right. To think, I came that close to ruining everything!

No more forced small talk. I lifted my drink, and she hers.

"Yech, what the hell is in this?" she said, grimacing.

"Oh, yeah, we were all out of margarita mix, so I had to improvise. Just keep at it." I gulped down the rest of my drink as she eyed me skeptically. "Mmm, yeah, that's what I figured. The tasty stuff sorta sunk to the bottom. Just go fast and try not to think about it."

She didn't see me holding my breath. Knox, beside me, was sipping from his beer bottle, looking profoundly disinterested in the whole exchange. Finally, after a look of suspicion so faint that I might have merely imagined it, she tipped back her glass and chugged. YES! I'd done it! It was all I could do not to jump up and down in glee...

... right up until the moment she passed out.

Knox looked as startled as I did. One moment she was wincing at the foul taste of her drink, and the next, she crumpled onto the pavement. Thank goodness I'd had my eyes trained on her, or she might have really wanged her head! As it was, she still hit the ground pretty hard, and once she was down, she wasn't moving.

"What the... is she OK?" Knox demanded, crouching over her next to me.

"I don't know! This wasn't supposed to happen! Oh my gosh, she's not breathing!" My heart was suddenly racing. What had I done wrong?! "Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh...!"

"Supposed to... what? What do you mean, 'supposed to happen'? Why was something supposed to happen?"

Oh thank goodness Jim had taken me along with him when he got CPR certified back in the spring! I tried to remember the training. Check the area to make sure it was safe. Sure. Of course. Yes. OK, then what? Look for an AED. What? Of course I didn't have an AED! Darn it, Rachel, start pumping and breathing!

Knox didn't interfere, though neither did he help. I tried to do the rhythm we'd been taught,Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. Suddenly the song felt way too slow. She wasn't breathing, for crying out loud!

"Rachel?" Knox was saying. Again? I think he'd said my name a few times now. "Rachel, what in the hell is going on? Why did she pass out? What did you do?" I was too focused on what I was doing to answer, but he grabbed my shoulder and forced me to look at him. "Damn it, answer me, Rach! What in the flying fuck did you do to her?!"

"It was a love potion!" I answered, barely managing not to break down into tears. "You said you wanted... and I knew she wouldn't... unless I..." I broke free from his grip and resumed compressions. It was at least something to do so I didn't panic.

"A love potion? Love potion! What in the hell does a know-nothing bimbo like you know about brewing a love potion!" he thundered. Somehow he sounded more upset by intruding on his expertise than he did at the girl not breathing on the ground.

I responded once I finished breathing into Joanna's mouth. From the taste of things, no wonder she'd rebelled against drinking it. "OK, try not to get mad, but... I went over to your house and looked through some of your things. You had all these notes about it, formulas, a whole chapter of this one book that was very step by step about it all."

"You went through my things!"

More breathing, then back to compressions. "Look, just call 911 already!" Oh god, what if we'd waited too long!

"Rachel, you don't know what you're doing! Do you have any idea what could happen from a normie like you meddling with..." He looked at where I was pounding between Joanna's breasts. "I suppose you know now, at least. How could you have even attempted it? You need materials someone like you couldn't possibly have acquired."

"Knox, I'm sorry, and I really will let you yell at me as much as you want later, but right now, please,please call 911, OK? We need medical assistance! Like,now! She could die!"

"Oh, for fuck's... here, move out of the way." Knox nudged me aside, yet he didn't take over compressions. Instead, he reached into his pocket and started fishing around for something. His phone? Surely he had to realize we needed to keep doing CPR while he called, didn't he? I was about to say as much when he withdrew not his phone, but... what the heck was that? It looked like a crudely constructed figurine of a turtle, or maybe a badger? No, a turtle, about the size of my thumb. It looked like it was made of some sort of pale blue crystal, but the shell was unmistakable. Before I could get a closer look, however, he popped the thing in her mouth and pressed on her chin to close it.

"She's going to choke!" I warned, but he persisted, holding firm. Then there was a sudden burst of blue light from inside her mouth. It was so bright it shined out her mouth, her nostrils, even through her eyes! It was only then that I realized that I was witnessingmagic firsthand - not the magic I'd thought I'd see when I'd fed her my potion, admittedly, but magic nonetheless!

The light faded an instant later, and the yard was once more dark save for the lights filtering out from within the swimming pool. Still, my heart sang with joy as I saw Joanna was at least breathing again. She wasn't moving, but she was breathing.

"Let's get her inside," Knox said. "Then you tell me more about this so-called potion of yours."

"OK." Joanna was coming to, but only barely. We put one of her arms around each of our shoulders and ushered her into the living room. "Thank you, Knox."

"You are such a fucking idiot, they ought to require some sort of license to be allowed to sit in the same room with you," said Knox once I'd explained everything. Joanna had passed out on the couch in the living room, and like he'd said, she hadn't moved, nor even opened her eyes. Every so often I checked to make sure she was breathing.

"I know. I'm so sorry. I really thought I could do it. With all your notes, it seemed so straightforward! I found these warlock discord channels and they helped me translate some of the ingredients into conventional terms. You'd spelled things out so well I didn't even need much help. Were... were you thinking of making one yourself? The rest of your book didn't have anywhere near that many notes in it."

"I... thought about it, yeah, once upon a time," he said, frowning. "Interesting theory work is all."

I put a hand on his knee. "It's OK to admit you're lonely, bud. You don't have to play tough guy with me. Heck, I know how you're feeling better than anybody." The truth was, with the voracity of his sexual appetites, it had been clear to me for some time that he was in desperate need of real companionship, the sort of closeness I could never give him.

"Look, whatever, Dr. Freud. The point is, these notes were written to make sense to me - a professional, an authentic warlock. Not you. Fuck, if you found some blueprints for a nuclear reactor, would you just pick up hammer and nails and a little uranium and try to cobble one together?" His glare was positively scathing. "You might have followed the recipe, more or less, but even if you'd gotten it all right - which I seriously doubt - you don't have the necessary arcane spark to complete the transmogrification."

"Hey, I know that word. Isn't that from Cal-"

"It's been borrowed by myriad spurious sources over the centuries. Anyway, if what you said is true, the potion you brewed... it could have done a hundred different things on a huge spectrum, depending on how badly you botched the preparation. She would have been as apt to want to eat me as fuck me!"

"Botched... but Knox, I used your hair sample, your semen. Boiled and pressed and grinded and combined, all exactly like it said. I reached out to people, got help, did it just how the videos showed me, and-"

"Spoken like the pleb that you are," he said curtly. "The 'donor' is the person who provides the sample to the potion, not the person from whom it originates. I'd have to give it knowingly in order to serve as the donor. Hell, when I made it for... for my trial run, I had to do this whole routine where I pretended to be from a urinalysis lab, and... you don't want to know."

I nodded. "Ew. I had to do one of those tests at work back in the spring. I had to sign all these release forms and everything - that kind of thing can't be easy to pose for."

"I assure you, it was not. Anyway it shouldn't matter now. The dispelling talisman - the thing I put in her mouth - should have cleared it out of her system. You two were lucky as hell I was carrying one, but I've learned that's something no warlock should walk around without. I have no idea what the fuck you're going to tell her when she wakes up, but at least she should be OK. Your recipe wasn't a very strong one."

Uh oh. "Oh. Right."

"Look, I don't want to be here when she wakes up, so whatever bullshit you spin for her, leave me the hell out of it. Swing by once she leaves so I can give that tight little backside of yours a few reminders about who's the warlock around here."

I hugged him goodbye, giggling softly as he smacked my ass goodbye.

Now, I realize the right thing to do was probably to stop him and confess about how the warlocks I'd consulted online had told me pretty much the same thing, that what I was brewing was way too weak considering my untested aptitude and lack of experience. So I had done what any well-intended match-maker would do when their best friend's happiness was on the line.