Behind The Mask: Chapter 3

Will sat on his couch, holding Maize's phone number. He'd been staring at it for about five minutes now, considering if this was what he truly wanted to do. Today was his day off from work and he spent most of it relaxing at home. When it became night, he decided it was time to message Maize. He retrieved the number from his desk and sat down to text her, but now he was stalling. Will was scared to let someone see the real him again. Could he really trust Maize? What if this was all an elaborate prank? 

" Ah, screw it. Wondering will drive me crazy. I'm just gonna do it. " he thought, typing her number into his phone. 

" Hey, Maize. It's Will from the other night. I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get together tonight? " 

He sent the message feeling quite nervous. A couple minutes later, he got a reply. 

" Sure. I'm free. How about you come over to my place this time though? " 

Will wasn't expecting that, but he didn't have a problem with it. 

" Okay. I can do that. Where do you live? " 

Maize sent him her address and told him to wait five minutes before coming over. He said he would and locked his phone. Looking down at his clothes, a t-shirt and gym shorts, he realized he needed to change. 

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Will arrived at Maize's apartment twenty minutes later. She didn't live far from him at all. He'd changed into jeans and a clean t-shirt. Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and knocked on the door. Within moments, the door opened. 

" Hi, Will! I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon. Come in. " Maize said, stepping aside. 

" Hey. " he replied, entering her apartment. 

Maize's apartment was much larger than his own. Just the living room alone was almost as big as his whole apartment. All of the furniture and appliances looked like they were fairly expensive. To his left was a wooden dining table with six chairs. There was only a table pushed up against the wall with some plants and unlit candles to his right. 

The living room had a dark blue couch with a blanket covering it and two plush chairs on its left and right. A huge flat screen TV and entertainment center were up against the far wall with a tall DVD rack next to it. The far wall also had two windows that looked out onto the street below. There was a hallway on the left that he assumed lead to the kitchen, bathroom, and Maize's bedroom. 

" Wow. This is a nice place. " Will said, looking around. 

" Thanks. My mother insists on sending me money every few months, so I put it to good use. " she said, not sounding entirely happy about it. 

He made a mental note not to ask about her mom. Will turned back to her and saw she was leaning against the front door with her arms crossed over her chest. Maize was wearing a gray tank top and purple, flannel pajama pants. Her hair was loose and hanging around her shoulders. He looked down for a second and saw her bare feet peeking out of the pants. He briefly wondered why he had gotten dressed if she was just wearing pajamas. 

" So, why did you want to see me? Were you wanting to have some fun again? " she asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning. 

" Um, no. Well... I don't know. Maybe? I was thinking we could talk and get to know each other. I know nothing about you and you know my biggest secret. " 

" That's fair. There's something I need to tell you anyways. Let's sit on the couch. Can I get you a drink? " 

" Sure. I'll take some water, please. " 

" Coming right up. " Maize said, walking down the hallway and turning left. 

Will sat down on the couch, wondering what she wanted to tell him. She came back out and handed him a glass of water before sitting next to him. 

" What was it you wanted to tell me? " he asked and sipped some water. 

Maize took a deep breath and looked him dead in the eye with a serious expression. 

" Okay. You're probably not going to believe any of this, but I want you to try to stick with me. Can you do that? " 

" Okay. I'll try... " he said, confused yet interested at the same time. 

" The other night at the bar I didn't just decide to talk to you at random. I chose you for a reason. I chose you because I could hear your thoughts. You sounded really depressed, so I wanted to cheer you up. " 

Will almost wanted to laugh, but her serious expression stopped him from doing it. This had to be a joke. 

" You... heard my thoughts? " he said disbelievingly. 

" Yes. And that's not all. You weren't as drunk as you thought you were that night. I kind of... influenced your mind. I made you more willing to do things you wouldn't normally do. That's why you acted on your foot fetish without caring. It wasn't the alcohol. I knew that's what you wanted and I wanted to make you happy. I also made my feet bigger when I was giving you the foot job. " 

The joke officially wasn't funny anymore. 

" You influenced my mind. What are you even trying to say? That you're some kind of witch or something?! " he asked, standing up in a huff. 

" Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. I'm a witch, Will. " Maize said, getting up as well. 

" Alright. I've heard enough. Thanks for the other night, but please don't try to talk to me again. I hope you had fun messing with the weirdo. " 

Will began walking to the door. As he neared it, the table that had been against the wall moved in front of the door seemingly by itself. All of the candles on the table suddenly lit as if by magic. He froze in place, just staring at the table blocking his path. 

" I'm not messing with you. It's the truth. " 

He turned around to find her standing right in front of him. 

" No way. There is no such thing as witches. That's all make believe and fairy tales. " he said, subconsciously taking a step back. 

Maize grinned in response and one of the candles came floating over his shoulder then stopped in mid-air between them. 

" I was planning on easing you into this, but I couldn't let you leave. Witches are real and I'm one of them. " 

Will looked at the floating candle, unable to believe what he was seeing. 

" This is all an elaborate trick, right? I'm on some new prank show? " 

" Nope. This isn't a trick. There are no wires or anything. Check for yourself. " 

He waved his hands all around the candle and found nothing to make him think it was a trick. 

" Holy shit. You're serious? You are a witch... " he whispered, starting to feel slightly lightheaded. 

" Yes. I would show you some more magic, but I think I'll hold off for now. Come on. You should sit down. " she said, walking over to the couch. 

He followed her without a word and plopped into a seat. 

" I imagine you have a million questions in your head right now. I'm completely willing to answer all of them. Fire away. " Maize offered, sitting in one of the chairs. 

Will didn't say anything for a few minutes. He was too busy trying to wrap his head around all of it. Witches were real and one of them had given him a magical toe job. One question kept running through his mind and that's the one he asked. 

" Everything you said about wanting to make me happy, that was true too? " 

" Yes. " 

" Why me? Why did you care about making me happy so much? I'm just a random guy whose thoughts you read in some bar. A guy with a foot fetish. Why did you choose me? " he asked, looking her right in the eyes. 

" In your mind, you think of yourself as someone wearing a mask to hide who you really are. I know what it's like to hide who you are. As a witch, I've had to do it my whole life. I wanted to give you a chance to be yourself without worrying. " Maize explained. 

" Oh. Thank you. " Will replied, unsure of what else to say. 

" You're welcome. You must have some more questions than that though. Keep asking. " 

He rubbed his chin with his hand, thinking of more questions. 

" Okay... What can you do with magic? What are the limits? " 

" Hmmm... I guess it would be easier to tell you what I can't do. Magic can't mess with time. We can't go into the future or past and we can't freeze time. I can't bring someone back from the dead, but I can heal someone to a certain degree. Minor injuries and stuff like that. I can't cure terminal illnesses or heal mortal injuries. Witches have our own laws just like normal people do. We can't just go around and do whatever we want all the time. If someone breaks our laws, we have our own version of police to arrest them. We're technically not supposed to interfere in the lives of normal people, but no one really follows that rule. As long as we don't permanently harm them, they let it slide. " 

" Wow... Okay. You said before that you could hear my thoughts. So you can read minds? " 

" Yes, but I haven't done it the entire time you've been here. I can control it. " she assured him. 

" I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I guess it's not important. You also said that made your feet bigger the other night. Does that mean you can control your size? " 

" I can control pretty much anything's size. Shrinking and growing. One of the few things I can't change is another witch. Some of our powers don't work on other witches. That would require a potion. " 

Will's mind briefly went to standing in front of Maize's feet at only a few inches tall. He could actually live out the stories he read online. He pushed the thought away because now was not the time for it. 

" I think I need a minute to let this sink in. This is a lot to take in all at once. " he said, leaning back on the couch. 

" Of course. How about you hold on to the rest of your questions and if you stick around long enough, you'll see what I can do for yourself. " 

" Okay. So... Where do we go from here? " 

" There's one more thing I need to tell you first. You can't tell anyone that I'm a witch. Not even your best friend. No one would probably believe you, but you never know who might hear it through the grapevine. If certain people found out, it could be dangerous for me. If you tell anybody, I'll have to erase your memory. " 

" Whoa, what? Erase my memory? Like Men in Black? " he interjected. 

" No. I don't have a neuralyzer, Will. I would just erase all your memories of me. You'd go on with your life like you never met me afterwards. " 

" I swear I won't tell anyone. We both know one of each other's secrets now. It's fair. " 

" Good. Now that you know everything you need to, I can tell you my idea. " Maize said, moving to the spot next to him on the couch. 

" What idea? " Will asked. 

" When I read your mind that night at the bar, I learned a lot about you. Specifically, about your friend Rebecca and your crush on her. " 

" Oh. Could you do me a favor and not read my mind anymore? Like ever? It's too weird. " 

" Sure. I still might do it accidentally sometimes though. Force of habit. Anyways, my idea is to help you tell Rebecca about your foot fetish and ask her out. " 

" Ummm... I don't know, Maize. I'm not ready for that yet. What if she thinks I'm a creep? " he said, scratching the back of his head. 

" That's why I'm going to help you. I want you to be able to be yourself without worrying. You're not just going to come right out and tell her. We're going to work up to that. Besides, if it doesn't go well I can erase her memory. " 

Will hadn't thought about that. Maize was offering to help him do what he'd been afraid to for years now. Her magic could really be helpful too. Considering everything there was only one logical choice. 

" Alright. Let's give it a shot. I have nothing to lose I guess. " 

" Great! You won't regret it, I promise. " she said, grabbing his arm in excitement. 

" What do we do now? Should I go home and we can talk earlier tomorrow? " 

" We could have some fun. " she offered, giving him that mischievous grin that he was starting to recognize. 

" What did you have in mind? " he asked, feeling excited and nervous at the same time.