Wake up and smell the Tree-Surprise!

An insistent buzzing winds its way into my consciousness. I blink blearily into the semi-darkness of my bedroom, trying to make out the source of the noise. Derek's arms tighten around me instinctively, his breath warm against the back of my neck. He's been a super clingy sleeper since he came back and I really want to like it more than I do.

My phone rattles against the nightstand. I twist awkwardly, extracting myself from Derek's grip to grab it. Kaylee's name is displayed on the screen. Something inside me twinges, a weird sense of foreboding. A non-verbal full body uh-oh. Kaylee calling in the early hours of the morning? It can't mean anything good.

"Kay?" My voice is thick with sleep; it's a struggle to get out the one syllable.

"You need to get over here," Kaylee says, her voice breathless with agitation. "Like right now!"

I sit up, my heart instantly in overdrive. "What's going on? Is everything okay?" I want to ask so many more questions, but Kaylee doesn't give me time.

"You just... you have to see this," she blurts, a tremor in her voice. "I can't explain it. Just come. Now."

"Kaylee—"

"Skye," she cuts me off, definitely not taking no for an answer. "Seriously. No one died, no one is injured, but this is majorly weird and I need another set of eyeball to make sure I'm not hallucinating. Get over here! I'll be in the backyard."

The call disconnects, leaving me staring at the screen. The clock reads 7:14 a.m.

"What's wrong?" Derek asks groggily, propping himself up on one elbow. His hair falls into his eyes as he squints at me.

"I don't know." I swing my legs over the side of the bed. "But apparently Kaylee needs me to come over right away."

He frowns. "Has something happened? Want me to come with you?"

"No, it's fine." I grab a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt from the closet and start putting them on. "I'll be back soon."

He watches me, a flicker of concern in his eyes, but I'm already heading for the door. Then I race back for my phone and my keys. Derek uses that moment to grab me and plant a kiss on my mouth which reminds me to dip into the bathroom to brush my teeth for all of thirty seconds, before finally making it outside.

*

The whole trip to Kaylee's my mind is racing. I feel like texting or calling her again to press for an explanation, but I know she won't relent. Whatever this is, she's already told me she needs me to see it with my own eyes. I hate that. I love spoilers. I'd never watch a horror movie without reading the plot summary on wikipedia first.

God, I hope this isn't a horror movie scenario. I push the thought away and try to calm myself down. Kaylee said no one was hurt. It's just something weird.

The spell...

I half-run from the train station to Kaylee's parents' house, then hold my breath as I see Kaylee waiting in front of the door. She's in sweats, wearing the dorky glasses she only puts on when she doesn't have time for contacts and her hair is standing up in all directions like she just got out of bed. She keeps shifting from one foot to the other nervously, but as soon as she notices me, she starts waving, her face breaking into a manic grin.

"Skye! Come on!" She has me by the arm before I make it over the threshold and pulls me after her into the backyard where her parents used to have barbecues with the entire neighborhood. I only see the familiar neatly mowed grass and the swing dangling from the old oak tree.

"Kaylee, what the hell—"

She points without a word.

I follow her gaze and freeze.

Hanging from a thick branch about ten feet off the ground is a bright red Adidas sports bag. It swings gently from its straps. My mouth falls open.

A breeze rustles through the branches, and as if on cue, a single dollar bill flutters loose and floats lazily to the ground.

I can't fathom what my eyes are seeing.

"What..." I trail off, my brain struggling to process the implications of this. "How?"

Kaylee turns to me, eyes wide and gleaming with a mixture of exhilaration and fear. "You know how, right? I mean we know!" She giggles and the sound startles me out of my near-catatonic state of shock. She's right, of course. I do know. But I don't want to know.

I swallow hard, my pulse racing. The spell. The stupid spell.

"A million and one dollars?" I whisper into the quiet backyard. It feels like the world has stopped turning, like everything has gone still and silent while I struggle not to lose my grip. "That's... I mean, that's crazy. This can't be real."

Kaylee lets out a shaky laugh as she bends down and picks up the dollar note. She holds it in front of her face. Rubs it between her thumb and forefinger. Waves it in front of my face. "Looks real, feels real..."

George Washington stares at me with what feels like disdain.

Kaylee and I both look up when another dollar bill flutters towards us like a leaf, settling on the grass between us.

"What the actual fuck?" Kaylee breathes, her voice awed, her grin still firmly in place. She looks like a kid on Christmas morning. "We gotta get this down and up to my room before my parents wake up."

I can't answer. All I can do is stare at the bag, my chest tight with disbelief and fear while Kaylee shoves the first bill into her pocket.

Magic isn't real. It can't be real. I don't want it to be real because if it is...

No, I can't accept this. I squeeze my eyes shut, hold my breath, but when I open them, Kaylee's grabbed onto a branch, searching for a foothold on the massive trunk of the oak, and the bag is still there, shiny red and hemorrhaging money. I swallow against the huge lump in my throat. Part of me wants to stop her, wants to beg her to ignore this and come hide with me.

But Kaylee is simply climbing the tree, her eyes on the prize.