Ms Valentine, my English teacher next year, had assigned Link’s short story, “Magic for Beginners,” for us to read over the summer and to write ...n essay about it. She said we’d talk about the story in class the first week. Her email didn’t tell us what we were supposed to write about or even how much.I’d read the story twice and I still didn’t get it. I mean, on the one hand it was wonderful. That’s a funny word to describe a story about really odd people, kids and adults, who are fans of this. "This is Ray," she said, "indicating a grey haired man in a black tuxedositting opposite me.He took my hand and kissed the back of it. "That is a most stunningdress, Victoria" he said, "don't you think so, Cindy?" I saw it at Stella's. It looked pretty amazing on the hanger, but,once you wear it, that's a whole different ball game," said Cindy, "whenI saw it, I just knew how you would look in it, and I was right, infact, you look even better than I had imagined! Stella will be veryimpressed. Last Saturday, and the one before that, we managed to meet at the park just at twilight and spend an hour in our secret place.And last Saturday marked a new turn in our relationship. As we grew increasingly comfortable with being close to each other, Julie has allowed me more liberties. Gradually, we have let our bodies touch. I remember the thrill I felt the first time Julie leaned against me and touched my arm with her breast. Always before, we had quickly moved apart, embarrassed. But that. Proving herself to be the friend I knew her to be, she offered to cancel a trip to the theatre that night to come around and keep me company. I explained that I was feeling a lot better than expected and there was no need to cancel her night out. She was dubious about my answer but agreed that she and Sam would be round tomorrow evening.The next hour was spent soaking in a very hot bath, with my landline unplugged and my mobile switched off. As usual, I took a book, Terry Pratchett's 'Going.