Opportunity favors the prepared. She stood up, smoothing her sleek clothing down over her curves, and pulled back the hood of her deep green UVM sweatshirt, shaking her long, black tresses out for full effect.

The target moved closer, following the pack of chattering youth, a bemused look on his face as the herd blocked and slowed his forward progress.

Her best approach would be to start forward just about—now. She took a step.

“Lilly!” a familiar voice said, her head snapping around to see the target’s best friend heading in a straight line for her from another direction. She turned back to the witch, but his obstructing clump of underclassmen had stopped in place and he had opted to step out into the main road to get around them, timing his passing with a lull in traffic. It put him furthest away from her, blocked almost from sight.

“Lilly, I thought that was you,” her own obstruction said, arriving by her side. He was Plan B, yet he had just ruined her hunt.

“Mack. What brings you out at night?” she asked.

He pulled back at her tone, which was a touch sharp.

“Heading to the library to study. Finance test tomorrow. You?” He watched her carefully, a Starbucks cup in his right hand.

“Oh, pretty much the same,” she said, smiling brightly to take the sting from her earlier response. An idea occurred to her. “I was just taking a moment to, you know, collect myself. I like to watch people. Like that clump of kids over there. They’re like so, extra, with all that laughter and energy.” She pointed at the group but her finger was aimed right at the witch, perfectly visible on the other side, his height putting him above the kids between them.

Mack started to look where she wanted him to, right at his friend, the very one with the bag he wanted her to see.

“Shit, this coffee is hot,” he said suddenly before his head had turned fully. He shifted hands, fingers slipping on the slick cup, and a jet of coffee shot out of the opening in the plastic lid. Reflexes pulled her out of the path of the dark fluid before any could splash on her.

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry. Did I get you? No? You’re pretty quick,” he said, checking her up and down for coffee stains.

She glanced up at her target, but he had moved in front of the gaggle of kids and now they had started forward again, completely blocking him from view.

Fully annoyed now, she turned back to Mack, who had put the cup down and was wrapping a bandanna around it. “Sorry. Should have done that as soon as I got it. Or better yet, grabbed one of those cardboard sleeves,” he said. “Hey, are you alright? You look upset.”