Free Trouble's Brewing (Stirring Up Trouble) by Juli Alexander

had escaped. This one had been okay. Not my best, but acceptable. The two that followed went in as easily.
    I had turned to share a smile with Dr. Finnegan when I felt the brief sensation of fur against my skin and turned back. Then I saw Jasmine on the counter by the stove. She was in motion, rapidly approaching the cauldron.
    “Oh my,” Dr. Finnegan said. “The cat’s meow must have—”
    I grabbed the cat with both hands and turned, swinging her around to keep her from ruining the potion. I didn’t realize I was going to impact Dr. Finnegan until I saw him duck as I swung her over him.
    I ran to the back door, opened it with my elbow, and tossed her outside.
    Jasmine was not happy.
    I shut the door, and bracing myself, turned to see what damage I had done to my tutor.
    Dr. Finnegan stood by the stove, an expression of disbelief on his face.
    His laughter started deep in his chest and rumbled up and out into the room. I laughed so hard that I had to gasp for air.
    “I’m so sorry,” I said. Gasp. “I nearly killed you.” Gasp.
    Dr. Finnegan had nearly been sliced to bits by Jasmine’s claws. Yet he’d doubled over laughing.
    Mom’s form appeared in the doorway to the living room. She opened her mouth and then closed it.
    The confused, slightly fearful look in her eyes struck me as fiercely comical, and I pointed at her as my laughter gained steam.
    Dr. Finnegan saw Mom and collapsed into a second fit.
    Mom stood taking us in, and she smiled. “Clearly the session is going well.”
    Our laughter wound down, only moments before totally incapacitating us, and Dr. Finnegan finally answered her.
    “If I hadn’t made this selfish decision,” he said, motioning to his younger body, “you’d have a bloody, feeble ninety-five-year-old man teetering around your kitchen on weak legs right about now.”
    “Your reflexes were impressive,” I said. “You ducked before I knew what I was doing.” A couple more giggles escaped.
    When we finally explained the situation to my mother, she shook her head. “We didn’t even think about Jasmine’s reaction to the cat’s meow. She’s never done it before.”
    “I’ve never used three in a row before either,” I said.
    My mother eyed the discarded cans on the counter. “Can you continue with the potion? Or has it been sitting too long?”
    “It’s fine,” Dr. Finnegan and I said in unison.
    “I’ll let you get back to it then,” she said.
    Even though I hadn’t expected my first try to yield any positive results, I found myself disappointed when the mixture burned up rather than changing colors and reducing. A girl could hope.
    “Sorry it wasn’t more exciting to watch,” I told Dr. Finnegan.
    “I found your process intriguing, Zoe. Experimentation is about trying, not all about succeeding.”
    True.
    “Besides, I suspect that I’d have broken a few ribs laughing that hard in my old body. It’s nice to have the reminder of the positives from my selfish move. And you know what they say about laughter?”
    “It’s the best medicine?”
    “Indeed.”
    We cleaned up the mess, neutralized the pots, and poured the radiation potion into the jar.
    “You must have known you’d be performing acrobatics today,” I said, motioning toward his running shoes and shorts.
    “I do apologize for my informal dress. I need to go shopping later today for some appropriate cold weather wear. Jeans, I suppose.”
    “You have to buy a whole winter wardrobe? You are so lucky.”
    “I don’t feel lucky,” he grumbled. “When I purchased the clothing for warm weather, I ended up following a group of teens around the store and grabbing everything that they looked at.” He signed. “Unless they laughed. If they picked it up and laughed, I left it be.”
    “Good call,” I said.
    Finn chuckled. “I guess you love to shop.”
    “Not exactly. At least, nowhere near as much as my mother does.”
    “I despise the entire endeavor. Shopping is another reminder of the