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Authors: Chanda Hahn

Fairest (20 page)

BOOK: Fairest
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Mina stared at where the mirror had hung and was confused by the plain blank wall behind it. She looked around at the shards of mirror on the floor and didn’t see a single reflection of Jared in any of them. She put the vase back down on the counter and stepped back to the floor. Letting her back slide against the cupboards, she sank into the mess of glass. Not caring about her scratched and bleeding hands, she picked up a piece of the mirror and called Jared’s name. Nothing. He didn’t appear. He was gone.

 

Footsteps sounded loudly on the stairs, and the bathroom door flew open. Dr. Martin came into the bathroom and wrestled the piece of glass out of her hands. Mina argued with him and tried to get it back.

 

“Stop it!” he commanded angrily. “I will not let you harm yourself. Do you understand? I don’t care what happened; it is no reason to take your own life.” He reached for a towel and pressed it against the cut across her palm.

 

Mina stilled at his words. He thought she had broken the mirror and was trying to commit suicide. It was completely absurd, but she couldn’t argue when the evidence spoke against her.

 

“No, it’s not what it looks like! I wasn’t trying to- I don’t know how to explain- I wasn’t…” She bit her lip when he pulled open a drawer and poured peroxide on the cut. He began to wrap the wound with bandages from the same drawer. She had to hand it to him; the good doctor sure did keep his supplies stocked.

 

He paused and looked at her carefully. “Then try and explain what happened here. Otherwise, I’m calling your mom and you are going home. I don’t care if you are Nan’s best friend. I don’t want her hanging out with someone that is a bad influence.” On the word influence, he pulled the bandage a little too tight and her leg flinched and she thumped her head against the bathroom cabinet in sudden surprise from the pain.

 

“Ow!” she mumbled, rubbing her head carefully. “Would you believe that I am just that clumsy?”

 

“Then what was with the glass?” He held the piece of mirror that he had taken from her; it still had a few specks of blood on it. But it gave Mina the proof she needed.

 

“It’s only spots of blood. I was washing my hands when the mirror detached from the wall and fell on me. I used my hands to protect my head when it fell. Look around. Other than a few scratches from the glass on the outside of my arms, I have no injuries. I cut the inside of my palm when I tried to clean up the mess. That’s when you came in.”

 

She held out her arms, exposing her wrists and flipping them to show the back of her hands. “All the damage is on the back of my hands. Proof I wasn’t trying to hurt myself. You have to believe me when I say I am extremely clumsy and have inherent bad luck.”

 

“Hmm,” he intoned, before slowly regarding the bathroom and broken mirror thoughtfully.

 

“Where’s Nan?” Mina asked quickly before he accused her of anything else.

 

Dr. Martin didn’t look at her; he continued to scrutinize the wall where the mirror had hung earlier. She could tell he was weighing the possibilities, still deciding if he was going to believe her. “Out on the dock with Veronica--they are getting ready for a boat ride.”

 

“Oh,” Mina moaned sadly. She was surprised that her best friend had left the house without telling her. It was obvious Nan had forgotten about her; she was preoccupied.

 

“Come on,” he mumbled and pulled her up to her feet. “She wouldn’t let Veronica take off without you.  It’s getting dark soon, and then we have to light the bonfire.”

 

 Her spirits lifted instantly.

 

He held stubbornly onto her shoulder when she tried to move away. She looked at him, and he spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. “I don’t believe you are telling me the whole truth, but I want you to know that I love Veronica and her daughter like my own. If you do anything to influence Nan or cause her harm, there will be serious consequences.”

 

“I understand, but let me--” Mina started.

 

Dr. Martin held up his hand, cutting her off. “This conversation is over.” He held the door open and waited for Mina to pass through it first. She couldn’t help but pick up her pace and practically ran down the stairs out of the house, feeling duly chastised and ashamed.

 

She ran past the students gathering by the bonfire and felt the sting of tears. She would not cry. It was stupid to cry.

 

Veronica waved at Mina when she made it to the dock.  “There you are, sweetie. We were worried about you,” Veronica called out kindly; her long blonde hair was braided into a single plait over her shoulder. With the excitement of being on the speedboat making her cheeks flushed, she looked very much like Nan at the moment. Nan, on the other hand, was sitting on the bench wearing a red polka dot swimsuit and engaged with every word that Peter spoke.

 

But it was just the two young people with Veronica; Brody wasn’t on the boat. She wasn’t sure why, but she had assumed he would take the boat ride with them. She turned and scanned the dock and saw Brody by the unlit bonfire with Savannah and Pri. Dr. Martin had just joined them by the bonfire and was arranging the kindling to get it started.

 

Mina was about to change her mind and get off the boat, but Veronica started the engine and backed away from the dock. It was too late. Great, Mina thought wryly to herself. Now she was going to be stuck on a boat ride with two love birds. How awkward. She desperately wished she was back on dry land. The ride would be beautiful; the sun was setting and was the perfect backdrop to a magically romantic evening for Nan and Peter. Mina could see how awestruck Nan was by Peter, and he seemed to be equally entranced with Nan.

 

The two of them were holding hands, and he was whispering into her ear, neither one of them paying any attention to the inspiring sunset. When they had pulled far enough away from land, Veronica took the boat as fast as it could. Circling back around the lake, riding the crests of their previous waves, the boat would lift off of the water over and over.

 

Nan and Peter screamed in excitement holding their hands above their heads in triumph, similar to riding a roller coaster. Mina held onto the seat and hated every minute of it. She hated her circumstances, her lot in life, and was even beginning to hate Nan’s absolute luck with finding a boyfriend. Mina thought the second time around would be easier for her and Brody to start over, but it was proving more difficult. She felt her fingernails dig into the leather seat angrily.

 

It wasn’t fair. What was different this time? Was it because she wasn’t rich? Or maybe it was because she wasn’t pretty enough. Why couldn’t she have been born rich or with Nan’s good looks? She heard Nan laugh out loud, and it made her cringe in annoyance. The boat ride was becoming torture. She couldn’t even look at her best friend without feeling anger, regret for even coming, and a twinge of jealousy. Nan had it so easy; she just happened to sit next to a rock star and get accidentally kissed in a spur-of-the-moment incident and now she had a boyfriend. She was free to live her life without the threat of a family curse over her head. Free to argue with her parents over what college to attend when Mina didn’t even know if she would live long enough to go to college. Free to date anyone without fear of being attacked by the Fae.

 

The feelings of dissatisfaction and jealousy hit her like a painful stab in the stomach, and Mina felt like she was going to be sick. She motioned to Veronica who saw how green Mina had become and turned the boat toward the dock.

 

“Why are we going in?” Nan asked confused.

 

Veronica called back over her shoulder, “Mina is going to be sick. I think we’ve had enough for the night. It’s time to get back for the s’mores anyway.” She managed to bring the boat around, cut the motor easily and glide in the rest of the way to the dock.

 

Nan was visibly upset and kept casting Mina accusing glances. Mina didn’t need to wonder what those looks meant. Since they had been best friends for years, she knew that Nan blamed Mina for robbing her of her alone time with Peter. What could she say except that Mina didn’t really care?  As soon as Dr. Martin ran down the dock to help tie up the boat, Mina was off the boat and up the dock in a split second.

 

She wanted to get away, to go home. This was not how she pictured the night turning out. But when Mina passed the bonfire, it was impossible to miss the three new latecomers that had arrived.  Especially, when one had spiked skunk like hair and they made enough noise to raise the dead. The rest of the members of the Dead Prince Society were there, and the party really seemed to be getting underway.

 

Music was blasting. Magnus was once again eating his way through the food on the picnic table. Naga had found extension cords, had run them from the house and hooked up their amplifiers to their guitars. Constantine had brought out his bass for an impromptu music jam. The students were screaming and crowding the band; Naga and Constantine were standing on a table shredding and making a lot of noise that to them was music.

 

Mina stood off in the distance watching with mixed emotions. Nan and Peter ran up the dock to greet them excitedly. Dr. Martin pulled Nan aside and waved his hands angrily, obviously upset at the party crashers. Mina could see Nan throw her hands on her hips and yell back. Veronica came to her daughter’s rescue, and the argument came to a close. Dr. Martin shook his head, in annoyance, and stormed off into the house. Veronica and her daughter rushed over to the tables and watched as Peter joined his band mates in the impromptu concert. Instantly, his persona changed and he was once again Valdemar.

 

Brody was right up front, jumping and singing along with Nan. Mina felt utterly alone and forgotten. What happened to this night? It was supposed to be fun, and now she felt like an outcast. She hated it here. Anger stirred in her, and Mina grabbed a bunch of grapes off of the nearest table and pulled one off to chuck at a tree. No one noticed except for Magnus, who mumbled something about wasting food. He didn’t seem inclined to join his band mates in the merrymaking. Everyone else was distracted by the concert. Feeling only slightly appeased at the sudden release of energy gained by throwing the food, she grabbed another item and tossed it again. Angrily, she began to throw grape after grape aiming for a tree, imagining it was Savannah White. It felt good to throw food at her imaginary enemy. But soon her target had Nan’s smiling face on it.

 

Not feeling at all surprised by the direction her mind was taking, Mina reached for something bigger to throw. She gripped the large projectile, took aim, and was about to release it when a hand reached out and stopped her wrist mid-throw, the red apple still clutched in her palm.

 

Magnus grabbed her wrist and pulled the apple from her hand. Although he was strong, he didn’t hurt her. “Don’t let your jealousy and anger rule your emotions,” he said in a soft voice. “Nothing good will ever come of it.” He raised the apple to his own mouth and took a bite. The soft crunch of apple between his teeth made Mina reflect on what she was doing. It didn’t have the intended effect. Instead of feeling ashamed, she felt more anger.

 

“You know nothing about what I’m feeling or thinking. No one knows what I’m going through. So don’t go all Dalai Lama on me.” She stormed off toward the house, breathing hard from her resentment.

 

She felt the tingle of power begin to gather around her when she reached the front porch. Normally, feeling the power of the Story would make her scared.  This time she was too angry to care. She turned toward the bonfire. The light from the fire illuminated the happy, smiling faces of the students as they partied, danced, and sang. She could see them all: Brody, Savannah, T.J., Frank, Steve, Pri and the others, but her focus drifted toward Nan and stayed there. How could her friend be so oblivious? She was so enraptured in her new guy that she was ignoring her best friend. At that moment, Mina was filled with resentment toward them all and jealousy toward her friend.

 

“I wish it would rain.” Mina mumbled under her breath, “then they would all leave and I could have my best friend back.”

 

Instantly, static raced through her fingers and she felt it through every inch of her body. It made the hair on the back of her arms stand on end. Clouds formed out of nothing, covering the stars and the moon. The breeze shifted on the lake, bringing a cold northern wind. The smell that precedes a thunderstorm perforated the air followed by a crack of thunder.

 

Students screamed in fright. They looked up as another crack of lightning arced across the sky. Immediately, the band unplugged their instruments as the first droplets of water began to pour down on the crowd.  In seconds, everyone was drenched. Mina watched, feeling somewhat smug as Savannah raced for cover and reached the porch looking like a sopping mess. Most of the students raced for the covered porch: others, for their cars. When the storm didn’t let up, the majority of the students went home. Not even being in the welcoming lodge appeased the teenagers wearing, water-logged shoes and clothes.

 

Mina stayed away from everyone, scared and exhilarated at what had happened. Had she just manipulated the power of the Story into creating a storm? It sure felt like it, but why? Why would she have the power to control the weather, especially when she didn’t have the Grimoire? It gave her plenty to think about. She smiled somewhat slyly and headed up to her guest room. She didn’t want to spend any more time with Nan and her boyfriend, and Brody hadn’t made a single move to speak to her.

BOOK: Fairest
6.23Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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