Not Your Average Fairy Tale (Not Your Average Fairy Tale #1) (8 page)

"Come on, let's go," she said, grabbing us each by the arm.

She steered us past a group of elves, several fairies, and a few sirens sitting near the fountain at the center of the room. One of the sirens, Clarissa, I think, winked at me.

"Hey, Ash." Her violet eyes glowed softly, and she ran her fingers through her dark hair. It was enough to make any male lose his mind, but I knew better. I rolled my eyes, not falling for her tricky siren ways, and was grateful they had a ban on singing near water in our world. Half the guys in the room would have drowned by now.

Misty took us over to the corner where Sinna and a bunch of other dryads gathered. They each held cups full of golden sap, and had flowers in their hair.

Sinna stood when she saw me. Her willowy body all but floated over to us. "Ash, I didn't think you'd come," she said. Her voice was soft, melodic. I tried to avoid her stare.

"Happy Birthday, Sinna. How old are you now? Two hundred?" Sam asked.

"One ninety-nine," she said, beaming. Quite young, for a dryad. She'd only been at the Academy for a year or so.

"You look great." I took in her long red dress, her almost-white hair that hung past her waist. She did look good. At her knowing smile, I glanced away, feeling my face heat up.

"You like?" she asked.

I cleared my throat and wondered why Kendall's face kept invading my thoughts.

"Of course. How could anyone not think you're beautiful?"

She sidled up to me and ran a finger across my cheek. "We could go back to my tree." She leaned in to whisper in my ear. "You could show me your wings."

I jerked away.

"Wouldn't that be special!"

I tensed at the sound of Dax's voice.

"The party’s already crashed and I haven't even gotten my dance on," Sam said, glaring at him.

Dax grinned. "I like Sinna's idea." He walked over and slid an arm around her waist. She squealed, her face turning red. "Let's see fairy boy's wings."

I heard chuckles all around the room, and I tried to keep myself calm.

"Leave it alone, Ash," Sam said. "He's not worth it."

I couldn’t leave it alone. "Who invited you anyway? I heard djinns aren't allowed."

"That's funny," Dax said, smiling. He reached into his robe and pulled something out. "Oh, I almost forgot your gift, Sinna. I'm giving Ash a makeover for you." Before I could react, he blew a bunch of sand right in my face.

My eyes burned, my face tingled, and I coughed and sputtered. Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the room amid laughter and jests.

Once I felt fresh air cooling my face, I collapsed in a heap on the grass. "What did he do to me?" I cried.

"Um …" Sam started.

I looked up to see him gaping at me.

"You, uh, sort of have a girl face."

"What?" I scrambled to my feet and ran over to one of many the fountains scattered across the campus.

Sure enough, I looked just like a girl. Sinna, to be exact.

"I'm going to kill him," I muttered.

"You could be twins. You both have hot faces, and your body’s skinny enough to pass for a chick. But, of course there would be a
couple
of problems in the chest area–"

"Stop. Right. There," I said.

Misty appeared next to my reflection. "Let's get you to Lady Shenelle. That was just wrong. Not to mention forbidden. Dax is going to be in so much trouble."

I heard Sam making a choking sound, and turned as he covered his mouth, obviously trying not to laugh. "Oh, come on, Ash. It's funny. There aren't any male fairies, yet here you are. He just wanted to make your assignment genuine."

"Shut up." I touched my new face and scowled at my reflection. "Let's get out of here before I go in there and rip Dax to pieces."

"With your compact? Or your purse?" Sam said. He snorted and nearly fell on the ground he was laughing so hard.

"Come on," Misty said, rolling her eyes. She pulled me to my feet and we set off to Shenelle's office.

After several attempts to get my face back, Shenelle finally succeeded. I was in her office for nearly three hours.

Shenelle looked exhausted, but when it was time for me to leave, she was back to her chipper self and said, "Don't forget your paper on
Human High School Life
tomorrow. It's due before noon."

"Can't wait," I muttered.

One thing was for sure. After the night's events, I would definitely get Dax back. And I was never going near Sinna again.

Kendall

The next morning I found Ellie sitting at the kitchen table, munching on a banana.

Bananas were the worst food ever. I don't know how anyone could eat a mushy fruit.

"Want some?" Ellie said, sticking it in my face.

I tried not to throw up. "Sick!" I said, pushing it away. I chuckled as I searched the cupboard for something to eat.

"What's up with you?" She chomped the last bit and got up to throw the peel away. "You're all, I don't know. Happy."

I shrugged and grabbed a yogurt out of the fridge. "Not really."

"Yes you are. You're not as … mopyish."

"Mopyish?"

She grinned. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, El." I bit back a smile.

"You sure?" Her eyes swept over my face, not settling on my scar at all.

"I'm fine." I reached a hand up to touch my cheek. My face was still tender. I wondered if it would always be that way. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"How does my scar look today?" I leaned towards her, pulling my turtleneck down a bit.

"Which one?"

"The one I got in the accident."

She raised an eyebrow and looked me over again. "I don't see anything."

"Oh.” I frowned. “You remember the accident, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"Then why can't you see my scar? This, right here?" I pointed to my cheek, and she frowned.

"Oh. That. I can see it. It’s faded a lot," she said.

"Yeah. I guess it has." I looked at the clock. "Shoot! I'm going to be late again." I smiled at her. "So are you."

We walked to school together, and I said goodbye to Ellie as she headed to her first class. Walking down the hall, I thought about the party on Friday night Tessa had invited me to. I hadn't been to a party in … I wasn't sure how long. And the fact that no one would be looking at my scar made me a little more excited.

As I approached my locker, I noticed a bunch of balloons tied to the door. There were about ten of them, all different colors. Tessa was already waiting for me, a huge smile on her face.

"What's all this?" I asked.

She shrugged and handed me a card with my name on it. I opened it and read the typed inscription inside.

I'd be floating on air if you go to prom with me.

"Oh," I said, more to myself than to Tessa. Who would ask me to prom? I wouldn’t be a senior until next year. "When is prom?"

"April 22nd," Tessa said.

"Huh." The same day as my birthday.

"Who's it from?" she asked.

"It doesn't say."

I studied the card a minute before stuffing it in my notebook. I opened the locker, fighting against the balloons to get the books for my next class.

"Where were you yesterday? I tried calling you, like, five times," she said.

I didn't look at her. "I was busy."

"Doing what?"

I hesitated, and went with half of the truth. "I was with Ellie. My mom was working and I left my phone in my room all night. We had a girls’ night." I really did watch a movie with her. After I hung out with a fairy, but who would believe that?

"Oh."

"Sorry I didn't call you back," I said.

"No big deal. See you in math. I have to run by Scott's locker. He said he has something for me." She smiled and took off down the hall.

I started walking the other way, only to be stopped by Cameron.

"Kendall! Hey," he said. "I was wondering what you were doing tonight." He shifted his weight and leaned against the lockers. "I need some help with my math homework, and was wondering if you could, you know, help me. Tonight. If you want."

"Oh. I mean, sure."

"I can order a pizza." He smiled. "And bring some licorice."

"Chocolate?"

"Only the best."

I smiled at that. I was surprised he remembered I loved licorice. "You're awesome. We can study at my place if you want. Come over around seven?"

"I'll see you then."

I watched him walk away, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach.

"Cameron seems like a tool."

I jumped at Ash's voice, propelling myself into a locker. "Ow!"

Ash laughed. "Sorry."

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. I rubbed my elbow, trying to get my funny bone to stop tingling.

"Just thought I'd drop by and see how your high school experience is going." He glanced around the hallway. Posters and banners lined the walls. "Looks pretty amazing," he said. The sarcasm wasn't subtle.

"Hey, don't knock my school," I said. "We may have a bee for our mascot, but we're awesome." I started walking, and unfortunately, he followed.

"Oh yeah? What the heck can a bee do? Besides sting you." He pinched my arm.

"Ouch! Will you knock it off?" I hit his hand away.

"See? Bees are just annoying."

"Like fairies?"

A few people looked at me funny as we made our way down the hallway. That's when I remembered no one could see Ash but me.

I slapped myself in the forehead. "I'm such an idiot," I said.

"You said it, not me."

Before anyone else could give me a weird look, I grabbed his arm, pulling him into an empty classroom. I shut the door behind him and folded my arms.

"Alone at last," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

I sighed. "Really, Ash. What are you doing here?"

"I'm offended you're not excited to see me here. In your natural habitat. Or whatever."

"It's not that I don't want you here," I started. Actually, I was getting used to his company. He always seemed to put me in a better mood. Not that I would never admit it to him.

"Then what's wrong? Can't a guy get an education without someone making a big deal about it?"

I chuckled, and he grinned.

"There it is," he said.

"What?"

He reached a finger out, touching the edge of my mouth. "You smiled. It's pretty. You should do it more often."

"I'll try." My voice shook and I cleared my throat. He watched me, his eyes searching mine.

He finally broke the silence. "So, you never said why you don't want me here."

I ignored the butterflies flapping away in my stomach and tried to concentrate on something besides Ash's silver eyes. "Maybe the small fact that no one can see you but me."

"You have a point." He frowned.

I put a hand on his arm, feeling the muscle tense. "You're not mad, are you?"

"Why would I be mad?" He covered my hand with his and leaned closer. "I'm a guy, remember? We don't analyze everything a girl says to us. It's way too complicated. We just nod and say okay."

"Oh." I gulped, suddenly nervous. The way he was looking at me made my heart beat faster and I felt goosebumps break out over my skin.

He smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. "Then we forget about it two minutes later."

Of course. Typical guy. "Right." I pulled my hand away and cleared my throat.

"I'll see you later, then," he said. His eyes swept over me and he looked like he wanted to say something else, but vanished instead.

Alone, I shook my head, trying to clear all the thoughts swimming around in it. I was starting to feel a little too comfortable with Ash, and knew if I didn't keep my emotions under control, things would get complicated. I wondered what the dating rules were in Fairy Godmother Land. I'd have to ask him. Or not. I'd only known him for what … a week?

Tessa stood right outside the door when I left the classroom. "What were you doing in there?"

"Oh, um, just giving myself a pep talk."

She eyed me warily. "I heard you talking to someone."

"Really?"

"Well, not exactly. I guess I just heard your voice." She hesitated. "Look, if you need to tell me something, I'm here. You're acting kind of weird lately. Someone said you were talking to yourself in the hallway too."

"Ash," I hissed.

"What?"

"Nothing." I grabbed her arm, pulling her toward our class. "Come on we're going to be late."

"Will you please tell me what's going on?"

"Maybe later."

Or maybe not.

All I could think about, was Cameron coming over later. What was I going to wear?

For some reason my thoughts drifted to Ash, and I realized something.

Cameron and Ash. In the same house together.

Ash had better behave himself.