The Faery Keepers (13 page)

             
He shrugs.  “No, but she
is
right.”

             
“Hey, don’t you two start talking as if I’m not here!” she protests, standing up and striding over to me. “But I’m right? God, this is all so crazy. Listen to me. Faery magic.
I’m
crazy.”

             
“Um, Mags, I think you need to lie down.”

             
“Why would I need to lie down, Kate?
I’m fine
. You’re the one who nearly died, not me.”

             
“Thanks for the reminder,” I mumble. As if I’m not already beating myself up for my own stupidity.

             
“God, where
is
Parker? I want to get this over with. Parker!!” she calls to the otherwise empty house.

             
“Maggie!” I hiss. “What are we supposed to say to him?”

             
“You won’t have to say anything to him. He’s human. His mind will come up with its own explanation if some Faery hasn’t already fiddled with it.”

             
“What do you mean if some Faery hasn’t already fiddled with it?! They’d better stay away from my brother! Or I’ll—I’ll—”

             
“You’ll what? Kill them? It’s for his own protection, Maggie. Be glad that’s all they want with him.” Derek unhitches himself from the wall. “Besides, I’d like to see you try to kill a Faery.”

             
“It would be short work with something iron,” Maggie sneers at him.

             
Derek opens his mouth to say something back but is cut short by the sound of Parker’s bedroom door opening. He shuffles out, rubbing sleep from his eyes. “What’s going on? Maggie, Kate? Are you alright? What’s with all the ruckus?” His blond hair is tousled, sticking up in all directions. “You!” he spots Derek. “What are you still doing here? Get out of my house!” He turns on us. “What is he doing here? I thought he left hours ago. Girls!”

             
“Don’t you “girls!” me, Parker!” Maggie hisses shrewdly, narrowing her eyes at her brother. “He just got here. We were going to go out for breakfast.”

             
“At 5 A.M.!? Don’t kid with me, Margaret Ann. Why. Is. He. Here.”

             
“I TOLD YOU!” she hollers.

             
“Lower your voice!”

             
She takes a perceptible breath. “We’re going down to Cunningham’s for an early breakfast. That’s all, I swear.”

             
“Is this true?” he turns on me.

             
“Yes, it’s true,” I say while trying not to squirm under his scrutiny and hope he can’t tell that my face is growing red.

             
“Fine. Whatever. Be back by curfew.”

             
Maggie glowers at him. “You are
not
Dad.”

             
“I know I’m not Dad! I’m just trying to take care of you!”

             
“Fat lot of good you’re doing!” She grabs her messenger bag off the floor and stomps back out the door.

             
I shoot Parker an apologetic look. It’s not his fault that they were orphaned. It’s no
one’s
fault really. Unless you count the other driver . . . which I’m sure that they definitely hold him accountable. I know I would.  “Sorry,” I mumble, going after her. Derek gives a nod and follows suit.

             
“Well that went well,” I mutter when we’re back in the Jeep.

             
“I think it’s safe to say that your brother does not like me, anyone disagree?” Derek says, his dark mood forgotten for a moment.

             
We all crack up laughing.

             
“Yeah, I think that vein in his forehead was about to burst,” Maggie jokes next to me in the back seat. I squeeze her hand, catching her eye. I know it must be hard on her to have to lie to Parker too. It’s hard on both of us.

             
“You were amazing,” I whisper. “Even
I
believed you, and I know the truth.”

             
“Yeah well, I can’t help myself. When he talks to me like that my bratty teenager side comes out. Sorry you two had to see that.”

             
“No worries, I told you two you wouldn’t need me, didn’t I?” Derek smiles into the rear view mirror.

             
“Oh, so
that’s
what you meant? Thanks for the heads up.” Maggie shakes her head in exasperation.

             
There’s a chuckle from the front.

             
“Just ignore him,” I warn, pulling my friend back before she whacks him on the head.

             
“So where you wanna go?” He asks, still chortling.

             
“I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted to go to Cunningham’s place. I’m
starving
.”

             
“I hope you have some money, ‘cause I’m broke.”

             
“No problem,” she pats her faded blue messenger on the seat between us. “I brought this along for a reason. You, on the other hand, are paying for yourself,” she tells Derek as he begins pulling onto the street.

             
He shrugs. “You don’t think it’ll be a bit odd for three teenagers to show up at a diner at 5:30 in the morning in the summer? That seems a little fishy to me.”

             
“Well no one asked you, Derek,” Maggie snaps. She puts her mouth near my ear, “wake me when we get there.”

             
She settles back on the head rest and closes her eyes. “Thanks for leaving me with
him
,” I hiss at her. A small smile spreads across her face but I get no other reaction.

             
I sigh and lean against the cool glass of my window, pressing my cheek against it. Before I can stop myself I’m out too.

             
“Hey wake up, we’re here,” Derek calls back to us. I start awake.

             
“Hmm? Oh. Maggie, we’re here.” I give her shoulder a shove.

             
Her arm thrashes out but I catch it easily, used to her way of waking up fighting.

             
“Sorry,” she rubs her bleary eyes. “Oh, good, we’re here.”

             
“I said that already,” Derek says, a laugh in his voice. “You two sleep like the dead, you know that?”

             
“Shut up, Derek,” we say in unison.

             
“Impressive. I think we have twins.”

             
I slide out of the car, a bit off balance I wobble on the landing. Derek holds out a hand to catch me. “Steady there. We don’t want to add a hospital visit to all of this. And I thought you were doing
so well
.”

             
“Get off me,” I snap.

             
“A bit testy, are we?”

             
I make a face at him. “Come on, I’m hungry.” My stomach growls loudly to emphasize the obvious.

             
He snorts. “I can see that. Well let’s go. I shan’t keep you waiting.”

             
“Did you really just use “shan’t”?”

             
“If I did?” he asks, eyebrow quirked.

             
I shake my head. Maggie loops her arm in mine and steers me towards the diner entrance. I catch my reflection in one of the windows and give a gasp. My hair is an
absolute
mess
.

             
“Bathroom,” I say only to Maggie and we make our way through the restaurant to the door with the pink dressed figure painted next to it. Inside everything is lavender. The sinks, the stalls, the floor tiles, the walls. It even smells like lavender air freshener. I breathe in the familiar smell and lean over a sink. “Please tell me that you have a brush in that bag of yours,” I say staring at my unkempt reflection in one of the mirrors.

             
She drops it to the floor and commences digging through all the clutter in search for her hair brush. “Ah-ha! Here you go.” She hands me it. I drag it through my tangled curls, wincing when it catches.

             
I hand it back to her and she does the same, although it seems a lot easier for her. She doesn’t have unruly curls to deal with.

             
“Any reason that you just
had
to fix your hair?” she peers at me.

             
“Um, it was a mess?”

             
She gives a snort. “Yeah, right. Don’t start lying to me, Kate.”

             
“I’m not lying! Why would I lie to you?”

             
“Please. I see the way you two act around each other. Do I look like I’m blind?”

             
“What do you mean?” I say slowly.

             
“He likes you.”

             
“What? No he doesn’t,” I shake my head at her.

             
“The thing that’s funny is that you actually look surprised. How can you not tell? Do you see him flirting with me?”

             
“No. . .it’s just. . .”
Oh my God, what am I saying? Of course I realized that! I’m not blind either.
“I do
not
like him. OK? Don’t look at me like that!
I don’t.
”

             
“Who are you trying to convince, Katie, you or me?” She gives me a knowing look.

             
I throw my hands up in the air. “Fine, think what you want. But I am hungry and I’d like to go get some food. Is that OK with you?”

             
“Sure,” she throws her brush back in her bag and hikes it up on her shoulder.

             
We find Derek in a red leather booth, two menus waiting on the wooden table across from his. Cunningham’s has been in town for as long as I can remember. We’d gone there a lot in the years passed but lately had had better things to do in the morning. Like sleeping. Or school. You know. Occasionally we’d go before school if Parker or my mom could drive us, but otherwise it’s just too far to make the commute on foot and get to school on time unless we leave über early.

             
The wall across from the entrance has a huge red brick fireplace, taking up a majority of the wall. A black gate covers the flames so no child can accidentally crawl inside and burn to smithereens. It’s fire-less today since they usually only light it in the winter, the hollow space empty and sad looking, filled with long dead ashes. The walls are a warm honey brown, a major contrast to the brightly colored bathroom. Decorating them are many paintings of nature scenery, framed photos of long lost family members,
newspaper
clippings, and awards for cleanliness and the like. I once stood here and read every single one of them. The owners, a kindly couple who were passed down the diner from the husband’s parents, are always glad to see us here.

             
I slide in first and Maggie sits next to me.

             
“All better?” Derek asks with a small smile.

             
“Much,” I can’t help but say.

             
His moods are giving me whiplash. One second he’s all anger, the next he’s like this. All cheery and smiles. What is with that?

             
My thoughts are cut short by the arrival of our waitress. She’s short and brunette, wearing a plain dark blue button up shirt and tan slacks. Her name tag reads
Lucy.

             
“Hi, I’m Lucy; I’ll be your server today. What can I get you all to drink?”

             
She looks to Derek and Maggie for their orders. And then she looks at me for mine. I nearly drop my menu on the floor. Pain shoots through my shin as someone’s shoe meets my leg. I glare at Derek. He shakes his head at me. I order an orange juice and she moves away.

             
“What was that for!?” I demand once she’s out of earshot, reaching down to rub the aching spot on my leg. It’s definitely going to bruise.

             
“Do you
want
to create enemies?”

             
“Her eyes . . . Did you see that too?”

             
“Yes, but I know better than to provoke a Faery. Especially while I want to keep my life the way it is. Normal.”