UnEnchanted (15 page)

“
Great! Now how many more
until you’re done?”

“
Um, I don’t actually
know.”

“
Mina?” Nan asked. “What
if there is no end?”

Chapter 12

The next day Mina went through the motions
of paying attention in class, but her mind was a million miles
elsewhere, Nan’s words still ringing in her head: “What if there is
no end?” Mina kept checking the Grimoire to make sure the story was
still there. It wasn’t until advanced art that she felt another
trickle of dread. Something was wrong. People were whispering and
pointing.

Looking up, Mina was surprised to see a set
of familiar grey eyes staring at her from across the room. It was
the same boy who saved her in the alley, here in their classroom
and addressing their art teacher. Mr. Ames gestured for the boy to
take up an empty seat.

“
Class, this is Jared.
He’s one of our newest students. Please make him feel at
home.”

Mina saw the girls and boys in her class
whispering among themselves. It so happened that one of the only
empty seats was next to her desk, so she tried to compose herself
as Jared sat down, knowing all eyes were pointed their way.

“
What are you doing here?”
she hissed when no was looking.

“
Free country. Isn’t it?”
Jared said.

Mina fumed. Why was he torturing her? Lucky
for her, advanced art class was less lecture and more practical
study, so she had time to sort through her thoughts.

When Mr. Ames announced the first
assignment, she ignored Jared, stood up, and walked across the room
to sit by one of the potter’s wheels. Mina loved how a pile of clay
could be manipulated and formed on a wheel into something useful
and pretty. She tore off a hunk of wet clay and dropped it onto the
center of the wheel, reaching down to turn the power on. Getting
her hands wet, she felt the pull of the clay and centered it on the
wheel so it could begin to take shape.

“
What are you making?”
Jared asked, taking a seat at the next empty potter’s wheel. He,
too, picked up a lump of red clay and began the process of
centering it.

“
Are you here to harass
me?” she asked.

“
No. I’m here to make a
vase,” he replied tartly.

Mina sneaked a glance, and was actually
surprised at how deftly his hands moved over the clay. But, still
irritated from the other night, she ignored him.

“
You know you can’t ignore
me forever,” he said. His hands moved as if they were in tune with
the clay.

“
Watch me,” Mina answered
from between clenched teeth.

“
It wasn’t an impolite
question. I’m trying to carry on a civil conversation with
you.”

“
There’s nothing civil
about you, and I would prefer to not carry this conversation any
further.” Mina grunted in protest as she took her eyes off the
wheel to confront Jared. Her mound of clay became unbalanced and
flopped over to the side.

“
That’s too bad,” he
replied. “You should never let distractions get in the way of your
goals. It always leads to misfortune.”

“
You want to know what I’m
making?” Mina asked. “Here.” She stopped the wheel and hit the
lopsided clump with her fist. “It’s an ashtray.” She scooped the
piece up, threw it back into the clay bucket, and walked out of the
classroom, stopping at the nearest bathroom to wash the red clay
from her hands and nails.

She wondered what had come over her, but
something about that boy had gotten under her skin. His
unwillingness to be truthful with her, for one thing. Mina didn’t
bother returning to her art class, knowing that she had enough
finished pieces to pass the quarter. Mr. Ames was pretty lenient
when it came to art. He never felt that the artist should be
stifled, so they were allowed to come and go as they pleased as
long as they had enough projects to pass.

Mina waited until the bell rang and
practically flew toward Nan’s locker. “Nan, he’s here.”

Nan put her books away and looked at Mina.
“Who’s here?”

“
The boy from the alley.”
She had told Nan about him in two short and stiff sentences over
the weekend.

“
No way!” Nan held up her
phone to Mina. “Is this him? I’ve been getting texts about him ever
since he walked through the school doors. My, he is cute, isn’t
he?” She leaned over and looked into her locker mirror, and pressed
her lips together to apply more gloss. Today she wore an Aerosmith
T-shirt and bottle-cap belt, her soft blonde hair flowing in waves
just past her shoulders. No matter what outfit or ensemble Nan
wore, she was always beautiful.

Mina thought for a second. “I guess he is
kind of cute. And if he weren’t so rude, you probably would like
him.”

Nan and Mina walked toward the lunchroom,
and Mina was secretly relieved to see that she was not the center
of attention. Nan pulled on Mina’s jacket to lead her over to their
usual table, but Mina froze when she saw Jared was already sitting
there.

Mina pulled away from Nan, and went and sat
by Brody and his friends, who looked at her in surprise. Nan
followed glumly and sat down, too. Disappointed she didn’t get to
meet the hot new guy, Nan was quickly appeased when Justin from the
water polo team started flirting with her.

“
I’m glad that you’re
okay.” Brody leaned over to Mina and whispered so only she could
hear. “I’ve been worried about you. I waited for you, and you never
showed up. I’ve been tearing myself to pieces with
worry.”

“
Nothing to be worried
about. See, I’m fine.” Mina gestured to her body, that she was in
fact whole and in one piece.

Brody stared at her face and the faint
outline of the bruise on her cheek. Her makeup had done a good job
of covering up most of the yellowness, but it had started to fade.
Her hand flew to her cheek reflexively when she noticed his
stare.

“
Does it hurt?” he
asked.

“
Not anymore. Like I told
you, I’m fine.”

“
Is that why you didn’t
come to school?”

“
There would have been too
many awkward questions. It was easier to stay home.”

Brody nodded in understanding “What did you
tell your mom?”

“
Nothing yet. I have
nothing new to tell her.”

Brody stiffened. Mina could tell he was
angry that she hadn’t told her mother. “Why not?”

“
It would make her
worry.”

“
She should be worried.
You should be worried!” He spoke in a clipped manner.

“
Brody, if you’re going to
start this argument again, then I’ll find somewhere else to sit.”
Mina turned to get up.

“
No, wait. I won’t bring
it up again.” Brody reached out and grabbed her arm. “I’m just glad
you’re safe.”

She licked her lips nervously. “Thanks to
you. I’m sorry for the way that I acted.”

“
No,” Brody interrupted.
“I shouldn’t have pressured you into going to the police. I’m just
glad you’re okay. I’ve been worried sick, since I had no way to
call you and you didn’t come to school.”

Mina could feel Jared’s eyes studying her
from across the lunchroom, so she continued to talk to Brody. For
some reason this seemed to upset Jared, and she could tell even
from a distance that he glowered. It was funny to see her and Nan’s
usually empty table now filled with girls vying for Jared’s
attention and boys trying to assess their competition. But he still
managed to shoot her dark looks that made her skin crawl.

Lunch flew by, and Mina was dismayed to find
that Jared was in two more of her classes. How had he managed it,
when Nan couldn’t even get her schedule to follow Mina’s?
Thankfully, he didn’t try to start any more conversations with her.
Maybe it was because Mina kept glaring at him and holding up her
textbook like it was the Great Wall of China.

It was during the last period of the day,
right before the bell rang, that he finally spoke up again.

“
You didn’t bring it, did
you?” he asked in a whisper.

“
Bring what?” Mina kept
her eyes glued to the sentence she was reading, even though she had
already read it ten times. She had been unable to study since he
sat down.

“
You know what. Tell me
you brought it.” He actually looked a little panicked that she
might not have it with her.

“
No, I didn’t.” Mina
glared at him. “I was almost attacked and killed because I had it.
I’m not going to carry it around with me everywhere. I wouldn’t be
safe.”

Jared’s face became stiff, and his jaw
clenched in anger. “You’re not safe without it.”

“
What do you care? I’m not
supposed to live past the end of the week, remember? Your exact
words.” Thankfully, the bell rang, and Mina stood up and stomped
out of the classroom, leaving an opened-mouth Jared in her wake. He
called her name, but she ignored him.

She made a beeline for her
locker and was actually hoping that Brody had forgiven her and was
waiting by it; thankfully, he was. Mina grinned as he reached over
to grab her bag from her.
A girl could
really get used to this
, she thought. She
was so preoccupied on the drive home that she didn’t even notice
when Brody drove right to her front door.

“
How did know where I
live?” she asked quietly.

Brody nodded toward the Golden Palace and
the mural of articles plastered with Mina’s face, the Wongs’ way of
advertising that they rented to the town hero. “I did my own
investigation. So you live in a Chinese restaurant?” Brody asked,
his cheeks dimpling with uncontained mirth.

Mina’s own cheeks burned
with embarrassment. “No, I live
above
a Chinese restaurant. Big
difference, believe me.” She laughed hesitantly at her own lame
joke.

Brody leaned away from the car, hands in his
pockets. “Either way, I’m jealous. I love Chinese food.”

“
You should try their pot
stickers sometime. They are to die for,” Mina answered
casually.

“
Sounds good. It’s a date,
then.” He walked to the Golden Palace, opened the door, and
motioned for her to go in.

“
I didn’t ask…er, I wasn’t
implying that we should.” She stumbled on her words.

Brody smiled. “I know you didn’t. I did. I’m
taking you out on a date. A real date, not just drive-through
burgers.”

“
I don’t know if that’s
such a good idea.” Mina felt as if her world was collapsing in on
her. Could this be real? Or some impossible fairy tale dreamt up by
the Story? Either way, she didn’t want it to end.

Brody paused at the entrance to the Golden
Palace to study the crudely placed pictures and articles about Mina
taped to the glass. He looked from the paper clippings to Mina and
back. “You know, those pictures don’t do you justice.”

Mina pushed him farther into the restaurant
and away from the newspaper mural. Mrs. Wong waved excitedly and
motioned for them to take a seat. Mina didn’t know what to do with
her hands, so she kept fidgeting with the chopsticks on the table.
By the time Mrs. Wong brought them over some ice waters, Mina’s
nerves were so taut that she knocked over her ice water on the
table, some spilling into Brody’s lap.

“
I’m so sorry!” Mina began
pulling napkins out of the dented holder and flung them at Brody.
She was so distressed that she accidentally pulled the casing off
the napkin holder, which flew across the floor and spun to a stop
by a wide-eyed Mrs. Wong.

Brody jumped up and began dabbing calmly at
his thighs. When the table no longer looked like Niagara Falls, he
excused himself to go clean up in the bathroom, laughing the whole
way.

Mina groaned and pounded her forehead
against the table repeatedly.

Mrs. Wong stormed up to the table to voice
her opinion as soon as Brody left. “OOOHHH, he a hottie, that one.
Meehna, you keep that one for sure, bring him by more often! I will
get lots of business.”

Mina tried to look at Mrs. Wong, but a piece
of napkin from the wet table was stuck to Mina’s forehead,
obscuring her view. “You have got to be kidding. I doubt he will
ever be seen in public with me again. I’m a walking, talking
catastrophe.”

Mrs. Wong snatched the napkin from Mina’s
forehead and started waving it in the air at her while she lectured
Mina. “You leesten to me. He nice boy, will forgive real quick with
kissy.” Mrs. Wong raised her eyebrows and bobbed her head at Mina
encouragingly.

Mina groaned and pounded her head against
the table again. When Brody came back, they ordered and sat
silently while Mrs. Wong kept filling their bowls with
all-you-can-eat pot stickers.

“
You’re right, these are
to die for.” Brody took another bite. “But does she always hover
like this?” Brody cocked his head to a smiling Mrs. Wong, who
continued to make smooching faces whenever he turned his
back.

“
Um, no. I think they
changed the dose on her meds,” Mina lied, trying desperately not to
look in Mrs. Wong’s direction. Pretty soon her husband came out in
his white apron and joined in the charade of advice. His wife must
have told him about Mina’s embarrassing spectacle, because he shook
his head in his wife's direction and mimed dropping a napkin on the
floor. Both of them were miming different actions, perhaps trying
to get Mina to crack.