Page 56 of Secret Pucking Unicorn

“Her parents and, for some strange reason, our parents, are coming to town because she’s upset. It makes sense for her to be where they are. It’s not like they want to trek out here. She works across the way. It makes sense for her to stay with me. I’m sure she’d be more comfortable. Right, Miranda? I assume your bag is in the closet?” She walks into the closet and calls out, “You never even unpacked, let’s go.”

I hear a long zip, and Sophie emerges from the closet I share with Dec, pulling my suitcase behind her.

“Ready?” she asks.

“Wait a minute, what is going on? Miranda, you don’t have to go.” Dec takes my hand and laces our fingers together. “Daisy, don’t leave me.” The desperation in his voice breaks my heart.

“Declan,” Sophie says with a huff of exasperation mixed with sympathy, “don’t be dramatic. It makes sense to have everyone in the same place. It’s a night or two, not forever.”

Dec’s phone dings, and he checks it. “They are about to land.” He looks up at me.

“Then I suggest you go get them,” Sophie says. “Meet us at the hotel. Ready to go, Miranda?”

Dec’s thumb brushes across my knuckles, and my tummy flips. “Come with me and then we’ll all go to the hotel. Let’s talk about this.”

Sophies lets out a huge sigh, rolling her eyes so hard I’m surprised she isn’t dizzy.

“Ugh. Could you be more dramatic?” she asks. “You two can be apart for an hour and survive. Declan, you go meet our parents who dropped everything to come here from Chicago in under three hours. Miranda will go meet her parents, who also dropped everything to come here. We will get this straightened out, and then we can all move on.”

This is all happening too fast. I need time to think. My mind can’t move as fast as Sophie’s whirling around the room.

She grabs my wrist and drags me toward the door. “Miranda, come on. I know you don’t want to be rude and leave your parents waiting.”

“Okay, Soph,” I say. I know she’s trying to help me, but I’m annoyed at myself for falling back into the passive habits I had as a child. Sophie was always the more forceful one of us and it was easier to go along with her than fight it. Same with my mother. Same with a lot of people. Hell, they aren’t childhood habits, they are habits I’ve had my whole life. I need to break them. But not today. I need to get through today and then I can work on all my other faults. I want to stay with Declan but until I know what the hell is going on with me being a witch and being told I was a liar all my life when I know I’m not, I can’t deal with him and with my emotions. I’m not sure I can trust my feelings. I’m not sure I can trust him. But I want to.

I stand on tiptoes to press a quick kiss to his lips. I want to say, “I love you,” but it’s new, and it’s awkward to say it in front of Sophie when she’s in this kind of mood. “I’ll see you at the hotel, Declan. Thank you.”

Sophie grabs my arm and pulls me behind her out of my bedroom, calling, “Can one of you get Miranda’s bag?”

Carter grabs it and follows us. I’m surprised he hasn’t said more. Stone leads the way downstairs, with Sophie following him. Everyone else must be in the other apartment. It’s weird to be leaving like this. It is reminiscent of all the times I’ve switched schools. It was like this, someone coming in, saying it was time to go. Packed in a hurry and out the door. No time for goodbyes. Not that I had friends to say goodbye to. But this isn’t goodbye. I’ll be back. I guess it makes sense to spend the night with Sophie to get maximum time with my parents. I want to spend time with my parents and reestablish our relationship, but I’m sure they will leave in the morning. They’re busy. I want both Declan and my parents to be in my future. I’ll have to learn to balance it. This will be the first test. They are within a couple of hours. We can drive up and visit them when we have home stretches.

“Hey, wait a second, Randi,” Carter says when we reach the landing. “You don’t have to go. You can stay here. I’m sure Mallory and Liam can put your parents in one of the guest rooms. Same for Mac’s mom and dad. Even his she-devil of a sister.”

I give him a quick hug. He can be a twit sometimes, but he has a generous and loving heart.

“Thanks, Trev. This is for the best. I need to work out some stuff with my parents and for myself. Anyway, I wouldn’t wish my parents on your sister.”

“Randi, you haven’t met our parents yet. I’m sure yours aren’t any worse than ours.”

“Thank you, Trev, but I sense a big family blow-up coming, and I don’t want to force my family drama on anyone else.” Besides, my friends here already have the wrong idea about my parents. Every time I shared stories about my childhood, they reacted with shocked eyes and open mouths. If I’m going to try to change things with my parents, I don’t need to be around those negative vibes. And if I can’t change things, I don’t need them to see me shattered.

Declan comes bursting out the door, ready to rush down the stairs. He stops short when he sees me and Carter on the landing.

“Miranda, you’re still here,” he says with relief clear in his voice.

“Go ahead,” I tell Carter, “I’ll be down in a moment.”

Declan comes down to join me on the landing. “Miranda, let me come with you. We’ll face your parents and whatever happens together. Please don’t push me away.”

I grab his hands and hold them to my heart. I hope he can feel how hard it is beating. For him.

“Declan, I have to do this myself. I need to speak with my mother and figure out what is going on. Everything I thought I knew about myself is wrong. You kept things from me.” He starts to protest but I press a finger to his lips to silence him. “I’m not saying you did it on purpose. But you knew things about me I didn’t know about myself. Who knows what else there is?”

He kisses my fingertip and pulls his head back. “Okay, you need to speak with your parents. But you don’t have to stay there. You go see them, maybe have dinner, and then come home.”

I shrug. “Maybe that’s how it will work out. But I don’t think it will work out that easily. You know my mother, she’s…difficult. It will be easier to be there and deal with her. The sooner things are resolved, the sooner we can get on with our life. Please, let me handle this.”

Turning and jogging down the stairs, I wipe away a tear. I take a deep breath to steady myself before pushing through the door. I can do this. I’ve done hard things before. It’s talking to my parents. I’m not thirteen years old and friendless in a new school being told about the facts of life by the cleaning lady who found me sobbing in the girls’ restroom convinced I was going to die when I got my first period.

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