Page 27 of Eye of the Beholder

“Yeah,” I say as I pull groceries from one of the bags and start to put them away. “We’ll go to my room.”

“Clean off your desk first,” my mom says. “And keep the door open, please.”

I roll my eyes. “I will.” I decide against telling my mom about Operation Jack.

When Lydia gets back some thirty minutes later, I say under my breath, “Mina is coming at four. She’s making me do a practice test. You can do all your”—I gesture at the bag she’s carrying—“girl stuff then.”

“Perfect!” Lydia says. “You know, we’re going to have to teach her how to flirt.”

That had occurred to me. “I know. We’ll figure it out later.”

Lydia shrugs. “Okay. Well, I’m getting my nails done with Jade in a few. I’ll see you later.”

***

Mina arrives exactly on time, which doesn’t at all surprise me. But, of course, it helps that she lives right next door. When I open the door to let her in, she looks as nervous as I feel. I wonder if she understands why she’s so nervous any more than I do.

She’s carrying a bulky bag over her shoulder—floral, of course—which I can’t help but eye apprehensively, and while she’s wearing a baggy t-shirt, she is at least wearing the new pair of jeans she bought yesterday. They do really good things for her legs. I ignore that.

She’s also carrying a bouquet of flowers.

“Um,” she says, looking awkward. “My mom did a wedding this morning. So these are for you guys. She ended up with more than she needed.”

“Oh,” I say as she thrusts the red roses at me. “Thanks.”

I just look at them for a second, and Mina sighs.

“You don’t know what to do with flowers, do you?” she says.

“Not really, no,” I say. “Just put them in water?”

“That’s fine,” Mina says. “Is your mom here?”

“In the living room,” I say, gesturing.

Mina heads out of sight and returns a minute later without the flowers.

“Your hair,” I say, gesturing to the bun pulled tightly to her head.

“What about it?” she says.

“You may as well take it out now. Lydia’s not going to let it stay that way when she starts all her girly primping stuff.”

Mina sighs and slips her shoes off, nudging them with her foot until they’re neatly lined up next to the front door. “I can’t say I wasn’t expecting that.” She unwinds her hair, and it falls gracefully down her back.

“We’ll let the shirt slide,” I say, smiling at her.

“No, we won’t,” Lydia says cheerfully from behind me as she comes down the stairs. “But we’ll get to that.”

“Right,” Mina says, clutching her bag closer as though it’s a life raft and she’s drowning. She shoots me a slightly worried look. I just smile.

“Well, come on,” Lydia says, beckoning to us as she turns around and climbs the stairs again. “I’ll be in my room when you’re ready.”

I nod, and we follow her.

It feels weird to have Mina in my room, like two different worlds colliding. I watch her as she looks around. Then she looks back to me.

“I feel weird being in your room,” she says, and I laugh.

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