Page 10 of Stuck with my Frenemy
Chapter Five
Ebony
“This is what happens when you let loony toons make the plans, Ebony,” I muttered under my breath, staring at the sky from the covered porch.
Per my request, Karma had granted me my transportation of choice for the human realm—something that bit me in the ass the first chance it got. The sleek and shiny black Harley Fat Boy motorcycle mocked me from the side of the house while I watched the heavens open and a torrent of rain unleashed its power on the world. It would’ve been nice if that bitch mentioned that the weather was unpredictable here. But, no. She wanted to chortle behind my back at my stupidity.
Typical Karma.
“Woot! Samesies.” Cherry barreled through the front door, nearly tackling me down the stairs. The column connecting the fence to the roof of the porch was her only saving grace, or I would’ve killed her when I ended up face first in the puddles. “I knew you had it in you, Ebs.”
“I have no idea what you are rambling about, and I told you a million times to stop calling me ‘Ebs.’” Shoving her off me, I took a few steps back just in case she decided to latch on like a tick. Color me surprised, but she didn’t resemble a glittering rainbow for once.
“First of all, you only said it once, so don’t exaggerate.” A crazed smile stretched her pink lips so wide I could literally see her molars. “And I was talking about our outfits, silly. Look”—Her hand flopped between us excitedly while her whole body vibrated—“we match.”
I looked her up and down before doing the same to myself.
While I wore leather pants and the same color long-sleeved shirt under my leather jacket, Cherry was squeezed in latex leggings that laced down the length of her legs with a decorative ribbon. She had it paired with what looked like a corset—which I couldn’t focus on because of the cleavage pushed up to her chin—and a fancy choker nestled in the crack of her boobs. She had gotten one thing right: we were both wearing black. My ponytail was way underdressed for the elaborate sideway braid she had curled over her head like a crown.
“Right.” My feet shuffled where I stood and I eyed her warily. “We are practically the same person.”
“This makes me so happy.” She clapped her hands, closing her eyes and inhaling as if she was praying to the gods. “Just give it a chance, Ebs. This friendship is destined to blossom. I can feel it in my butt cheeks.”
“You can feel it where?” Appalled, I reared back and moved further away from her. It had become obvious that things were much worse than I’d originally thought. I had to get away from the sparkling psycho.
“Oh, never you mind, girlie. It’s just a feeling I get when something wonderful is about to happen. Like right now, for example. My butt cheeks kinda tingle, ya know?” She shoved a twisted plastic bundle at me while shaking off a matching one in front of her.
“No, I don’t actually know, and please don’t share that kind of information with me. Ever.” Pinching the plastic between two of my fingers, I held it at arm’s length, not trusting that it wouldn’t make glitter explode in my face or something. “Okay, I give up. What is this?”
“This.” She held hers in triumph between us. “Is a raincoat.” I watched her wriggle her head through a hole in it and shake her shoulders to make it fall like a cape to her knees. “I know your type.”
“My type?” I deadpanned, but she waved me off.
“The control freak type.” She missed the glare I shot her at that comment. “Anywhooo, I knew you’d want to drive, and I have no intention of looking like a drowned rat. So, raincoat it is.” Cherry beamed at me while I ground my molars.
When a determined expression crossed her face, I almost tripped on the damn thing in my attempt to put it on before she tried to dress me, too. My arms got tangled in it, then my head went through the wrong hole, but finally, I managed to come out the victor in my battle with the cursed raincoat. As if adding salt to an injury, the pitying smile Cherry gave me when I huffed in triumph as my head emerged from the correct hole in the damn plastic only pissed me off. Then she reached behind me and tugged the hood over my head like I was a two-year-old human.
“Just get on the damn bike.” She struggled, wriggling like an eel all the way down the stairs while I dragged her by her upper arm. “If you say one word, I swear to all the gods I’ll kick you off the motorcycle. Understood?”
“You need to, like, chill.” Cherry yanked her arm out of my grasp. “Do you even know where we’re going?” Her perfectly styled eyebrow lifted like an arrow.
“Judging by your outfit, I’d say a strip club.” And what would you know, the rainbow unicorn knew how to scowl. “No? Then I’m out of clues.”
“I see right through your defenses, Ebs, so I’ll give you this one.” Adjusting her stupid raincoat, she straddled the bike like she was attempting to ride a crocodile. “We are going to a local bar that, according to my sources, is the perfect place to meet people and get information on rare items. Black Hand, the place is called.”
“Your sources?” I ducked my head so I could see her face better under the hood of the bright yellow monstrosity she made us wear. “You’ve been in this realm for all of an hour, and somehow you already have sources feeding you information?”
“I have a phone.” If looks were anything to go by, I thought she might want to call me a simpleton. “They are handy, and you should totes get one.” In her right mind, she also shoved the same apparatus in my face so I could see the directions to the bar.
Good thing I had a photographic memory.
Since I would’ve strangled her if we stayed in front of the house, I jumped on the bike and turned the throttle a few times to release some tension. The machine purred loud enough for me to feel it vibrate in my chest, and I blew out a deep breath. Cherry was all stiff as a board when she slid in behind me, refusing to hold on to me when I asked her, but all that changed the second I shot out of the driveway like Hades himself was nipping at our heels. With a high-pitched squeal, she latched onto my waist, and I had a sinking feeling I’d have to pry her off me when we reached our destination.
My joy from the bike ride was short-lived, and in no time, I was parking in the packed parking lot in front of the establishment Cherry had found. My thumb flicked the engine off, killing the soothing purr of the motorcycle, and I had to admit to myself that she might’ve been right. One glance at the sky showed the lightning spiderwebbing around the bar, and much more than anywhere else in this town. Maybe it wouldn’t be a wasted trip after all.
“Can you stand?” When Cherry continued to clutch me like a lifeline, I tapped her hands, which were so cold they felt frozen solid. My heart lurched in my chest, and I wrestled out of her grip to jump off the bike. “Cherry.” When she didn’t open her eyes, fear like nothing I’d felt before choked me, and I shook her hard enough her head snapped back. “Cherry, talk to me, damn you. What’s wrong with you?”
“Are we done?” One of her eyelids cracked open, and all the air left my lungs so fast I nearly dropped on my knees. “We are not riding on that crazy thing anymore?”
