Page 54 of Rise of the Melody
We got warm and found big rocks to sit on, laying back to soak in the sunshine.
“How are you doing?” Clare asked me. “After the whole bonfire thing?”
“I’m okay.” I picked at my nail polish. “Just embarrassed. I’ve never been in a fight.”
“Really?” Clare asked. “You look like you’ve kicked some booty before.”
I laughed at that.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Shani told me. “We’ve all gotten into it with Mairi at some point over smaller things than that. And you were right with what you said. You lost your parents too. And nobody really knows what happened out there. It’s not fair to punish you.”
I couldn’t look up. The guilt I felt for not being honest weighed on me, especially after Zar’s revelations last night. I wanted so badly to tell them every detail. To let them judge me for the real me and see if they still wanted to be friends. But I was afraid. Not just of Mayor MacCray and the fae blooded leaders, but afraid I would lose these friendships before they’d hardly begun. That made me feel a little pathetic, but I couldn’t dwell on it.
“Thank you,” I said softly, and then wanted to change the subject. Everything in me was screaming to tell them about Zar, but once that can of chaos was opened, there’d be no shoving it closed again. So, instead I asked Shani something much more fun. “How long have you and Nora been together?”
Shani lay back with her hands over her stomach and smiled.
“Yes, tell her about the weights!” Clare said, making Shani shush her.
“Okay, okay.” She sat up and I could tell by the way she adjusted herself this was going to be a good story. “To set the stage, I’d only ever crushed on boys, right?” We nodded, and she went on. “Well, back in February I was studying at Nora’s house with her when the winter storm we were supposed to get the next day came early and I got snowed in.”
“Ooh!” Clare interrupted.
“Ssh, Clare!” Shani laughed and went on. “I’d never stayed overnight at her house until then. Not a big deal. We’d been super close friends for years. So, that night I was laying on her bed scrolling on my phone while she worked out next to me. She was doing an arm workout with weights, and her muscles were all popping out, and her face was so serious. I couldn’t stop staring…it was like I was seeing her for the first time. I was likedurn, okay, Nora. Got me feeling some kind of way.”
Clare pointed at her. “You had the fanny flutters!”
“Ew, I hate that phrase!” Shani covered her ears, making Clare laugh even harder.
“I know,” Clare said. “That’s why I say it. Keep going!”
More giggles. “Anyway! Like I was saying. I knew she only liked girls, but I’d never felt that way about a girl, so I was all kinds of confused. But then she caught me looking…and the look she gave me back?Sis.”
I let out a little squeal. “And then what?”
“And then we were just staring at each other and my heart was going crazy, and I was like ‘What?’ and she was all, ‘See something you like?’” She mimicked Nora’s super serious voice.
Clare and I screamed.
Shani was smiling and flushing prettily at the memory. “Yeah. We’re taking things slow, but I feel so happy.”
“Aw!” I rolled to my stomach and lay my cheek on the warm rock. “What about you, Clare?”
“I was actually with Declan for about six months. We broke up around the same time as Mairi and Teague.”
“Declan,” I said. “I think I met him. Was he playing football with Teague?”
“That’s him,” Clare said. “The short king.”
Shani reached over and poked her arm. “Ooh, tell her about how big things come in small packages.”
Clare playfully smacked Shani and laughed. “I never should have told you that!”
“Wait,” I said, laughing. “Now youhaveto tell me. I’m a vault, don’t worry.”
Clare sighed, getting shy as Shani gave a silly laugh. “He’s just…surprisingly…you know, for a smaller guy, that’s all.”
Oh, this wasexactlywhat I needed today. We were all giggling now.
