Page 61 of Friend
Chapter Thirteen
Fireworks
I wasn’t sure how much effort would have been put into a second-level prom, but the gymnasium being transformed into somethingmagicalsurprised even me…
Though I was certain my use of the term had the same meaning as Bianca’s. While I stared, she stood inside the entryway, hands to her mouth, as she gazed starry eyed around the room.
“Finn,” she’d gasped under her breath, staring at the sparkling, navy ceiling. “It’s magical.”
Yes, it was. Quite literally. The air was thick with it.
“Right.” An onmyoji must have been in charge of decorating—because why else would there be a giant, extremely accurate, shrine to the zodiac glittering in the ceiling? How else could anyone justify thebatsand tarot cards hanging from strings throughout the room?
Smoke shaped creatures painted on walls…
All that was missing was a framed poster of Damen’s face. Although I was sure that with this level of dedication, they’d probably tried.
It was hard to get good pictures of him, and he’d never agree to a photo shoot.
What was going on here? Any magical references were meant to be left at home, within our own communities. It was one way Dad attempted to enforce equality in our classrooms.
Someone’s shikigami was roaming free too—which normally wouldn’t have been a big deal. After all, shikigami were invisible to individuals who were not onmyoji, or, at least, equal to their owners in strength.
But Bianca was more powerful than anyone in this room, including me. Which was why I’d always made sure Kiania stayed hidden from her. Theoretically, Bianca’s medication should block her sight, but this wasn’t something I wanted to risk.
‘Cat,’ Kiania said, and I finally spotted it.
A gray and white cat was lounging at a long table to my right, as it guarded a punch bowl. ‘He’s one of the professors’,’ Kiania explained. ‘It looks like he’s on guard duty.’
Darn, that meant I couldn’t force it to leave either.
“Hey, Bianca.” I glanced down at her, and finally—as I’d wanted to do this from the beginning—touched her hand. We came, we saw, and now we were done. What else was there to do at this place anyway? Why would anyone want to stand around in circles drinking punch? Plus, only the very brave would take part in the insane dance party happening in the middle of the room under the too-large, multi-color blinking chandelier.
Maybe we could go home now. “Want to…”
My question trailed off as she pulled her hand from mine and made directly for the snack table.
I sighed and allowed my shoulders to slump as I trailed along after her.
I sure hope she’d taken her medication.
“Look!” She reached back, grabbing my hand, as she pulled me towards the furthest end of the spread. “There’s cream puffs.”
Yes, there were. I eyed the chocolate-covered treats.
I did like cream puffs. Maybe this setup wasn’t all bad.
“Gimme a plate.” I reached past her and grabbed one of the faux-china plates, but not being entirely rude, I grabbed one for her too and carried them both. “What else is there?”
Bianca followed me down the line. She’d reach past me and put a cookie on my plate and hers, then threw a stack of cheese on mine. It was a weird combination, but it worked. Other things were added, of course, but it was starting to make me sick to see, so I looked away.
We would still eat it though. There was nothing else to do.
Then we got to the punch bowl.
“What about…” She’d reached for the small plastic cups, and paused, hand still hovering, as she stared. Directly in front of her was the shikigami.
My heart threatened to seize as she said nothing. I thought I might pass out when it stared at her in return.
