Page 67 of Shattered Stars
“Come on, boy,” I whisper. “Come to, Daddy.”
The pig does as he’s told, jumping up onto its little piggy legs and trotting all the way towards me.
I huff in amusement when he stops in front of me.
“Good to see you again, little pig,” I say, reaching into my pocket and hooking out a candy bar.
The pig grunts at me in annoyance.
“Yeah,” I say. “I fucked up. But I’m here to help her now. You know that, right?”
The pig examines me with his beady little eyes.
“Come on. I brought you a treat and everything.”
I hold it out to him and he takes a suspicious sniff.
Then he looks at me again, tilting his head first to one side then the other, squeaking at me the whole time.
I lay my hand over the place my heart is supposed to be. “I swear on my life.”
The pig snorts, snatching the treat from my hand and dropping down on the ground. I watch as he snuffles his snack, telling him my plan in the quiet of the forest. When he’s done, he settles down beside me and we wait together.
“You think she’s going to be long?”
The little pig grunts. He’s about as much of a fan of hanging around waiting for her as I am, but he doesn’t know where she is.
“With the professor, you think, huh?” I say, peering out towards the mansion in the distance, its windows all lit up like a lantern.
In a different lifetime maybe I could have gone here. Studied magic, read a few books. Maybe I could have been one of the rich kids. Lived in one of those big houses with a mom and a dad. But life took a different path. A less fucking prissy one.
The pig grunts again.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I say. “It still brought me here, anyway, didn’t it?”
An hour passes, and then I feel it. That sensation in my stomach. I sit up straighter and the pig lifts his head from his paws. A moment later, she comes into view, dressed in that hoity-toity uniform, her dark hair flitting in the breeze, chewing on her thumbnail, lost in thought.
I nudge the pig.
“Will you go fetch her for me, little fellow?”
His little curly tail flicks up and down as he considers my request, then he lumbers to his trotters with a snuffle and trots off towards her.
I stand up too, brushing dirt from my pants and sinking further into the trees.
The little pig meets his owner outside the dorm room. He squeals at her, bumping his snout against her ankles. She bends down to scoop him up, but he jumps back. She quirks an eyebrow at him, her mouth moving but I can’t make out the words over the distance. He bumps at her ankles again, running a little away from her and then back towards her. She laughs, the way her face lights up all happy-like, making my insides fucking somersault.
The little pig repeats his dance three more times before she gets the hint and follows him, hesitating slightly when they reach the edge of the forest, but having no choice but to chase after him.
I stay hidden in the trees until the pig reaches me, slowing his pace, waiting for my little rabbit to catch up with him.
He lifts his snout into the air and snorts, and I step out from my hiding place.
Her eyes – all golden like caramel sauce – alight on me and widen.
“You?” she says, lifting her hands ready to strike me.
“Me,” I say. “Did you miss me?”
