Fairest (6 page)

“Nan, look, we need to go!” She tried to grab Nan, but her best friend violently pulled away from her.

“What do you mean, we have to go?” She asked in disbelief. “Didn’t you see Valdemar? He wants me to stay here.  There is going to be an after party. Brody, tell her!” Nan looked visibly upset at the prospect of leaving.

Brody looked back and forth between them, unsure of what to say. “Are you feeling alright? It’s okay if we stay. My cousin cleared it. Nan’s right, there is always a really cool after party.  It’s better than waiting in the green room.”

Her lip was hurting from gnawing at it in panic. “No, I’m sorry. I just need…we just have to go.”

“No, Mina, I’m not going. For the love of chocolate, I have been waiting all my life for this moment. He kissed me, Mina! He kissed me.”

“You heard him. He said so himself. He did it to make the girl with the pink hair leave.” Mina’s voice filled with desperation.

 “I don’t care if it was because he was trying to make someone else jealous. I don’t even care if it was a cruel and unusual jest on his part. I’m not walking away from that without pursuing it farther. What if it wasn’t a fluke? What if he actually kind of likes me? You want me to leave a very cool concert right now and go with you home because….”

“Because something bad is going to happen if we stay,” Mina whispered. She peeked over her shoulder at Brody, who looked out of place, stuck between two girls fighting.

Nan’s eyes widened.

Maybe,
Mina thought,
maybe she will believe me.

“How do you know?” Nan accused angrily. “How can you possibly know?”

“I just do,” Mina grumbled back.

“Well, that’s not good enough.” Nan stood there silently challenging her. “Give me one good reason. Any
good
reason at all. Heck, it could be an even okay reason as long as you give me a real reason. Why?”

Mina could see the fight coming and she was incapable of stopping it. She had never ever fought with her best friend, but then they’d never ever had serious boyfriends until lately. It was then that Mina remembered that the kiss from Valdemar had been Nan’s first kiss. Her boy-crazy, flirty, quirky friend had never been kissed. She knew Nan was waiting for the right one. And here she had found him, and Mina was trying to drag her away from him. Heat burned angrily in Nan’s cheeks as Mina shook her head without giving her an answer.

Nan looked devastated. Her eyes began to water and she looked like she was in pain. “That’s fine, Mina. YOU can leave, but I’m staying for the after party.”

 “But I…” Mina’s words and shoulders dropped dejectedly. She looked at Brody, embarrassed that he witnessed their argument. She wasn’t sure what he would do. Would he leave and come with her or stay with Nan at the concert?

He looked deeply into Mina’s eyes and she felt her breath catch at the emotion she saw there. Surely he would come with her. He had to believe her. Maybe. Brody looked like he was about to say something when Nan interrupted him.

“Are you going to drag Brody out of the concert, too? Come on, Mina! It’s his cousin and they are on tour. How selfish are you going to be?”

Mina’s resolve crumbled. She dropped her head toward the ground hiding her shame and embarrassment. Nan’s words had a biting truth to them. It was truth that she didn’t want to hear acknowledged, but her friend was right. It would be rude to drag Brody out of here. Who was she? She was a nobody. She had no claim on Brody, no reason to make him come with her.

“I’m sure I can catch a bus or something. It’s early enough.” She turned to walk away from Nan. Her eyes burned with unshed tears, tears caused by the pain they were causing each other.

She had originally told Nan about the curse on her family and all of the quests she had to complete. Her best friend had believed her. This time around Mina decided to not share it with Nan, in hopes that Nan wouldn’t be caught up in Mina’s personal mess. The loss of her best friend was devastating, the loss of trust even more so. She had only made it a few steps when Brody grabbed her by her elbow.

“Wait one minute. Okay?” He ran back to Nan, who stood with her back to them. Her posture was stiff and he leaned in to whisper something to her. Nan’s shoulders dropped and shook a bit as if she was crying. A few seconds later, she stood up straight and regained her composure.

Brody ran over to Mina and followed her down the side stage stairs.  They passed the glass coffin and Mina felt a chill overtake her body just by looking at it. They had to go a few more corridors down, where the music wasn’t so loud, before they were able to speak. When they were finally able to be heard over the music, Mina didn’t have anything she wanted to say. Two turns later, she realized she was completely lost.

Brody chuckled, put his hand on the small of her back, and directed her down a different hallway. Her skin felt like it was on fire where he touched her back. It was warm and comforting as he led her toward the exit. When he opened up a side door to the parking lot, the cool breeze blew over her skin, and she shivered.

Stopping, Brody took off his jacket and put it around Mina’s shoulders. Shocked and totally thrilled, Mina snuggled into the jacket and slyly inhaled the familiar scent of his cologne. Boy, did she have it bad for him. He opened the car door and let her slide inside. It was one of Brody’s best attributes, his ability to always be the perfect gentleman. 

It was still daylight out, and the sound of the concert could still be heard from inside the car. Brody fidgeted uncomfortably when he got in the car, delaying putting the key in the ignition.

“I’m sorry,” he intoned sadly.

“For what?” Mina sniffled trying to keep back the tears. “You didn’t cause us to fight. What happened in there had nothing to do with you.”

He reached for her hand and gently rubbed his thumb over the back of her fingers. “I’m sorry that you are hurting. It’s because of me that you are even here in the first place. I offered to get those passes so I could get to know you. There is something about you that feels so comforting and familiar, and I’m not sure why.” He pulled back abruptly from Mina and put both hands on the steering wheel as if he couldn’t trust himself not to touch her.

Mina felt elated at Brody’s words, and she felt his absence as soon as he withdrew.  How was he supposed to know that his body remembered touching her hand in this exact same manner, remembered kissing her, even if his mind couldn’t?

Frustrated, she bit her lip again to keep herself from spilling forth secrets that she had promised to keep to herself forever. She had pledged not to involve those she loved anymore. They sat in awkward silence for moments more before he finally started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

“I’m sorry, too. Nan was right; it was unfair of me to go off like that. You don’t have to drive me home. You should stay and enjoy the concert.” Mina felt like the biggest, selfish jerk in the world.

“Don’t worry about it. I agreed to drive you both here, and I’ll see that you get home safely.” Brody turned to her, and his eyes softened. “Besides, I never liked their music anyway.”

“Liar,” she laughed out loud. “I saw you singing just as loudly as Nan. You like them.”

“Okay, you caught me,” he agreed. He gave her another glance out of the corner of his eye. “But I don’t think I will miss much; I would rather be here.”

Mina felt her knees go weak and her heart start to flutter wildly in her chest. What should she do? How should she respond? What should she say? She could feel the tension building up in the silence until she finally spat out the word, “Thanks.” She immediately wanted to bash her head into the dashboard. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She was so stupid.

Even though her response was a complete junior higher’s response, Brody still laughed. “You’re welcome.” He reached for the CD player and pushed play on the car stereo. The song picked up where they had left off, belting out the chorus to “Beauty’s Dead.” The song instantly reminded her of Nan, alone backstage at the concert.

 She sighed. “I feel bad that we are abandoning Nan with no way to get home.”

“We’re not.” Brody turned to look at Mina, a hint of redness on his cheeks. “I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her there either. Even though he is my cousin, Peter and his friends are not the most responsible. They tend to be a bit reckless.  After I drop you off, I’m going to go back to the concert.”

There was an ever so gentle flicker of disappointment. “Oh, I see.” Mina lied. A sour taste crept into her mouth. She didn’t see how Nan was willing to wait until after the concert to see the boy she likes.  But at the same time, she was going to deny Mina from spending time with Brody.

She felt the stab of jealousy and could almost see it rear its ugly head in the tone of her own voice. “That is nice of you,” she bit out.

Whatever beautiful moment they had shared moments ago was ruined by her own jealousy as she imagined the rest of the night playing out in fast forward–Brody, Nan and all the band members would be laughing, eating bags of Skittles, and singing karaoke together. What? Where did that come from? She tried to calm her nerves and remember where they were going. She was so distraught over the images her own mind created, she didn’t even care when she gave directions to her own house.

Brody was really quiet the rest of the drive, as if he could sense Mina’s inner turmoil and dialogue. He cleared his throat gently when he pulled up in front of the Wong’s restaurant.

“You live in a Chinese Restaurant?” Brody asked, unaware that he had already asked this question weeks ago and that he already subconsciously knew the answer.

 An intense moment of déjà vu overcame Mina, and she turned to look at Brody and spoke slowly, watching his face closely for any hint of recognition. “Not in-above it.” All of her waiting was for naught. He didn’t react differently.

“Cool.” He ran his hand through his hair and turned to look at her. “I’m sorry this night didn’t turn out the way I had hoped.”

Mina stepped out of the car. “No, it didn’t,” she mumbled back, feeling defeated until she remembered something. “Um, Nan’s party at Imperial Lake next weekend. Are you going?” Her knees locked up, and she would have slapped herself in the forehead for how dorky she must have sounded if only he hadn’t been standing next to her.

Brody pondered a minute as if checking an imaginary calendar in his head before answering with a grin. “Yeah, I got the invite, I wouldn’t miss it.”

Awkwardly, she waved goodbye, unsure of what else to do at this current stage of their non-existent dating status.  She knew she was farther along in the relationship in her mind than he was. But it made her forget her spat with her best friend and even her current situation. Mina was floating on a cloud of hope.

Mrs. Wong was sweeping the front sidewalk to the restaurant. She waved enthusiastically at Mina as Mina went up the steps to the Grime’s apartment. It was obvious from Mrs. Wong’s gestures that she wanted to speak to Mina and hear all of the juicy details involving the very attractive boy dropping her off. For some odd reason, she was obsessed with Mina’s life and with giving her dating advice, even so far as to once suggest Mina’s kissing Brody. Thank goodness she had probably forgotten that embarrassing conversation had ever happened.

For once Mina was actually beginning to understand the reasoning behind the Story’s resetting her life and the events occurring prior to the completion of a quest. In short, it did give her a second chance at first impressions. What high school student wouldn’t want a chance to redo her first kiss, first dance, and biggest mistake?

She really hated what the Story had done and had become really depressed over losing her boyfriend. But at the same time, she was now free again to try and rekindle the flame, without all of the previous awkwardness.  The only thing to do now was to make absolutely sure that none of her friends, schoolmates, or boys she liked in the future ever became a part of the curse surrounding her, so she must make sure they never found out about it.

That was it; she would do everything she could to make sure they never had anything to do with the Story or her family’s quests. If they weren’t pulled into it, then their memories wouldn’t be erased and their lives wouldn’t be reset. It seemed simple enough.

Smiling, Mina managed the last few steps to the landing and inserted the key into the lock. She opened her door and stepped into her home. It wasn’t much, a tiny retro kitchen with a Sixties dinette set for four and appliances that had seen better days. A small sofa and wooden rocker filled up their very small living room along with an old TV, which was rarely used. Their apartment only had one bathroom, but luckily it did have three bedrooms, which was rare for their units. Well, Charlie’s room wasn’t legally a room, because he didn’t have a closet and it looked as if it had originally been a part of Mina’s room at one time. The previous tenants, or the Wong’s at some point, must have built a wall between the two rooms to make a storage room or office. Either way it had a window and gave the Grimes each enough privacy.