Fable (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale 3)

“NO!” Mina and Brody cried out in unison, while Ever pumped her fist and yelled, “YES!”

Nan started laughing, and picked up her water bottle and twisted the lid. “It’s official, Bro. Tonight…double date.”

“Make that a triple,” Ever interrupted, looking at Jared across the table hopefully.

Jared’s head snapped up, and he stared at the four of them in horror…once he realized what they were saying.

Brody groaned. Mina turned beet red, Nan laughed, and Ever glared at Jared, who finally quit playing with his food and buried his head in his hands.

Chapter 10

“Mina, I don’t think I can go through with this,” Nan cried out, pacing back and forth in Mina’s bedroom, her long skirt swishing back and forth, her gold-toned sandals flopping on the hardwood floor.

“Go through with what—the date?” Mina asked. She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. This was the best she was going to look. She had pulled her long wavy brown hair into a side ponytail and let it trail down her left shoulder. She wore shorts, a sapphire-blue tank top, sandals, and a short tan jacket with an inside pocket, into which she’d tucked the smallest version of the Grimoire. She was no Nan or Savannah; she could never compete with them. But she thought she looked pretty good.

“I’m scared to go on a date with Brody,” Nan admitted before crashing onto Mina’s bed and staring around the room as if she was seeing it for the first time. Well, she was, but opulence or poverty never mattered to Nan. Even when Mina lived in a run- down flat above a Chinese restaurant, Nan never cared.

“But you two have been dating for four months. How could you be nervous?” Mina answered.

“It’s not like you think. Our dates have consisted of mostly sitting at the lunch table the last few weeks of the school year, and a few movies. Then we went our separate ways the whole summer, and we barely talked, Mina. This whole thing moved really fast. I’m not really sure what to think of it.”

“Why didn’t you talk to him about it?”

“I don’t know. I mean, he woke me out of a coma with a kiss, so that means he must like me. And of course it was all really sweet the way Brody looked after me when I got out of the hospital. He pulled the chair out for me, carried my books. But we’ve only ever kissed one time after that, and I was the one who instigated it—and that was before we left for the summer. It’s been really awkward since. It’s like we’re better friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. We used to call each other every day, then it became every other day, and now once a week. I mean, it’s Friday night! Our first Friday night back together for the whole summer, so of course it means a date. But please, oh, please, Mina. I can’t go on this date alone. What if my fears are correct—what if we’re only friends?”

Nan’s words made Mina’s spirit soar and then come crashing down in a mash-up of confusion and hurt for her friend’s plight. It was what she secretly wanted to hear, but at the same time, she would never wish for this to happen to her best friend. Oh, the mixed feelings it created, and right in the middle of her own nightmarish plot of trying to save her brother. She was so torn, but she needed to get Jared on her good side and help her cross over.

“It will be fine,” Mina said, encouraging her. “If you need a quick escape, I’ll just dump my pop on myself, and we’ll have to go home early. How’s that?”

Nan’s blue eyes widened in disbelief. “You would do that for me?”

“Well, it’s a fifty-fifty shot it’s going to happen anyway tonight, so yeah, I would do that for you.”

“Mina, you are the best friend ever!” Nan hugged Mina before they headed downstairs to wait for the rest of their troupe.

Sara was sitting quietly in a rocking chair in the library, staring at a blank spot on the wall where a very obvious picture had previously hung. Mina knew from the size of the spot that it was where her father’s picture had been. Did Sara somehow know?

As Nan chatted and led the way to the foyer, Mina couldn’t help but slow down to stare at her mom. Was there a difference in her? For once she wasn’t sad; she was rocking in a chair, humming to herself. Her mom was behaving strangely, and not just since Charlie had disappeared, but over the last few months. She wasn’t jumping at every noise, threatening to pick up and move across the country. She was becoming normal. The hairs on the backs of Mina’s arms rose in trepidation. What was happening to her mom? There was nothing obviously wrong, but nothing obviously right, either.

“Mom,” Mina called, walking softly to stand by her chair. Sara was wearing an oversized gray knit sweater wrapped around her. Her brown hair had started to fall out of its bun. Something sparkled around her wrist, and Mina saw a simple charm bracelet, probably some gift they had given their mom years before and didn’t remember.

Sara’s rocking stopped, and with it her humming. “Yes, dear?”

“I’m leaving to go out with my friends. Are you going to be okay?”

Sara began rocking again. “Oh, yes, I’m thinking of all the rooms in this house that need to be cleaned. I think I’m going to start with that storage room you found.”

“No, not that one! It’s just junk in there. Why don’t you take the closets on the other side of the house? When I have time, I’ll work in there.”

“That would be nice. What a sweet daughter I have,” she intoned, and stared at the wall. “I wish I could have had more kids like you.”

Mina stepped away from her mom, tears starting to build in her eyes.

“Mom, you did. Don’t you remember Charlie?” Mina had been unable to tell her mother about the deal she’d made with Temple, for fear of getting another of the accusing looks Sara had bestowed upon Mina after the fire. It was obvious that Sara, even though she didn’t mean to, still blamed her daughter. What would happen if Mina were unable to save Charlie? What would her mom think of her then?

Sara stopped rocking once more. “Charlie? That’s a nice name. If I ever have a boy, I’ll think I’ll name him Charlie.”