Enchanted Chaos (Enchanted Chaos 1)

“Oh, come on, Sky,” Nina gripes. “We drove all the way over here.”

“From two miles away,” I gulp as the auto body shop sign flashes on and off.

“Yeah? So? It was still out of our way.” She turns to me with a stern look on her face. “You’ve been obsessed with this guy for months now, and this might be your last chance to talk to him.”

“You act like I’m never coming back to Honeyton.” I swallow down a shaky breath. “This move … it’s only temporary. As soon as my parents are found, I’m coming back. And I plan on visiting you guys, and I was hoping you’d visit me. I don’t—can’t lose you two. Not with everything going on …” Tears burn my eyes, but I suck them back.

Chill out. Breathe.

Her expression softens. “I know.” She grips the steering wheel. “Fuck, I’m the shittiest friend ever.”

“No, you’re not,” I assure her. “In fact, you might be one of the best.”

She slightly relaxes. “Yeah?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

“I’m trying not to feel left out here,” Gage remarks from the back seat, “but what about me?”

I smile at him. “You’re pretty awesome, too.”

He smiles but then frowns. “You know we’re going to visit you, right? We won’t let you go through this alone.”

“Plus, you have all the good shoes, so I’ll have to visit at least to borrow them,” Nina jokes, but her eyes start to tear up. “I’m really going to miss your jokes and shitty pep talks.”

“And I’m really going to miss your bitchiness and dirty jokes.” Tears flood my eyes, and even though I try to fight them back, a few escape down my cheeks.

When rain begins drizzling from the sky, I curse my ability. Seriously, it’s bad enough just to have a strange, supernatural ability, let alone one that’s like a surprise grab bag. I never know what’s going to happen with it, whether my tears will cause floods, rainstorms, fires, or electricity to go haywire. If I could just figure out why I have the ability to begin with, perhaps it wouldn’t be too terrible. But I’ve tried countless times to find info on it with absolutely zero results.

As rain trickles from the clouds, the mysterious stranger glances up at the sky. His brows knit before he goes back to staring at his phone, letting the rain drip down on him.

Nina traces her fingers underneath her watery eyes. “I don’t want to say goodbye.”

“Me neither.” I blink back the tears and exhale slowly. And just like that, the rain stops.

The moment is pretty heavy for Nina and I—like me, she keeps emotions bottled up a lot—so when Gage sniffles in the back seat, we both seize the distraction.

“Aw, look, we broke Gage,” Nina teases with a wicked grin.

He turns his head, discreetly wiping his eyes. “You didn’t break me. I have something in my eye.”

She snorts a laugh. “Okay.” But her laughter fades as she looks back at me. “Look, if you don’t want to talk to this guy, then say the word and I’ll leave, okay? But I just have to say one final thing first.” She holds up a finger. “You’ve been scared of guys forever, but this can be your chance to get over that fear.” She nods at the guy. “You’re probably never going to see him again. Whatever happens, good or bad, is going to end here. He won’t be able to pull a Grey on you. He’s not going to humiliate you at school.” Her hand falls to her lap. “You’re never going to get good at talking to guys until you start actually talking to them. That’s generally how things work in life.”

I let her words sink. She has a point. This issue I have with guys—with people in general—is always going to remain unless I rip off the Band-Aid and learn how to keep my shit together while I’m around others. I’ve done it with Nina and Gage for years

now. Perhaps it’s time to branch out. And what better way to start than to strike up a conversation with a guy who I’ll never see again? It can be like practice.

“You know, for someone who can’t make up their mind about anything, you’re awfully good at helping others do it.” Blowing out a breath, I reach for the door handle.

She perks up. “So, you’re gonna do it?”

My palms are so fucking sweaty. “Yeah, I’m going to do it.”

Grinning, she reaches for her pack of cigarettes. “Damn, I’m good. I really should start charging an advice fee or something.”

Rolling my eyes, I push open the door, then pause. “Wait. What should I say to him?”

She shrugs as she lights up. “Just tell him he has a nice ass or something.”