Awry

46

“Laura has a secret flower,” Scarlet blurted out to Gabriel and Heather at school.

Okay. That sounded weird.

“What?” Heather’s made a face.

Although things had been tense between her and Gabriel since the breakup, Scarlet still saw him every morning at their lockers. They made polite conversation, and sometimes talked about the curse or the map, but mostly they just avoided eye contact and tried not to accidentally kiss each other out of habit.

But the flower thing had Scarlet freaked out and she forgot about their awkwardness as she shook her head and started over. “I looked in Laura’s suitcase—the one she was protective of. I thought I’d find Bluestone weapons inside, but instead I found a yellow flower.”

“That’s weird.” Gabriel wrinkled his brow. “What else was in the suitcase?”

Scarlet thought for a moment. “Nothing.”

Heather blinked. “Okay…you found a flower.” She looked at Gabriel, then back to Scarlet. “So…what’s the problem?”

Scarlet looked at her. “The problem is that there are all these weird Laura puzzle pieces and I don’t know what to do with them!”

Heather looked taken aback as she raised a palm. “Re-lax. No need to be dramatic.”

Scarlet sharpened her eyes at Heather. “Says the girl who thought she was going to die in Mr. Brooks’ cellar because she’s blond.”

“Hey.” Heather pointed a finger. “I have a lot of supporting evidence for that.”

“Whatever.” Scarlet shook her head with a sigh. “I’m really confused. Laura stares at my eyes and she knows Tristan’s name. She bought a bunch of weapons from a weird old guy and has a mysterious flower packed in her suitcase. It’s just…so….”

“Strange,” Gabriel said.

“Yes!” Scarlet turned desperate eyes to Gabriel. “What should I do?”

Gabriel looked deep in thought. “Why don’t you just ask Laura about everything? The weapons? The flower?”

Scarlet made a face. “Because that would be weird. Hey Laura, I was going through your personal stuff last night and I found your secret flower. What’s up with that? Yeah, no.” Scarlet shook her head and took a deep breath. “I don’t trust Laura.”

Saying it out loud made Scarlet’s stomach hurt. Not because it was a heavy statement.

But because it was the absolute truth.

Later that day, Gabriel sat alone at one of the back tables in the school library. His class was supposed to be doing research for their history project today, but instead, Gabriel was chewing on the end of a pencil and looking through some books about Georgia.

“Hey, partner.” Heather appeared in front of him. “Is this seat taken?”

Gabriel shook his head. “It’s all yours.”

History was the only class he and Heather shared and, so far, their history project was coming along nicely. Gabriel knew the history—he’d lived it, after all—and Heather was good with words. They would definitely get an A plus plus.

Heather sat down and the scent of vanilla wrapped around the small table they shared. “So…” she began, “how’s the breakup going?”

Gabriel slanted his eyes at her, not in the mood for girl talk.

Heather continued, “It’s been, what, a week since you guys broke up? How are you doing?” She casually opened her history book and started rooting through pages.

“I’m fine.” Gabriel looked back at his book.

She turned a page. “You guys seem to be getting along well. As friends.”

They were getting along well. At first it had been a little weird. But after a few days and jokes and conversations, they had started to relax around each other.

Somewhat.

“Yep. Everything is fine.”

Everything except the hole in his chest. The hole Scarlet couldn’t fill even if she tried. Which she had.

“You don’t seem…” Heather kept her eyes on the book, “very upset.”

Gabriel rubbed the side of his face. “I’m not surprised, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“I wasn’t asking that.”

A few minutes passed as they flipped pages in their books.

Heather looked up. “I’m sorry about the curse. Hopefully, we’ll find the fountain and then you’ll be curse-free.”

Gabriel pursed his lips. “Hopefully.”

Heather nodded.

Gabriel nodded.

Then silence.

“This isn’t the first time, you know.” Gabriel played with his pencil, tapping it on the table. “Scarlet and I have broken up before.”

“Oh,” Heather said, looking a little stunned. “That’s…kinda awful. How many times…?”

Gabriel exhaled. “Uh…in her last life, a few decades ago.”

Heather’s eyes grew wide. “Ouch. That sucks.”

Gabriel shrugged. “You can’t make someone love you. You can try to fall in love with someone, but that’s not how it works. Love just has to…exist.”

He would know.

There was a hole carved out of his soul where love should exist.

“Hi, Gabriel.” He looked to his left and saw Kristy Stevens waving at him from an aisle away.

He waved back half-heartedly and caught Heather rolling her eyes.

“What?” he said innocently.

Heather raised a brow. “I bet you could get Kristy to fall in love with you. I bet you wouldn’t even need to try.”

Gabriel exhaled. “What’s your deal with Kristy, anyway? Why don’t you like her?”

Heather shrugged as she watched Kristy walk away from them. “She’s blond and happy and smart and annoying—”

“So, she’s you?” Gabriel quirked a brow.

Heather’s eyes shot to Gabriel. “No. She’s not me. That’s the problem. Everybody thinks I’m just like Kristy Stevens and I hate that.” She straightened her shoulders. “Just because you look like someone doesn’t mean you’re like them in any way.”

“Trust me.” Gabriel nodded with a tucked in smile. “I know.”

Heather smiled. “I suppose twins understand that more than anyone else.”

“Yep. Two of my faces roam the earth.”

Heather shrugged. “Yeah, but Tristan is nothing like you. He’s all heavy and dark. He’s not happy.”

Gabriel cocked his head. “You think I’m happy?”

Heather considered, looking over his face. “I think you’re…optimistic. You’re pleasant.” She scoffed, “Tristan is like the living dead.”

Gabriel looked back down at his books with a smile. “Yeah, well. He hasn’t had an easy life.”

Truthfully, neither of them had. And that was the fault of the curse.