Illusions

Chapter Eleven

LAUREL STARED AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR, TRYING to decide if the bump on her back was actually as big as it seemed to her, or if she was blowing it out of proportion. In the end, she had to just drop her hair down across her back and hope for the best. David had gone into school early for a National Honor Society meeting, and Laurel decided she would walk so she could ride home with him after school. She took a glance at the clock, then hurried downstairs so she’d have time. On her way out the door Laurel grabbed an apple from the ever-present fruit basket on the counter, shouted a quick good-bye to her parents, and hurried out into the early morning sunshine.

“Care for a lift?” a voice called as Tamani’s convertible pulled up beside her. Laurel hesitated. She was his friend; technically there was nothing wrong with getting a ride from him. On the other hand, he had made his intentions clear, and she didn’t want to encourage him, or worse, string him along the way she had inadvertently done last year. Still, riding in a convertible was just as revitalizing as walking, and in some ways, better — she loved the feel of the wind in her face. “Thanks,” she said with a smile, pulling open the door and sliding in.

“How’s the Mixing coming along?” Tamani asked as the school parking lot came into view.

“I’m almost done curing the second batch of phosphorescent,” said Laurel. “It’s slow going, but I’m pretty sure I did it right this time.”

“Good timing, then. I brought you a present,” Tamani said, handing her a small, cloth-wrapped package.

Laurel could tell from the size and shape that it was the light orb she’d asked for. “Thanks! Hopefully I’ll bloom tomorrow and we can start figuring things out.”

“Anything you need,” he said. “I wonder though, should you try out the experiment on living faeries first? I mean, right now, if I understand right, you’re going to try to keep the plants cells alive and try the phosphorescent on them. Wouldn’t it be better to try one thing at a time? Not that I’m trying to tell you how to be a Mixer,” Tamani added hastily.

“No, you’re right,” Laurel said reluctantly, remembering how David had begged her to drink the phosphorescent. “It’s just that I can’t exactly come to school glowing, you know what I mean?”

“Well, maybe you don’t have to. I mean, it’s almost the weekend. Didn’t Katya say that stuff wears off overnight? And if you did us both, we could see if there’s a difference between Spring and Fall.”

“Maybe,” Laurel said distractedly. “I’m still not sure it’s a good idea to drink that stuff, but maybe it could be applied directly…?” Her voice trailed off as she pondered ways to test her theories.

“Laurel?”

She snapped back to attention. “What?”

He laughed. “I called your name about three times.”

They were in the parking lot. A handful of students were making their way through parked cars on their way to the school, weaving around Tamani’s car and feeling very close with no roof between her and them.

“Listen,” Tamani said, pulling her attention away. “I actually wanted to talk to you about Yuki, too.”

“What about her?” Laurel asked.

“I made… first contact, I guess. Walked her home the other day.”

“Oh. Good, good,” Laurel said, feeling strangely exposed, sitting in Tamani’s convertible in the school parking lot. She glanced up at the front doors and spotted David, waiting at the top of the steps. His meeting must have gotten out a bit early. He was looking at the car, and after a moment, headed toward them, covering the short distance quickly.

“So I’ll keep working on that and hopefully she’ll start to warm up to you….” Tamani’s voice trailed off and his eyes focused on something above Laurel’s head.

Laurel shifted and met David’s eyes, his smile a little tight. “Can I get that for you?” he asked, swinging her car door open.

“Sure, thanks,” Laurel said, shouldering her bag and stepping out.

“I didn’t know you needed a ride,” David said, his eyes darting between her and Tamani. “You could have called me.”

“You had a meeting,” Laurel said, shrugging. “I figured we could drive home this afternoon, so I walked.”

“And I just happened by,” Tamani said, his voice very cool and casual.

“I’ll bet,” David said to Tamani, putting an arm around Laurel’s shoulders and leading her away from the car.

“Laurel?” Tamani called. “So, that thing? Maybe this weekend?” He let the words roll out heavy with insinuation. David took the bait.

“What thing?” David asked, his voice decidedly tense now.

“It’s nothing,” Laurel said quietly, stepping between the two guys, hoping that if they couldn’t see each other, they would stop sniping. “He’s helping me with… that thing we talked about. Testing the… stuff.”

“Weren’t we going to study for the SATs this weekend?” David asked, sounding disappointed.

“I think she has bigger problems than your human exams.”

“Oh, come on!” Laurel hissed, her glare taking in both boys now. “What is this?”

David crossed his arms over his chest guiltily, and Tamani looked like a child caught with one hand in the cookie jar. Laurel glanced between them and lowered her voice. “Listen, we have a lot of stuff going on and the last thing I need is to be babysitting you two. So knock it off, okay?” Without another word she slammed the car door and walked quickly toward the school.

“Laurel, wait!” David called.

But she didn’t.

He caught up with her at their side-by-side lockers.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I just… got mad when I saw you with him. It was dumb.”

“Yeah, it was,” Laurel replied.

“I just… I really don’t like him here. Well, he was okay before, but now he always says hi to you when we’re together and he’s volunteering for study sessions….” He grinned sheepishly. “If you recall, that’s how I lured you in once.”

“That is not what this is,” Laurel said, pushing her locker shut. “This is important and I can’t deal with your ego right now.”

“It’s not ego,” David said defensively. “We both know he wants to be more than just your sentry. I think it’s completely understandable if I’m a little upset about that.”

“You’re right,” Laurel snapped back. “If you don’t trust me, it totally is.” She turned and headed for her first class, refusing to look back.

“Boys are impossible!” Laurel huffed, dropping her backpack on the floor by the register in her mom’s store.

“Ah, music to my ears,” her mom said with a smile.

Laurel couldn’t help but smile back, even as she rolled her eyes.

“So I take it you are escaping from said boys?” her mom asked. “Does your escape plan include a little manual labor?”

“I’m always happy to help in here, Mom.” Since Laurel and her mom had straightened out their issues last year, Laurel found herself helping in her mom’s store even more than at her dad’s bookstore next door. Her mom had one part-time employee now, which made talking openly a little more difficult, but on a school day in the middle of the afternoon, the store was all theirs.

“What can I do?” Laurel asked.

“I have two boxes of new stock,” her mom said. “If we work together we can sort and talk at the same time.”

“Deal.”

They worked in silence for a while before her mom finally broached the subject. “So… David coming up a little short in the boyfriend department?”

“Kind of,” Laurel muttered. “Well, not really, he’s just not dealing with things very well. I told you about Tamani, right?”

“You did,” her mom said, smiling craftily, “but I suspected there was more to that story.”

“Well, sort of. He’s started interfering in our relationship a little. And David’s jealous.”

“Does he have a reason to be jealous?”

Laurel considered this, not completely sure what the answer was herself. “Maybe?”

“Is that a question?”

They both laughed and it felt like a tangible weight was lifted from Laurel’s shoulders as she shared the story with her mother.

“It sounds like you stood up for yourself really well,” her mom said. After a pause she added, “Did you guys break up?”

“No!” Laurel said vehemently.

“So you’re still happy with him?”

“Yes!” Laurel insisted. “He’s great. He just had a bad day. You don’t break up with someone because of one bad day. He’s on edge because of Tam… ani,” she tacked on. She’d gotten too used to hearing his shortened name in school.

“But you like Tamani, too?”

“I don’t know,” Laurel whispered. “I mean, I do, but it’s not the same as with David.” Laurel leaned her head on her mom’s shoulder, feeling more confused than ever. “I love David. He’s seen me through everything.” She laughed. “And when I say everything, you know what I mean.”

“Yes, yes I do,” her mom said wryly. “But love is something that has to be as selfish as it is unselfish. You can’t make yourself love someone because you feel like you should. Just wanting to love someone isn’t enough.”

Laurel looked at her mother in shock. “Are you telling me to break up with David?” The thought almost frightened her.

“No,” her mom said. “I’m really not. I like David. I’ve never even met Tamani — which you should remedy, by the way.” She paused and laid her hand on Laurel’s. “All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t stay with him for the wrong reasons, even if they are noble ones. No one owes it to someone else to be their girlfriend. It’s a choice you remake every day.”

Laurel nodded slowly, then paused. “I love him, Mom.”

“I know you do. But there are a lot of different kinds of love.”