Enchanted Summer Page 20

  She couldn’t tell him it was literally thanks to her magic that he had all this inspiration. But if it was the way it had to be for a while, she was fine with it. If she succeeded in banishing this darkness from his heart, he would not need her assistance in the future.

  Nate’s eyes seemed to reflect the stars above them as he observed her in wonder.

  “I will never get it,” he confessed. “What have I ever done to deserve your attention? There never was anything special about me.”

  Ariadne smiled and closed her eyes.

  “You just can’t see it,” she said. “There’s more magic in you then in the whole of the Enchanted Forest.”

  Nate chuckled. “That’s a huge exaggeration.”

  “Maybe it is. But you’ve always been special to me.”

  Tenderly, he pulled her closer to him. Their foreheads touched.

  “I know this is so selfish,” he whispered, “but I never want to let you go.”

  Ariadne brushed his lips with hers. “I never want to leave,” she whispered back.

  ∞∞∞

  Now that she had the recordings, the only thing left to do was to sum up the courage and talk to Nate.

  Mimi knew he was working most of the days, and she didn’t want to show up at the diner. Didn’t want to distract him from his job and, more importantly, didn’t want her brothers to get any ideas. It was a miracle they still hadn’t figured out what was going on. Even Hanna had no clue.

  The other option was to walk over to his house at night when he returned home from work. Ariadne was there, of course, but Mimi could catch Nate before he entered the house. Either way, Ariadne should understand. After all, it was she who gave Mimi that idea in the first place. Maybe she would even leave them alone.

  Having resolved to go and talk to him that night, Mimi waited for Ray to return from work and set off.

  “Mimi?” Hanna, who came with her brother in the car, called out from the driveway. “Where are you going so late?”

  “I’ll be back soon,” Mimi replied.

  She wondered if she should take Ollie with her for extra safety, but then remembered his reaction to Ariadne and decided against it.

  Nate’s house was located a couple of blocks away. As Mimi passed along the lit streets, humming to the music that she listened to just to calm her nerves, she felt a mixture of excitement and uncertainty. A few times she almost stopped and turned back, convinced she wasn’t ready for this, but then she pushed herself to walk ahead.

  A car passed by as she almost neared Nate’s house. Mimi barely registered it at first, but then she looked up and saw the car turn into Nate’s driveway. She recognized it immediately—it was Nate’s car, meaning Nate had just returned home. Mimi quickened her step.

  She heard the car door slam, and then a lock clicked in the door. Mimi peeked around the hedges just in time to see Ariadne step off from the porch, her marvelous dress flowing after her.

  “You’re here …” She couldn’t see Nate’s face but she could hear a smile in his voice.

  “I couldn’t wait any longer,” Ariadne smiled back at him. “And I’ve told you million times—nothing would happen even if they see me.”

  “I know. It’s just that I’m just scared.” Nate put his hands around her waist and pulled her closer. “That someone might come and take you away from me. Every time I come home, I’m afraid I won’t find you.”

  Mimi stiffened. She wanted to turn back, but at the same time, she couldn’t look away. As if hypnotized, she watched Ariadne lay her hands on his chest. Her eyes gleamed as she looked up at him.

  “Nobody would be able to take me away from you,” Mimi barely heard her murmur.

  And then Nate leaned down and kissed her.

  It was as if the whole world had gone black and white in one moment. Mimi’s heart pounded in her ears. She staggered back, struggling to take a breath. And then she turned away and ran as fast as she could.

  Hanna and Ray, who were seating peacefully at the kitchen island, sharing spaghetti Hanna had prepared earlier, nearly fell off their chairs as the front door of the house slammed open and Mimi rushed in.

  “Mimi!” Hanna cried. “What’s going on?”

  But Mimi didn’t hear her. She ran up the stairs and pushed the door to her bedroom. Then she locked herself in it.

  It all came at once. As the initial shock subsided, the realization of what she had just witnessed fully dawned on her. Mixed with the weeks of guessing, and hoping, and worrying, it nearly overwhelmed her.

  She never cried so hard in her life. It was as if she’d been holding the tears for years, and now they all came at once, threatening to drown her.

  Hanna pounded on her door, asked her, begged her to let her in, and then something clicked, and she was inside, wide-eyed and pale, rushing to Mimi’s side.

  Thankfully, she was alone.

  As they sat together on Mimi’s bed, Hanna holding her close and whispering something soothing to her, it reminded Mimi of a scene back from their childhood, when she fell off the stairs and Hanna, a couple of years older and so much braver than Mimi could ever be, sat with her and comforted her just like that, seemingly for hours, until Mimi stopped crying.

  Mimi wiped her face with a napkin and looked up at her friend. She wasn’t feeling any better, but at least she could think again. Hanna’s presence grounded her a little.

  “You don’t have to tell me what happened, Mimi,” Hanna whispered, “I just want you to know that I’m here. I’ll always be here. No matter what you’re going through, I’ll always be by your side.”

  “Hanna?” Mimi gasped.

  She managed to pull away just enough to see the tears glimmering in her best friend’s eyes.

  “Are you … crying?” she asked, shocked.

  “I’m okay.” Hanna forced a smile, wiping the tears from her face. “I just got so scared for a moment. I couldn’t open the door, and then Ray gave me the key.”

  Mimi threw a glance at the door. “Is he … there?”

  “No. I’ve sent him downstairs. He promised he wouldn’t eavesdrop. But he’s worried about you, too, you know.”

  Mimi released a long breath. “I’m so sorry …”

  “You don’t have to be. We are your family. We’re always worried about you.”

  “No.” Mimi shook her head, a few more tears escaping down her cheeks. “I don’t deserve it. You’re all so kind, always thinking about me. While I—”

  “I know you love us too.”

  “Of course I love you! But …” She could feel another wave of tears coming but willed herself to hold it back. “I’m just so tired,” she breathed. “So tired of all of it …”

  Hanna watched her for a few moments.

  “Did you meet someone tonight?” she asked, her voice steadier now. “I thought your friends had gone on vacation.”

  “They did,” Mimi said. “And also …” She sighed. “A lot of things had happened at the beginning of the summer. We haven’t spoken much since—” She cut a glance at Hanna. “You know, they all got boyfriends now. They don’t have time for me.”

  “Oh, Mimi …” Hanna tilted her head to the side. “Why haven’t you told me that earlier?”

  “That doesn’t matter.” Mimi shrugged. “After all, we would go different paths anyway. And we never were that close to begin with. I have you, and Ollie, and my family. That’s all I need.” She dropped her eyes.

  Hanna contemplated what she said.

  “So, if it wasn’t your friends you were meeting with so late at night, then who could that be? I don’t know anyone who—” She paused. Mimi waited. “You— You couldn’t have gone to Nate’s house, could you?”

  Mimi said nothing. She could practically hear Hanna’s mind putting the pieces together.

  “Ray says he suspects Nate and Ariadne are dating now,” Hanna continued, as if talking more to herself than to Mimi. “Nate won’t tell anything, of course, but I’ve seen him today, and he look
s madly in love.”

  Mimi pressed a hand to her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut. Another wave of hot tears rushed down her fingers. She inhaled deeply, trying to pacify herself, but everything was useless.

  “Mimi?” Hanna said, bewildered. And then she gasped. “Are you … Is it possible you …” Mimi heard her clap a hand to her forehead. “Oh, God,” she whispered. “You like him, don’t you? You liked him all this time. And I was dumb enough to not even notice it.”

  A few minutes later, when Mimi had calmed down a bit, she and Hanna sat together on the bed, talking.

  “So they’re actually dating,” Hanna said.

  “I don’t understand why she had to lie to me,” Mimi said, her voice hoarse from all the tears. “Did she want to mock me?”

  Hanna shook her head. “I don’t think so. I think she genuinely wanted you to take him away from her. To not … tempt her. But her plan obviously had failed.” She sighed. “Mimi, I’ve never been so sorry. All this time I talked about them liking each other, and I haven’t even noticed how it affected you. I’m the worst friend in the world.”

  “That’s not true. Besides, you were right all along. He liked her. He never liked me. I don’t think he ever saw me as anything more than his friend’s baby sister.”

  “Nobody thinks you’re a baby, Mimi. Please, don’t ever say that.”

  “But it still doesn’t change a thing.” Mimi shrugged, sniffing. “I never even was on his radar. Ever since he met Ariadne, he’s only been thinking about her.”

  Hanna took a deep breath. “Listen,” she said. “I know you’re not emotionally ready to let him go. And that’s okay. Give it time. In less than a month you’ll be going to college. You’ll start a new life, meet new people. I know that right now you’re probably thinking that you’ll never meet anyone as awesome as he is. But trust me—the world is full of awesome people. And there is someone out there for you. Someone who will see just how special you are.”

  Mimi shook her head. “It’s easy for you to say that. You’ve never been single. Well, ever since you started to be interested in boys, anyway. First, you had this one sort-of-boyfriend, then another, and all the while my brother was in love with you. So as soon as you and that other guy broke up, he seized the opportunity and asked you out. You’ve been together ever since. You’ve never had a crush on someone you couldn’t get.”

  “That’s true,” Hanna admitted. “Although I can’t say I’ve never been hurt in a relationship.”

  “That’s not the same! When you were my age, you’d already been happily dating my brother for two years! You don’t know how it feels to be alone. You don’t know how it feels to see all your friends get boyfriends while you’re wondering what’s wrong with you, and why no one has ever looked your way. You don’t know how it feels to lie in bed each night, wondering what your future would be like, and if you’d ever have someone to care about you. You don’t even know what it is—to be truly alone in this world.”

  “Mimi …” Hanna said softly, “but you’re still so young. I know it’s not fair, and I know you don’t deserve to be so heartbroken, but you’ve still got all your life ahead of you.”

  “I don’t know.” Mimi wiped another tear. “Maybe something truly is wrong with me. It’s not only that I’ve never been asked out, but it’s also that I’ve never even met someone I truly liked. Up until now. And then, just when I met him, just when I thought that maybe, finally, I’d have my chance, a fairy, a freaking fairy from another world shows up at his house. And of course, he falls in love with her right away.

  “Isn’t it a way for the universe to laugh in my face? Isn’t it a way for it to say, ‘Whatever you want in life, you won’t get it’?”

  Mimi closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.

  Hanna stroke her back.

  “Oh, no, Mimi, of course, it’s not what it is. Everything will be okay. I know you’ll be fine. You’ve just had a few rough months. But it will get better, I promise.”

  She hugged her, and they sat in silence for a while, the only sound—Mimi’s muffled sobs.

  “I’m sorry,” Mimi finally breathed. “I didn’t want to yell at you.”

  “It’s okay.” Hanna smiled. “I wouldn’t even call it yelling.”

  Mimi took a deep breath. “Please, don’t tell any of that to my brothers.”

  “Of course; I would never tell them your secrets.”

  “No, I mean … don’t even mention Nate to them in any way. I don’t want Ray to get mad at him. After all, he did nothing wrong.”

  Hanna chuckled. “Okay, I promise I won’t mention anything.”

  Mimi looked up at her. “Do you think Ryan would be upset about Ariadne?”

  Hanna laughed. “Well, when we discussed that in the diner tonight, Ryan pretended to be all heartbroken, but he recovered pretty quickly. He might be fascinated by her, but I don’t think he’d ever been seriously in love with her.”

  Twenty-Three*

  Quick note from the author: This chapter needed a little explanation, so I added it at the end of the book.

  A few days after their conversation with Hanna, Mimi sat at the diner, waiting for Ryan to finish his shift.

  He was surprised to see her that night, and even more surprised to learn that she’d walked there all by herself. The diner was pretty far off. But Mimi needed this walk.

  Hanna kept her promise and didn’t mention any of their conversation to Mimi’s brothers or anyone else. Of course, they couldn’t stay indifferent, considering how miserable their sister looked. But Hanna said that it was all “girl stuff” they wouldn’t want to know about, and so they promised not to ask Mimi any questions—but still offered to help in any way they could.

  So when Mimi walked in, Ryan just asked her if she was feeling any better and offered to make her a chocolate milkshake.

  Ten minutes later, she sat in the booth, stirring the milkshake with a straw while Ryan wrapped up the day.

  A bell suddenly chimed, announcing the arrival of a new customer. Mimi didn’t even lift her head to see who came in. Her thoughts were too far away from this place. She’d spent the last few days mostly crying and listening to music, and having conversations with Hanna every once in a while. She felt exhausted. There seemed to be no more tears left in her to cry, but at the same time, the wound was still fresh.

  “Hello,” she heard Ryan’s voice in the background. “We’re closing in five minutes, so—”

  “I won’t take long.”

  At the sound of the stranger’s voice, Mimi nearly turned around to see who was talking. It was so unusual, almost child-like. For a second she thought that maybe it really was a child, but then Ryan spoke again.

  “Is that your car parked out there? Impressive.”

  “I know, right? It’s not exactly mine, though. It’s useful to be friends with a bunch of rich people.”

  “Are you from here?”

  “Oh, no. Not even close. Now, listen, cutie, can you make me a cup of hot chocolate? With extra marshmallows. And a heap of marshmallows on top.”

  “Okay.” Ryan chuckled. “You’re funny.”

  The stranger giggled. “No,” she said. “I’m Fanny.”

  Mimi frowned at her drink. She leaned down to take a sip of it, and just at that moment, a whiff of some sugary perfume hit her nostrils.

  “Hi, honeybun,” the funny voice sounded to her left. “Why so sad a face?”

  Mimi shivered and turned to look.

  The girl standing next to her booth indeed looked like a child. But she was undoubtedly adult—not even a teenager—although Mimi had no idea why she was so sure about that. She was very short—much shorter than Chase even. She had a cute round face, blue eyes, and her blonde hair was tied into two pigtails. She was wearing a crop top and pink shorts that distantly reminded Mimi of pajama bottoms. Overall, she looked like she was headed to the beach.

  Mimi quirked an eyebrow. What did that girl even want from her? Wa
s she always striking up conversations with strangers? Had she no regard for privacy?

  Before Mimi could reply, the strange girl hopped into the booth and sat opposite from her, her eyes sparkling. She leaned over the table conspiratorially. “I wish I could say he’s not worth crying over, but Nate’s a good guy. I would be upset, too.”

  Mimi nearly chocked on her milkshake. “How do you know his name?” She gawked at the stranger.

  The girl shrugged one shoulder. “Let’s just say I know a thing or two about you. But that’s not why I’m here. Listen.” She leaned closer again. “There’s only one way for you to get over that. You need to write.”

  Mimi shook her head, dropping her eyes. “I tried journaling, but—”

  “No, not journaling.” The girl waved her hand. “It does nothing for people like you. Trust me, I know.” She rolled her eyes. “But say there is a girl somewhere in another world, and she goes through something similar. After all, you sure can’t assume you’re the only one.”

  “A girl in another world?” Mimi raised an eyebrow. “What are you trying to say? Are you a writer?”

  The girl burst out laughing. “Oh no, I could never be one. It’s maddening.”

  Mimi frowned at her milkshake.

  “Hey, I was wondering,” the girl spoke again, “did you get my complimentary gift?”

  “What?” Mimi stared at her in bewilderment.

  “A box of Cheerios. I can live on this stuff for ages.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. We don’t have any Cheerios in the house.”

  “Hmm.” The girl tapped her lips, then shrugged. “Oh, well. I guess you can’t remember everything.”

  Ryan came over with a mug of hot chocolate.

  “Here you go.” He placed the mug on the table before the girl.

  “Thanks, cutie.” The girl winked at him, then rose to her feet. She took a long sip. “Mmm, it’s delicious!”

  “Careful; it’s hot!” Ryan cautioned, but she seemed not to listen.

  “It was nice seeing you, but I gotta go. Long night ahead.” She backed toward the door, smiling cheerfully all the while. She waved; Ryan waved back. “Take care, guys. See ya!”