Chapter 9
That night, Mary- Lynnette dreamed of her new world. She dreamed of the Broadway shows and the ice cream parlors and the hundreds of people. She dreamed of the traffic lights, the signs, everything she saw.
She never wanted to wake up.
Unfortunately, the time came.
"Where were you!" Kestrel shouted into her ear, startling Mary- Lynnette into jumping clear to the other side of the bed. "Ash said you went out with Thierry to see the town. Is that true?"
"Umm… yes." The remnants of sleep dissolved. Mare prepared to bolt, not sure what exactly Kestrel would do in reaction to the news.
"Didn't you think, as friends, it was your obligation to invite me along?" Kestrel seethed.
"Well, it all happened so fast-"
Kestrel shook her head, disgusted. "Or did you want to spend some alone time with Ash?"
"What?" Mare whispered. "What did you just say?"
"I can't believe you," Kestrel shook her head. "From other girls, it's expected. But I thought better of you. I guess I was wrong."
"Did you just accuse me of having a crush on Ash?" Mary- Lynnette said very slowly, very quietly. Very dangerously.
It was then that Kestrel realized she was wrong.
"Never mind." Kestrel said. "But seriously, why did you leave me behind?"
Mare edged closer, grabbed Kestrel by the collar, and pulled her in close. "Don't think, for even a moment, I would ever like your obnoxious, deadbeat, pig of a brother. It's going to take you a lot of apologizing for me to get over that insult."
Mare let go and leaned back, surprised to see a hint of fear on Kestrel's usually fierce face. It quickly vanished.
"You want to know what I think?" Came a voice from the door. Ash, standing there, smiling.
"What." Mare growled.
"I'm a strong believer of 'He who denied it, supplied it'." Ash began.
"You think we farted?" Kestrel asked, eyebrow raised. "You are unbelievable."
"No, just listen," Ash said, coming farther into the room. "I also believe that saying applies to more than farts. I think, in this case, the only reason Mare is denying her little crush on me so persistently is because she doesn't want you to know of it."
Mare snorted. "You wish."
"No, really," Ash hopped up on the bed. "Admit it, you like me."
Mare rolled her eyes. "What in the world are you smoking?"
Ash grinned. "Kestrel, you said it yourself. Why didn't she invite you to join us?"
"I didn't invite her," Mare said through clenched teeth, "because I didn't know where she was, and my thoughts were clouded because I was excited!"
"Excited for what?" Ash leaned back on the bed, looking all for the world like a spoiled house cat. "A date with me?"
Mary- Lynnette was to a boiling point. "To see New York!" She hissed.
"Riiiiiiight," Ash said real slowly, still smiling.
She couldn't help it. She pulled back her fist, and drove it into his gut.
He yelped, "What!"
Kestrel's reaction was quite the opposite. She fell on the floor laughing.
-8-
Maggie walked in a moment later, hearing the loud voices, and stopped dead in her tracks. Why did she always walk in at the worst possible moment?
Ash, clutching his stomach and gasping for air like a fish.
Kestrel, in much the same manner as Ash, rolling around on the floor- but she had a smile on her face, unlike her brother.
And Mare, sitting next to Ash on the bed- looking unsure about what to do.
"What is going on!" Maggie demanded.
"She punched me!" Ash breathed out, most definitely in pain.
"He deserved it," Mare said quietly, flinching. Maggie had no doubt she was worried about being sent back to the orphanage for any bad behavior.
Kestrel just kept laughing.
"Why did you punch him?" Maggie came over to the bed, stepping over Kestrel.
"He was being cocky and arrogant." Mary-Lynnette answered.
"I was just suggesting that last night was more of a date than a friendly outing." Ash had stopped holding his stomach.
"That in itself would have been insulting, but I would have let it go," Mare said to the both of them. "But the way in which he said it!" She complained. "Forget any semblance of a civilized solution, as he was clearly asking for something more painful."
Maggie sighed. "Mary-Lynnette, apologize to Ash for hitting him."
Mare scowled and turned to the boy, quiet for a moment, then saying, "Sorry for hitting you."
"You should be," Ash told her.
"Ash, now you apologize to Mary-Lynnette for being rude." Maggie ordered.
"What!" Ash said. "All I was doing was-"
Mare interrupted his protests by clearing her throat, a smug smile settling on her face.
"Fine," He said through clenched teeth. "I'm sorry for implying you had any feelings for me."
"Thank you," Mary- Lynnette nodded her head.
-8-
Jade watched the three of them play. Kestrel and Mary- Lynnette in one corner, Ash in the other.
Clearly, something had happened. Something she'd been left out of, as she always was. They just assumed she'd rather play with glitter than regular people, and although that assumption sometimes turned out to be right, she often got lonely on her own.
Hey there!
Okay, so this is kind of random, but you know Rick Riordan (author of the Percy Jackson series)? Did you know that the Drew in The Lost Hero is the same as the one in Serpents Shadow? When I saw he had said that I was like: AHHHH! I KNEW it! (Sorry, I just had to get that out. It made me really happy).
