Chapter Two: At the Diner

"What a quaint little place," Isabela remarks, as we enter the diner.

It becomes immediately apparent that everyone here is a cosplayer. I see tails all over the place, very realistic-looking lionlike faces, with claws on the table from a kid, shouldn't people take their lion gloves off to eat? I'd think using one's bare hands would make more sense. Also their masks are really impressive, they can open them and toss food into them, tater tots it looks like with this particular kid, and also spaghetti on a fork. Really bizarre.

I personally wouldn't put tater tots and spaghetti together, but to each their own.

We get escorted to a table by a girl who also looks like an elf. She brings us menus but is not our waitress, apparently. I am quite flabbergasted, is the franchise all these people are cosplaying more popular than I thought? Or maybe these people are cosplaying from different franchises. Can't be sure, but the elf waitress must be from the same one as Ian and Barley's costumes.

Isabela is looking through the menu. "Hum, these dishes all sound so…unique.

"Oh yeah, Vriya's Diner is like that," Ian says. He is sitting across from me in a straight-backed chair while Barley is on the end away, having pulled out some cards from a game, I'd presume. We are a six-seater table which is odd to me since there are only four of us and tables built for a party of that size.

I open my own menu and glance down the entrees. Noodles of Fright and Volcano Hushpuppy Valley catch my eye. I flip over to drinks and see Dragon brew and Raspberry tangerade. What even is that? Lemonade but you use a tangerine instead? Very odd.

The waitress comes to get our drinks. She literally has four legs like a horse's, which I have to say must be hard to move. Unless there's some mechanical advancements from recent years that I'm not familiar with, which wouldn't surprise me honestly, but still, bizarre to the max.

She stares at me and Isabela a little too long. It makes me quite nervous. Then I reason, it must be part of the centaur act. At least, I hope that's what it is. If she's not feeling comfortable about a pair of Latina girls being at this diner, well, that will really boil my blood. But I can't come out and ask that. It would be rude and make this whole situation very awkward.

I ask for the raspberry tangerade. Might as well find out what that is. Isabela gets blueberry milk. I wouldn't touch that with a ten-foot pole but it's good that Isabela is feeling adventurous in that regard.

The centaur clops off to take our drink order to the back. Those horse hooves really do sound realistic even though they have to be mechanical. I kind of feel like I've got to be in the future here.

Could five years worth of technology ahead of what I'm used to produce this? I'm not entirely sure. But they can make mechanical masks and legs that work like natural ones, but there's no way the food or beverages here can be futuristic, right?

"Everyone sure is in character here, aren't they?" Isabela remarks. Barley looks up from his cards at her, puzzled. Is that an act too? If so, the Lightfoot brothers must be extremely into this.

"So what's this abandoned amusement park you were going to?" Ian asks.

My heart nearly melts as he gazes into my eyes. I have to glance away real fast before I can look back and anser him. "It actually is for The Flintstones. Our sister Luisa is obsessed with 60's and 80's cartoons, and she insists that going to an abandoned theme park will be much better than going to a crowded one, or an expensive one like Disney World."

"That makes sense," Ian says, nodding. "Totally sound advice." He muses for a few seconds, then says, "Say, where are you from originally? Around here?"

I shake my head. "We're from Batesville."

"Oh wow, that's in Southeast Missouri," Barley says.

"Yeah, so you wouldn't have met us if you were heading to Disney World. So it's a good thing your sister wanted to go to this abandoned amusement park."

"It probably won't be as fun as she claims," Isabela remarks. "But with family, one can still have an interesting experience, or at least something to talk about, we can go over our favorite moments when it all ends."

"Here are your drinks," the waitress says, having set a tray down on our table. She passes me the raspberry tangerade, which looks like dark orange Sunny Delight. Can't wait to try it.

The waitress then pushes Isabela's blueberry milk in front of her, and Ians beverage which is dark green, and Barley has a black fizzy drink that could just be Dr. Pepper or Coca-Cola with a different name. So it can seem unique at this fantasy-themed diner.

"Got what food you want to order?" the waitress asks, notepad out.

"Uh, give me another minute," Isabela says, gazing down a column on her menu.

"I'll be back," the waitress says, clomping over to another table.

Isabela finally figures something out to order five minutes later, but I can't blame her for taking so long. The names of the items are super weird and the list of what they are don't seem that helpful.

"Have you strange creatures figured out what you want yet?" the waitress asks when she returns, notepad at the ready, her forehoof clomping on the lacquered wooden floor.

"Um yeah," Isabela says. "I'll take the Burning Fettuccine and Meatballs."

"You sure you can handle that, honey?" the centaur asks, gazing at her shrewdly. "It's very spicy."

"I'm fine with spice," Isabela says.

"You know those spicy ramen challenges that Youtubers and Twitch streamers are always doing? This is way spicier than that."

"Yeah, I can handle it," Isabela assures the waitress.

"Fine," the centaur says, jotting it down. "And what will the rest of you be having?"

Barley gives his order, a viscous burger and eyehole fries, sounds freaky, and then I gulp as I say, "Noodles of Starlight and Flash Flame?"

"Whoa," the centaur says. "Are you two like, trolls or something? Like an odd sort? Honestly, I've seen a lot of trolls but none of them ever looked, quite like you."

"I'm certainly not a troll," I say, offended.

"Maybe you are but don't know it?"

I wish I had the power I fibbed to the gas station counter guy that I had and that it didn't just operate on puertas, but also door-sized sections of the floor, and that I could use it to dissolve the section beneath this centaurand send her to another dimension. In reality, it probably wouldn't work like that, unless it affects someone touching the door area or mass of that size, but yeah, it certainly would make me feel better.

"There's nothing wrong with handling spicy food," Ian says. "You have it on your menu, after all."

"Yeah, for trolls, who order it a lot. And sometimes Manticores. But not some strange species I don't recognize as a species of troll."

I exchange a glance with Isabela. How hardcore is this diner playing to the fantasy theme? They really want us to dress as trolls to order this? What do trolls even look like? I must confess that I tend to think of the Internet sort when I hear that word. I know those are a thing in Harry Potter, although not very civilized. I mean they dont' go in restaurants, can't be reasoned with, or any of that. Goblins can, they work in the bank Gringotts, and Ludo Bagman has them in the Three Broomsticks one time, but trolls, no, that wouldn't be happening.

Then again, the merfolk of that franchise aren't the way they are typically depicted. But I'd hope that in a fantasy world, they actually look half human as opposed to having fish upper bodies.

"There's no species-specific serving allowed in public venues," Barley says, frowning. "Anyone should be allowed to order whatever they desire."

"I mean, yeah, that's true, but I don't even know what species these two young ladies are."

Ugh, does she have to keep this up just because Isabela and I aren't in costume? It's super irritating. I've heard of immersion, sure, like the Avatar pavilion in Animal Kingdom, where they treat it as if you're on Pandora; Wizarding World at Universal, where you can visit Honeydukes and Hogwarts, and have butterbeer and shop for potion ingredients; or Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser. I kind of wish there was a Fairy Tail version of that resort, although I dunno how that will work, I'll probably have to wait for Fairy Tail virtual reality.

If I were to go to a fantasy-themed restaurant, I'd probably want it to be from that anime, but ah well. At least there Isabela and I wouldn't be accused of being an odd species of troll.

"Okay, got it down, if your mouths and stomachs are on fire afterward, don't blame me, I did warn you," the centaur says. She turns to Ian. "And what will you be having, elf-boy?"

Wait, you haven't asked Mirabel whether she wants eggplant or lime gravy for her mashed potatoes."

The centaur turns back to me, looking unhappy to have to jot down what I'll say.

"Um, lime, I suppose," I say, finding that gravy name odd, what happened to white or brown? I'd think that a fantasy world would still have some similar foods to our own, maybe? Just a thought. In Harry Potter, sure they have strange things, especially when it comes to candy, but that is also reflected in the real world where Japan has their own candy and America and European countries, even Australia. But a lot of what Harry and his friends eat can be found in real life. And like, going back to Fairy Tail, Erza has an intense interest in eating strawberry cake whenever it is around her. It doesn't need to always be crazy when it comes to food from other worlds. Im going to assume that those are just dyes for brown and white gray to make them look like they come from a unique dimension. I dunno which is which, but if it tastes vastly different, I will be shocked, even if what I ordered does have lime in its name.

Ian places his order and the centaur clops off. Then Ian reaches across the table to squeeze my hands, which makes me feel a bit light-headed.

"What are you, though? You aren't a troll, but…"

"Um, maybe I'm a human that fell into a fantasy world?" I ask. Is that something we can pretend?

Ian tilts his head. "What's a human?"

That is slightly irritating, but I know he's just playing a part. You'd think you wouldn't question your crush's species, even to be immersive. "Um, well, I say, drumming my fingers on the back of his palm. "We don't have blue skin or pointy ears, but humans and elves aren't that different."

"I've never encountered humans in the lore for Quests for Yore," Barley muses.

"Coule they be hidden and lost to history?" Ian asks his brother.

"Um, yeah, but it seems odd to me."

Ian turns to me. "Maybe you're not out of touch with your magic?"

That…is kind of a hurtful question. But I'm not sure he's aware of the Madrigals, he's just playing along with the fantasy vibe, right?

I watch a medium dark purple person take a seat, she has short darker purple hair and is wearing a mause dress. She is here with a buff boy who is green and has a big tooth sticking out of his mouth.

"Have you heard of the Madrigals?" Isabela asks.

"Um, no, are you two a famous family or something?"

"Mostly around Batesville," I muse. "We have a big colorful house and everyone knows us."

"Oh, can you show us?" Ian asks.

Isabela smiles and extricates her phone from her purse, goes to the pics while I watch, pauses on one featuring Casita, and pushes it across to Ian.

"Wow, that's impressive," Barley remarks. "I'd love to live in a house like that."

"It's a pretty busy place," I say. Ian looks up. "Big family, you know."

"And getting bigger," Isabela says. "Mariano will of course move in after he marries Dolores, and then it won't be long after that before she is barren with child."

"Do you have pictures of your family on here?" Ian asks.

"Of course, just scroll to the right."

Ian does so and I see a picture of Dolores, Camilo, and Antonio. Barley and Ian examine it as if committing it to memory, then after that is a picture of Antonio and his tiger, then there'sme and Isabela after she finally didn't have to do everything perfectly and live exactly to Abuela's expectations for her, when she got to use her power to change her dress, florally designing it to have some clashes of colors, blue and yellow, but on purpose and loving it.

She looks so cute in that dress. Right now she's wearing a purple one like she always loved back then. She told me prior to us going on the road trip that she never hated that dress, this was her spare, obviously she changed the other one, but she said that it did represent her perfection for awhile which was why she couldn't wear it for a plethora of months, but finally she could put that behind her and move on.

Ian lingers on that photo for a couple of minutes, gazing at me in it, then Barley slams his thumb down to move it.

They go through a few more before the burly elf brother says, "Hum, I wonder if humans are hiding in places like Batesville. I feel like it'd be all over the news though, with a huge family living in a colorful house like that." At this point, they have seen photos of Abuela, plus my and Isabela's parents, as well as our aunt and uncle, not to mention Antonio's jaguar pet Parce.

I am struggling to keep the fantasy vibe going. I want to say, "Oh come on, there are humans all over the world!" But I'm not sure how BArley and Ian would react, keeping in character, and I get the feeling that if other customers here overhear that outburst, they'll look over and start questioning what a pair of humans are doing in here in the first place.

"As for magic, yeah, we have something of that sort," Isabela says, making a tulip appear in her drink, the stem, with the petals overhanging against the rim.

"You can make flowers appear?" Barley asks, eyes wide.

Isabela nods. "And other plants." She has one of the spiky botanical projects she brought a ton of into existence appear on the table. But she quickly makes it vanish.

"Can all humans do that?" Barley asks. He turns to me. "Can you?"

I shake my head. "Absolutely not." But his and Ian's reaction is the wrong one, even for cosplayers who want to immerse in a fantasy setting. If these guys have never heard of the Madrigals, they should be shocked that someone can do powers at all. Unless they think that has a magic trick, an optical illusion.

Ian reaches over to feel the tulip. He is surprised, but not like, screaming that we're witches or something. The good thing is the people of Batesville, Missouri accept us as having powers, they do not fear us, but it is certainly a frightening thing that people could react that way.

"Well, that's a shame," Barley says.

"Unfortunately, Mirabel didn't get a gift, but the other Madrigals have them, unique ones to them, that is."

"Way to make me feel good about this, Isabela," I say, elbowing her, but I smile to show I'm not actually offended. It does cause my heart to twist a little, but whatever, I've come to accept it at last. I take a huge gulp of tangerade though, my tongue needs the bite of it to keep myself from having the memory of that door dissolving at my gift-receiving ceremony eating at me over and over. I'm not sure how much a cute elf-boy can help me not go down that rabbit-hole.

"What other powers?" Barley asks, intrigued.

Isabela stuffs her phone back in purse. "Well, Luisa has super-speed, our cousin Dolores can hear things that are too far for people to hear regularly, and whispers too, Camilo can transform to appear as anyone he's seen before, and Antonio talks to animals."

"Wow, that's so cool. Maybe humans never forgot how to access magic like the rest of us."

Now that sounds like odd lore for a fantasy world. I'm just about to ask the elf brothers about that when the centaur arrives with our food.

I see the green gravy over my mashed potatoes and the appetizing noodles, looking as if they're smothered in buffalo sauce.

The other plates look less appetizing, even Barley's burger. Which has a black bun and the vegetables are yellow and orange on it, the yellow could be squash but the orange doesn't really look like carrots. It has a purple sauce. And the fries are blackened and literally look like they have eyes down them, freaky.

Ian has some kind of lasagna but with purple spheres around it, they sort of look like hushpuppies, but with food dye on them. Going to assume that's what they are.

And Isabela's looks worst of all. The fettuccine noodles are black, not white, or even orange as the term "burning" would imply, and the meatballs are green pyramids. There also is some sort of pink coating them that either looks like parmesan dyed a different color, or Cheetos chip dust, can't quite say.

"Enjoy your meals," the centaur says. "Or not, as the case might be," she scoffs, gazing pointedly at me and Isabela, before clopping off on her hooves.

"Maybe humans have a stronger sense of holding in spices than trolls!" Barley shouts after the centaur. The word "human" has zero effect on people around here, which makes no sense if they're acting, right? It's almost like they never heard the world at all.

But some people that look like they're dressed as trolls do glare over at us, including the green dude with that purple person, whatever she's supposed to be.

"Uh, my brother was just speaking crazily, he's a bit drunk, go back to your meals," Ian says.

The green troll huffs and goes back to the appetizers on the table before him, which look like heart-shaped biscuits. Valentine's hearts, not actual human ones, that would be gross. But either way it's biscuit-colored, not red, so at least something in this place looks as expected by color, if not by shae.

Barley doesn't seem to be twenty-one. Maybe twenty at most, would be my guess. Then again, there's a thin line between those ages, perhaps no one would care to check, or maybe that's part of the acting too, like in a fantasy world the drinking age might not be twenty-one.

"Sorry, had to say it," Barley says, taking a chomp in his burger.

"Gotta be careful, Barley. If humans are not very well–known, if we exose them then they'll probably never be from paparazzi and interrogation."

As if the Madrigals aren't mini-celebrities in of themselves, for us to be the only humans, or for everyone we know in Batesville, to be the only known human community, would be quite freaky. I nearly lose my appetite just considering it. It's bad enough to be a Madrigal without a gift but to be a species of low number that people might distrust, that is beyond what I can take.

Isabela spikes some fettuccine noodles with her fork. When she chews it on, steam comes out of her ears and her eyes grow big.

"Is it too hot for you?" I ask, when she swallows.

"Oh no," she says. "It's really quite nice. You know I trained my spice level to be high by consuming the hottest peppers."

"You did," I say, proudly. For awhile after the Big Incident where Casita fell and we had to rebuild, Isabela wanted to become a mistress of all horticulture and so she ate ghost peppers, habaneros, and others of that sort that burn your mouth, going by degrees to reach the highest level. She even got me to have some, which is how I'm confident my dish won't be a problem.

I bring some of it to my mouth and bite down, discovering that the orange sauce coating the noodles isn't buffalo at all, it's way spicier. My mouth feels like someone has put coals in it and got tiny embers ignited.

I chew and swalllow then take a huge gulp of raspberry tangerade. I notice that Isabela is downing more fettuccine without taking drinks of blueberry milk, and I'm guessing her dish is far spicier than mine, or at least two or three degrees, at any rate.

Then I decide to try the lime gravy mashed potatoes. And quickly discover that that isn't white or brown gravy with food dye. It tastes more like cilantro, but saltier. There is a lime twinge as well. I would not have put that on mashed potatoes, but now I'm curious what the eggplant gravy option would've tasted like.

Our meal proceeds like this, Barley tells us more about The Quests of Yore, a game he is really into, he shows us some of the cards including a phoenix gem one and some location cards, it is apparently a history of the fantasy world they're all portraying.

Even though Isabela's ears continue to steam with each bite, she is definitely enjoying her meal. She does take sips of blueberry milk from time to time but isn't downing it fast, the way I am with the tangerade. Ian has to call the waitress back over to refill my drink, but Barley also needs more so it's not like she came over just for me, which would be embarrassing.

Our meal ends and the centaur waitress clops over to give us the bill, Barley insists he'll pay for us, but Ian sets the tip, with those blue bills with orange centers, there's a goose within the orange portion, the way dollars have presidents in ovals.

I am confused, I thought those were like vouchers at the gas station, but if that works as money here too, what does this mean?

Isabela hastily gulps down the remainder of the blueberry milk, then we all go to the counter and Barley pays while Isabela and I check out a claw machine, which has bizarre toys in it. Some dragon lushies though, which are pretty cool.

"Would you like to try at the claw machine?" Ian asks.

And fail in front of a boy I'm crushing on? Absolutely not.

"I'll take a whack at it," Isabela says, accepting the bronze coins Ian is holding out. She slides them in and sends the claw down at a dragon, and wouldn't you know it, she catches it on her first try.

The dragon is purple with an orange stomach and is smiling. Isabela pulls it from the section it fell in after the claw droed it off and is still grinning as we exit the diner.

"So we have to keep this human thing under wraps?" Barley says, when we're outside in front of our vehicles.

What? Is he still keeping u this act when we're outside the diner? That makes no sense. We're already back in the real world. I mean, I can understand why someone would want to immerse themselves in fantasy, no one should get that more than I, but still to carry that insofar as to pretend humans don't exist, that's crazy.

"It's better to not parade it," Ian says. "There really will be a lot of unwanted attention for them. I'm thinking of using a sell to make them aear as elves. If that's all right with you, Mirabel, of course."

There is so much to unpack in that statement that I don't know where to begin. But obviously I have to start with the obvious one, because a chill is running down my sine as I see yet more people walking around who are in fantasy costumes, and even on the road, they appear to be that way as well. "Isabela and I are humans," I say. "Aren't you? Just cosplaying, right?"

Ian shakes his head. "No, we really look like this. But I've never heard of humans before. You're so..unique." He reaches a hand out to touch my ear and I feel goosebumps rise up my arm.

"If I were to take a wild guess, I'd say all the humans on the planet must exist in Batesville," Barley says. "Your family for sure, and maybe others there. If humans exist elsewhere, they are few and far between, and concealing themselves very well."

I feel myself go pale, and my breathing goes heavy. That would explain the waitress' reaction to my sister and me, but it doesn't make me feel good to know that. Must get to the bottom of this though, even though I'm freaking out."What do you mean? In the world we come from…humans are the only sentient species and there's like eight billion of them!"

"I think it's not quite at eight billion yet but getting close," Isabela says, looking as sick as I feel.

"Wait," Barley says, checking his phone. He types at something and then holds it up where it is displaying a video. "This is showing a shopping mall in Batesville. Notice anything?"

I watch as a camera set on either a tripod or a bench shows shoppers walking around. Trolls, ogres, elves, centaurs. Manticores, Minotaurs, and various other creatures I can't exactly name. Purple skin, green, blue, yellow. No copper, golden, brown, white, black, red, or Chinese shade yellow.

"So what are you saying?" I ask, shivering.

"Do you know what an isekai anime is?"

"Um, I"ve heard the term," I say. "But I can't say for sure."

"It's where someone is transported to another world. A lot of times it haens because the person has died, or is laying a video game and gets pulled into the world of that game. But basically, it's a portal fantasy. And I think that's what happened to you. Well, subtracting the death and video game part. Otherwise you'd have new, untapped abilities. But the basic oint is that you're not in a world of humans anymore, somehow you arrived here," Barley says, punching down on the hood of his van for emphasis.

And though it terrifies me, I can't help but feel that he's right. And I'm pretty sure a panic attack is going to descend upon me. CAn Isabela and I survive in a world where we're the only humans? And what if we never see our family again? We'd only have each other, yikes.

I will say if I was going to be traepd in another world with only one family member, I would choose Isabela, so I'm glad of that, but I'd still prefer this to not haen at all. Though meeting a cute boy I know to actually be an elf now, because there's no way two dudes could pull such an elaborate rank as this, well, I'm intrigued by that at least, to get to know Ian, something about dating an elf is alluring, as opposed to another human who could end up treating me the way Hans did. I'm fairly certain Ian won't do that to me. He definitely doesn't come across as a jerk, far from it. I'm glad to have met him.

"Barley, you really shouldn't scare them like that, what if we wound up in a world with no elves or centaurs or mermaids?"

"I think just saying no elves being there would be enough for us," Barley remarks. "If it had mermaids and centaurs but no elves, we'd be electric eels out of water."

"I suggest we go discuss this further in an empty parking lot," Ian says. "Plus, Mirabel and Isabela probably want to get back home. They were on a road trip to meet up with their family at an amusement park, after all."

I nod. "That probably is a goal of ours."

"That's what I figured," Ian says. He links fingers with mine and it feels so good.

"Well, follow after us then and I'll steer Guinevere to a parking lot where we can talk," Barley says.

Isabela and I get in her car and we wait for the elf brothers to get in the van and for it to pull out.

"So uh, we wound up in another world, weird, huh?" I say.

"Yeah, super odd," Isabela says. She smiles at me. "Though meeting elves, how many girls back home can say they've done that? I'm pretty sure Ariel and Pocahontas would be jealous." Those are some close friends of hers. She gave them a tearful goodbye before we set out on the road trip, I watched them do a triple hug. That's literally what they call it. Not a group hug. Triple, because there's three of them and when they were younger, like middle school age, they called themselves the Three Musketeers. That's probably when they came up with the "triple hug" nomenclature.

"Do you wish they were here instead of me?" I ask.

"No, of course not, sis!" Isabela says. "Why would you think that?"

"Just had to ask," I say, shrugging. She has to pull out of the parking space then, and we see Guinevere go out onto the road and we follow.

"It would be nice for them to be here, but Mirabel, if I had to go on adventures in another world, you will always, always be my first choice for companion."

"Glad to hear that," I say, my heart swelling. I love Isabela. We did have our squabbles. Having a sister isn't always easy. But she's still super important to me. "You're my first choice as well," I say.

"I'm glad," she says. "We can help each other get through this."

Yes, this does seem like a disaster, but with Isabela around, I suppose I can deal with it? It won't be so bad. And at least Ian is nice to me, if other of these mythical creatures aren't.

We see Guinevere pull intot he parking lot outside a department store that has closed for the night. There are no other cars here, just the lights from the lamps.

"I'd rather not get out of this car right now, this is a lot to accept," Isabela says.

"Okay, I"ll tell you what they say."

"Please do, sis," Isabela says, flashing me another smile.

I return it, then push open the passenger's door and step out. Only Ian exits Guinevere. There are a few empty parking spots between Guinevere and Isabela's car, so Ian and I meet in the middle.

"Barley's flipping through his massive book to try to figure out a way to get you home."

"That's very nice of him," I remark.

"It's scary isn't it, learning you're in a completely new world?"

"Absolutely terrifying," I say. "But a few months ago, I'd have wanted nothing more than for that to happen."

"Oh?" Ian asks, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, it's a long story," I say.

"Perhaps we can go on a few dates, just the two of us, and you can tell me about it bit by bit?"

"I'm not sure…" I say, feeling a trifle overwhelmed. I just learned I found myself in a world devoid of my species, after all, it's a big thing for someone to assume he can date me after that.

"Don't you like me?" Ian asks, his eyes pleading.

"Of course I like you," I say, looking into his sparkling eyes for a moment, before lowering my gaze to stare down at my feet tucked in my favorite sandals.. "But I'm human and you're an elf, how can we be together?"

"That shouldn't matter if we're both eager to date one another, right?"

I turn to look at him again. "Ian," I say, my heart hurting to voice these words, but it must be done. "I have gotten displaced from my world, my planet, to arrive at yours. My entire family is expecting Isabela and I sto show up at a theme park in Arizona, and we can't even access a place that has humans. I don't even know how I got here."

"Can't you give us a chance?" Ian asks, looking so heartsore at the prospect I might turn him down.

"Do people here even approve of inter-species dating?" I ask, to buy myself some time. I really should turn him down, but I kind of don't want to. I am stuck here, after all. I can't do anything about that. Just like I couldn't do anything about the Encanto refusing to give me a gift. It just happened. That has rankled me for years upon years, and I don't want to live with the regret of not getting to know Ian. Also, him and his brother are probably the only ones who can help Isabela and me get back home. I can't just blow him off. And…dating an elf boy sounds so exotic. Can't do that back home. But if that sort of thing is frowned upon here, well, I'm not sure I can take it. Well, I'm kind of used to feeling like a burden, but to literally be stared at when people here would only accept Ian dating an elf-girl, judging me for not being one for that reason alone, nah, not sure that's the life for me.

"Oh no, it's no trouble at all," Ian says. "My mom is currently dating a centaur."

"Wow," I say.

"Yeah, there used to be people discouraging that but that was like, decades ago. Now everyone just accepts it."

"That's really good," I say.

"So do you think, maybe, you could give us a shot?" he asks, not looking too hopeful.

"Um well, what if you find out you're not really into humans? I mean, you didn't even know what a human even was until tonight."

"I suppose you know about elves and mermaids and centaurs in your world?"

I nod. "There's lots of books and movies about those. Well, not so much centaurs. For the most part, they're given smaller roles in stories. Like they give Harry Potter trouble a fair amount, and in Fablehaven, they're fairly antagonistic but those stories are about humans really." Ian has stepped closer to me, quite close, so I can smell his cologne. "Well, as much as witches and wizards can be called hum-"

Blue hands clamp on my shoulders and then Ian's lips are on mine, interrupting me mid-sentence.

Our lip-lock feels so right. Definitely never felt like this kissing a guy before. Certainly not with Hans. My heart is hammering against my chest so hard, like it's a horse competing in the Kentucky Derby. I'm really liking the feeling, and this has certainly turned any misgivings I felt toward this away from that sentiment.

I do want to get to know Ian, to date him. I want this relationship to last, although how that's supposed to work when we're from different worlds, and I'm going to have to go back home at some point, and how are we going to even see each other if we're that fart apart? That gives new meaning to the term "long distance."

But whatever, I should cast my fears aside and enjoy the moment. And by that I mean the fact that I'm stuck here. I should just relax and not fret about being in another world. And honestly, it's not like this place is awful or anything. It basically seems similar to the planet Earth, it even has its own version of America. The only difference is here the people might have pointy ears or four legs and a horse's stomach, or no legs altogether and live with having fins. Which reminds me, I have to learn how mermaids live here. Do they have to remain in pools or lakes or the ocean itself? I'm kind of curious now. I could just ask Ian, and I probably will, but that's the thing, if I'm moping until my sister and I return home, I'll be wasting a lot of time, and that's no way to live. If this place had been dangerous, that would be different. I wouldn't want to risk my life doing research in a place that was only going to be in for awhile. But this world doesn't seem a problem at all.

"I can't wait to spend time with you, MIrabel," Ian says, when he pulls apart from our kiss. "I have a few date possibilities I might run by you by text later."

"Sounds good," I say. "Can't wait to go on dates with you."

"Nor I you," he says.

I back toward Isabela's car and am getting ready to climb in when Ian calls me back.

"Wait, where will you sleep tonight? You don't even have money from this world, do you?"

"Um no, but I think we were going to sleep in the car."

"Won't that be uncomfortable, though?"

"Yeah, probably," I say, shrugging. "But it's what one has to do."

"I could give you some cash, so you can stay in an inn or something."

"That's very nice of you, Ian," I say, flashing him a smile. "But like, we are two humans in a world without anyone else of our species. That waitress in the diner was distrustful of us, and it might not be safe in an inn."

Ian nods. "Unfortunately yeah, things that don't make sense to tons of people like a new species springing onto our planet, easy for people to not know how to feel about that, some might even wonder if you're like aliens in movies."

"Well, we're not here to take over your planet," I say, my hands on the top of the passenger's door. "But yeah, sleeping in the car is safer."

"Well, if you change your mind, you can always text me," Ian says.

"Will do," I say, and he waves, I return it, then climb intot he car, shuttin the door beside me.

"This is quite a lot to take, isn't it?" I ask Isabela.

Her hands on the steering wheel, and she looks extremely freaked out. A chill plays down my spine. Is this too much for my dear sister? I mean, I don't know how we got here, but I still feel awful for her having to deal with this. Would be nice to have an easy solution to fix this, but there isn't one. And anyway, I get to meet and spend time Ian, so there's positive in coming here.

But Isabela didn't receive an instant attraciton for someone. She only has me here, not even the rest of the Madrigals. That can't be easy to handle, or to accept.

"Hey, at least we have each other," I say, laying my hand on her right arm. She nods, but doesn't answer.

And then I notice the flower hanging from the steering wheel, its vine wrapped around it. Everything should be right about that, but something definitely isn't. And that is that the flower is hanging upside-down. (Iitalicize) Isabela never (italicize this instead of upside down) uses her power to make flowers sbe in positions that aren't natural for them. Sure, she likes to exhibit her flowers and other plants, set them in clusters to make interesting art of overhangs and arches, but this…this is unnatural. And since Isabela is not responding to me, I wonder if it's because she literally is feeling unhinged. I try to calm her down by talking, mentioning things that would've been exciting on our road trip if we were still going to theme park with our family, and other topics I hope will arouse Isabela, including Dolores' engagement with Mariano, but at last have to give int hat Isabela isn't going to respond. I get out of the passenger's seat to climb in back and lay horizontal, shutting my eyes and waiting for slumber, hoping that Isabela will be back to her usual chipper self in the morning. Well, chipper when she's not uptight as she had been up until recently when the truth about her feelings were uncovered. But she doesn't need to tell me how she's feeling about this situation, I can read it on eher, and I feel that myself to some degree, but in my case there's stuff to look forward to here, such as dates with Ian, but what does Isabela have to occupy her time here when I'm off with him? Unfortunately, I have no answers for that, and don't arrive at any before sleep overtakes me.