CHAPTER 6

Emma's POV

I stared glumly at my food in front of me, twisting the spaghetti on my fork and pushing it around the bowl while Alyss chatted non-stop about what she did in class today. I still remember when Anik and I were that age. At lunchtime we used to run around the playground and a prince and princess, fighting and imaginary dragon. I always objected to be the one that needed saving, saying that girls could fight too. Anik had just laughed, and insisted that I had to wait in the tower. That's what happens in all the fairy tales.

Then my mum had died, leaving me to feel alone in the world. All I had then was Anik. That was the first day he let me rescue him, and the last time we ever pretended there was an evil dragon that needed slaying.

I pushed open Alyss' door and she beamed as I walked in.

'Can you read me a story?' she pleaded. She held up a tattered paperback copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

'Sure,' I replied with a smile and lay down next to her on the bed, starting to read from the beginning. And that's when I realized.

In fairy tales, you meet prince charming and he's all you ever wanted. He makes you laugh and only has eyes for you. But then you grow up and finally understand that fairy tales aren't real. Sure, there are the bad guys and heroes, but the bad guys don't have black capes and are actually hard to spot. And the stories rarely end with 'happily ever after.'

I shut the book with a soft snap, and glanced up to see Alyss staring at me.

'Is Anik your Prince Charming?' she asked and I raised an eyebrow.

'Sort of,' I replied, turning off the lamp.

'Has he rescued you?'

'We rescue each other.'

'Well, you're my Prince Charming, Emma. You save me all the time.'

My eyes prickled and I felt something wet slide down my cheek.

'Yeah, you save me too,' I whispered back. I stood up and walked to the doorway, stopping for a second when I heard, 'Did you know the sounds of E.T walking were made by someone squishing their hands in Jell-O?'

Anik's POV

'So…' I asked with as much indifference as possible. 'What's with this Edison guy?' Emma smiled next to me and stared at the ceiling, her hands tucked behind her head.

'He read Romeo and Juliet in one night. Because I had mentioned I like Shakespeare,' she said with a laugh I had grown to love. Something twinged my heart but I ignored it.

'Its like… he always knows exactly what to say,' she continued. I bit the inside the inside of my cheek and tightened my lips in annoyance.

'I've read Romeo and Juliet,' I said stupidly, and immediately cursed myself

'Yes I know that,' Emma responded and gave me a weird glance. 'We've read it together, like three times.'

I didn't understand why this was bothering me. Why I had this jealous feeling clouding my head. Emma and I had been best friends for nearly our whole lives. Nothing more, nothing less. So why did I suddenly feel nervous when she looks at me? Why do I want to brush my thumb across her cheek? Why does my heart speed up when she holds my hand?

And why do I want to punch this Edison in the face?

Alyss looked sideways at me, a quizzical expression on her face.

'Are you okay?' she questioned, grabbing me hand.

'Yeah. Fine,' I answered and turned away.

'Do you ever wonder about… magic, and stuff?' Emma murmurs, breaking the silence.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, we are stuck in a curse. There is such thing as time travel. Mythical creatures, Anik. Everything we did as kids… pretend to slay dragons and talk to mermaids… that's all real.'

We fell into silence again, both of us thinking about what she had just said.

'Sometimes I think I'm stuck in a dream and can't wake up. I can't turn around and go back,' I admit. 'However I hard I try.'

'Well, I'm in the dream with you,' Emma whispered. 'So if you find the way out of the dream, don't leave me behind. Don't leave me alone. We need to do this together, okay?'

Hey you beautiful people, thank you so much for reading! Tigers Curse is such an awesome series, created by the inspiring Colleen Houck. All rights to her.

Anyways, please please please review! Tell me your ideas for this story, and what you think should happen. All reviews are appreciated, even critisms. Thank you so much for the people that already have! Sorry for the short chapter.

P.S It is Kishan's birthday in 13 days!