Not Your Average Fairy Tale (Not Your Average Fairy Tale #1) (9 page)

Ash

I had been in a great mood since lunch. Sam had mentioned Dax was on probation for messing with my face. I pictured him scrubbing toilets or doing the dishes in the cafeteria all day. That would be awesome. I had no idea what he was actually doing, but I knew he wouldn't bother me for a while. It also meant the nightmares would stop.

Ever since he’d started apprenticing the Sandman, he'd been ruthless. Now I wouldn't have to dread going to sleep at night. At least until he was off probation.

I shook the bad thoughts out of my head and focused on the positive points of the day. Following Kendall around at school. Making her blush. I could get used to this.

As soon as I appeared in Kendall's room, something hit me in the shoulder. "Hey, watch where you're throwing things!"

Kendall spun around, her eyes taking in the high-heeled shoe near my feet. "Sorry," she muttered, going back to whatever she was doing.

I almost fainted. She was actually cleaning her room. "What's the occasion?"

She ignored me and kept flinging things around.

"Do you clean stuff when you're in a bad mood?" I said.

She stopped throwing clothes into her closet and glared at me. Her eyebrows were cute when she scrunched them up like that. If you could call eyebrows cute.

"I am
not
in a bad mood," she said, and chucked another shoe in my direction. She watched to see where it went and looked disappointed when it didn't hit me. I laughed and walked over to sit on her bed.

She seemed pretty determined to ignore me, but I saw her peek in my direction from the corner of her eye a few times.

"Seriously, Kendall. What are you doing exactly?" I asked. It was weird. I could actually see the floor.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

I took a deep breath and considered her for a moment. "Well, it looks like you're on a cleaning rampage." I bit back a smile. "May I ask why you're changing this rather fascinating side of you?"

She shot me an icy glare. "I'm not
that
messy."

"Sure you aren't." I looked down, my eyes widening. "Hey! I didn't know the floor was white!"

Her face reddened. "Shut up." The corner of her mouth turned up, and I could have sworn she was trying not to laugh.

"Want to see something cool?" I pulled my wand out and watched as every piece of clothing lifted off the floor and hung in mid-air. I'd been experimenting with my magic, and was surprised how easily things worked for me.

"Show off."

"Not done yet." I flicked my wand and sent the clothes swirling into a little tornado above her. "Sweet. I didn't know I could do that." I honestly didn't. I'd never been able to control the air before. Weird.

Her eyes widened, watching them spin around her head. "Knock it off! You're making me dizzy!"

I laughed and let them fall to the floor.

"Great. Now it looks worse than before," she said.

"It looks the same to me."

"Funny."

"So, what's going on tonight then? You seem excited about something. Or nervous."

"Cameron's coming over," she said. "He asked me to help him with his math. Didn't you hear me talking to him in the hall today?"

"Oh, right. The tool."

"He's not a tool," she said, frowning.

I shrugged. "Whatever." I did see her talking to Cameron, but didn't hear the whole conversation. I was too busy checking out, er … watching some of the other girls standing around in the hallway. I thought Kendall was prettier, though.

Especially with her hair down. Her red shirt with dark jeans, showing off her curves. Not to mention her eyes. A person could drown in them.

I shook my head. She was my assignment. Not a date. "You mean Cameron, the guy you're pining for? The guy who sat on me at the movies? Your true love? Didn't he ignore you for, like, three months or something? What kind of a true love is that?"

She made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. "Don't even start with me," she said. "I'm not in the mood."

I loved it when she got mad. Her cheeks got all red and she got a fiery look in her eyes.

"Relax. I'm just joking around."

She threw up her hands. "I can't find my shirt!"

"What's wrong with the one you have on?"

She groaned in frustration and went back to digging through the clothes scattered on the floor. "It's not cute enough!"

"Girls," I muttered.

Her head shot up and she glared at me once again. She searched for a few more seconds and then stood. "Oh, forget it."

The doorbell rang, and she froze, giving me a strange look before barreling out of the room.

I sighed and muttered a spell. Clothes flew in every direction, putting themselves into drawers and hanging themselves up in the closet.

"She owes me," I muttered.

Glancing around the pink room, I shivered, and after a moment’s hesitation, I turned her bedspread, bean bag, and curtains a light blue. Much better than all that blasted pink.

I smiled at my work and followed Kendall. I couldn't wait to see her face when she saw it.

"Hey, Kendall." The deep voice resonated up the stairs, and I looked over the railing. Kendall played nervously with her hair, while a tall, blond kid stood in the doorway.

His shoulders were broad, his smile uncomfortable. He held a bouquet of red roses in his hand.

"Nice try," I whispered. "She likes daisies." I actually knew that, since I'd been reading her file.

"Hi," she said.

"Can I come in? We're studying here, aren't we?"

"Oh! Yes, sorry about that." She ushered him inside, her cheeks red. She shut the door, and he handed her a card.

"So,
you
left the balloons on my locker?"

He blushed. "Yeah."

I frowned. I wasn't sure what to think about Cameron yet, but I definitely didn't like the way Kendall was looking at him.

"Thanks. For the roses too. You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I did anyway. It feels like I haven't talked to you in forever. I'm not sure why." He put his hands in his pockets. "Um ... I ordered pizza before I came. It should be delivered anytime."

"Sounds good. We can study in here."

The pizza came shortly after that. It smelled so good. Pepperoni. My favorite. I watched them eat, proud of Kendall for eating more than half a piece. Maybe human girls were different, but where I came from, girls ate the least amount of food possible. I was a big fan of food, so when Kendall picked up her second piece, I wanted to cheer. When Cameron went for his seventh piece though, it made me want to puke.

Pig. I didn't even eat that much. My limit was five.

I looked at that last piece of pizza, and my stomach growled. When they went back in the living room, I couldn't help myself. I ate it.

It was so boring, watching them study. Cameron was such a dud. Dumb as a post. Dull as one, too.

Really. Most of the math problems she had to help him with were easy enough for Sam to do. And that was saying something. Not that Sam was stupid, just lacking in the math department.

They lay on the floor, munching on brown licorice, with their math books spread out in front of them. It was then that I noticed how close Cameron was to her. Their legs were almost touching, and if he moved a fraction of an inch, he'd be leaning on her shoulder.

"So, are you going to say yes?" he asked.

Kendall looked over at him, a small smile on her face. "Prom?" she asked.

He nodded, giving her a sly grin. "Of course. I've been wanting to take you to a dance forever, and after everything that happened around Homecoming …" He stopped. "I'm sorry I didn't take you. That was stupid. I should have called, or made it up to you."

"It's okay. I couldn’t dance then anyway. And I wasn't exactly good company."

He groaned. "I asked you, though. I should have at least brought you flowers to the hospital or–"

She put up a hand. "Don't worry about it."

"When you said you were okay, well, I believed it. Then you wouldn't talk to me anymore and I just backed off. It was stupid. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She let out a breath and turned so she was lying on her side, her hand in her hair.

"How are you holding up?" He reached out, twisting a strand of her hair around his finger. "Since your dad and … all that."

My hands clenched into fists and I frowned. He was close. Too close to her. My heart sped up a little.

His eyes darted to her lips, and he moved closer.

She hesitated. "I'm okay," she said. "Surviving, I guess."

"You know, I'm here if you ever need someone to talk to."

I knew Cameron was bad news. And their whole conversation proved it. All he wanted was some action.

"I know," she said.

I saw it coming even before he leaned toward her, so naturally, I made myself appear right in her line of sight.

She jumped, letting out a scream.

I propped myself up on my elbows and winked.

"What?" Cameron said. He looked around for the cause of her distress. "What's wrong?"

Kendall just looked at me. Her expression was … surprising. Amused and annoyed at the same time? Her eyes sparkled, but it looked like she was clenching her teeth. "I thought I saw a spider," she said, her eyes never leaving my face.

"Oh. I didn't know you were afraid of spiders. I can get it. Where is it?" Cameron sat up, glancing around the room, and I swear I saw him shiver.

"It's alright. It was pretty big, though. I'll throw my shoe at it next time." She narrowed her eyes at me, and I made a mental note to watch out for flying shoes.

I chuckled to myself, and she glanced at Cameron to see if he’d noticed. Of course he hadn’t. I was Kendall's fairy. Not his.

Cameron lay back down and scooted even closer to her. "So, do you want to take a break?" he asked, pushing the math book away.

"Sure," she said.

Kendall met my eyes, and I saw her unease. Probably because she knew I was watching. And maybe the idiot jock trying to make out with her made her nervous as well.

"You look so beautiful right now," Cameron said. "I've forgotten how amazing your eyes are. Green, brown, blue. It's like three colors swirled into one."

He could have just said hazel.

Kendall smiled nervously, her hand touching the scar on her face.

I ignored the flutter in my stomach and tried to control my temper as he leaned toward her.

He lifted a hand and put it against her cheek as I looked frantically around for something to throw. I made my wand appear and flicked it, sending a little wad of paper flying across the room. It smacked him in the forehead.

"What the …?" Cameron pulled away, finding the wad on the floor. He pinched it between his fingers and held it up. "Where did this come from?"

Kendall refused to even glance in my direction. She was probably trying not to turn and yell at me.

"I don't know. Maybe my sister's home?"

Nice save.

"Huh. Weird. Where were we?" He scooted closer again, and this time I couldn't do anything. They were inches apart. I started popping my fingers to keep myself occupied, surprised at the range of emotions flowing through me. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I wasn't supposed to actually care about her. About who she liked. Who she kissed.

"Wait," Kendall said.

I let out the breath I was holding as she stopped his arm from creeping up her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

She still avoided looking at me, but sat up. "I can't do this."

He frowned and sat up, running a hand through his messy hair. "What?"

"I just ... I don't know. It's complicated."

My body relaxed with relief. Though I was still confused as to why I cared.

"I have all night," he said.

"No, you don't understand. I don't know what I want right now."

"You mean, you don't want a boyfriend?"

"I don't know."

He sat there for a minute, visibly stunned, but he didn't say anything.

She sucked in a breath and slowly let it out again. "I really like you, I swear. It's just me. I need to figure myself out before I dive into something like this."

He laughed. "Where did this come from, Kendall? I know you've liked me forever, and the minute I start showing any interest–"

"It's not you," she said.

"Come on. It's just a kiss," he said. He leaned toward her again, and I silently applauded her when she stood up.

"I do like you Cameron, but I can't. Not right now."

He shook his head. "You know, I don't get you. You lead me on and then out of nowhere, you blow me off."