One Black Rose (20 page)

“Let’s get home and eat something,” said Carley, noticing how wilted Nick looked.

“Alright,” he said, unlocking the car for us. “I see you two patched things up.”

Carley and I grinned at each other.

“I don’t understand girls,” Nick muttered. We both just giggled.

After the three of us finished lunch at Carley’s house, Nick proposed going swimming. Carley was all for the idea, but I really wanted to find my dress. Nick was tired of being dragged dress shopping, so I said I would be fine going to the store -- The Last Buttercup -- on my own.

I left the house soon after Nick and Carley and headed towards the Castleton downtown. When I walked past the Roths’ house I hoped I would see Holt or Susan outside, but I didn’t see anyone.

I hadn’t used the shortcut through their garden since that first day, but at least now I knew why it had had such an effect on me. Carley had grown immune over the years with the protection of the salty air, but it was the first time I’d been exposed to Fairy flowers. Even though Holt had said it probably wouldn’t do anything to me any more, I didn’t want to take the risk.

The Last Buttercup was very close to UP UP and Away, so I had passed the front of the store before. The window was always filled with brightly colored clothing displays that seemed to change every time I went by.

As I walked into the shop I saw that it wasn’t as crowded as the stores we had been in that morning. Buttercup was also a lot bigger, with all of the dresses in the back. The floors were a light wood, lighter even than the floors in UP UP and Away. The woman working in the store gave me a friendly smile, but continued to talk to a customer who was already there.

I made my way around to the dresses and started sifting through them
,
but I wasn’t really in the mood for shopping. For me it had to be something I really wanted to do and at this point I was hot and tired. I found two dresses I liked, one a light blue and the other a bright yellow, but once I was in the dressing room trying them on I knew neither was what I wanted.

Still, I kept looking. I was so caught up in finding the right dress that I didn’t even bother to turn around to see who had come in when I heard the front door open.

Anyhow, it was right then that I saw it. Tucked into the back of the store was a white dress that I had somehow missed the first time I passed it. I hurried over and pulled it out, examining it closely. It was perfect. It was short with a white belt that would cinch my waist. I just hoped it would fit. I was sure I could find jewelry to go with it and was just about to pay for it when I heard a simpering, cold, familiar voice behind me.

“What is that for, can I ask?”

I spun around to see Lydia and Leslie. They had come up behind me and boxed me in while I was examining my dress. I saw quickly that I couldn’t get to the cash register without asking one of them to move.

“Aren’t you getting a little tired of this?” I wanted to know. “I can’t possibly be that interesting.”

Leslie, the long-haired one, gave me a cold smile. Leaning forward she said, “Samuel told us to leave you alone. And we will, but we just want to make it clear how very bad it will be for you if you go near Holt.”

I glared back at her. “Look, I’m tired of being told what to do and I’m definitely not going to be told what to do by you. So forget it.” It was the most forceful I’d ever been in my life, but these girls were bullies and I hated bullies.

Leslie moved back a bit. “Oh, look, it bites. You think you’re so cool now that you know our little secret? You have no idea what you’re messing with. But you will.” Her eyes were black pinpricks of anger glaring at me. I could feel her cold slamming into me. She was trying to overwhelm me, trying to show that she would win, that I was just a human, while she was a Fairy of the Winter Court. I could see faint traces of the designs under her skin that normally Fairies tried hard to hide. Hers weren’t like the designs I’d seen on Susan, they weren’t of foliage, they were of large winter mountains and snow falling.

“Leslie, get hold of yourself,” Lydia hissed beside her as her eyes darted frantically around the room in case anyone saw Leslie turning into a Fairy. Leslie’s hair was turning white on the ends, like it was covered in frost.

She pulled away from me, taking deep breaths. Lydia was trying to hold her, but she shook out of her grasp. Her eyes were wild-looking, and it was the first time I understood just how scared I should be of her. I expected her to say something else about Fairy power but all she said was, “You’ll never pull that dress off, by the way,” pointing to the white dress I still held.

My body felt like it had been blasted by ice-cold air from a fan, and I started to shiver. Leslie could tell I was freezing. She gave a dark smirk and sauntered away, Lydia trailing close behind her.

It took me a long time to calm down and get my breathing under control. I kept pacing around the back of the store, ignoring the odd look the woman working there gave me, trying to warm my freezing body.

Once I had calmed down I paid for my dress and left the shop. Stepping out into the summer warmth helped, but still, all I wanted to do was get home. Leslie had threatened me and I knew she had used more than words, but I wasn’t sure what I should do about it. Samuel had told her to leave me alone and she hadn’t. I wondered what she thought I would do if I did ever accept Samuel’s Rose, since then I would be queen and rule over her. It would almost be worth accepting his Rose just to see the reaction on her face. Ha. But apparently she didn’t care. I completely avoided the Roths’ house on the way home. I didn’t want to risk anyone, especially Holt, seeing me like this. I knew I was pale and probably shaking and I knew that if I saw him right then I might start crying.

And I was determined not to cry. What I wanted to do was fight. I was tired of people, especially people like Leslie, trying to tell me what to do. It was none of her business and one way or another that was going to have to become clear to her. There was trouble brewing and it was starting with certain members of a family named Cheshire. I had a lot to do before the Solstice Party. I walked faster.

When I got home Nick and Carley weren’t there, so I went straight up to my room and showered. I wanted to get the feel of Leslie’s nearness off my skin. Once I felt like I’d scrubbed enough, I got out of the shower and put on cotton comfy pants and a baggy t-shirt. The strain of the afternoon had made me tired, and it was all I could do to climb into bed and nap.

I managed about an hour of sleep before my stomach woke me up, protesting the fact that it was empty. I groggily pulled myself out of bed, feeling a bit disoriented. Before I went downstairs I changed into jean shorts and a hoodie and checked my phone, but there were no messages.

Looks like a quiet night in. I guess I might not see Holt tonight after all.

Downstairs everything was dark. I flicked on a light and grabbed the cereal. It wasn’t much for dinner, but I didn’t feel like making anything else. I sat at the table staring at my phone. I hadn’t heard from Holt all day. It was the first time since I’d come to Castleton that I hadn’t heard from him by now (well, when we were speaking, anyway).

As I ate my cereal and stared at the phone it lit up. In the split second before the caller ID told me who it was I wondered: was he calling?

No, it was my mother. With a sigh I answered it.

“Hi Mom,” I mumbled through a mouthful of Cheerios.

“Hi honey,” she said. I could barely hear, the line was so filled with static.

“Mom, where are you?” I yelled into the phone.

“Why are you yelling? I can hear you just fine,” came her faint reply.

I rolled my eyes.

“How are you doing?” she asked. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” I said. “I’m doing fine. I’m having a good time with Carley. There’s a really big party at the Roths’ in a couple of days.” She always complained I never told her stuff, so I was trying to give her information about my life, like she wanted. Well, she was about to prove to me yet again why confiding in her was a mistake.

“Yes, I’ve heard about it. That’s actually why I’m calling,” she said.
Alarm bells going off!

“How have you heard about it?” I asked, surprised.

“Oh, you know, I do check up on you. I know you think I’m too busy to do it, but I do,” she scoffed.

I didn’t think she was too busy. I just thought it didn’t occur to her to see if I’d gotten into any trouble. She hadn’t seemed too worried about what I had been doing.

“Anyway,” my mom pushed on, “a lady called me and talked to me about it and explained that it can be a pretty crazy party, so I wanted to talk to you and say that it’s probably not the best idea if you go,” she finished.

“What? Mom, are you kidding me? Who called you?” I didn’t like the idea that someone from here was calling my mom about me. Especially since Mom hadn’t told anyone to check up on me. Maybe it was Mrs. Fritters? She had made it very clear she wasn’t fond of the Roths.

“Who called isn’t important,” said my mom huffily. Now she was getting irritated because I was irritated.

She had no right to be mad.

“Yes, it is,” I shot back at her.

“No, it isn’t. You will not go to the party. There’s nothing else to discuss,” she said. “Oh, my friends are here. I was planning to talk to Carley’s mom about it, but I guess that will have to wait. I have to go. Have a great night, Hon. I’ll talk to you soon. Tata.” And she hung up. She hadn’t even given me a chance to say goodbye. She’d ended the conversation in an upbeat voice like nothing was wrong. I was relieved that I didn’t have to make up some lie about Carley’s parents, but I was also sad. Apparently my mom still thought she could call me and order me around whenever she felt like it.

Furious, I jumped to my feet. First Leslie had told me not to go to the Solstice Party, now my mom had told me the same thing, and heaven only knows how she found out about it in the first place. Well, I was going. I didn’t care what any of them said.

I was too full of nervous energy now to sit around watching TV. I needed to burn off this rush of adrenaline. Not knowing what else to do, I kept pacing around the kitchen.

Involuntarily I glanced at my phone again and again, but of course no one had called. And by “no one” I meant Holt. I wanted to talk to him! But why did I have to wait for him to call? I could just as easily call him. Just because I’d never done it before didn’t mean I couldn’t. I could even just go over to his house. He’d shown up at Carley’s a few days ago. I could return the favor.

With my mind made up, I grabbed my phone and hurried to the front door. As soon as I’d made the decision to go I felt exhilarated. I half ran, half skipped all the way there. It was just getting dark when I saw the house from a distance, and I was relieved to see lots of lights on. I rushed up the driveway, feeling happier with every step. It had been a long day, but the thought of seeing Holt lifted most of the fatigue off me and replaced the worry with nervous excitement.

I couldn’t see what the big deal was about my attending this party anyway. If everyone in town was going, and Holt’s mother had invited me, there shouldn’t be a problem. I knew the Cheshires didn’t approve, but they weren’t going to run my life. Maybe it was one of them who had called my mom. It didn’t seem like the kind of thing Mrs. Cheshire would stoop to doing, but despite Samuel’s best intentions of staying away from me no matter what, I had a bad feeling about his mother.

I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell. I was a little breathless, so while I waited I tried to calm down. It wasn’t easy. After what felt like forever the door was pulled open. At first I thought that the guy standing in front of me was Holt, but it only took me a moment to realize that this guy was younger. He was maybe sixteen, but he had the same blond hair and green eyes as Holt.

“Hey,” he said. He was dressed simply in workout shorts and a t-shirt.

“Hey,” I said.

He waited. I waited. Finally he said, “Um, you came here, so….”

“Oh yeah, I’m looking for Holt,” I said. “I’m Autumn.”

Enlightenment dawned on his face like the rising sun. “Oh, of course! I hadn’t heard you were coming tonight. Fantastic. That’s awesome. I’m Logan, Holt’s younger, more charming brother. Come in and I’ll get him.”

He almost yanked me into the entryway. I was glad I’d been there before, because otherwise I would have been really intimidated.

Logan didn’t stand on ceremony. He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “Holt?” His voice was so loud it went ringing off the walls.

After a pause he did it again, “Holllllttt?”

I wanted to cover my ears, but then again I didn’t want to look like it bothered me.

“What’s all this racket?” asked Casey, coming down the stairs. She was wearing white jeans and a pink tank top and she was patting her hair down with a green towel. “I could hear you all the way in the shower.”

“What’s going on is that Logan has no manners,” said Holt, coming out of the kitchen. He saw me and his face lit up and I knew mine did the same.

“Well, you had company,” said Logan, not remotely sorry. “I didn’t want to call you…any other way. Just in case.”