Fairest (An Unfortunate Fairy Tale #2)(13)

Mina felt her knees go weak and her heart start to flutter wildly in her chest. What should she do? How should she respond? What should she say? She could feel the tension building up in the silence until she finally spat out the word, “Thanks.” She immediately wanted to bash her head into the dashboard. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She was so stupid.

Even though her response was a complete junior higher’s response, Brody still laughed. “You’re welcome.” He reached for the CD player and pushed play on the car stereo. The song picked up where they had left off, belting out the chorus to “Beauty’s Dead.” The song instantly reminded her of Nan, alone backstage at the concert.

She sighed. “I feel bad that we are abandoning Nan with no way to get home.”

“We’re not.” Brody turned to look at Mina, a hint of redness on his cheeks. “I didn’t feel comfortable leaving her there either. Even though he is my cousin, Peter and his friends are not the most responsible. They tend to be a bit reckless. After I drop you off, I’m going to go back to the concert.”

There was an ever so gentle flicker of disappointment. “Oh, I see.” Mina lied. A sour taste crept into her mouth. She didn’t see how Nan was willing to wait until after the concert to see the boy she likes. But at the same time, she was going to deny Mina from spending time with Brody.

She felt the stab of jealousy and could almost see it rear its ugly head in the tone of her own voice. “That is nice of you,” she bit out.

Whatever beautiful moment they had shared moments ago was ruined by her own jealousy as she imagined the rest of the night playing out in fast forward–Brody, Nan and all the band members would be laughing, eating bags of Skittles, and singing karaoke together. What? Where did that come from? She tried to calm her nerves and remember where they were going. She was so distraught over the images her own mind created, she didn’t even care when she gave directions to her own house.

Brody was really quiet the rest of the drive, as if he could sense Mina’s inner turmoil and dialogue. He cleared his throat gently when he pulled up in front of the Wong’s restaurant.

“You live in a Chinese Restaurant?” Brody asked, unaware that he had already asked this question weeks ago and that he already subconsciously knew the answer.

An intense moment of déjà vu overcame Mina, and she turned to look at Brody and spoke slowly, watching his face closely for any hint of recognition. “Not in-above it.” All of her waiting was for naught. He didn’t react differently.

“Cool.” He ran his hand through his hair and turned to look at her. “I’m sorry this night didn’t turn out the way I had hoped.”

Mina stepped out of the car. “No, it didn’t,” she mumbled back, feeling defeated until she remembered something. “Um, Nan’s party at Imperial Lake next weekend. Are you going?” Her knees locked up, and she would have slapped herself in the forehead for how dorky she must have sounded if only he hadn’t been standing next to her.

Brody pondered a minute as if checking an imaginary calendar in his head before answering with a grin. “Yeah, I got the invite, I wouldn’t miss it.”

Awkwardly, she waved goodbye, unsure of what else to do at this current stage of their non-existent dating status. She knew she was farther along in the relationship in her mind than he was. But it made her forget her spat with her best friend and even her current situation. Mina was floating on a cloud of hope.

Mrs. Wong was sweeping the front sidewalk to the restaurant. She waved enthusiastically at Mina as Mina went up the steps to the Grime’s apartment. It was obvious from Mrs. Wong’s gestures that she wanted to speak to Mina and hear all of the juicy details involving the very attractive boy dropping her off. For some odd reason, she was obsessed with Mina’s life and with giving her dating advice, even so far as to once suggest Mina’s kissing Brody. Thank goodness she had probably forgotten that embarrassing conversation had ever happened.

For once Mina was actually beginning to understand the reasoning behind the Story’s resetting her life and the events occurring prior to the completion of a quest. In short, it did give her a second chance at first impressions. What high school student wouldn’t want a chance to redo her first kiss, first dance, and biggest mistake?

She really hated what the Story had done and had become really depressed over losing her boyfriend. But at the same time, she was now free again to try and rekindle the flame, without all of the previous awkwardness. The only thing to do now was to make absolutely sure that none of her friends, schoolmates, or boys she liked in the future ever became a part of the curse surrounding her, so she must make sure they never found out about it.

That was it; she would do everything she could to make sure they never had anything to do with the Story or her family’s quests. If they weren’t pulled into it, then their memories wouldn’t be erased and their lives wouldn’t be reset. It seemed simple enough.

Smiling, Mina managed the last few steps to the landing and inserted the key into the lock. She opened her door and stepped into her home. It wasn’t much, a tiny retro kitchen with a Sixties dinette set for four and appliances that had seen better days. A small sofa and wooden rocker filled up their very small living room along with an old TV, which was rarely used. Their apartment only had one bathroom, but luckily it did have three bedrooms, which was rare for their units. Well, Charlie’s room wasn’t legally a room, because he didn’t have a closet and it looked as if it had originally been a part of Mina’s room at one time. The previous tenants, or the Wong’s at some point, must have built a wall between the two rooms to make a storage room or office. Either way it had a window and gave the Grimes each enough privacy.