When the Heart Falls(130)

Wait? What piece? She takes a step toward the broken sculpture, now held together by gum and back in its rightful place. Noooooo!

I pull her away and point to a painting of Egyptians. "This one?" I gesture at it. "This one is pretty. That looks like the Pharaoh." My heart is trying to make a prison break from my ribs, and I know I look guilty as hell.

Autumn's eyes narrow. "It is."

I glance at the sculpture, and its arm is starting to peel lose from the base, a long strand of pink gum stretching between the pieces.

Cade catches it and pushes it back together, then blocks it with his body.

I turn back to Autumn. "I love his big hat and his little cane. And what, what are those things on his chest?"

Autumn looks at me like I've lost my mind. "Breasts."

"Oh…" I pause. "That's odd. I guess museums do have sex changes."

Cade hides his laugh behind his hand, but mine just blurts right out.

"What?" Autumn crosses her arms over her chest.

"Nothing." I move to the left to keep her eyes on me.

But she turns toward the statue. "Okay. Now look at—"

I run over to Cade, throwing myself at him to block Autumn from seeing the statue. "Saw this already. Neat. What's next?"

"Winter, what's going on?" My sister isn't a fool.

"I'm just so excited. So riled up." I jump up a little, sticking my hands out like jazz hands, because I really have lost my mind, and I have no idea what the hell I'm doing.

"You know, me too," says Autumn. "You know what I like to do when I'm really riled up?"

"No."

"This." She pushes past Cade and me and karate kicks the statue. It falls to the ground, broken but with bits of pink goo stuck on it.

Cade and I freeze in place, stunned beyond comprehension. An alien could land in front of us and offer us a pot of alien gold and we wouldn't be any more shocked than we are right now.

When feeling returns to my body I drop to the ground. "Nooo!" I shove the pieces back together, but they won't stay. "Why? Why would you do something like this? Why is the world so cruel?"

"Hey, it's okay." Autumn pats my back and looks ready to call in professionals to help her derailed sister. "They're fakes."

"What?" I drop the piece I'm holding and look up.

"They're fakes. Replicas. They were supposed to be for sale in the museum store, but this whole shipment came defective, so they have to be replaced."

"Oh God. Thank you. Thank you." I kick at the remaining bits of statue, channeling all the fear I'd just gone through into my kicks.

"Hey? What's that?" Autumn points to a piece of gum.

I turn away from her, take the gum and shove it in my mouth. "Nothing. I don't know what that was."

Autumn raises her eyebrow but doesn't say anything more about my bizarre behavior. "You know, you guys should break some replicas too. But, we can't break the pots. They're getting replaced two days from now."

"Oh." Cade stares at us, a broken pot at his feet. "Sorry."





WINTER DEVEAUX

CHAPTER 17





"WINTER, COME ON. What are you still doing in bed?"

Lights penetrate my closed eyelids, erasing the sketchy memories of my dreams and pulling me back into the land of the conscious. I peek at Jenifer through my eyelashes. "What's going on?" I ask.

She's entirely too chipper this early. I glance at the clock and groan. Okay, not so early, but I was up late staring at a blank computer screen.

Jenifer throws a pillow at my head. "It's Bastille day. The entire Avenue des Champs-élysées is crammed full of people. We have to go see it."

Covering my head with the pillow, I roll over and hide under my blanket. "No. I'm sick of your parties."

"This won't be like that, I promise."

"Right. Like your promises mean something?" I poke my head out to glare at her. "You defiled the sacred pinky swear."

Jenifer's smile drops in shame. "I'm sorry. I told myself that if I kept hooking up with Duke, then it wouldn't be a one night stand." I open my mouth to point out how ludicrous her argument is, but she holds her hand out to stop me. "But I know, I know you didn't want me sleeping with someone I'd just met."

I sit up in bed, sleep no longer an option. "Then why'd you do it?"

She shrugs. "I don't know."

"Bullshit. You know."

Jenifer hesitates, twirling a long blond curl with her fingers. "I wanted a boyfriend. I wanted a guy who'd take me to meet his parents. A guy who'd give me presents on Valentine's Day and remember my birthday. So, I slept with the first guy I wanted. Because, I don't know any other way. I don't know how to make guys notice me unless—"

"Unless you're taking your clothes off." I echo her words back to her.

A single, lonely tear rolls down her cheek. "I'm sorry I called you an Ice Queen."

Le sigh. I can't stay mad at her. "I'm sorry I called you a bitch."

"Friends?" asks Jenifer, holding out her pinky.