Eternal (Shadow Falls: After Dark #2)(49)

Kylie stared at Della as if she didn’t know what to do with the witch. Not that Della had any great ideas.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know we were having an ice cream party.” Della stopped at the table.

Miranda let go of another sob and shoveled another big scoop of banana ice cream into her mouth. “He haaaasn’t even called,” she whimpered around the sweet goo in her mouth.

Della exhaled and reached deep for patience. “He’s only halfway there. Once you get up to around twenty thousand feet, it’s kind of hard to find a cell tower.”

“I gave him a special phone.” She hiccupped. “It doesn’t need a cell tower.”

“All cell phones need … Oh, you mean a magic one?”

Miranda nodded and let out another sob.

“Cool,” Della said.

“Not cool when he’s not calling … me. Why hasn’t he … called me?”

Kylie frowned at Della as if saying she didn’t know what to say.

“I’m sure he’ll call,” Kylie said and the chameleon’s heart raced to the lie.

Della dropped down in a chair and couldn’t help but wonder if lying was the best option. She tried to envision Perry flying and suddenly a question arose.

“How is Perry flying with humans if he can’t be trusted to be around them?”

Miranda dove back into her pint of ice cream. “Burnett gave him a Benadryl. It slows down a shape-shifter’s ability to shift.”

Della gave that some thought. “Then why doesn’t he just take Benadryl daily? Then he wouldn’t have to go to some school to teach him to stop shifting.”

“He had to take a dozen pills,” Miranda said.

“A dozen?” Kylie asked.

“Well, duh,” Della said. “Maybe he passed out on the plane and that’s why he’s not calling.”

“I think he’s purposely not calling me,” Miranda moaned.

“I don’t think that’s it,” Kylie said, and her heart did somersaults in her chest, telling Della that was exactly what Kylie thought. Hell, Perry had probably already confided in Kylie and told her he wouldn’t be calling Miranda.

Damn Perry! It didn’t even matter if the reason he was breaking up with Miranda was because of his own insecurities. He was still breaking her heart and her spirit. Miranda’s spirit was fragile. And that royally pissed Della off to the nth degree. She took a deep breath and tried to calm the fury from brightening her eyes.

Miranda shoved another heaping spoonful of Chunky Monkey into her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked pathetic and gross because her nose was running down to her upper lip and she was still eating.

And just like that, Della lost it. She couldn’t stand by and see Miranda like this. “Stop!” she screamed and yanked the ice cream from Miranda’s clutches.

“Give that back!” Miranda demanded and jumped up and tried to dig her spoon into the carton.

“Let’s not fight,” Kylie said. “Give her back her ice cream.”

“No!” Della jerked the pint back from Miranda’s spoon. But the witch went for it again.

Della stuck her finger into the ice cream. “My fingers are filthy!” She glared at her teary-eyed roommate. “I had some nose problems earlier.” She kept poking her finger in the ice cream, hoping to discourage the girl.

“I don’t care! I want my ice cream,” Miranda screamed and went to grab the carton.

“Stop this,” Kylie said.

Della ignored Kylie, lurched back, and yanked her finger out of the cold substance. She pretended to hand the carton to Miranda, but instead she threw it on the floor, and doing a vampire-speed polka dance, she stomped her boot heels in the Chunky Monkey until the witch would need a straw to slurp it up off the floor.

Miranda stood there, staring at the mess with fury in her large green eyes. “I skipped school to get that ice cream.”

Looking completely wacko, she held up her pinkie and it started to twitch.

“Stop this!” Kylie screamed.

“No. Let her do it!” Della put her face in Miranda’s. So close, her nose touched the witch’s. And that was kind of gross, because she had ice cream on it. At least she hoped it was ice cream and not …

“Don’t do it!” Kylie pulled Miranda back a step. “This could end so badly.”

Della held up her hand. “Stay out of it!” she told Kylie. “Let the witch turn me into a kangaroo, or give me pimples, I don’t care.”

Della glared back at Miranda. “You are my friend, damn it! And I’m not going to stand by and watch you eat yourself sick and get fat.”

“I don’t care if I get fat,” Miranda said.

“Well, I do!” Della snapped.

“You don’t understand,” Miranda sobbed.

“The hell I don’t!” Della said and suddenly tears filled her eyes. “Look, they left us! We didn’t want this. We didn’t ask for this. They should be the ones hurting, not us!”

“But I love—”

“I know you love him, but you don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve this! Steve and Perry basically told us the same thing—to figure out what we want. Well, damn it, that’s what you should do. You aren’t going to wallow around in this self-pity shit and get fat eating ice cream. You’re going to go on with your life and figure out what you want! And guess what? You just might figure out that you want better than Perry.”