Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1)(59)
“Nah, I’m just getting this because my flashlight sucks when it comes to lighting up the cabin. I’ve been camping in that place a million times. The paths are all well marked. It’s hard to get lost unless you really want to.” He smoothed back his dark hair, confidence practically pouring out of him, looking just like Aedan before a battle.
I looked up at Kris, blinking in what I hoped was a cute way and let a slow smile spread across my face. Marissa would totally let the tiniest bit of breathiness enter her voice at this point. “You’ll have to teach me everything you know when you get the chance. I haven’t been camping in forever.” I copied his stance, trying to do that social mirroring thing Grace had mentioned.
Em made a gagging motion behind Kris, but he didn’t notice. A smile spread across his face. “Definitely. It’s easy when you’ve done it a million times.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on volunteering because this won’t even be a challenge, but my pain-in-the-ass little brother is going this year and my parents want me to hold his hand. It’ll be nice to have some decent company, instead of hanging with just the football rejects and outdoor club granola people.”
“Feebs, we have to go.” Em grabbed my arm and started pulling. “I think I’m about to vomit.”
I turned to narrow my eyes at her before facing him again. “Um, see you later.” I waved in the most Marissaesque manner I could while tripping after Em and the others. As soon as we were down a different aisle and out of his hearing, I yanked myself free. “What was that about? Kris was actually talking to me.”
Em let out an exasperated sound. “I can’t believe you did it again.”
“Did what again?”
“You were acting like…like some airhead and he was eating it up.”
I shook my head at her. “I was not acting like an airhead. I was flirting. You should know a lot about that.” I looked to Grace for help, but she stepped back, holding up her hands.
“It was pretty bad, Feebs,” Alec added, and I threw him a dirty look.
Em nodded. “I could practically see his ego expanding.”
I took a deep breath, my flirty high crashing down around me. Leave it to my friends to ruin what was one of the best moments of my junior year. I grabbed the cart handle and started pushing it towards the checkout. “Let’s stop talking about this, okay? I don’t want to argue.”
I looked over my shoulder at Kris, who was disappearing into the hiking boot aisle, and he turned around just in time to wink at me. I hid my grin and picked up my pace. Maybe camp with Kris wouldn’t be so bad, after all.
The Hidden House series book 2: Hiding PG 14
Ignoring Cyril is physically painful, but I push through the feelings. We both agreed that this is the best way to keep sane. The impossibility of being in love with someone whose very touch could trap me in a mirror, or cause him to possess me, really gives us no other choice. But it still hurts every time I see his reflection in the house mirror.
“How was school?” He asks in a guarded ‘friend’ tone when I crash into my bedroom and throw my backpack onto my desk chair13.
I shift from foot to foot. Some girls break up with guys and only have to deal with them in the occasional class. Me, I have a ghostly ex-boyfriend trapped in my bedroom mirror. Thank God I took the bathroom mirror down, even though Cyril is way too Victorian to watch me change or anything. I grab an elastic off my dresser and yank my hair into a high ponytail. “Good.” I settle for the one word answer. Less chance of saying anything awkward-inducing14.
“That’s…good to hear,” he says, sounding as lame as me. His eyes are guarded and I just want to reach into that mirror and touch his cheek, or push back his hair, or—
I close my eyes and turn to grab my phone, taking a deep breath in the process. “I’m going to go study in the conservatory.” The only mirror-free room in the house, other than my bathroom. “Unless you need me for anything…” I trail off and wait. The uncomfortable tension in the room could choke a cat.
Cyril shakes his head maybe a little too hard. “No, I will be perfectly fine. Go study.”
I nod and escape with the tiniest of waves. By the time I reach the sunny conservatory, I can finally breathe again. I stare at the fainting couch mom had put in the corner and wonder if I can turn this mirror-free place into a bedroom15.
36
“Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with new ways to screw up in it?”—Kaylie, Cradled on the Waves
“I’m sorry, but no knives. Trust me, there won’t be any chance that you’ll end up stranded in the middle of the woods and will have to do ‘survivalist things.’” One of the teachers told a student as I passed. “We’re going to Burlington County, not the Himalayas.”
I choked back a laugh and kept dragging my sleeping bag behind me until I reached the first bus, where we were supposed to meet our ‘managing teacher.’ A really younglooking blonde with short hair looked up from her tablet and smiled at me. “You must be Phoebe.” I blinked and she gestured at my bags before holding out her hand. I tentatively shook it, feeling weird the whole time. Teachers didn’t do things like shake hands. “The bow bag gave it away. We’re really excited to be able to have an archery module this year.” Yeah, this one was probably straight out of college. “I’m Mrs. Forrester and I’ll be advising you and the rest of the counselors. For the basics, I mean.”