Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1)(8)
Em didn’t even hear me over the roar of the crowd. “Oh, no. He didn’t.”
I looked up to see Dev dragging our practically bald Vice Principal dead center of the dance formation and the shock made me immediately forget about Jon and lack of sparks.
“Mr. MacKenzie? No way. He’s going to get suspended. And then Ms. Osoba will kill him for screwing up band practice.” A ripple of laughter ran through the crowd as Dev reached up to ruffle the little that was left of Mr. MacKenzie’s hair while singing about “waves of brown, deep as night.” It was just so ridiculous I couldn’t help but join in with a giggle that made my side hurt.
To my utter amazement, the vice principal joined in the last part of the dance.
“Holy cupcake, he knew. He had to,” Em said over my shoulder. “There’s no way—”
Dev slid off on his knees, landing next to us as the song ended. He grinned up at Em, apparently catching the end of her words.
“Never underestimate the power of the musical theatre club,” he said with a wink before standing and taking a mock bow. “I’m not stupid enough to screw around with MacKenzie.”
“With your grades, you can’t afford to,” Em joked and he rewarded her with a wide grin. “I’m mad you didn’t ask Pine Central’s greatest actress to join in, though.”
Dev shrugged, poking her in the arm playfully. “I figured you’re too much of a diva to want to share the spotlight.”
Em put her hand to her chest like she was wounded. “That hurts, even if it’s probably true.”
As people passed by, clapping him on the back or congratulating him on the ‘epicness’ of the whole flash mob, a few weirdly even congratulated me. “I didn’t—” I protested, but there were just too many of them. Even people who I didn’t know were telling me I did an awesome job. As soon as the worst of the crowd dispersed, Dev pat my shoulder. “Sorry for dragging you out like that, but the line needed a redhead. I figured you wouldn’t kill me. Or fall in love with my heartfelt but swoonworthy acting.”
“That didn’t sound egotistical at all,” I shot back at him as I stood and straightened out my skirt. “But, it’s okay. I think I’ll forgive you if you promise to never do that to me again.” A smile escaped past my faux-annoyed expression.
“Admit it, you liked it.” He tugged at my extensions before peering over at the refreshment table. “I seriously need something to drink. Do either of you want anything?”
I shook my head, but Em grabbed his arm. “I’ll come with you.” Before I could follow, she pointed at my feet and the gold ribbon trailing off of the ghille on my right foot. “Your laces are untied.”
“Crud.” The boning keeping my bodice up didn’t let me bend over to reach my feet and I dropped back into the chair to fiddle with the slippery satin. “Trixie warned me about satin ribbon, but I--” I looked up and trailed off, realizing I was talking to empty air. Once my laces were fixed I started towards Em and Dev, but they were already deep in conversation by the refreshment table. I froze midstep—they looked serious and I totally didn’t want to play third wheel. It was like I was eavesdropping, even though they were all the way across the room. Since when were Em and Dev so close?
My eyes searched the room for anything else to watch. Jon stood by the speakers, basking in the flirt-vibes coming off of a curvy sophomore blonde dressed in one of those genie outfits. It relieved me more than it probably should have.
What would Maeve do right now?
She sure as heck wouldn’t hang around here. She’d be running into the Otherland and back into Aedan’s arms. Aedan’s strong, magical arms that helped protect her from the dark fae and…I sighed, and the dance fell away. Really, they gave me no other choice. I pulled my book out of its hiding place under a pile of coats, slipped onto one of the opened bleachers beneath a bundle of fairy lights, and dove back into book two of Maeve’s world.
4
Even though she was supposed to focus on self-defense, she was acutely aware of how close Aedan had gotten in his last attack, especially when his laughter had pressed more of his battle-trained hard body against her own. With her back up against the hay bale, she couldn’t roll away…and a part of her really didn’t want to. The prickly hay snaking in between the laces of her leather bodice and scraping her skin was no competition for the whisper of his breath across her forehead and cheek. Maeve shut her eyes for a second, took a deep breath to regain her focus, and, before he could finish his attack, mimed a cutting motion against his neck with the point of her arrow. “And I win.”
Aedan laughed even harder, grasping her arrow hand and pinning it to the ground. Slowly, he moved his mouth towards hers and…
“You’re coming with me.” Em grabbed my arm none too gently, and dragged me off of the bleachers.
“Hey!” I shut my book with my free hand and tripped after her, trying to keep upright. “What the heck, Em?”
She pulled me into the girl’s locker room and pushed me unceremoniously onto one of the benches. “We need to talk.” As I watched, she rushed about the room, checking to make sure no one else was in there.
I tried not to laugh at the sight of her crouched on the floor and looking under the bathroom stalls.