“Like I said, I’ve been doing that a lot these days.”
“You need to stop hiding from all the heartache, Lu. How else are you ever going to fully take life by the balls and live? You’ve had enough, and if the world throws you more, you already know that you can handle it. Just like you can handle Ryan. He’s amazing and sweet, and he actually somehow didn’t run screaming from us when you brought him to the house.”
I huffed a short laugh, trying to stop the sadness welling back up.
“You are starting to live your life and make decisions. I can see it. Things are going how they should be,” Ana assured me. “But I think that you are a fool if you don’t get your ass up, find Ryan, and fix whatever it is you both broke. You’ll be the one regretting things if you don’t.”
I knew she was right. I did. I glanced at my head again as she stood back up to check on how things were going.
Meeting Ana’s eyes in the mirror again, I raised my eyebrows, faux serious. “Did you just call your future high priestess a fool?”
“Yes. Do I need to do it again?”
I pressed my lips together and shook my head.
“Good.”
“Thank you, Ana.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said.
For the next few hours, I sat with her, listening to the stories she had about other clients she did hair for, both from and not from BU, who seemed to always have strange requests that Ana took on without question. She talked about not dating for a while, which was different for her. I couldn’t remember the last time she wasn’t seeing someone, coming to coven meetings with a fresh first-date story that never ended well.
“I just don’t want to keep forcing things,” Ana said, reminding me of the words I’d told her the last time she was going through that last breakup. “My hopeless romantic days, as you called them, are over.”
“You’ll find your person,” I said.
“Yeah, well, I’m in no hurry now.” With a twist of the chair, she swung me back around to face the mirror. “It’s your turn.”
I stared at the reflection.
“Time to stop hiding,” said Ana before she took off the cloak and presented me back into the world.
25
Iput on a loose dress and wrapped one of Gertie’s thick shawls around my shoulders. I looked so unlike I ever had. I also looked so much like myself. My feet grounded themselves in my worn boots. After a few days, my hair wasn’t so shocking to see. The vibrant color struck me with how fantastic it looked every time I turned my head in each direction to get a better look.
Ana had outdone herself.
Today, it was time to stop hiding.
Pulling out my phone, I listened through the messages Ryan had left, each one more pitiful than the last, until I couldn’t any longer. They made my heart ache. Then, I opened a new message.
I know it’s not enough,I wrote underneath Vadika’s name.I’m sorry.
I didn’t wait to see if she’d respond. I didn’t truly expect it, nor was I sure if I was ready for her to. I heard, according to Faith, that she had received more offers for her spot in post-graduate programs, but they all were vying for her to go on last-minute visits before the end of the semester, when she graduated. I’d be surprised if she and her parents hadn’t packed up and rushed from Barnett right away now that nothing was holding her back.
I was happy for her even if I made sure not to pass the science building on the way to the sports team housing.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked.
No one answered. I knocked again, waiting. There was always someone home. At least, I always figured as much with how many athletes they crammed inside.
A guy next door yelled over to me. He stood up from where he had been lounging against the railing of the frat house. His hair was askew, and the coffee in his hand looked like it had long gone cold along with the rest of him, wearing little more than shorts. “Who are you looking for?”
I cleared my throat before I called out, “Ryan. You know, Ryan Gardner?”
“Yeah, I know him.” The guy blinked. “Oh, uh, honestly, I thought I just saw him. Maybe he went to training?”
