Did she want to tell Orion the truth? She studied his profile; that sandy blond hair, the strong nose, the five o’clock shadow at his jawline. He was smiling easily, his eyes crinkled. The group of students looked as if they really liked him. Orion Parker, True could tell, was the kind of guy everyone got along with. The kind of guy who’d probably never say something mean and crusty like, “You know, True, you’re too much. You might want to take it down a few notches,” or “You know what your problem is? You’re way too intense about everything. Calm down.”
Orion was, in fact, the anti-Bradley. And that’s why she decided to be completely honest with him.
When the Alice in Wonderland group was gone and the restof the line had mostly dissipated, he turned to her, opened his mouth—and that was it. True unleashed a veritable fire hydrant’s worth of information about her and Bradley, without even stopping to consider if it was wise.
“Bradley and I went out for five months. It started out great. He was really smart and he liked fixing cars like I do, and he had this snarky sense of humor that really appealed to me.”
If Orion was surprised by her rushed word vomit, he didn’t show it. He just nodded, waiting for her to continue. So she did.
“But then, I don’t know… something changed. The longer we spent time together, the more his snark kind of turned on me. And it wasn’t funny snark anymore, it was mean. He rolled his eyes when I got passionate about something. He didn’t want to hear my theories about why female mechanics are so rare anymore. He started telling me to stop being so…” True searched for the right word and then shrugged. “… Some,I guess.” Her cheeks heated as she said it, remembering the burning humiliation of that moment. “He told me I was too… too everything. Too loud. Too opinionated. Too strong-willed. And the worst part was…” She swallowed, looking away, wondering if she should say it.
“What?” Orion asked, ducking his head to look at her, thick gold eyelashes framing gentle brown eyes. In the living room, someone broke something made of glass and people groaned. But Orion’s attention stayed on her.
She met his eye again, over Wicked Wynona’s bony shoulder. “The worst part was, I began to believe him.” Taking a deep breath, True blew it out slowly. “I began to censor myself. I became self-conscious about the things I said, the books I was reading, even the way I looked at people. That’s when I knew I had to step away. I was losing myself, and that wasn’t okay.”
Another thing that was so mind-screwy about this whole breakup:Truehad been the one to let go, to step back, to say enough was enough. She’d ended things to protect herself. And yet True was the one who’d been left heartbroken, while Bradley didn’t seem to care one iota. It was confusing as hell. Love didn’t follow the rules, and True wasn’t sure what to do about that.
Orion let her words settle on the air before speaking. “What a shame that would be.” When he saw her confused expression, he clarified, “Losing yourself. I mean, I’ve only known you a short time, but I think you’re pretty badass, Marie S-curie.” He grinned his lopsided grin, and True’s pulse kicked up a beat.
Her cheeks aflame, she adjusted Wicked Wynona’s sleeve that didn’t need adjusting. “Thanks.”
“Besides, I’m glad you broke up with him. ‘Bradley’?” Orion did a theatrical shudder. “Ugh. I hate Brads. They’re just Chads earlier in the alphabet.”
True snorted. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. You know, I—” True stopped, feeling someone’s heavy gaze on her, as real as a hand.
She turned toward the kitchen. In the corner, behind a group of senior girls who were taking group selfies, she sawheragain. The pale, glowing woman in the silver dress, with the piercing, unreal blue gaze. Those had to be contacts.
True kept her eyes on her, not wanting the woman to disappear again. “I’ll be right back.” Already walking away, she handed the hairbrush to Orion.
“Wait. Where are you going?” he called after her.
“Just a second.”
True kept walking, her gaze pinned to the woman, who stared back. It was almost like looking at someone through a haze of smoke; the woman shimmered and fluttered, as if a stiff breeze would blow her away. True scanned the kitchen for possible explanations for the shimmer: there was a cauldron in the corner, bubbling away with fake smoke. It was pretty far away, but perhaps enough of the smoke had created a visual barrier?
True had just stepped into the kitchen to get a closer look at the whole situation when the group of senior girls crowded her on their way out. They were all taller than her, and in spite of her best efforts, True lost sight of the woman.
“Excuse me!” She tried to elbow her way through, but then another big group of hungry students stormed the kitchen from behind her and she was swallowed in the melee. By the time she broke free, panting and huffing with the effort, the woman was gone again. The corner was empty.
“Shoot.” True poked around the kitchen anyway, trying to find her, but her efforts were in vain. She peeked out the kitchen window at the sky and saw it again—the solitary golden star by the moon. The Lady of Moon Ridge was still missing. A ripple of uncertainty moved through True.
She slipped her phone from her pocket.
True:This is going to sound totally weird, but I saw… something. A woman. And she was staring at me with these really creepy blue eyes.
It only took a moment for her friends to respond.
Onny:I told you!! I saw her, too!! It’s definitely the Lady of Moon Ridge, you guys.
Ash:But what’s she looking for? Did you try to talk to her, True?
True:I walked toward her but she disappeared into the crowd. Keep me posted if you guys see her again, and I’ll do the same.
She slipped her phone back into her pocket just in time to hear Orion yell, “Hey! Stop!”
True rushed back into the dining room to see a group of muscular guys making off with Wicked Wynona. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she yelled.
One of the guys turned to her with a cocky smile, dark hair flopping into his blue eyes. Her heart seized in her chest; it was Bradley, looking almost unbearably beautiful even though his “costume” was his actual football uniform. He knew what he looked good in (even the team nameMOONBEARSon the back didn’t detract from his muscularity), and he wasn’t the kind of person to risk making a fool of himself for a party. Unlike True, who was dressed in the unsexiest costume she could’ve possibly wrangled up.
