“Miami!” Ariel gasped. The background music lowered. “That’s in another state! No way, you’re not leaving me here. I won’t let you. I mean, unless it’s your dream, but please say it’s not your dream. I’d miss you, and it’s Miami! That’s totally not your vibe.”
Stella laughed. “And whatismy vibe?”
Ariel paused. “Small-town cozy book nerd with extraordinary writing skills?”
Stella stopped smiling. “You think I have extraordinary writing skills?” As she repeated Ariel’s statement, words popped out of the ashes in the fireplace, smoky gray and wispy. They waved like echoes of flames and slid out of the hearth and across the floor toward the windows.Imagination. Tell me. Pages of you.
“Not that you’ve let me read much, but, Stella—and we’ve never really talked about this—you havea giftwith words. You know what I’m saying? It’s not like regular people. You can’t possibly have that gift and not be meant to use it.”
Other than her mother, Ariel was the only person Stella had ever told about her ability to see words and how they came to her. She trusted Ariel with her secret because she had always embraced Stella, oddities and all. Stella had no interest in opening the door to the warmth and excitement of magic she’d shared with her mother, but Ariel saw Stella’s gift as celebratory and sensational. Even so, Stella had never felt safe enough to tell anyone else about it, never wanted to give the words more attention than necessary.
“Hey, are you still with me?” Ariel said.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” Stella said. “It’s just that I... Well, I’ve never thought of my words as something I could use for anything. Other than for myself, of course.”
“Maybe it’s time you start thinking about it,” Ariel said. “How about over Chinese takeout tonight. My treat? I can bring it over.”
“Order my usual?” Stella said.
“You got it! I’ll see you around six.”
Ariel disconnected, and Stella walked to the living room windows. She stared out at the backyard. She’d spent her whole life filling notebooks with words and stories and maps and colors and hadn’t thought there could be something more to it, not since her mother left. She had been trying so hard to be normal and ignore that the words carried more meaning for her life. Was that why they were coming so frequently now, why the violet ones were so aggressive and fierce? Was something inside her ready to be unleashed?
Stella hugged her arms around her middle. It didn’t seem to matter if she was ready for what was coming or not. It was coming regardless.
Stella and Ariel sat on the living room floor on one side of the coffee table. An assortment of Chinese to-go boxes were situated on top of magazines to keep from making a mess on the table. For the hundredth time eating like this with Ariel, Stella was reminded she should buy place mats, but for now, the dated magazines would suffice.
Using her chopsticks like she’d been using them her whole life, Ariel scooped vegetable fried rice out of a container without dropping a single grain in her lap. Stella, on the other hand, fumbled her chicken and broccoli like she was playing with her food. At this rate, she’d still be eating at midnight.
Ariel put down her container and stabbed her chopsticks into the rice. “Hold them like this,” she said, adjusting the position of Stella’s chopsticks between her fingers. “Yes, like that. Now open and close them.”
Stella copied Ariel’s finger motion and groaned. “Why is this so difficult for me?”
“Tonight in particular?” Ariel asked. “You’re giving off a weird vibe tonight. You’ve got something else on your mind. What is it? Percy and the job? Or are you still upset about the journal and Wade?”
Stella’s exhale fluttered the pages of the closest magazine. “All of the above. It’s been a strange few days,” she admitted, thinking about the happenings at the library combined with the feeling that her foundation was shifting sands beneath her, forcing her to reevaluate her life.
“Tell me about it,” Ariel said, looking at Stella with large blue eyes.
Stella picked up an egg roll and took a huge bite. She chewed slowly, debating what to tell Ariel and what to leave out. As she swallowed, she decided to share it all, even the things that didn’t make sense.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said about Wade and howI’mthe one keeping him around in my thoughts, which stunned me because you’re right. I’ve been carrying around anger and hurt because Iwantedto, even though I said I didn’t, which kinda depresses me. I’ve been blaming him, and yet... it’s me.
“Percy thinks I should take a job in Miami, and I don’t want to because, well, I don’twantto, and Arnie thinks I should go back to college to get another degree or at the very least a certification. Both of them believe I’m settling for my library job, that I should be doing more.”
Ariel took a bite from her egg roll and chewed slowly. She sipped her water and then asked, “What doyouthink? Are you settling for the library?”
“Yes and no,” Stella answered honestly. “I love being there. I lovethe books and the words and helping people find what they’re looking for, but Arnie and Percy aren’t wrong exactly. I’m not trying to do anything more.”
“Are you interested in doing more?” Ariel asked.
“I haven’t been,” Stella said. Then she looked around the living room, at the dated throw pillows and fading wallpaper. She brushed her hand against the flattened carpet that should have been replaced years ago. “But I’m starting to believe it’s time for more. Last night I forgot my purse after we closed the library. I went back to get it, and I heard voices coming from the archives, so I went down there to see what Arnie was doing because I heard a woman—”
Ariel gasped. “Oh, please don’t tell me you caught him getting frisky!”
Stella laughed and grimaced. “Yikes, but thankfully no. There were three strangers down there—a boy, a man, and a woman. They looked like they were wearing costumes, and it startled me. I slipped and knocked myself out—”
“Say what? Why am I just hearing about you being knocked out?”
