As I showered for the day, I winced inwardly. It wasn't lost on me that I was so hung up about Arze and wanting to connect with him when I had started something with Lincoln and wasrefusing to further explore it. I wasn't sure if it was because Arze was an Orb, or because he was more unknown than Lincoln, but something set him apart in my mind. I knew that didn't make it fair to Lincoln. Though I tried to be very upfront and honest with Lincoln about my intentions. I felt like that was enough.
I rinsed my body off, trying to shake the immediate mental bomb that maybe I was Arze's Lincoln, refusing to take no as an answer. I wasn't doing the same thing to Arze that Lincoln had done to me, right?
No. I couldn't think that way. Especially after what had happened with Lincoln in the clearing, right before my sister had shown up. I would never go that far with anyone. I just wanted to understand where Arze was coming from in his dismissal of me. Once I got those answers, I could truly put in the work of leaving him alone and letting him bleed out of my system.
I hopped out of the shower, quickly drying myself and attempting to shake the water out of my dark hair. Once I was dressed, I grabbed my navy tote that I always took with me to work from its usual tossed placement on the chair by my bed, made sure my Freddy costume was still alive and well within its confines, and sauntered into the living room.
A giggle reverberated as I saw the sight of my sister on the phone, a wide berth of a smile sitting on her face. It dropped as soon as she saw me enter the room. I plastered on a wicked smirk as she averted my gaze and spoke clearly into her cell.
“I gotta go. I'll talk to you later.” She couldn't contain her final smile before adding, “Alright, bye.”
Taking a seat on the couch, sitting across from where she was at the dining booth, my wicked smirk transformed into devilish surprise. “Now who could that have been?”
My sister's cheeks instantly warmed, cherry splotches adorning her skin. “No one.”
“Certainly didn't sound like no one.” I teased, my smile growing inch by inch. “Come on, spill.”
Myers exhaled pointedly, like she really didn't want to but knew I wouldn’t let up until she did. If anyone questioned whether we were siblings, that right there would have confirmed it.
“There's this guy I've been hanging out with that works at the movie theater.”
“I knew it!” I laughed excitedly. I folded my hands over each other. “Tell me more.”
“Well...he's not human.”
“Awesome.” I saw the anticipated rejection settle between her eyebrows. “Did you think I'd berate you about that? You know I've hooked up with Orbs before.”
“I know. But I haven't. I didn't know if you would think differently if you knew your sister was doing the same thing.”
“Definitely not.” I shook my head with a laughter laden scoff. “What species is he?”
“Stellymn.” Her cheeks warmed again, mimicking the red skin I knew her crush would have.
“Hell yes, I love it!”
Myers eased into the booth, her apprehension leaving in equal sheets of elation. “We're going on a date tomorrow night. He actually wants to go to the haunted house you work at and then dinner after.”
“That's awesome, Myers.” I nodded, making sure she knew I meant it. “I guess I'll see you there then.”
“We're just seeing where things go,” She explained. “He knows we're leaving after Halloween so...I don't know. But anyway, what about you?” I could tell she was eager to have the topic at hand shift away from her, so I didn't press for more details. “What have you been up to lately? You've been working so much it feels like I haven't seen much of you.” She paused, herhead tilting in full thought. “Wait, what was going on with the tythwig you mentioned?”
Right, I hadn't told her yet about what happened outside the restaurant. Taking the time to give her the full spectrum of the story Arze and I had found ourselves in, I told her everything. She already knew about my encounter with Lincoln in the clearing, so I started from there. Regaling her with the details of the night at Batwings as well as what had really gone down after our dinner at the restaurant. I ended with what Ripp had told me about tythwig, the air between us rife with the angst I'd been feeling now that I'd released it.
“Wow.” My sister being stunned didn't last for long. “That sounds like a lot. Are you sure you want to keep pursuing him with that on the table?”
It was a fair point. But I shook my head. “I can let it go once he tells me himself why it's forbidden. He admitted he had feelings for me and acted like this alleged forbidden reasoning is why he won't act on them. I deserve to hear why before I let go.”
“I get that.” Myers bobbed her head in agreement. “Just be careful. We're both walking a dangerous line, getting tangled up with people when we're leaving pretty soon.”
My chest rattled with that truth, wishing it wasn't hanging over both of us like a dark cloud poised and ready to unleash its precipitation on us. I still needed my answers though.
Bring on the rain.
Chapter 17
A confusing duoof relief and aggravation met me when I went into work after telling Myers about the situation with Arze. I'd been paired with Abigail and Chase, the first time all the humans and all the Orbs had been paired together separately. I wanted to talk to Arze so desperately, but at the same time, I also didn't want to plague our professional workplace with the likes of crushes and unexplained forbidden ventures.
If I never heard the word forbidden again, it'd be too soon.
