A purple beam hit the statue and made it explode into such small shards it started snowing inside.
Arthur looked up, realizing they hadn’t been crushed and glanced around in confusion, until his eyes landed on mine. My hand was still glowing from the excess power and I worked to quickly extinguish it.
A gasp from behind me made me realize a crowd had gathered. At the front of it was Ellery with that horrified look I hoped to never see.
“June…” he started.
It was too much, it was all too much.
“I-I’m sorry,” I said before rushing out.
I ran, not grabbing my coat or the rest of my things. I had to get out of here. I probably had to dye my hair and leave the country, but right now I needed to focus on getting out of here.
In preparation for all the guests there were high end cabs lined up, ready to take drunk people back to their lodgings. I hopped into one of them, and told him to drive me home.
He was surprised I was asking to go so far, but I gave him my card and told him to charge whatever he needed. Agreeing, he shut the sound proof divider and began driving, putting me far away from my worst nightmare.
I called my mom first. I knew she wouldn’t answer with her phone being off for the cruise, but I just needed to tell her I was coming home, and I was going to stay at her house. I tried not to cry during my voicemail, tried to hold it together, but by the end I was sobbing.
Then I called Casey. She was up and I spilled my guts about everything. The money I lost for us, the feelings I never got to express, my grieving for the relationship I would never have.
Exposing my magic to everyone.
She let me get it all out before speaking. “Damn, June. That’s fucked.”
I couldn’t help it, I barked out an unhinged laugh. “I know.” Casey tried, but she wasn’t really the comforting type.
“So what are you going to do? Are you coming home?”
“No, I think I’m going to go to my moms. I just need a few days away.”
“That’s fine. I’ll be here when you get back. And June, you did the right thing.”
The tears began falling again. I thought I did the right thing too, but that didn’t mean it didn’t ruin everything.
“Thanks, Cass.”
We hung up and I set my phone down, looking out the window.
My phone vibrated once but I ignored it. Then it went off again. And again.
I finally picked it up, seeingEllerypop up a bunch of times. I couldn’t answer him, couldn’t face him right now.
I turned my phone off and pressed my face to the glass. Hoping to find sleep and learn this was all just a dream.
Ellery
I knewpeople were moving around me, knew there was commotion, but I was glued in place.
I had come back inside and went looking for Juniper after talking to Veronica, ready to pull her aside and tell her everything. I couldn’t find her, but did run into Rachel who told me what happened at the bar. Damn gossips didn’t know how to keep their nose out of my business, and I didn’t want her hurting over something that wasn’t true. She told me Juniper went to get some air so I headed towards the entrance.
I heard Juniper yell, but wasn’t quite close enough to make out the words. The yelling had drawn the other people in the area, but I got there first.
Got there fast enough to see one of the sculptures about to fall, Arthur blocking Tiffany. Then a beam of purple shot from Juniper, exploding the thing into snow.
I thought for a moment I had imagined it. That it was all just a vision, but as Juniper’s hand continued to glow for a few more seconds, I knew I hadn’t.
People were chattering around me, but none of it mattered. All that mattered was the look of horror on her face. She wasscared.And while it was jarring, and needed some explanation, it didn’t change how I felt. I was just shocked.
