Zuri is lessthan thrilled when I broach the subject that evening.
“You want him to come here.” Her voice is flat as she stares at me in disbelief. “Where Reverie lives. In secret.”
“I…” I cringe. “I kind of already told him about her.”
“Uh, hello? I’m right here! And I think that’s great, I want to meet him!” Rev doesn’t have as many qualms about this as Zuri, as I expected. I probably should have checked with her first, though.
Zuri throws a glare at the excited sprite. “I know you’re here. That’s the whole problem.”
“Wh-what?” Reverie’s eyes fill with tears and she flies a few inches back at the verbal strike.
“Zuri.” My voice is harsh with ire, and wolf claws snap out of my fingertips.
Zuri throws her hands in the air. “That’s not what I meant and you know it!”
Reverie has already zipped out of the room and is likely hiding under a blanket in her little jungle in my room. I pinchmy lips as I shake my head at my roommate. She has a temper, and she means well, but it often comes out wrong.
“You can’t say things like that,” I drop the words in a low voice over my shoulder as I stalk out of the kitchen, heading to my bedroom to find my childhood best friend.
Reverie and I grew up together, ever since we found each other one day when my family was camping in Olympic National Park. I was five years old at the time, and Reverie appeared only a couple years older than me. It’s unclear where she came from or how she came to be, though. She has vague memories of living in the forest alone before I stumbled across her. I had wandered away from the campsite and was following a trail of moss. I remember it being incredibly soft, and it led me to a hollowed out tree with glowing flowers, which is where Reverie had been living. Her bright sapphire eyes peeked out and as soon as we made eye contact, it’s like our souls clicked together.
Best friends, immediately.
It was meant to be, and neither of us could stand the thought of leaving the other.
Naturally, I hid her in my backpack and took her home with me. As children ourselves, neither of us knew she was such a rare creature, that all of her kind was thought to have died out, but we did know my parents wouldn’t want another person staying with us. We figured she had to stay a secret, or my mom would say no, that she couldn’t come home with me.
So I snuck her in. She stayed in my room, and we would hide under my blanket at night, playing make believe and whispering for hours until we both fell asleep. She craved nature, so I would pick pretty flowers and leaves from outside and bring them to her, and she’d weave them into my hair or create little fairy gardens under my bed.
My parents caught on after a few weeks when they noticed me sneaking food and plants up to my room. They couldn’tbelieve it when they saw a real life sprite, and neither of us understood the significance of it at the time. We were simply overjoyed that my parents agreed to let her stay, and from that moment on, we became inseparable. The only time we were apart in the years following was when I had to go to school, but then I’d come straight home and teach Reverie everything I had learned that day, and so we grew up together.
Me, a broken shifter with no friends.
Rev, the last of her kind, who didn’t know anything about what she was.
We’re everything to each other, and our bond is unbreakable. Which means when she’s hurt, it breaks my heart.
I find Reverie exactly where I expected to, hiding under a massive leaf in her indoor jungle with a blanket wrapped tight around her.
“Hey, Rev,” I say softly, crouching down outside the ring of plants. “Can I pick you up?”
She sniffles, wipes her nose, then nods.
I scoop her up, blanket and all, and lay down on my bed with her.
Reverie tugs her blanket closer and peeks watery blue eyes up at me.
“She didn’t mean it, love,” I whisper, and Rev nods.
“I know, but still.” She swipes a hand under her eyes.
“Yeah. Still hurts," I say. “I’m sorry. And I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about meeting Ash before telling him about you.”
Reverie tucks herself in closer and I carefully curl around her, pulling my blanket up over both of us and hiding us away from the world, like when we were little.
When Zuri knocks on the door later, I look to Reverie to decide if she’s ready to face her or not. Reverie scrunches her lips, then nods. I pull the blanket down and allow us both a moment to compose ourselves a little, then tell Zuri she can come in.
She cracks the door and peeks an eye through, seeing us cuddled on the bed together. When I wave her in, she opens the door further and steps through. Her eyes are red and puffy, and my heart hurts for them both.
