The Forgotten Fairytales (17 page)

My steps echoed throughout the quiet corridor. Torches lit the dark hallway, the flames dancing along the walls. After walking for a few minutes without seeing a single person, I broke into a sprint until I reached the door leading into the courtyard. The door rattled shut and outside the chilly night air welcomed me into the night.

The temperature had dropped ten degrees and with each exhale, I saw my breath. My teeth chattered as I entered the Hero dorm. The halls were much like the rest of the castle with old stories painted along the walls, with more focus on tales like Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel & Gretel.

I couldn’t believe I made out with Wolf, again. Damn him and his abs, luring me in like a moth to a flame. Kissing him only temporarily muted the true pain in me. By the time I rounded the staircase my feelings about Dad and what happened with April came crashing into me like a flipping tidal wave.

Kate roomed alone in the top of the tower, which had been an attic at some point. The curtains were a pale, stained yellow, bleached from the light of the sun. The bed in the corner was too small, even for her, with a comforter that had to be twenty years old.

The wood floor creaked as I stepped inside. Her tired pale eyes softened at the sight of me, her shoulders relaxing until she saw my face.

“Norah? Are you okay?”

The tears from the weight of the day slipped out and dampened my face. Her thin arms embraced me. I couldn’t believe how the night had turned. The realization that I wasn’t as important to Dad as I thought I was, then Wolf.
God, Wolf.
Guys complained all the time about girls, how we’re so confusing and emotional and hard to understand, but guys were bad too. Wolf was bad.

Moisture soaked my face as I broke away from Kate and sat cross-legged on the edge of her bed. She did the same. Her stringy blonde hair had curled on the ends from sleeping and her bed was a mess.

“Sorry for waking you up,” I whispered. “I didn’t want to go back to my room.” A blanket sat on the floor beside the bed. She leaned over and draped it over her frail shoulders. “My dad didn’t answer.”

“I’m sure there’s a good explanation,” Kate said. There probably was or he’d forgotten about me. Out of sight, out of mind. Kate’s stared at me, her eyes focused on the side of my neck and widened. “What is
that
?” Propping up on her knees, she leaned forward. My hand flew to the spot and I cringed from the pain of pressing in.
What the hell.

“Is that a hickey?”

Beside the bed was a nightstand, Kate opened the door and fumbled around until she found a mirror—which she handed to me.

“Nooo…” I gasped at the quarter-sized bruise forming on the side of my throat. But I didn’t have one; I had
three
in the same vicinity.
Omigosh.
Sweat formed over my palms and the once cold room felt warm and sticky.

“I did something bad.” The only thing worse than almost hooking up with him was how bad I had wanted to. How much I tried to pressure him into it.

“How bad?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Wolf and I, we, um…” Not only did I want to have sex with him, I had three marks on my neck to prove it. Fan-freakin-tastic.

“Wow.” She breathed. “Was he good?”

Using the pillow beside me, I smacked her arm. “Kate!” Asking if he was any good was the last thing I thought she’d say.

“What? I want to know. I’ve actually always wondered about him. I know he’s
experienced
, but no one really says if he’s good or not.” She shrugged with a slight smile. “So, was he?”

The loose springs in her mattress poked in my back as I groaned and fell back on the bed. “Yes, he was great.”

“Just great?” The humor in her voice ticked me off.

“He was amazing, is that what you want to hear?” I replayed the last hour, the way his hands pinned me to the wall. I wanted to kiss him even harder. I still did. That had to mean something. “He was so good, I tried to sleep with him but he turned me down. At least one of us was thinking.”

“By the look of your neck, he wasn’t thinking too much.” She giggled. I smacked her again. “
Ouch!
Stop hitting me.”

“Stop picking on me and help. How am I supposed to cover this up? I don’t want anyone seeing it.”

Kate flipped onto her stomach and eyed my neck, thinking for far too long.

Tension built in my throat, making my bones ache, and most importantly the throbbing bruise on my neck from Wolf.
Wolf.
I licked my lips, the taste of his smoky mouth still lingering on mine. No one could find out about this. People knowing meant I had to decipher what tonight meant and how I felt. I wasn’t ready for that yet. The truth was, I went to Wolf because he knew what it’s like to have shitty parents and I trusted him. I trusted him with a side of me I hadn’t trusted anyone with. That scared me. A lot.

Kate shuffled across the room to the one dresser she owned. The top drawer opened with little effort and she pushed the contents aside till she found a thick brown scarf. She tossed it at me. “Ice should help but you’ll still need to cover it up.”

“Thanks. I owe you.”

“Good because I’m ready to collect.” Kate sat back down beside me and crossed her legs. “Tell me everything, beginning to end.”

I
’d never had a hickey before. Well, that was a lie. Once in seventh grade when I made out with Rick Valdez in the back of the roller rink while other couples slow-skated. But his was nothing compared to the monster Wolf left on my neck. He really was an animal, wasn’t he? Since I wore very little make-up, I had to wait for Danielle to leave so Kate could come over with concealer. The thick goop stuck to my fingers like silly putty.

“This is
never
going to work,” I argued while dabbing it over the bruises. She handed me a wet rag to wipe my hands, then took control with the make-up, putting some powder over the top to suck in the moisture. “I should take a sick day.”

Kate snorted. “These are so hardcore. They could last for weeks.”

“Oh, god. I’m going to kill Wolf when I see him!”

“Or make out with him again.”

I resisted the urge to smack her, especially since I promised I wouldn’t after gushing out the details of my “experience” with Wolf. She seemed more excited by it than I was. Which led me to my next conclusion; I had to find her a boyfriend. Perhaps I’d see if one of Wolf’s friends were interested. I flinched at the thought and decided against it. Did Wolf even have guy friends?

Most of the day was uneventful, though I did notice more staring than usual, making me so self-conscious that I checked myself in the mirror a hundred times to make sure between the makeup, the scarf, and my hair down, you couldn’t see the marks.

The only time I ran into trouble was in combat class. I had to take my scarf off but refused to tie my hair back, which kept blocking my vision. It was then I decided those scenes in movies where girls play sports and/or sword fight or do any kind of combat at all with their hair down is totally fake. I tripped twice and almost fell on my sword. The entire class, Finn eyed me curiously, asking me if I was okay. Each time I muttered something stupid and mostly incoherent and started fighting again.

“Are you okay, Norah?” Mr. Bennett asked. “You seem…” Reckless, clumsy, uncoordinated. “Off.”
Well, thanks for being nice.

“I’m not feeling well.” I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “Do you think I can sit out for the rest of the class?”

He nodded and took the sword from me. “Sure. Go change.”

I smiled, too wide for someone who was sick, then held my stomach before walking toward the locker room. At least I didn’t have to pull the period card. That was embarrassing, especially with a male teacher. Pulling my hair back, I showered, washing the cover up from my skin. There was no use anymore; the scarf would have to do. The neck of the white shirt I wore for class had a cream colored stain from where my makeup rubbed off.

When I walked back in, most of my classmates were in the locker room, the only person there besides a few stinky pirates—because, showering is so overrated—was Finn. He waited in the same place he did after every class. I wanted to avoid him, to sit elsewhere, but I couldn’t. He’d know something was wrong.

“Nice scarf,” he said with a grim smile.

“Thanks?” I sat beside him, keeping my hand close to where the material covered the marks, praying nothing would show, praying that he’d never know about my night with Wolf. That no one would know about it. Already I wanted to pull my hair out. I was so freaking stressed out over people finding out about what we did when I shouldn’t have been! Who cared anyway? I shouldn’t have been ashamed, but I was. Okay, so I wasn’t ashamed, but more embarrassed for breaking down in front of him. He seemed to catch me at the worst times too. “How’d your call go yesterday?”

I opened my mouth, then closed it. Finn and I talked a lot, but sharing the suckiness of yesterday didn’t feel right. We were friends and he liked me, but I couldn’t go there about my dad, or April. My stomach clenched.

“He never answered.” I shrugged, playing it off like it didn’t matter.

His brows furrowed and those deep jade eyes stared into mine, as if saw the truth behind my façade. He let out a breath, half whisky, half spearmint. “Sorry, that blows.”

Warmth enclosed over my hand as he took mine in his. The gesture, while small and harmless, might have meant something before, but not anymore. Not since Wolf. God, why did I have to have feelings for him? Not that liking Finn would have been any easier without Pearl in the picture. As smooth as possible, I pulled my hand away, not wanting to give him the wrong idea.

“I’m sure he’ll be here for family day.”

“Family day?” I asked.

He nodded and snaked a pack of gum from his back pocket. He offered me a piece, but I declined, I wasn’t a chewer and gum bored me after ten seconds.

“Once a semester they open the school for our families—mostly parents—to come visit. Or as I know it, the time where my dad comes and give me shit face-to-face.”

I wondered what it was like to have such a sucky parent. Thank God mine never cared about stuff like that. Though I wondered if Dad even knew about family day. Especially since I didn’t and we hadn’t had a chance to talk this week.

“I doubt he knows,” I sighed. I missed him so much, especially his smile and the way his ink stained fingers always had to be occupied. Dad always found a positive in every situation.

The bell rang and Finn stood up, smoothing out his black button up.

“Ready?” Finn asked. Some days he walked me to my next class, it was right beside his. Today was not one of those days.

“You go ahead, I’m meeting Kate.” Lie.

He nodded. The downward twist of his lips didn’t hide his disappointment. Nevertheless, he said his good-byes and slowly sauntered off, probably hoping I’d change my mind. Fat chance!

Dragging myself off the bleachers I meandered toward the door. A group of smelly pirates pushed past me and I held my breath. The hallway was crowded and loud as people walked together, sticking to their cliques. Every school had cliques, but this was different. They were forced. Usually cliques just happened, mostly by clubs, classes or extracurricular, and of course appearance.

The more I looked, the more I noticed how the heroes and the sidekicks weren’t any less attractive than the royals. Some were but not many. As a whole, they all looked the same—nicely dressed, beautiful and probably nicer.

“Norah?” A squeaky voice came from behind.

Wearing a floppy hat the color of a cardinal, was Donny. People mocked his forehead wrinkles and bushy eyebrows, but I thought they were endearing. He was just below four feet tall. Curly black hair poked out from beneath his cap. He was cute in a way that you wanted to pick him up and squeeze him.

“Hey, Big D,” I said. He grinned, crimson rushing into his cheeks at the nickname I gave him the day we met in magic class. He sat at the table behind Kate and I.

“I have the book I told you about.” He opened the top of the messenger bag and pulled out a thin book. The cover was weathered and torn, with nothing written on the front. I’d almost forgotten, in all my failing classes, that Donny mentioned he had something that would help.