Mia thought she might die of embarrassment when Rhett gave her a smile absolutely dripping with charm. “You must be Mia’s mother. I’ve heard so much about you. All good things, of course,” he said, reaching across Mia and held his hand out to her.
Stunned into silence, her mother shook his hand. Rhett didn’t miss a beat. “I’m Rhett. I live right there,” he said, nodding at his house to the right.
Her mom glanced over her shoulder at the house next to theirs and then back at him. “You’re a neighbor?” she asked. Mia held back a groan. No duh, Mom.
Rhett nodded, letting go of her hand but still leaning forward. “I am. I’m really sorry for keeping your daughter out so long. After school I showed her around town and her phone died. I would have let her borrow mine, but wouldn’t you know it? I left my phone at school. Total idiot, right?”
Mia did her best to hide her shock. Wow, Rhett really knew how to act. He sounded so… likable and a sweet kind of charming. If he’d acted like this when they first met Mia would have been drooling all over him too. Her mom seemed absolutely entranced by him. So much so that Mia wouldn’t be surprised if he’d left out the ability to charm when Mia had asked him what else he could do.
Now that she thought about it, Angelica had charmed her mother too. Maybe it was a Fae thing. They didn’t know they were doing it because that was just how they were.
“That’s really sweet of you, Rhett. I’m sure Mia appreciated a tour around town,” her mom said, finding her voice at last. She cast Mia a meaningful smile that made Mia wish the earth would open up and swallow her. “Next time though, let me know you’re going out after school.”
Rhett answered before Mia could. “Of course. Sorry again about that. It was sort of a last-minute thing. We have plans for tomorrow after school too, right Mia?” Rhett glanced at her, amusement dancing in his eyes.
Mia hadn’t been aware they had made plans but how could she refuse? She had so many more questions and she had a feeling Rhett would be the one to answer them. “Yep.”
“Well… alright then. As long as you’re back early enough to be able to get homework done and everything,” her mom said, glancing between the two of them.
Rhett nodded fervently. “Of course. I know it’s a school night, and I’ll be sure to get Mia back home early. Wouldn’t want our grades to slip.”
Yeah, Mia was pretty sure Rhett was going to flunk high school if he really had missed the amount of school he implied. Mia, however, did not want to become a high school dropout.
Before her mom could say anything else embarrassing, Mia gave Rhett a meaningful look. “Thanks for the ride and the tour around town Rhett. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He winked. “I’ll see ya tomorrow morning since I’m driving you to school.”
Again, Mia had not been aware they’d made these plans. Her stomach flipped a little though at the thought and she nodded. “Sure, yep, see you tomorrow morning.”
Her mom stepped back so she could get out and they both watched as he drove around the cul-de-sac and into his driveway. Mia grabbed her mom’s arm before she could drool all over the pavement and dragged her inside. Once the door was shut, her mom pulled away and gave her a grin. “You didn’t tell me about him. He seems really nice, like a really sweet guy… and very good looking.”
Mia made a gagging sound. “Gross. We’re just friends.”
“Right now…” Her mom sang heading for the kitchen.
“Mooom! I’ve had a long day; can we please not talk about this? Actually,” Mia said, hurrying to catch up to her. “Let’s. When are you going to see Cillian?”
And just like that the teasing smile on her mother’s lips faded. Her mom made a face as she leaned against one of the counters. “He had to cancel… Apparently there was a shipment mess up or something and he had to take care of it personally… He said he’d call, and we could reschedule but,” her mom sighed again, “I don’t know…”
As much as Mia was happy to know Cillian had canceled and she wouldn’t be dating a cat-shifter, she still felt a tinge of guilt at the fact that she was the reason her mom had missed her date. Cillian’s shipment mishap? In other words, he was helping flush the silven out of her system.
All Mia wanted was for her mom to be happy. She had seemed genuinely excited about her date. Mia wanted that for her. Just… she wanted that for her with a normal human being. Not a cat-shifting Fae. Mia hoped Cillian had the good sense not to call her mother back. Until Mia got used to the whole Fae thing and the silven dust wore off, to stay away from Mia too. She wasn’t sure if she could handle cat-eyed Cillian.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The next morning was an awkward affair. Mia had forgotten to text Angie and tell her Rhett was taking her to school, so when she stepped out of the house, she found both cars parked on the curb and two angry Fae glaring at each other. She paused halfway down the paved path to the gate of her picket fence, debating whether she should just turn around and walk back inside. But then Angie saw her, and a big grin appeared on her lips. She waved vigorously at her. “Mia! Oh my stars, I’m so glad you’re alright,” she called.
Mia took a deep breath and left the safety of her gated front yard. Angie did look different from the last time she’d seen her. If Rhett and Cillian were to be believed, this was Angie’s true form. Her skin was now sun kissed and her blond hair more gold than the light blond it had been before. She looked wild and stunning and all together otherworldly.
The instant she closed the gate behind her and turned around, Angie threw her arms around her in a massive hug. Her happy attitude reminded Mia that just because she looked different didn’t mean she wasn’t the same Angie.
“I was so worried,” she whispered fiercely. “When I saw you on the ground like that… I thought… I thought you were going to die.” Her voice cracked as she pulled away from Mia so fast, Mia thought she’d have whiplash.
“Well I’m fine. Right as rain and all that,” Mia said sarcastically.
Rhett snorted behind Angie and Mia looked past her friend at him. He had his shades on and looked cool as a prince of the Unseelie Fae could, clad in all black. Seemed he’d decided to go full bad boy today, perhaps to intimidate everyone at school. If that was his plan, it would so work. He looked not only very attractive but also quite daunting.
Angie huffed when she noticed the two of them with their eyes locked. She quickly shifted in front of Mia, obscuring her view of him. “I’m sorry I had to call Rhett. I didn’t know what else to do. If there had been any other way, I would have done it.”
“It’s alright, really Ang. You did the right thing,” Mia insisted, smiling at her friend’s petty attempt to get between the two of them. “I guess… So, you coming to school?”
Mia pressed her lips together feeling a tinge of guilt at abandoning her friend for Rhett. But… she was seeing him this evening after school and Mia and Angie needed some time to talk. She’d just found out her friend was a nymph and that required some conversation.
“Yeah, just a minute,” Mia said, stepping to the side and walking past Angie who already had a smug grin on her face.
“Hey… do you mind if I drive with Angie today? We’re seeing each other this evening anyways,” Mia said, walking up to Rhett.
He shrugged, hands shoved into his pockets. “Sure. I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.”
“We do, actually.”
“Then by all means, have your morning girl time. But just be careful today at school,” Rhett warned, his lips forming a grim line. “Everyone will know about your little sight problem now and no one is going to do you any favors.”
Mia nodded. “I’ll stick close to Angie and Kai.”
“Or me.”
A small smile touched her lips, her chest warming. “Yes, or you.”
“Good. See ya there.” With a sarcastic salute aimed at Angie and a smirk at her, he swaggered around the side of the car and slid in. Mia stepped back, watching him
speed around the cul-de-sac and back down the street.
Angie beamed and skipped forward, linking arms with Mia. “You made the right choice.”
Mia sighed as she got into the passenger seat, throwing her bag in the back. “It wasn’t a real choice Angie. You’re going to have to accept that Rhett and I are friends now.”
“I can possibly accept friends,” she said as she got in and started the car. “But I cannot and will not accept anything further than that.”
Mia groaned and tapped the back of her head against the headrest. “Uph, you sound like my mom. She met him last night, and she loved him.”
“Yeah well, she doesn’t know the real him. But anyways, enough about Rhett. This morning is about you. How are you? How are you processing everything? I know it’s a lot to take in… I know I probably look weird and different…” she said, her voice suddenly taking on a caring and gentle tone.
Mia smiled. “You do look different, but you don’t look weird. You look just as beautiful, if not more so, than you did before.”
Angie perked up. “Thank you!”
“As for everything else… Yeah, it’s a lot to take in. I mean I honestly wouldn’t have believed Rhett or Cillian if I hadn’t seen it for myself, and even then, it took a bit to convince myself that I wasn’t drugged or something,” Mia explained. “But it also makes sense now. Since coming to town, everything and everyone’s been so…peculiar and now I know why. What I don’t get though is why everyone seems to dislike me so much.”
Angie gave her a sympathetic smile. “Dislike by association. No one likes Rhett so the more you’re seen with him the more people are going to dislike you. Plus, you’re human… and only a select few in town like humans or even tolerate them.”
“Dually noted. Humans bad. Rhett bad. I guess what I’m trying to do now is fill in the blanks. Learn as much as I can, so I don’t look like a complete idiot in school. Think you could give me a crash course in the Fae? Rhett already told me the important big stuff, but I’m sure you know the nuances,” Mia said, glancing at her friend.
Angie nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! I’d love to.”
“I have to ask first, though… Where are you off to all the time? Everyone seemed pretty surprised to see you the first week I moved here, and Rhett said you don’t have a lot of family here either…”
Angie’s smile fell and she nodded. “When I’m not doing school functions, mostly to keep myself busy, I like hanging out with the other nymphs in town. Even though they’re Unseelie, almost all of them are way nicer than the others in town. Hazel especially. Her and a few others are good friends of mine. We’ve been figuring some stuff out in the woods. The forest has been unsettled since your arrival, though now, I’m starting to think it has something to do with the stalker who followed you and your mom here.”
A shiver ran through Mia. What could the stalker have done to disturb the forest?
“As for family,” Angie went on. “Rhett’s right. I left my whole family in Faerie. The barrier shut and… that was it. But Glenn, the family friend who died? He really was a family friend. He was fighting against us on the Seelie side when the barrier shut. Let’s just say… Glenn and I never had a very good relationship. We didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. My family didn’t approve of my choice in Unseelie friends.”
“I’m sorry,” Mia murmured, reaching out to touch her friend’s hand. “That’s awful.”
Angie frowned. “Yeah… I miss them, but I know they’re safe and maybe one day I’ll be able to see them again.”
“I’m sure you will,” Mia said with a tight smile.
Angie offered a smile back. They lapsed into silence, both processing and thinking until Mia couldn’t take it any longer. She had to ask the question that had been burning on her tongue since getting in the car. Changing the subject Mia took a deep breath and said, “Rhett told me to ask you what happened between the two of you.”
That shut her friend up right away. Angie bit her lip, staring straight ahead. “You really want to know?”
Mia let out a humorless laugh. “You know, that’s exactly what Rhett asked. Yes, yes I do.”
“He told you about the war, right? And how we ended up here?”
Mia nodded.
Angie’s lips twisted as if in thought. “Well,” she said after several beats of silence, “it happened right after that. I had just been permanently cut off from my family and my kind. He told you I’m Seelie, right? I was only fighting on his side because I believed what my court was doing was wrong and Rhett was my closest friend.”
Mia nodded again, not willing to interrupt in case Angie lost the nerve to keep going.
“I know it’s wrong now, but I was furious with him for dragging me into that war. I said some pretty terrible things to him at that time. I was grieving and upset and mad that I would never see my family again. Then he went and made a decision that effected my life without telling me and I just lost it. Words were said and… that’s that. So…” Angie grimaced, her eyes trained on the road, though Mia could see tears brimming in them. “When I said it’s his fault that our friendship ended… I was lying. I was the one who ended it between the both of us. It was my grief and temper that did us in and I don’t think we can ever be friends again. Not after the things said between us.”
Mia pressed her lips together and shook her head. “That’s awful Angie, but… for what it’s worth, I think Rhett knows what he did was wrong. He didn’t tell me what he did exactly, and that’s between you and him, I don’t need to know. But he does feel a lot of guilt for that time and he blames himself for everyone getting stuck over here.”
“He should,” Angie said with so much conviction that Mia did a double take at her friend.
“Angie,” Mia scolded. They have had a falling out, but did she not see the way things had turned out had affected Rhett? It was eating him up inside. Yeah, he was good at hiding it but if they had been as close of friends as they claimed, Angie had to know. She was choosing to ignore it out of bitterness and spite. “That’s not fair.”
Angie gave a sharp shrug. “Maybe not but I’m sorry Mia, you aren’t going to make us friends again or fix our relationship. That bridge has burned. It burned a long time ago. So, you can be friends with him. Whatever. But don’t expect me to be happy about it or to encourage you.”
Mia’s eyebrows rose. She was stunned into silence, not even knowing what to say back to that. There was nothing to say back to that. It was so bitter and angry Mia couldn’t believe it came out of her kind-hearted friend’s mouth. But every rose did have its thorns. No one was perfect, not even Angie.
So, Mia nodded and decided to drop it for the sake of her friendship with Angie. “Alright. Enough said. No more talk about Rhett.”
Angie flashed her a tight, grateful smile and then let out a long sigh. “Anyways! The dance is in just a few weeks and I still have so much to prepare for. I’m practically doing everything, and I don’t even have a date yet.”
“You’re supposed to have a date weeks in advance?” Mia asked, glad for the change in subject. To be fair, she hadn’t gone to many dances in the city, and the ones she did, she’d gone with someone precisely twice. Both times they had asked her maybe a week or two in advance.
“Yes Mia! You do. Like everyone who’s everyone already has a date. If I wait much longer, I’m going to end up going to the dance with a goblin.”
Mia flinched. She had kind of been hoping she could get Angie to go with a certain goblin. “Well… what about Kai? He’s really nice and,” Mia added, “he doesn’t have a date either.”
Angie gave her a look. “I hope you noticed that I said goblin as a last resort. A nymph cannot go to a dance with a goblin.”
“Why? Is there some kind of rule against it?” Mia asked.
“No but… you just don’t. Goblins aren’t my type.”
Mia sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought it would be. “Then who is?”
/> Angie shrugged as she turned into the school parking lot. “Ummm… Sidhes, other nymphs, shifters. Maybe a redcap or kobold if I’m feeling edgy. So,” she shrugged, “pretty much any other creature except for goblins.”
“Why?” Mia threw her hands up in exasperation. “What did goblins ever do to you?”
“Nothing. They just… they don’t look horrible, but they’re just very closed off and if Kai’s family found out he was going to a dance with a nymph, especially this nymph,” she pointed at herself as she parked. “They would not be happy.”
“So what? Get over Kai’s family. I think that if you asked him, he would so go with you, family approval or not.”
Angie screwed up her face. “I don’t know… I’ll have to think about it.”
Mia smirked. She was getting through to her. “You do that.”
They grabbed their bags and got out of the car, neither of them saying a word until they were halfway across the parking lot. The few teens still milling around were quite a sight for Mia. She saw more nymphs with skin reflecting different tree bark colors. White of birch trees, brown of maple and oak trees. She saw har with twigs and leaves sticking out of them… skin with leaves sprouting from pores and hair as green as Spring leaves or as red as fresh autumn apples. Some had horns sticking out of their heads, pointed ears or animalistic features.
There was one guy with scarlet red hair and fearsome rows of sharp teeth that showed when he laughed. When Mia pointed him out all Angie said was, “Redcap.”
Mia would have to do some research on a few of these other Fae. She knew about the courts, she knew what goblins and nixies and nymphs and all that were. But redcaps and kobolds did not register.
“So, what about you?” Angie asked, throwing open the door to the school.
Wayward: St. Croix Falls Book 1 Page 16