These Lying Eyes

by Allen, Amanda A.

  “You discovered pirate treasure?” she said.

  He shook his head like they were four.

  “You found my copy of The BFG.”

  “It was always mine,” Peter countered, “and no.”

  “It was clearly mine.” Mina argued before guessing, “You discovered you can fly, but you’re afraid of heights?”

  “I got into Jazz Band!” He shouted.

  “What? That’s amazing.” She grabbed Peter into a huge hug.

  “It’s an early class, and my parents are getting me an electric guitar if…I do all this extra stuff…but I got in. I’m the only guitar player.”

  Mina was thrilled, glancing around for the sprites to share the elation, but they had disappeared again. And then, Mina was fretting and hating herself for it. At least one of the sprites had always showed up for lunch—it was, after all, the worst time to be a loner at school.

  Maybe they wouldn’t show, she thought. Maybe they really would finally fade. Fear choked her for a moment as she rolled her apple across her tray to distract herself.

  And then they were there.

  Zizi, Hitch, and Poppy dove and dodged each other near the ceiling, rounding about Hailey’s head, and spitting into her salad.

  Then, Poppy stole an orange slice from the next table while Hitch snagged a french fry and a large hunk of something chocolate. Zizi bounded between another slice of orange and a piece of banana from a fruit salad. Mina pulled an avocado slice from her sandwich and set it on the wrapper. Zizi would know it was for her.

  “Do you still do that?” Hailey asked scornfully, nodding to the vegetable, “Haven’t you given up your imaginary friends yet, Mina.”

  “I just don’t feel like avocado,” Mina lied, “they’re not ripe.”

  “Sprites, right?” Ben asked staring at the vegetable. Zizi froze next to it, waiting for the others to look away before she picked it up, and it disappeared into her glamour. He gazed thoughtfully at the vegetable before glancing at Peter who was also staring at the wedge. Then Ben asked, “That’s what we called them right? Sprites?”

  A flash of irritation crossed Peter’s face, and Mina couldn’t help but wonder if her only cousin who’d remained a part of her life since grade school realized her secret just as…but no, Mina wouldn’t go there.

  “Something like that,” Mina answered, carefully not biting her lip. She hoped her face didn’t show her fury at Hailey while Mina was also attempting to not follow Zizi’s leap to the light fixture.

  “Do you remember, Max?” Mina asked, looking at him and carefully crumpling her sandwich wrapper to hide the vegetable’s disappearance.

  “Oh yeah,” Ben grinned as if he didn’t feel the tension at the table, “we always had the most fun when you were weaving your stories.”

  “You always were a little weird.” Hailey said as if she hadn’t once said much more.

  “I like it.” Max and Peter said together.

  Zizi landed on Mina’s shoulder and whispered, “There he is. Our old Max?”

  Poppy nodded though Mina could only see it out of the corner of her eye. Then the sprite added, “I always liked him.”

  “Me too.” Hitch said, laughing as she added, “Member when he climbed that oak tree? Never should’ve made it beyond the first branch.”

  “He waz pretty little.” Poppy added.

  Mina closed her eyes, trying to ignore the sprites while her cousins and Max kept talking.

  “But he did. He made it all the way to the top and laughed for the longest time.” Zizi finished.

  The sprites were attempting, sweetly, to distract her from what she’d done. She’d revealed herself—in front of her cousins. On the second day of school.

  “You know what I remember?” Ben asked, poking Mina as he spoke. “The stupidly good things your mom makes for the campouts.”

  “What are these campouts,” Max asked, leaning back with his chips. The sun glinted in his hair through the wide cafeteria windows, and Mina’s heart skipped a beat in a way she never expected it would for Max.

  “The whole family,” Peter said.

  “Thankfully not really.” Ben interrupted.

  “Anyhoo,” Peter continued, “Some of us go up to this land our grandparents have.” He handed Mina a chunk of his orange.

  “A bunch of us camp out up there a few times a year. It’s fun. There’s room for soccer or volleyball.” Ben said, finally getting up to get his own chair.

  “Or dancing,” Hailey added.

  “Blech.” Ben said as Peter added, “We bring a bunch of friends.”

  Ben took a sip of Mina’s bottle of water, “but hardly any aunts or uncles come. They take turns showing up only to ignore us, so we can…” Ben glanced at Peter.

  “Revel?” Peter asked.

  “Carouse,” Ben answered.

  “Whoop-de-do,” Peter countered.

  “Engage in high jinks?” Max asked with a flash of white teeth and a glint of too blue eyes.

  “Exactly,” Peter and Ben said together.

  “But,” Ben continued alone, “Mina has been snubbing us for quite,” he paused, “some,” he drew out, “time,” he finished.

  Peter punched Ben as he said, “Mina wouldn’t snub us. She’s snubbing you. Who would avoid me? I’m awesome.” He squinted at her as if examining a bug through a microscope before adding, “I think the time for excuses is over; it’s time to play with us again.”

  Mina watched Hailey cut her salad into smaller and smaller pieces knowing what invitation Hailey would give. And it wouldn’t be an invitation to go to the campouts.

  “You know.” Peter emphasized, “Grandma’s cabin, tiki candles lining the field, playing soccer when the sun is setting, sometimes stupidly swimming in the lake, s’mores, and bon fires.”

  Peter batted his lashes at Mina pleading, maybe sincerely, for her to come.

  “You should come, Max.” Ben added, and again Mina couldn’t help but think about Max, just for a moment, as something more than a sidekick.

  But then, Max glanced at her, just as he’d used to. Looking to her for…something. Permission? Agreement? Confirmation? Always, his wide blue eyes would look to her to lead. That maybe wasn’t what she wanted in that effervescent more with a boy. Not now. Even if he was just looking for her to say it was ok for him to crash her family party.

  All the same, she nodded, “you should come. If you want. They’re pretty fun, though it’s been a while.”

  “Are you going?” he asked. The dimple hovered on his cheek, and once again, she had a flash of little squeaky Max.

  “Yes.” Mina said calmly watching Ben and Peter high five but mostly, she was enjoying Hailey’s sudden scowl.

  “Then, I’m in if Mina’s in,” Max said, dimple out in full force.

  And he was so pretty, so handsome with shoulders broad for another Freshman that she had to laugh at herself. She was a twig overburdened with hair; he wanted to be around her because of they’d been friends before and not because he wanted something…more.

  Chapter 5

  School began passing in a blur. The last of the stolen summer days had passed and the rain had begun. The gentle white noise of it pushed Mina into deeper, cozier sleep, but she didn’t think that Sarah was having the same luck.

  “Are you ok?” Mina asked as they walked down to the kitchen together one gray morning. Her sister’s face was paler than usual, and with her white-blond hair, it made Sarah ghostly.

  “Hmmm? Oh, yeah. Just didn’t sleep well.”

  “Have you slept walked again?” Mina asked as they paused at the bottom of the stairs.

  Sarah glanced away as she said, “No.” Her sister spun and walked into the kitchen while Mina followed more slowly.

  “She is not being truthful, I think.” Zizi said as she zipped ahead to follow Sarah.

  “Yeah,” Poppy and Hitch said together before following Zizi.

  Mina pasted a half smile on her face as she followed. The triple
ts were lined up on the far side of the table. One was dressed, the other two in pjs. Their mom was standing behind them, arranging the toddler’s hair one after another. Ams’s hair was braided; Annie’s was half-done, and Aly’s hair was a ‘fro of fine blond snarls. Her stupid brother was shoveling eggs into his face while also teasing the triplets. Dad was sitting at the end of the table, smart phone out.

  “Morning,” she said as she picked up an apple and sat at the table.

  “You need to eat more than that,” her dad growled.

  “Ok,” Mina said as she bit into the apple.

  “I’m not joking with you,” he said, adding, “Kate never gave us this much trouble in high school. And you Erik, you’re twice the trouble as Jase.”

  Sarah placed a plate of eggs and toast in front of Mina.

  “Thanks,” Mina murmured as Erik demanded, “What about my car?”

  “Erik, I don’t know. This is the third time this year that someone has let the air out of your tires. Maybe you should figure out who you’ve offended.” Dad scowled down at his phone not even bothering to look up.

  Mina took a careful, expressionless bite of eggs under the watchful eye of both parents before they turned to her brother.

  “You’re just going to have to ride the bus, Erik,” Dad said.

  Mina pulled a face at the triplets and smiled while they giggled in unison. Ams’s face was covered in nutella and peanut butter from her toast, while Annie had a streak of ketchup along one cheekbone.

  “Dad,” her brother said, “I have practice after school and stuff.”

  Stuff, Sarah mouthed, before shoving her eggs around her plate. If her parents watched Sarah as closely as they did Mina, they’d see she wasn’t eating. But, Mina wasn’t going to tattle, so she took another bite pretending to not mind her Mom’s watchful eye.

  “I will drop them all off today,” Mom said, and Mina forced herself to hide the rush of fury as she realized that their mom would take them to school to shut Erik up.

  Typical.

  Dad said something, distracting her mom, and Mina slid out of her chair quietly, scraping her plate, and dropping it into the sink before they could see that she’d only taken a few bites.

  “Mina,” Dad said as she walked to the door, “I expect you to start talking in your appointments with Dr. Seal. We aren’t paying hundreds of dollars for you to paint your nails.”

  Mina glanced down at her crimson nails, but didn’t respond as she followed Sarah into the garage.

  “You ok?” Sarah asked as Mina opened the outer door.

  “Yep,” she lied before adding, “Tell Mom I took the bus.”

  And she escaped into the gray drizzle outside with the sprites flying ahead of her.

  * * *

  Mina lurked in the trees watching the triplets climb into the car with their princess backpacks. Her mother questioned Sarah, and Mina could see her sister’s gaze on the trees before she nodded her head emphatically. Then, Sarah wordlessly climbed into the back seat letting their brother have the front. Mina knew without needing to be there that it was so Sarah wouldn’t have to hear her brother rage if he didn’t get it. Their father kissed her mom’s cheek and slid into his sleek luxury sedan. He drove slowly down the leaf filled ruts before disappearing into the trees. Her mother’s black suburban followed, bouncing jauntily over the same ruts, windows filled with the blonde heads of her siblings. Ams met Mina’s eyes, somehow finding her in the trees. Ams’s little mouth opened, but Mina lifted a finger to her lips. Ams laughed, but pressed her lips closed as she passed her sister hidden among the cold gray trunks.

  Once the cars were long gone, she made her way back into the house with the sprites leading the way. They made their way upstairs, and instead of turning into her turret bedroom, she opened the door to Sarah’s room. It was precisely neat with the bookshelves organized by color, the pretty eyelet cover on the bed smoothed, and all drawers and closets closed. Mina opened Sarah’s closet, pulled out the dirty clothes basket and found the nightgown Sarah had been wearing the night before on the top.

  The pink linen hem was still damp and streaked with grass and dirt.

  “What should I do?” she asked as she carefully replaced the nightgown.

  “Something iz not right with her,” Poppy said as she snooped in the drawers of Sarah’s desk.

  “Maybe it’z from that spell you found,” Hitch added as he checked under Sarah’s bed and shook his head.

  Mina sighed as she left Sarah’s room to sit on her own bed.

  “You should ask Grace for help,” Zizi said. “She would know what to do.”

  “Oh hey, Grace,” Mina mocked. “My sister’s face turns all horror movie creepy, and I’ve found her wandering in the woods. Yeah, right.” Mina shoved her hair back and tromped down the stairs to the garage where she carefully rolled the scooter out.

  “Sarah haz never told on you.” Zizi reminded Mina as she placed the helmet on her head. “But even still maybe you should tell your parentz.”

  “Sarah never would tell. Neither should you.” Poppy said, “Not when they’ll just think Mina’z even more crazy.”

  Hitch nodded and said, “You’ll be stuck in even more visitz to the shrink.”

  “If you won’t ask Grace for help,” Zizi said with an irritated flutter of her wings, “You are going to have to figure this out on your own.”

  Before Mina could even ask who Zizi was talking about and how that person could help, her friend had darted into the trees and was gone.

  “What doez Zeez think you’ll do with what she findz anyway?” Hitch asked, “Seeing az how we iz imaginary.” Hitch landed on her shoulder and anchored himself to the strap of her messenger bag with just enough force to nearly pull Mina off balance.

  “Hitch,” Mina pled.

  “Leave her alone, Hitchcock Bartholomew Zmythe. It’z not Mina’z fault she doezn’t believe in uz. You wouldn’t believe in her if you waz the only one who saw her.” Poppy landed next to Hitch, slapped his arm, and darted after Zizi.

  Hitch took to flight, hovering in front of Mina, dragonfly wings buzzing.

  “Are you mad?” He asked, cocking his head as he examined her.

  “No.” Mina licked her lips. The truth was she wanted their help. She twisted her lips, remembered the novel with its explanation of why she’d be seeing the sprites Maybe…

  Mina licked her lips again before asking with a dry voice, “Can you stay with Sarah today?”

  Hitch twisted his head after the Zeez and Poppy.

  Mina stared at him, pressed her lips together and whispered, “Please?”

  “Really?” He asked.

  Mina nodded. She knew what she was saying. She was saying with that plea that maybe, just maybe, she wasn’t crazy and they were real. If that was the case, who else could she count on to take care of her sister with her?

  Hitch darted forward, grabbed one of her gold curls before he whispered with a hoarse voice, “Of courze, I will.”

  He darted up and disappeared over the trees, heading towards George Washington Middle School where they’d had some of the worst years of their lives. The place where Mina had been lonely and terrified of her crazy and the sprites had ached for Mina’s pain.

  Mina swallowed dryly, considered that she was beginning to believe that her imaginary friends were real, and wondered if she had finally, truly gone mad.

  * * *

  A few weeks later, Mina emailed her essay for her long-distance class; she had written the essay about sprites in different pieces of unrelated fiction. The moment she clicked send, Mina closed her laptop, dropped it and her essay notes into her bag, and snuck out of the house. Writing the essay, reading book after book, all the while tracking Sarah and the weirdness that was happening with her had further brought Mina along to wondering.

  What if the sprites really were real? What if she wasn’t crazy?

  It didn’t take her long to find her way to Carousel Park next to her school, where
she found a covered table, and pulled out her notebook. It was filled with drawings, photo copies, and notes from her research.

  The previous weekend, in between essay re-writes, she’d gone through all the books for her essay and made a list of “facts” regarding sprites. She wasn’t sure how much of what she listed was real, as far as her friends went, she added what she knew from them.

  All three sprites stared at the list with Mina. They were tense, obviously controlling themselves from sharing their thoughts. Mina read the list again, pen tapping, lip between her teeth.

  1.) Sprites are very strong, perhaps as strong as a full grown human.

  2.) Sprites are vibrant in color, especially in their wings, hair, and skin.

  3.) Sprites wings vary—butterfly, bat, dragonfly, bird, etc.

  4.) Sprites often build relationships with children, usually children who have magic abilities as well. In some of the stories, the sprites could learn to use the same abilities as the human child.

  5.) Sprites are often part of a society that has “Witches” and “the Fae.”

  6.) These abilities are genetic.

  7.) Some sprites have their own magic abilities.

  “It’s this part that matters.” Hitch finally said, darting from Mina’s shoulder to land on the notebook and point at the 5th statement with his toe.

  “Mmm,” Poppy seemed to be holding back a shout, whereas Zizi calmly said, “Yes.”

  Mina tapped her pen and considered. Many of those facts crossed over into several pieces of fiction, but the book series that Grace had lent her at the beginning of the year was a series of adventures that contained all of the same ideas. And, Mina’s imaginary friends could have stepped right out of those stories. Mina had already tried to find the writer, but he was long since dead, so she couldn’t email him. She hadn’t been able to find the authors of some of the other books. Many didn’t have the normal ISBN or a publishing company. Yet they were crisp with tight spines and white pages; they weren’t old like the 20’s adventures.