Once Upon the Rainbow, Volume Two

by Jennifer Cosgrove

  Molly clambered up onto the bed on the other side of Scott. “You know you’re only wearing one shoe, right?”

  Chris snorted on his other side, and Scott elbowed him. “I got distracted.”

  Molly laid her head on Scott’s shoulder. “How big is the bed at your new place?”

  Scott rolled his eyes and took Chris’s hand. “I seem to have a lot of baggage. Are you sure you want to sign up for all this?”

  Chris pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Very sure.”

  Scott smiled and rested his head against the headboard.

  “I love you guys.” Molly got up and walked over to the door. “When you two are ready to go to dinner, I’ll be out here.”

  Chris rolled to the side as she closed the door and buried his face in Scott’s neck. Scott got his arm out from underneath him and wrapped it around his shoulders. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Chris’s voice was muffled. “It’s all good.”

  “What is?”

  “Everything.” Chris lifted his head and ran his hand through Scott’s hair, smiling softly. “I got everything I ever wanted.”

  “A happily ever after?”

  Chris laughed and rested his head on Scott’s shoulder. “Yeah. I even got a Prince.”

  “And I got you.” Scott kissed his head. “I think I got the better end of the deal.”

  Chris laughed. “Ready to ride off into the sunset?”

  “When you are.”

  About Jennifer Cosgrove

  Jennifer has always been a voracious reader and a well-established geek from an early age. She loves comics, movies, and anything that tells a compelling story.

  When not writing, she likes knitting, dissecting/arguing about movies with her husband, and enjoying the general chaos that comes with having kids.

  Email: jcozwrites@gmail.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/jcozwrites/

  Twitter: @jcozwrites

  Website: www.jcozwrites.com

  Other books by this author

  A Boy Worth Knowing

  Snow Fox

  Sara Codair

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you, students. Even though your inability to put your phones away drives me crazy, it also somehow inspired this story.

  Thank you editors and critique partners who helped make this story shine.

  “MEPHONE, MEPHONE, SELFIESTICK in hand, who’s the baddest bitch in the whole damn land?”

  Queen E glared at her phone while the red light blinked, staying perfectly still until the flash went off. She gingerly removed the phone, careful to avoid scratching the screen with her clawlike nails. The gleam of black and purple gel polish caught her eye, so she took a minute to appreciate her manicure before examining the selfie.

  “A trending bad bitch you are.” Iris’s voice made Queen E jump. She had been so engrossed in the photo that she’d forgotten she’d asked the enchanted program a question.

  “But, another glittering girl rules the realm of Insta-pic,” continued Iris. “Rags cannot hide that she is badder than you.”

  “Who?” hissed Queen E.

  “She has lips as red as roses, skin as black as ebony, and hair as white as snow!”

  “Damned Snow Fox,” shouted Queen E. “I’ll slay that bitch!”

  ON THE OTHER side of K-town, Rosa Nieves, known on the internet as Snow Fox, was taking a selfie in the bathroom of Biggie’s Burgers. She had burns on her skin and grease in her hair, but her followers claimed the lighting in the white-tiled bathroom made her “booty pop.”

  Her mother wouldn’t approve of her exploiting her body online, but then, her mother didn’t approve of the potions she took to transition from male to female. Anyway, Ma was six feet under, and Biggie’s Burgers didn’t pay enough to live off, let alone pay for college. Her Insta-pic and YouVid generated a steady stream of income—enough to cover two classes a semester at the local community college and pay for her hormone maintenance potions and allergy medications, including the EpiPen she needed whenever she got stung by a bee or wasp. Once she had her degree in nursing, she could kiss Biggie’s Burgers goodbye and forget she ever posted those demeaning photos online.

  Shoving snowy curls back into her hairnet, Rosa gritted her teeth and returned to the scorching kitchen. She spent the next three hours scurrying around like a squirrel while she took drive-through orders, bagged burgers, and ran a register. Despite the hellish environment of a fast-food chain, Rosa managed to keep her composure. She smiled at every customer and fed fallen fries to the sparrows and chipmunks whenever she had a free moment. Not even her boss’s bellowing could shake her calm.

  At three feet seven inches, Dox was a legal dwarf—or “little person” as he preferred to be called. His face turned red as he yelled orders, but his bark was worse than his bite. He’d do anything for his team, whether it was giving them rides to class or intimidating abusive exes.

  Dox and Rosa were always the last two in the kitchen. He knew she was struggling through school, so he paid her extra to help him close. While they were sweeping, he tripped over a green-and-purple gift bag.

  “Hey, Rosa,” he called. “This says ‘for Snow Fox.’ I think it’s from one of your blog followers.”

  Rosa put her mop down and staggered over to the bag, exhausted from the double shift. Her job was common internet knowledge, and it certainly wasn’t the first time she had been left things, whether they were gifts or hate mail.

  She opened the bag, cautiously pulling the tissue paper out until she could see that the bag wasn’t booby-trapped.

  “It must be a gift from a fan,” she said, lifting a corset out of the bag. It was silver with glittering green vines snaking across the front and soft silver lace in the back. It was her exact size, and even had extra padding to make her still-developing breasts look bigger without exposing too much skin. It would cover enough to keep her photos from getting filtered and leave just enough visible to get a record number of likes, especially if she took her selfie in front of the bathroom’s white tiles.

  “Can I go try it on?”

  “Of course. Just mention Biggie’s Burgers in the post if you’re not going to punch out.”

  “Sure thing.” She trotted off to the bathroom. The corset was the modern kind with the hidden Velcro in the front, so it was easy to get on by herself. She took a sultry selfie and started getting likes right away. She hoped the people liking it would click the ads next to it. Another semester was starting soon and she was going to need new books.

  Then the corset tightened all on its own. She tried to remove it, but the Velcro wouldn’t budge. In fact, the harder she tried to take it off, the tighter it got. It made her ribs ache. Before she had a chance to scream or call for help, it was squeezing so tight that she couldn’t even expand her lungs enough to inhale.

  “THAT OUGHT TO be the last selfie Snow Fox ever posts,” laughed Queen E. She was lounging on her couch, admiring the glow of glittering city lights from her uptown penthouse. She closed Insta-pic and raised her phone to take a picture of herself. She took seven selfies before she got one that made her skin look smooth and glowing like Snow Fox’s.

  “One of these days I’ll look as good as her,” she said as she hit the Post button.

  “Perhaps if you sold your penthouse and your Beemer, you could pay that warlock to smooth your wrinkles and add luminescence to your skin,” said Iris.

  “I didn’t ask you anything, cyber bitch.”

  “You do not need to ask. I am always listening and willing to advise,” said Iris.

  “Fine. If you’re feeling so chatty, MePhone, MePhone, selfiestick in hand, who’s the baddest bitch in the whole damn land?”

  “Snow Fox is badder than ever since she blogged about the attempt on her life. She posted a selfie in the ambulance with a charming EMT.”

  Queen E’s hands shook as the screen changed from her Insta-pic account to Snow Fox’s. She had just posted a selfie of some charming EMT who had blonde h
air, big shoulders, and soft, blushing cheeks. The caption said: “I survived an attempt on my life. Please contact the police if you know who tried to kill me.”

  “The bitch lives!” shouted Queen E. “Iris, tell me how I can eliminate her!”

  AS SCARY AS it was being strangled by the cursed corset, Rosa believed it was a blessing in disguise. Her mother always said the greatest good could be found in the darkest of times. The attack sent her likes through the roof and, thankfully, also the income she generated from the ads. Apparently, if she was worth trying to kill, then she was worth following. She doubled her followers on all her accounts, so she hoped the traffic would stick around. Dox had offered to let her take a couple days off.

  Rosa had considered it.

  Cara, the EMT who had cut Rosa out of her corset and performed CPR, was off today and had offered to bring Rosa soup and movies. Rosa was curious to see if Cara’s lips were as soft as they looked, and if she was as caring off duty as she had been while saving Rosa’s life.

  Staying home would have been wiser, but Rosa just couldn’t stand the idea of Dox being alone with the teenage staff on a Friday afternoon. Most of them respected him, but some of the new employees whispered about his height when they thought he couldn’t hear.

  Plus, she was a strong person from dozens of generations of resilient people. She was not going to show fear to her enemy. She held her head high as she strutted down the street, whistling in harmony with the sparrows crowding the few trees left in the sprawling mess of a city she called home.

  She knew she made the right decision when she arrived at Biggie’s Burgers and saw the line of people waiting to get in fifteen minutes before the place even opened. Dox was huffing and puffing while the juvenile cashiers giggled behind his back. Rosa glared at one particularly obnoxious group, showing just enough of her teeth to make it look like a snarl. Their snickers morphed to whistles as they resumed working.

  Time flew by. It was a blur of flipping burgers, ringing up orders, and frying potatoes. Near the end of the night, Rosa noticed a woman with a halo of blonde hair walk into the room. Cara smiled while ordering and took the booth that was closest to the registers. She sat there, picking at her food, until she was the only customer in the room.

  “Should I boot that lady out?” asked Diego Marquez, a seventeen-year-old boy with an ego problem

  Rosa shook her head. “I think she is waiting for me.”

  “I see,” said Diego. He winked before sauntering over to the tip jar to count the money in it.

  Rosa grabbed a broom and worked her way over to Cara. Cara looked even more handsome out of her uniform than in it. The blue polo deepened the blue in her eyes so they looked like lakes reflecting a summer sky.

  “This place was packed tonight.” Cara smiled up at Rosa.

  “Yeah. I’m wiped.” Rosa failed to stifle a yawn and inched closer to Cara, unsure if she was hoping the woman would ask her out or just leave.

  “I’m sorry if I’m holding you up.” Cara stood and gathered her crumbs and used napkins onto her tray. “But if you want a ride home, I can stick around until you close.”

  “That would save me time so I could finish my A & P homework tonight.”

  “That class was hell,” said Cara. “I worked my ass off to pass it, but I doubt I’ll forget anything I learned in it. Let me know if you ever need help.”

  Images of kissing Cara over a stack of books warmed Rosa’s cheeks while she tried to figure out if the offer was for tonight or some unknown point in the future.

  “Hey, Rosa, you got another gift,” said Diego, holding up a sleek black comb.

  “Don’t touch it,” she shouted, fearing it was from the same person who left the corset.

  “What? You scared someone’s trying another hit?” He laughed and put the clip in his hair. The color drained from his face until he was as white as the tile in the bathroom. He foamed at the mouth and convulsed.

  Cara rushed to Diego’s side. After hanging up with the 911 dispatcher, Rosa helped Cara hold Diego’s shaking body so he wouldn’t hit his head and get a concussion, but it was for nothing. His body stilled and his pulse stopped.

  A rush of tears and a wave of grief consumed Rosa as she clutched Diego, but Cara pushed her aside. “I need to clear his airway.”

  Rosa watched, feeling numb and useless, as Cara stuck her finger down the boy’s throat to scoop out congealed fluid and began CPR.

  Wailing sirens became louder and louder until a team of healers and police burst into the nearly empty restaurant.

  QUEEN E CHUCKED her phone across the room when she opened Chirper and saw that the victim of the Biggie’s Burger poisoning was some kid named Diego Marquez and not Snow Fox. The boy was alive, but barely.

  “You stupid program. You said it would work!”

  “It would have certainly worked had Snow Fox put it in her hair,” said Iris from behind a cracked screen.

  “But it didn’t, you moron.”

  “You are correct. And now she is badder than ever.”

  “I guess I’ll just do this the old-fashioned way.” Queen E stomped on her phone, grinding it with the point of her designer stiletto into sparking fragments of wire and plastic, and set out to end the only person with more followers than her.

  ROSA HOPED WHOEVER was trying to kill her would show their face at Biggie’s Burgers, so she could dump them into the deep fryer. She did her makeup, braided her hair, and put on the pointiest heels she could find. She didn’t usually wear heels to work because they were so uncomfortable, but today, she wanted an extra method of defense. She wouldn’t mind stomping a heel into their eyes.

  Her steps were heavier than usual as she strutted over the concrete, click-clacking her way to work. She didn’t whistle. Her heels were drums, keeping time for the birds that sang their war-song, flying in formation behind her. They perched on stunted trees and telephone wires, keeping watch while she slaved away in Biggie’s Burgers, which was busier than ever.

  Customers lit candles, sang songs, donated money to help pay for Diego’s hospital stay, and took selfies with Rosa. There was one old woman whose skin was white as paper and wrinkled as the crumpled dollar bills in the donation jar. She wore a moth-eaten shawl over her head and leaned heavily on a wooden cane that was caked with peeling brown paint.

  “I have no money to donate,” croaked the old woman, “but the apple tree in my yard still yields a good harvest every year. Would you care for a red delicious?”

  Rosa was so hungry that her head was spinning, and her throat was parched from talking to all the customers. She took the apple that the woman offered and sunk her teeth into it, savoring the sweet juices as they slid across her tongue and down her throat.

  As she opened her mouth to take a second bite, something vibrated. A sharp needle pierced her tongue. She coughed, and a bee fell out, dead on the floor. Before she could call for help and tell anyone where her EpiPen was, her throat closed up and blackness encircled her.

  QUEEN E CACKLED as Snow Fox fell to the ground, then fled before the mob of fans realized what happened. She ran across sidewalks, down the stairs to a crowded subway station, and dove into a public bathroom where she shed her disguise, washed off her wrinkles, and donned her make up.

  By the time she emerged into the crowded subway station, police were flashing the face of an elderly white woman on their smart phones, asking everyone in the crowd if they had seen the old lady.

  She smiled smugly when the officer reached her.

  “Ma’am, have you seen this murderous woman?”

  “No, honey, I haven’t.” She patted the man on the shoulder. “But I sure will contact you if I do.”

  The officer nodded with a frown and moved on to the next person. Queen E savored her victory while she waited for and boarded the train, humming victoriously the whole ride home. When she got back to her modern penthouse, she sorted through the fragments of her phone, placed its enchanted SIM card into a new device and
put the whole thing on a selfie stick. She took a photo on her balcony with the wind blowing her hair and the whole city in the background.

  “MePhone, MePhone, selfiestick in hand, who’s the baddest bitch in the whole damn land?”

  “A trending bad bitch you are.” Iris’s voice was as steady and robotic as ever, showing no sign of ever being smashed. “However, one is still badder than you. Snow Fox lives, resuscitated by the charming EMT.”

  “Noooooo!” Queen E wailed so loud that half the city heard it.

  WHEN ROSA WOKE in the hospital bed, Cara Sanchez, the EMT who saved her, was still by her side. Cara wasn’t wearing the uniform like she had when she cut Rosa out of the cursed corset because she hadn’t been on duty when the bee stung Rosa’s tongue. Cara had been at Biggie’s Burgers waiting for Rosa to be done with work so they could go out for ice cream. She’d seen Rosa’s tongue swell, administered the EpiPen, and kept Rosa breathing until help arrived.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Cara with a soft smile.

  “Tired.”

  She kissed Rosa on the forehead but was soon interrupted by the screech of heels sliding across the hospital’s bleached floor.

  “You are disgusting,” shouted a woman wearing so much purple lipstick and liner that she looked like she was the one having an allergic reaction. “Every time I try to kill you, you just keep getting badder and badder! And now, you’re with this overly handsome cliché of a ma—” She paused, squinting at Cara. “—a cliché of a woman!”

  “So you’re the one who hurt Diego,” whispered Rosa. Her throat was still too sore to talk any louder.

  “No, you did that by not putting that stupid comb in your own hair!”

  Cara took her phone out of her pocket to call 911, so Rosa kept the outlandish lady talking.