Now the meat was already on the grill, and the scent of it reached her nostrils. She shifted in the grass, adjusting the skirt of her dress.
Hanna’s voice reached her ear.
“Does the scent bother you, Ariadne?”
“No, I’m fine with it,” Ariadne replied. “I just can’t eat it.”
“That’s too bad,” Ryan commented.
“Why?” Ray mumbled through the mouth already full of something—probably chips. “Isn’t it logical? Can you imagine a fairy eating a steak?”
They both chuckled.
“But your diet is so strict,” Ryan pointed out. “I wouldn’t be able to keep it long.”
“You would,” Ariadne said. “If you got sick every time you ate something you couldn’t consume.”
“Speaking of which,” Mimi heard Hanna say as her friend opened up another container. “Try this cake. I scoured the internet to find the best recipe, and I hope you’ll enjoy it.”
“Oh, thank you. You shouldn’t have.”
“No; that was a fun challenge to take. Vegan and grain-free.”
“What did you use for flour?” Ray asked.
“Nut flour,” Hanna replied. “You’d be surprised what people come up with when they can’t have something. I swear you could search for ‘blueberry pie without blueberries’ and find a recipe for the pie that would look and taste exactly like blueberry pie without actually containing any blueberries. Don’t call me up on that, though. I haven’t searched for that.”
“I guess you can use a chemical flavoring,” Nate chuckled. “Like they use in tea to make it smell like cookies.”
“Good point.”
“It tastes great!” Ariadne exclaimed, munching on the cake. “Kind of like the blueberry pies we make in Enchanted Forest, although a bit different. Hanna, you’re amazing!”
“I’ve been told.”
Mimi wanted to come and join them, but at the same time didn’t want to leave her hideout. Just thinking of enduring Ariadne and Nate throwing secret glances at each other made her sick to her stomach. She tried to concentrate on the book she’d brought with her but couldn’t finish even a sentence.
“Hey, can I try it?” Ryan said. “It looks good, and I wonder how it tastes.”
“Sure.”
Reeds rustled by her left, but Mimi ignored it.
“Hmm, it’s actually good!” Ryan sounded surprised. “Although it doesn’t taste like a regular blueberry pie.”
“It’s awfully healthy, though,” Hanna said. “I even emitted sugar.”
“What?”
“I figured it wouldn’t be good for Ariadne, either, so I opted for honey as a sweetener.”
“Oh.”
Meat sizzled on the grill as Ray flipped the steaks over. The reeds rustled closer, and Mimi started, glancing to the left. Ariadne stared back at her.
“Hey,” the dryad said gingerly.
“Hey,” Mimi replied, looking at her questioningly.
“I just wanted to make sure you’re all right.” Ariadne pushed the grass aside to come closer. “Can we talk?”
Mimi rose her eyebrows at her. Then she closed her book and set it aside.
“What do you want to talk about?”
Ariadne sat down on the edge of her blanket and smoothed out the skirt of her dress. Everything she did was so pretty and princess-like. And she always looked perfect, even wearing the same dress every day. How could Mimi ever compare?
“You,” Ariadne replied to her question, making Mimi startle.
“What?”
“I want to talk about you,” Ariadne repeated, her eyes gleaming like magical gemstones. “I know what’s going on, and I can’t ignore it anymore.”
“W-what do you mean?” Mimi pulled up her knees to her chest, gazing away.
“I know how you feel about Nate,” Ariadne said simply.
Mimi’s eyes grew wide. For a second she stared at the dryad, her cheeks glowing bright, and then she averted her eyes again.
“I don’t understand,” she lied.
Ariadne shook her head, a slight smile on her lips. “You don’t have to hide it from me. There’s no use anyway. I can feel your emotions from a mile away.”
“You can read my mind?”
“No; not your mind—your emotions and feelings. Dryads like me can sense auras of humans if we come close enough to them. But your emotions scream so loud I don’t even have to come near to sense them. Your feelings are written on your face.”
Mimi didn’t dare to raise her eyes at Ariadne. She felt cornered.
“Why do you think it has anything to do with Nate?” she mumbled.
“Because I can see the way you look at him. Besides, your whole being is magnetized toward him whenever he’s around.”
Mimi shifted her gaze. “Are you … mad at me?” she asked carefully.
“Why should I be mad at you?”
“Because … you feel the same about him, don’t you?”
Now it was time for Ariadne to blush and look to the side. “How do you know that?”
Mimi chuckled softly. “I can see it when you’re with him. Sometimes you don’t have to be a dryad to sense such things.”
She shivered and looked up when she heard Ariadne laugh.
“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” The dryad tucked a strand of snow-white hair behind her ear. “I’ve always been an open book when it comes to my feelings. Well, since you’ve already figured it out, it’s all for the better.” Their eyes finally met. “I think you should tell him about your feelings.”
“What?” Mimi drew back. “N-no, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Why would you even suggest such a thing?” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, mirroring Ariadne’s move. They were very much alike in some ways, she noted with surprise.
“Well, how else would he know?” Ariadne shrugged. “He’s clearly clueless about your feelings.”
Mimi shook her head. “That won’t change a thing. In his eyes, I’m just his friend’s younger sister. He would never regard me as anything more than that. If I tell him, it would just make things awkward. Besides”—she cast a quick glance at the fairy—“he clearly likes you.”
Ariadne recoiled, her wings fluttering slightly. “Why do you think that?” she murmured.
“Oh, come on,” Mimi signed. “You’ve said you can sense our auras. Can’t you feel it already?”
Why were they even having this conversation? Did Ariadne come here to mock her?
But the dryad looked genuinely nonplussed as she searched for an answer. Mimi almost wanted to apologize for her sharp remark.
“I don’t know,” Ariadne finally said, closing her eyes for a moment. “Nate is a whirlwind of feelings and emotions. But it seems like hurt dominates above all.”
Mimi raised her eyebrows. “Is he hurt?” she asked with concern. “By whom?”
“I don’t know. By life, maybe. He’s gone through a lot. But he’ll heal.” A slight smile touched her lips as she carefully brushed the grass with her hand. “It’s not something for you to be concerned about. But, regarding his feelings toward me …” She shook her head. “Whatever they may be, it doesn’t matter. There’s still no way we can be together. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.”
Mimi blinked at her in puzzlement. “You wanted to say you couldn’t be with him? Why?”
“As I’ve told earlier to your brother, dryads are forbidden from having relationships with humans. Even what I do now—sit here and talk to you—is considered breaking the law of the Forest. And it especially concerns romantic relationships. In short, however I might feel about Nate, and whatever he feels toward me, we can’t be together.”
“It seems like a very cruel law to me,” Mimi said. “What happens if you break it? Do they … throw you into a dungeon or something?”
“Perhaps. In any case, there’s just no way for us to be together. I’m not even sure how long I would be able to stay in this world.”
Ariadne sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything, Mimi. All I know is that my time here is limited. Please, don’t tell anyone about this conversation,” she added. “I don’t want any more questions from them. Things are already complicated enough.”
“Okay,” Mimi agreed. “I wouldn’t want anyone to know about it, too.”
Ariadne smiled at her. “I won’t tell anyone about your feelings,” she promised. “But you should talk to him, eventually.”
Mimi raked her hand through her hair. “I’m not sure. I don’t even know how to start such a conversation.”
“You’ve talked to him in the past,” Ariadne rose from the blanket and dusted off invisible dirt from her dress. “You’ll find a way now.”
Before Mimi could reply, Hanna’s voice rang out over the reeds.
“Mimi, Ariadne, where are you? The food’s ready. We’re waiting for you.”
∞∞∞
Ariadne remained a bit off to the side as the others gathered around the folding table and dug into their food.
Hanna cooked up a feast for their little picnic, starting with various cut-up vegetables piled up around the dipping sauce, salads and fruits, and a few home-baked pies as a dessert. The guys provided the meat. Ariadne was given a container, where she found fresh berries and nuts with a little honey on the side, another container with her blueberry pie, and a thermos filled with herbal tea.
“A butterfly diet”, Ryan called it earlier.
“Butterflies don’t eat berries and nuts,” Ariadne pointed out with a laugh.
“Couldn’t you survive on some magical flower nectar if you had to?” he asked.
Ariadne had to agree. The special flower nectar found only in Enchanted Forest could provide all the needed nutrients to most kinds of fairies. It was mostly fed to babies, though. In some ways, they truly resembled butterflies—magnificent and elusive creatures, so hard to catch and even harder to keep.
Munching on her food, Ariadne watched the ghostly moon rising higher in the evening sky. The stars looked different in this world. She wanted to ask Nate how the constellations were called. Just as she thought that, he appeared by her side.
“Hey,” she heard him say and shivered, looking up.
Nate sat down across from her. “Did I startle you? I’m sorry.”
Ariadne shook her head. “No. I was just thinking about you.”
His gaze lingered on her for a long time before he looked out at the water.
Those long gazed became a frequent occurrence between them recently. They made her heart beat faster, but also frightened her. She was afraid that if she stayed near him long enough, she would give in to those feelings growing inside of her. And that should never happen.
Ariadne couldn’t deny that was what’d pushed her to have that conversation with Mimi. Maybe if he switched his attention to another girl, it would be easier for her to forget him. And for him to let her go forever. In any case, it was much more fitting for him to be with Mimi. Or so she told herself.
“You know, ever since I saw that magical lake, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.” The sound of Nate’s voice distracted her from her musings. “I can’t even imagine how it must be in your world. I would love to see it.”
Ariadne looked down at the assortment of berries in her hand. “I would love to show it to you …” she murmured.
“Is there a way for a human to enter it?” he asked, then added, “Not that I want you to take me there. I’m sure it’s forbidden.”
“It is,” Ariadne agreed. “But there are a few secret passageways between our worlds. Although only a dryad like me could reveal them.”
A burst of laughter to their left drew their attention. Ariadne was relieved to see Mimi cheer up a little bit after their conversation. She was pushing Ryan away as he tried to steal a piece of pineapple from her plate.
That was probably how they all looked, she thought, how they spent their time, before Nate and she came into the picture.
“I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” she said to Nate.
“What do you mean?” He flicked his eyes to her again.
“You, being drawn to the Forest,” she explained. “I’m sure Ryan and Hanna would love to see it, too, but they don’t think about it the way you do.” She leaned a little closer to him. “That’s because it’s calling to you.”
Nate’s lips twitched, and a curious smile appeared on his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Ariadne gave him a little smile in return. “We’ll see.”
His eyes lingered on her for a while, and then he looked back at his friends enjoying the food.
“Hey, what did you talk about with Mimi?” he asked.
Ariadne dropped her gaze and shook her head. “Nothing special.”
Seventeen
The next week Nate spent at work, only coming home late in the evening, so exhausted he barely had the strength to heat up the takeout food he brought with him. He always made sure Ariadne had everything she needed, though.
Ariadne quickly learned how to use human technology. As it turned out, it wasn’t difficult at all—just a matter of pressing a few buttons. Humans in this world definitely had it easier than fairies, even though they couldn’t use magic. Soon Ariadne found herself doing chores around the house during the day, and in the evenings, when Nate came home, she always had hot tea ready and offered to heat up his food for him. He said, again and again, that she didn’t have to do any of that, but Ariadne insisted on it. It wasn’t much, and she wanted to feel she was helpful to him in any way.
It was as if she were his wife, it occurred to her one day. So much for trying to keep a distance from him. But Ariadne couldn’t help it. The more time they spent together, the more comfortable it became for her to be by his side. Her heart leaped every time she heard the front door open and saw him walk through it. She barely held herself from throwing herself at him. She started waking up earlier every morning to have breakfast with him and spend a few minutes together. And just being with him, sitting near him every night while they had tea and talked, made her so unexplainably happy.
Ariadne wished things would always stay that way.
During the day, while Nate wasn’t around, and when she was done with cleaning up the house and tending the garden, Ariadne either took a nap or slipped outside. She always found something for herself to do around the neighborhood, or ventured into the local woods and wandered around it, looking for a plant—or a bug—to take care of. Soon, the town looked greener than ever. People couldn’t fail to notice that.
“I guess that’s an advantage to having a fairy living among us,” Hanna laughed as she pinned the fabric around Ariadne’s torso.
That was another thing Ariadne found herself doing in the afternoons—handing out with Mimi and Hanna, who was designing a new dress for her.
She was standing in the middle of Hanna’s living room, Hanna bustling around her as she adjusted the fabric. It was a soft, baby-blue color, and had a bit of a shimmer to it. A few sketches of a future dress littered the coffee table, and Ariadne had to admit—it looked similar to the gowns she wore back in the Rainbow Castle.
“This fabric looks expensive,” she pointed out. “Are you sure you want to use it for a dress for me?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Hanna said. “I’ve had it for a while. I wanted to make a Halloween costume for myself from it but never ended up doing it. I’m glad I can make something from it. It would have been a waste if I left it just sitting in a bin in my closet.” She put a few pins into her mouth, and her voice sounded muffled as she added, “Though it doesn’t look nearly as fancy as the fabric your dress is made out of. What even is that? It looks magical, like it’s made out of morning mist or something.”
“It is magical,” Ariadne replied with a laugh. “I can add a similar effect to the dress you’re making wh
en it’s done.”
“Oh, that would be cool,” Hanna chuckled. “Ryan would say it’s like special effects in a movie. I could even win a fashion contest with a dress like that. Although that would be cheating.”
Ariadne flicked her eyes to Mimi, who was sitting on the couch at the other end of the room, reading a book. She looked up from the pages from time to time to check on their progress but mainly kept quiet. Ariadne gave her a little smile, and Mimi smiled back.
She still hadn’t talked to Nate, and if Ariadne were completely honest with herself, she was both anxious and relieved about it. Now, a few days after their conversation, she wasn’t sure she should have given that advice to Mimi. Her feelings were a mess these days. She was afraid of becoming closer to Nate—because of the consequences it might have in the future—but at the same time, she desperately wanted to keep him to herself. It was selfish, and maybe even stupid on her part, but she couldn’t do anything about it.
Her gaze slipped to the white piano standing in the middle of the living room. Nate hadn’t played at all in the last week—was too tired or didn’t want to, she couldn’t tell. But it bothered her more than anything else.
As if she’d read her mind, Hanna spoke from behind her back. “It’s missing him.”
Ariadne shivered, her wings flaring up a bit. “What?”
Hanna stilled her with her hand. “I would imagine any piano Nate has ever played is missing him after he’s gone,” she explained.
Mimi stared at her friend from across the room, but Hanna didn’t notice it.
“I guess it is so,” Ariadne said softly, smiling.
“Are you sure you’re not dating him?” Hanna asked. “Hold still,” she commanded the next moment, as Ariadne nearly tumbled down.
Ariadne’s heart leaped.
“Why would you think so?”
“I mean, you’re living in his house. He doesn’t have a girlfriend. You clearly are on good terms with each other. I would even say, whenever you’re in the same room, I could barely see the sparks fly.”
Enchanted Summer Page 15