Page 14 of Ivory's Ruin Romance

Even so, a sharp pang cracked through her heart. Aside from the good news for her favorite couple, everything had returned to normal after the Halloween party. Her one night of magic came to an end, and she went back to being the girl people didn’t notice.

She’d always been average. Never a class president, or athletic, or creative, or funny, and she couldn’t pull off anything but basic fashion. Despite that, Adrian had made her feel like there might be more to her. That maybe she could be a magical witch if she wanted to.

But not only had her black knight deliberately left her glass slipper on the ground, it had been crushed under the wheel of the metaphorical carriage—into tiny bits of unrecognizable dust. She was certain she wouldn’t be seeing him again. At least Jace had nursed a black eye for days and stayed off her back ever since.

The staccato ding of a timer shot through the silence in their living room, and before she could even set her phone down, her younger brother shouted, “The cookies are ready!”

“I heard,” she called back.

Blankets and pillows tumbled along with her as she slid off the sofa. Her mom had made sure their holiday decorations were put away by New Year, including the tree, and only small scraps of tinsel and pine needles remained wedged into hard-to-reach places or hiding behind family photos on the fireplace mantle. But nothing felt more like the season of joy than a batch of home-baked goods.

“Bring me two—no three,” Brey yelled, even though he was just in the next room with the door open and would’ve heard without raising his voice. “Thanks in advance, bestest big sister!”

She rolled her eyes and bounced into the kitchen, reaching for her purple oven mitts. “You know they have to cool off first, dork. Being nice won’t change my mind.”

“You’re so annoying,” he groaned, tone transformed into the whiny one she knew so well.

“I know,” she groaned back in mock agony.

The kitchen filled with the rich smell of butter and brown sugar as she opened the oven. She was glad she’d made three sheets of cookies because a dozen would be enough just for herself. Setting the first batch onto a hot mat to protect the table, she checked the bottom of a cookie and made sure it was done, not burnt or flimsy, and that the chocolate melted into gooey but fluffy perfection.

As if summoned by the confectionary gods, her dad walked out of the office into the kitchen and swiped a cookie off the counter. His work attire consisted of a button-up top and sweatpants, with a ballpoint pen stuck behind his ear. She shot him an accusatory glance but broke into a laugh as he took a huge bite. His jaw immediately fell open as he panted, “Hot!”

“Duh, I just took them out of the oven.” She set down another sheet for emphasis, heat from the stove fanning over them.

“Doesn’t change the fact they taste amazing.” Her dad gave her the proud father grin and took another mouthful of cookie. So easily pleased.

She finished taking out the rest of the cookies and separated a small plate for herself, which she’d hide until they cooled properly, then took out another plate and piled on five cookies for Brey.

Venturing down the hallway and to the left, his room wasn’t as much of a disaster as it used to be—meaning she might catch a glimpse of the floor if she got lucky, and dropping off a plate of cookies wouldn’t leave her running for the shower.

Endless volumes of anime and video games lined the walls, but when she entered, only his face was visible, lit by the blue hue of a computer screen. He didn’t even look up from whatever game held his attention as she set the plate next to the hand not smashing the keyboard.

“Don’t burn your tongue like Dad did,” she warned.

“Oh, hey.” He glanced over, then grabbed a cookie and shoved it in his mouth without a second thought.

She shook her head. “Still playing the same game? Or have you branched out from your middle school crush?” She peered over his shoulder in time to watch his character slice through a mob of monsters, an array of confusing numbers flashing on the screen.

“Switching is pointless when I’ve put so much eff—damn, Ivory,” he interrupted himself as he devoured a second cookie. “These are good. I’ve missed your cooking—I mean you—so much.”

“Uh-huh,” she hummed. Whatever he was playing, he was really good at it. “I missed you too, little bro.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

She looked over and caught his little smirk. Such a brat. “You should start streaming your games online. People get really into that.”

“You know Mom would kill me if I spent any more time on this,” Brey replied, searching around the plate to locate another cookie while his eyes stayed locked on the screen. “I’d have to be active to maintain a channel.”

She sighed…he was right. “I’m still going to force you to watch a movie with me later,” she said as his avatar made it to what looked like a final boss.

Brey grumbled an imitation of a reply, lost to the digital world. Taking her leave, she got her own plate of cooling cookies and returned to the couch, then nestled into a makeshift fortress of pillows.

Spending Christmas with her family had given her a few weeks of much-needed respite, but spring semester was gearing up to be gloomier than ever. Her GPA took a nosedive after finals, and the pressure to make Dean’s list sucked out any chance at a social life.

She wouldn’t have minded if that only meant missing out on a few lackluster house parties, but a huge rift had formed between Nia and almost everyone else in their friend group thanks to Jewelle—the woman who framed Caspian as a cheater and who happened to be Jace’s charming cousin. Ivory didn’t know why Serena chose to defend someone like that, but she had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with staying on good terms with Jace.

She took out her phone and saw that Nia had liked her comment and sent a text.

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