Page 2 of Honey Bee Hearts

“It’s more than that,” Jinx declares. “I mean, we may be nerds and geeks, but it’s more about just having a good time. Everyone is welcome no matter who they are. The best thing is watching the kids excited to see a real knight or being happy to get a wooden play sword. It’s about the little things, man.”

Steve nods. “It sounds like I’ve been missing out then, huh?”

“Definitely,” I nod. “It’s still going on for another few weeks. You should go.”

“I have two kids that would probably enjoy it,” he says. “I’ll look into tickets for next weekend since you two recommend it so much.”

“Make sure to try the turkey legs,” Jinx adds. “Makes you feel like a Viking.”

Steve straightens. “I’ve always fancied myself a Viking. You know, apparently, I have Scandinavian in my bloodline. Did one of those test kits. Also found out I have a half-sister out there. That threw the family into chaos, let me tell you.”

“I bet,” Jinx laughs. “Fable and I are sisters. Not by blood, but we picked each other.”

“I like that,” Steve says, smiling in the rearview mirror. The light in front of us turns red and he eases the Kia to a stop at the front of the line. The traffic can be a nightmare around this time, especially with everyone leaving the ren faire. Even if we hadn’t been drinking, I wouldn’t have wanted to drive it. People get a little crazy leaving the faire.

“Too bad we didn’t see any cowboys,” Jinx murmurs as Steve continues talking about the family drama that erupted after finding out his dad had an affair.

I laugh. “I think we were in the wrong place for cowboys,” I tell her. “We gotta go south probably. Or to a ranch.”

Jinx’s eyes twinkle. “Still, you’ve been on a cowboy kick for a while. Remember that night we got drunk and ended up watching the Western channel for hours? Shew, I’d kill for a cowboy. There’s something about a man in a hat and tight jeans that just does it for me.”

“Same,” I grin. “I’d love a little yee in this haw.”

We both laugh at my joke as if it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever said. Alcohol sure does have a way of making everything funnier.

“This light is taking forever,” Steve grunts from the front seat. “I swear they never time these things right.”

Jinx glances at Steve before looking back at me. “Maybe if you behave, I’ll have a surprise for you for your birthday next year.”

“Dude, that’s like eight months away. You don’t have to get me anything.” I tilt my head. “Is it a stripper dressed like a cowboy? Because you know what? I might be into that.”

She snorts. “My best friend deserves more than a stripper wearing a foam cowboy hat.”

“Finally,” Steve grunts as the light turns green.

He steps on the gas hard and we shoot into the intersection. The sound of the Kia grows louder around us as it moves. Because I’m looking to my left, over at Jinx, I see it before anyone else seems to. Time slows. Everything goes silent. Whatever Jinx had been saying goes fuzzy in my brain and I don’t hear her. All I see are the headlights suddenly shining inside the Kia.

“Watch out!” I scream, but I’m not fast enough, and there’s nowhere to go. We’re already in the intersection and the Kia only has so much power.

Steve lets out a guttural scream just before the large truck T-bones us on the driver’s side. Jinx, she doesn’t make a sound. She doesn’t even turn to look. Instead, her eyes focus on mine, her hand reaching across the seats and squeezing three times.

Our little trick. Our way of saying, “I love you,” without saying it out loud.

And then everything shatters.

The impact is so hard, my ears start ringing immediately as Jinx is thrown toward me. We roll, the little Kia taking so much of the force, it sends us turning end over end down the road. We must hit other cars because we flip and twist, the movements so chaotic, I can’t follow them. I close my eyes when glass shatters around us, against the feeling of weightlessness that brutally jerks me back and forth against my seat belt. I can hear the sound of screaming, but I don’t know who it is.

Not until I realize it’s my own mouth open. That it’s me screaming.

Jinx’s hand jerks from mine, and suddenly, the space I’m in gets much smaller. The front passenger seat slams backward, pinning my legs. Followed right behind that is a sudden intensepain that is so bright, my stomach roils, and then it’s gone, my body kicking the pain away when it becomes too much.

The car slows and comes to a stop upside down so that my arms dangle over me. I blink my eyes open, my chest tight from the pain of the seatbelt cutting into me. Everything hurts. Blood drips down my leather armor, but I don’t know where it’s coming from. I’m too dazed to look. Smoke billows around us, making everything hazy. People are shouting outside but I can’t make out their words. In the front seat, Steve is hanging like I am, but he looks wrong. The angle is wrong. He’s not moving and blood gushes from a wound on his neck.

“Jinx,” I try to say, but my voice is strangled, pained. I can hardly speak with the dust and smoke filling everything.

I try to turn my head, but it hurts. Still, when I don’t hear any other movement, I force myself to turn through the pain, to look, to find my best friend. I grunt at the feeling of my neck pulling tight, until I’m looking to my right, to the other back seat.

Jinx hangs there, her arms touching the ceiling, blood splattered everywhere.

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