Page 25 of Forging Chaos

If she responds, I don’t hear her over the squeak of my scooter as my brother helps me out the door.

CHAPTER 19

THORA

I takeextra time to admire my reflection in one of the outfits I scored at the thrift store with Odin last weekend. While I’m looking at my butt in the mirror over one shoulder, my mom surprises me by tapping on the door and entering my room. “Oh, you look so nice, Thora.”

I catch her eye, noting her weary face. “Thank you, Mom. I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

She smiles thinly. “It was slow at the diner.” She shrugs. “Thought I’d come home for a change.” Mom has been working herself ragged. It’s not lost on me that she’s the sole contributor to the household once I graduate. I’m not exactly sure how my parents will manage once I move overseas. From the looks of my mother, she’s not really sure, either.

I smooth my hands down my pants and smile at Mom. “Fern and I are going to a thing at the bookstore tonight. We scored free tickets.” I don’t tell her they were a gift from Odin or that he looked sad yesterday when he left the bar. Or that he almost kissed me first.

Mom would just tell me that I can’t afford to get in trouble with a boy, and I would tell her that I know. I don’t need totell her I have an IUD courtesy of Planned Parenthood or that I’m pretty sure Odin won’t be lured into petty drug crimes. Nor will he get sucked into the bottomless whirlpool of poverty if he gets a record and no access to any meaningful employment. I don’t need to tell her any of that.

Instead, I kiss her cheek and grab my purse that’s bulging at the seams just a little from the signed copy of the replacementRedcoatbook. I head out to meet Fern at the bookstore.

Once there, Fern is waiting for me on the corner across the street, nervously eyeing the long line around the block of readers eager to get inside. “Wow,” I tell her, pulling out my ticket. “I should have thought about getting here early to snag a good seat.”

We cross the street, and an employee monitoring the line asks to see our tickets. I hold mine up, and they grin, waving an arm toward the front door. “Ooh, VIPs,” they say. “Your seats are reserved right near the front! Enjoy.”

Fern’s mouth drops open, and I feel the weight of everyone’s eyes on us as we bypass the entire line, shouldering our way into the bookstore, where there are as many folding chairs as possible have been squeezed into neat lines between the shelves. There’s a small open space up front with a handful of chairs, each with a bright orange VIP sign taped to the back of the seat. Fern squeezes my arm, and we pick two chairs near the back of the special section. I’m really unused to this sort of treatment.

The closest I usually get to a performer is when I’m bringing them drinks before a show. Once, I was tending bar at the arena and I got to take a tray of shots backstage to the band opening for Radiohead.

Now I’m the lucky fangirl with the awesome seats. Soon, every chair in the shop is full, and Juniper Jones picks up the microphone, introducing herself as the host of the panel alongside Emma Stag and Chloe Petals. I wiggle in my seat, whispering to Fern that this is Odin’s mom and aunt.

“I know,” she hisses back. “They’re all related to Wyatt, too, remember?” I swat her arm, secretly overjoyed that she has found such a great guy with a family that loves her as much as I do. I study Odin’s mom’s face as she talks about the history of rowing in the Allegheny region and her own experience rowing in the Olympics.

No wonder Odin’s so obsessed with being a professional athlete if his father played pro hockey and his mother apparently dominated the entire world in rowing. Emma and Chloe start talking about their latest books and I’ve never been interested in reading nonfiction before now. Chloe Petals is delightful in real life, earnest and open, and I love how she and Emma talk about sharing their research into the sport. Chloe just made it all sexy while Emma—well, Emma made the real-life rowers sound pretty sexy, too, come to think of it.

I clutch Fern’s arm as the authors each read aloud from their books, and before I know it, I’m in line tomeetthem. It’s a good thing Fern is with me because, for the first time in my life, I’m struck speechless when it’s my turn to greet Chloe Petals. Fern pinches my shoulder and greets Emma and Juniper, who peers around the shop and over our shoulders. “I thought Odin was coming tonight,” his mother says, brow furrowed.

I shake myself out of my fangirl stupor and tell her, “He gave the tickets to me and Fern. It was so nice of him.” I glance down at the book in my hand and then drag my eyes to Chloe’s. “Thank you so much for signing my replacement book. Your writing is just—gah! You’re my favorite.”

She surprises me with a hug, pulling me in tight for a comforting squeeze. “You are so welcome! I always love meeting fans.” She smiles at Fern. “Would you two like some photos?”

Emma laughs. “Fern is in plenty of photos with us. We’re all going to be in the owner’s suite next month when Wyatt starts in the London Derby.”

Fern and the Stags start to talk about soccer, and my eyes are on the verge of glazing over when Chloe nudges me. “We have to move through the line, but we can do a selfie, just us if you want?”

I nod and snap a pic, sailing over the moon with the joy of being here, with my best friend, actually talking to authors. I’m suddenly sad to realize that Odin might have imagined being here with me. Was he thinking we’d go on a date?

Fern and I elbow our way out of the crowded shop with waves from the panel, and outside in the night air, Fern sinks against the brick wall of the shop, a smile spreading across her face. “I still can’t believe I fell into this family,” she coos. Fern never coos. We like each other because we are both practical and realistic.

But here I am, swooning right beside her. Maybe it’s because graduation is looming, and things are finally falling into place. A few beats later, she pats my arm. “I teach my final class in the morning, so I better head home.”

“Oh.” I look at my watch. “Want me to wait for the bus with you?”

She shakes her head. “Wyatt pre-loaded my Uber account.” A grin belies her frustrated tone. “I’ll be home faster than you, probably.”

She glances toward my house, and I nod. She taps around on her phone, and a few moments later, a hybrid vehicle swoops to a stop in front of us. “Catch up soon? We still need to deal with your passport, right?”

I nod and wave as she drives off, and I think again about Odin, sad at the bar. He’s got my dress at his apartment. I need to go over there at some point to get it back from him, right? It’s barely nine at night on the last week of classes. Surely, I won’t be disturbing him if I pop over there now to thank him for the tickets?

The 54 bus chugs up Liberty Avenue before I can second-guess myself, and I hop aboard, heading toward Odin’s place. I clutch the gifted book to my chest, realizing he never did tell me what he spilled on the original.

CHAPTER 20

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