Page 85 of The Luminaries
“I was wondering if we could talk.”
Erica stares at her with no reaction. Laughter peals out from within the apartment. Two whole breaths pass before she says, “I’m busy right now.”
“It won’t take long.” Winnie tries for a smile. It’s weak, but certainly not the worst she’s ever conjured. “I just… Look, we don’t have to be friends again, but can we at least not be enemies?”
“We aren’t enemies.” Erica’s words are as stiff as her back. She starts spinning a gold ring around her middle finger. Her thumb has a Band-Aid again. “We’ve never been enemies, Winnie.”
“Oh.” Now Winnie is the one to stiffen. “I… well… that’s good to know, then. I guess.” She had definitely expected a different answer—and a lot more resistance. “I’ll see you at school, then?”
Another two breaths. Then: “Yep. I’ll see you at school.”
And now Winnie’s smile is real. “Great.” She bobs her head. “Thanks for talking to me.”
Erica makes a “hmmm” sound in her throat before slipping back intothe apartment and closing the front door. Winnie passes the pizza guy on her way out.
Winnie goes next to the Friday estate. The clouds briefly part as she pedals through Hemlock Falls, and she considers how different everything looks now compared to a week ago. The estates are no longer off-limits. The Luminaries are no longer people to avoid. There is sunshine and a wind that couldalmostbe described as warm. It carries color and birdsong.
Any day now, her mom thinks, their outcast status will be fully removed.
Once at the estate, Winnie aims for the garage. The door is open, revealing a huge space packed with tools and cabinets and years of Lizzy clutter that is all too easy to get lost in. Clanking fills the afternoon air. Winnie feels almost guilty that Jay has been forced out of Gunther’s and must tinker here instead.
But only almost.
She finds Jay on his back, tucked under Mathilda with booted feet poking out. “Hey.” She toes him with her sneaker.
He doesn’t react. “I know, I know, Lizzy. You need to get to the Council building. I’m almost done.”
Winnie drops to a crouch. “Not Lizzy,” she informs him, and Jay’s eyes, shaded by the Wagoneer’s underbelly, meet hers.
He jolts. Then slides out so fast, he almost knocks over a box of tools. “You’re out of the hospital.” He springs to his feet.
“Yeah.”
“I came to see you on Thursday morning, but you were asleep.” Jay’s eyes, gray as fog, skate over Winnie. Grease is smeared across his white shirt and buffalo flannel. There’s a line of dirt across his forehead.
“Oh.” No one told Winnie he visited.
“And,” he adds, wiping his hands on a cloth, “before you scold me, I visited Emma too. She was only half awake, but she smiled.” He tries for a smile of his own.
And Winnie tries to crack one back. Hers falls flat. “I wanted to talk to you about training. We, um, don’t have to keep going.”
Jay’s hands pause mid-wipe. His eyebrows rise, and for half a moment Winnie feels guilty. Like she’s rejecting him in some way. She wants to push at her glasses—the new pair, still not fixed and therefore crooked upon her nose. She wants to retract her words and say,Never mind, I still suck and need your help, haha.But she does neither, and instead sets her jaw and holds his stare.
“Any particular reason you want to stop?” he asks eventually. He flings the dirty cloth onto the toolbox.
“Since I passed my trials,” she replies, “it feels wrong to keep taking advantage of you.”
“Taking advantage of me?” He laughs softly. “Is that what you think is happening here?”
Winnie feels her face warming, though it’s more from annoyance than shame. “Is it not? I mean, I’m not exactly paying you back in any way.”
Now he’s the one to flush. “No. Right.” He scratches the back of his head. “Not unless you count gracing me with your glorious presence as payback—”
“Ugh,Jay.” She scowls at him. “Don’t be mean. I’m trying to be considerate here. You don’t have to help me anymore. End of story.” She pushes at her glasses and rounds away to march back to her bike. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“What if I’m not joking?” he calls after her. “What ifIwant to keep training?”
“And why would you want to do that?” she snaps over her shoulder.
