Page 102 of Cherish

She sounds so different than the Macy I used to know that I have to remind myself my cousin is still in there. Under the goth makeup and the new piercingsand the suffering, Macy is there. I just need to figure out how to help her through the pain.

Eden comes running by then, a can of purple spray paint in her hand. She tags right next to Macy’s spider with a quick pair of dragon wings before sprinting away to mess with Flint and Jaxon.

“Dragons,” Hudson says with another very proper sniff, but amusement is gleaming in his eyes, even before he fades after Eden and draws a pair of vampire fangs right next to her dragon.

Macy and I sit out the next half hour as the others have a blast tagging on one another and spray-painting everything they can get their hands on. I’m hoping it will give me a chance for us to talk—reallytalk—but every time I try to bring something up that isn’t totally superficial, she shuts me down.

Until, finally, I stop trying.

Eventually, the others wind down and come to sit next to us. Hudson plops down on the other side of me while Eden, Heather, and Jaxon sit on the ground around us. Flint chooses the fountain directly across from us and, with a sigh of relief, stretches his prosthetic leg out along its bench.

There’s a breeze going, and it wafts the heavy scent of flowers by every so often. Even though it’s after ten, the sun is still up, and as it beats down on us, it keeps the wind from feeling too cold. Add in the gurgle of the fountain and the gentle chirp of the birds in the purple magnolia trees, and it feels good to be out here.

More, it feels relaxing.

That’s not a word I associate with hanging with my friends very often—at least not when we’re almost all together like this. Since we graduated from Katmere Academy, we’ve only met en masse like this when there’s a problem to solve or a battle to fight.

While I know there’s a problem waiting for us as soon as we leave this garden—several problems, really—for now it feels so good to sit with my friends and talk about stupid stuff. Classes we’re worried about and the last movies we saw and if concert tickets for our favorite bands are overpriced.

I’ve almost allowed myself to relax when Macy glances at her watch and announces, “It’s half an hour before midnight. Time to see if a chupacabra knows someone who can help smuggle us home—or if purple is my new favorite color. Forever.”

And just like that, our perfect moment fades like dusty drapes over time, replaced with silence and responsibilities and an unrelenting fear that follows us all the way across town.

55

Doppel-Tweeners

“Where to next?” Flint asks as we walk back toward the center of town.

“We’ve still got a little time before the midnight market opens,” Hudson answers. “Is anyone hun—”

He breaks off with a choked sound that has all of us turning to look at him in concern.

“Are you all right?” I ask, resting a hand on his lower back.

But he’s too busy staring across the street to pay any attention to what I’m saying.

I turn to follow the trajectory of his gaze and gasp. Because walking down the sidewalk toward us is a group of about ten young wraiths who are probably around thirteen or fourteen. And they are all dressed up like…us.

And when I say dressed up, I mean like full-Halloween-costume dressed up.

“Oh my God!” Heather squeals before they reach us. “Look at the tween Eden! She’s adorable.”

“She does have good taste in tats,” Eden admits after she spends a second studying the little purple girl currently wearing low-waisted pants and a crop top. She’s got temporary dragon and fire tattoos running up and down her arms and has twisted her long purple hair into two space buns with messy tails.

“Tween Flint looks great, too,” Flint says as we walk a little closer. The kid has naturally curly hair like Flint, but unlike Flint’s normal ’do, he’s tugged it as high as it will go.

The fact that he’s also wearing giant boots and worn jeans with a green T-shirt whose sleeves are rolled up to show off his nonexistent biceps is pretty freaking cute, too. Not to mention the dragon tattoo it looks like he’s drawn on one of those tiny purple arms.

Tween Heather has her hair done in a million little box braids and is wearing a bright purple zip hoodie and sweatpants with the waistband rolled down. She’s also got a ton of tiny sparkling rings on her lilac fingers, just like my bestie likes to wear.

As for thetwotween Macys… Both are dressed in tiny black half shirts and shorts, with chunky boots and ripped, striped stockings. One is wearing a spiked collar around her neck while the other one has grommet bracelets around her wrists. Plus, they’ve painted/dyed their hair green, or as close to green as purple hair can get, and painted a ton of heavy black goth makeup around their eyes and lips.

One of them is carrying what I think is supposed to be a magic wand.

“They’re darling,” I agree as the kids get closer. “I think Jaxon’s my favorite, though.”

“What are you talking about?” Jaxon looks confused. “There’s no Jaxon.”

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