Page 20 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

‘Can I think it over a day? It’s not that I don’t want to go, it’s just that...’

I’m not even sure what it is, exactly. I just know I’m hesitant.

‘Of course. I understand if this is too much too soon.’

His words hit home. I didn’t realise that this is what it is, but hearing it now... It is a lot, and very soon. A month ago, I didn’t even know about the Veiled, and I’ve barely had a chance to catch my breath since then. The Dreamcatcher certainly didn’t give me any breaks. Everyone else at this event will either be Veiled or have known one or more for years. It hasn’t even been four weeks for me. And with everything Leverett told me about some of their behaviours at these events... I’m throwing myself into an ocean to learn how to swim and stupidly hope I won’t drown. In a way, it’s the void lake all over again, except I know what’s on the other side.

I’m not sure if I’m ready to take that step this time.

‘Here.’ He writes something on a Post-it Note and hands it to me. My heart misses a beat. Is that— ‘It’s my number. Call me or send me a message if you have any more questions or if you have decided. Saves you having to walk all the way to my shop every time.’

I quickly stuff the paper into my bag, afraid I’ll hold it with way too much reverence if I give myself the time to think about this.

Before I have a chance to lose my nerve, I reach over to take another Post-it and write my own number down. ‘This is me. I mean, mine.’ Smooth. ‘Now you won’t need to go via Kate just to let me know my cards are here.’

He gives me one of those genuine smiles that melt me to my core. ‘Let me get your tea before I forget again.’

He vanishes in a huff of smoke, and I take a moment to breathe. We just exchanged numbers. I feel silly getting excited about this—we’re not teenagers, damn it—but we can literally contact each other whenever now. I won’t abuse it and message him all the time and I doubt he’ll message me just to say good morning every day, either, but my heart races at having this new little connection between us. The general area where the paper must have landed in my bag seems to be glowing at me.

This is a perfectly normal thing for friends to do, I remind myself. And isn’t that what I came here to prove? That I can be regular friends with him? Well. Friendship achieved.

Leverett reappears, and I note that I don’t startle anymore. Something about him doing his fog thing has become so normal, like this has always been in my life.

He hands me a pack of his home blend. I can smell it even though the wrapping.

‘Thank you.’ I stand and make towards the door. ‘Call me when my cards are here?’

I inwardly cringe. Did that sound as cheesy as it did in my head? At least I didn’t wink. Stars, that would have been bad.

He nods. ‘Call me if you have more questions.’

I know he means about the event, but it almost sounds like an open invitation. Like I could call him at three in the morning and ask him about the universe.

My heart takes too long to calm down as I walk home, that spot in my bag slowly but surely burning a hole into my leg. And when I reach my front door, I’m not convinced the breeze has carried my blush away.

My face is still burning when the door opens and shuts downstairs that afternoon. I glance at the clock—it’s only just gone three p.m.. Surely Bonnie isn’t back already? My heart drops for her. What if her date went badly?

I abandon the books on my bed and hurry downstairs. There’s no sign of Bonnie in the corridor and she didn’t say anything, but then she might think I’m out. This doesn’t have to be a bad sign.

I find her sitting on the sofa, legs pulled up and head down. If she hears me entering the room, she doesn’t react. I sit next to her and lean my head against her shoulder. This is so far removed from what I was expecting that everything seems to slow. I was so sure she’d come home beaming and gushing about Sunitha. Seeing her like this, hurt and fragile, colours my earlier joy in dark greys.

‘Want to talk about it?’

Bonnie peeks out from under her arms. ‘She’s a mermaid.’ My sister unwraps herself more and leans her head against mine. ‘And I didn’t react well.’

‘Oh.’ I want to say something clever or comforting, but I wasn’t expecting this. Sunitha is a mermaid—I guess that answers how we’d tell her about the Veiled. ‘What happened?’

‘We just walked around the beach for a bit, you know? Looked at the arcade, talked about getting ice cream later. I suggested fish and chips, she said great but she might get a sausage instead.’ She huffs without any real strength, like she should have known Sunitha was a mermaid from that alone.

It breaks my heart how defeated she sounds. She was so excited about this date, and now she’s falling apart on our sofa.

‘Everything was going great,’ Bonnie says. ‘When we waded into the water together, I thought she looked like she was sparkling. Like she was covered in glitter. Then we started swimming and I realised she no longer had legs but a tail, and the sparkle wasn’t glitter but tiny scales. And I...’

A sob escapes her, and I put my arms around her. Bonnie holds on to me like I’m the only thing keeping her upright.

After a while, she says, ‘And I got way too excited, but I just wanted her to feel safe with me, you know? I was about to say something, tell her that I know about the Veiled and she doesn’t need to hide from me, but then she turned around with this huge, happy smile and I forgot how to talk. My eyes must have been huge.’ Bonnie looks at me, her eyes red and swollen. ‘I stared at her tail for far too long, saw her pale when she realised that I didn’t see legs, and then I just... left. I think I mumbled an apology. She didn’t come after me.’

‘It’s okay,’ I say, because I’ve no idea what else to say right now. No one trained me for this situation. If this had been a date with a human, I’d have told her the same thing, so that’s all I have.

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