I think back to my date with Felicity. It was hell. I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s hot, but my God is she boring. She’s nothing like Sailor. She didn’t have an original opinion in her head. She hung on my every word, and it got to the point where I was saying the most ridiculous things just to see if she’d agree with me. She did. I ended up cutting the date short.
It’s one thing showing the universe I’m not into Sailor, but that was a step too far. The thought of having to spend the rest of the evening with Felicity, to maybe even have to kiss her… No thanks.
I told her I didn’t feel well and called her a cab. I planned to walk home, but as I left the cinema’s parking lot, Chief Pollard and Deputy Donato were doing a drive-by. They stopped and asked me if I wanted a ride home. It seemed silly to refuse, so I got into their car. I immediately regretted it when Chief Pollard started to ask me about Sailor. Apparently, news of our almost kiss spread quickly and it seems the whole town was under the impression Sailor and I were dating. I guess my date with Felicity was necessary after all.
I told the chief it was complicated and he started telling me stories from his youth, from when he was dating. Like he thought he was down with the kids or whatever old people are saying these days. I pasted a smile on my face and nodded at the appropriate moments, but I wasn’t really listening to his inane chatter. I was thinking of Sailor.
Who else?
I kept seeing the moment I first set eyes on her. I knew who she was, what she was. Her hair was a mess, her clothes were torn and raggedy, and she was covered in blood. She had just fought a Slip Demon. When I got there, I watched her stand up and hold her head high, like a true hero. In that moment I knew I wanted her. She was so much more than I ever could have imagined. She was the personification of a Paradox. When I first saw her, she was clearly terrified as she fought the Slip Demon, but beneath her terror was a quiet strength. Beneath her fumbling attempts to save Maya was a compassion that I had never seen before.
Thinking of my date again makes me think of Sailor’s face when Jinx announced she was here. Fucking Jinx. Sailor was never supposed to find out about my date with Felicity. It was something to appease the powers that be and nothing more. She looked so hurt. So…broken.
“Fuck,” I shout.
I stand up abruptly and pick up the glass of water from my end table. I launch it at the wall, feeling a spark of satisfaction as it smashes into a thousand pieces. My satisfaction is short lived as Sunday bursts in, his hair standing up at strange angles.
“Dammit, Rye. Isn’t it enough that I’m kept awake half of the night by your dreams without you launching shit at my wall when you’re awake?” he demands.
“I…I’m sorry,” I say, taken aback by his anger.
He sighs and the anger drains out of him.
“Forget it. I’m sorry. I’m just tired. Rye, these dreams. They’re pretty intense.”
I snort out a laugh.
“Yeah. Tell me about it,” I say.
He turns to walk away and then he looks back at me.
“She’s worth fighting for, Rye. Find a way to cheat the curse.”
And then he’s gone. He’s right though. She is worth it. She’s worth the fucking world. I have to find a way for us to be together, assuming she wants me like I want her. And I think she does. I know she does.
Screw it. Sailor is right. I’m the one who’s obsessed with following the rules. Well I’m done with them. I’m done with trying to fight my feelings for Sailor and I’m done with letting some ancient gods who sit up there lording it up letting me and my team take all of the risks, just to tell me how I can or can’t feel.
I mean what are they going to do? They can’t kill Sailor. She’s the Paradox. And they can’t kill me. I’m the leader and the best hope Sailor has of beating the horsemen. It’s time for me to take a stand. To stand up for Sailor and me and to make it known that I’m done playing by the rules.
I quickly get dressed and then I go to the bottom drawer of my dresser. I push aside old T-shirts and dig to the back, where I find what I’m looking for. A tiny dagger that looks useless to anyone who doesn’t know its purpose. I stand back up and pull the dagger in a downward arc in front of me. The air in front of me splits and forms an opening. I step through it and into Nexus’s cave.
Nexus is standing over a bubbling purple potion balanced on a hob ring when I step into her cave. I know she knows I’m here, but her gaze remains focused on the bubbling liquid. I know better than to interrupt her when she’s cooking potions, so I stand as patiently as I can, which is not very patient at all, and I wait.
The bubbles get faster and Nexus drops in a tiny sprinkle of yellow flakes. She reduces the heat and the bubbling stops and Nexus pours the liquid into a rectangular mold. She finally looks up at me.
“What are you making?” I ask, curious to see a potion I don’t recognize.
“Black currant and honey soap.” She smiles.
I bite my tongue to hold back my outburst about her keeping me waiting to make damn soap.
“You look agitated, Rye. And you’re not one for dropping around for a casual chat. What is it?” she asks.
Now I’m here, I don’t know quite what I’m hoping to achieve. Maybe to
