I doubted Shaylee would hate us. She just wasn’t that type of person. Certainly, some part of her would recognize that we were still her friends, regardless of the changes that were about to happen. This was all assuming she was in fact a Mage. I left the meeting wondering how Sophia would have approached this situation. She always seemed to have the answers to whatever problem presented itself. I doubted I could live up to her expectations as I attempted to complete the task she’d given me all those years ago.
Chapter 12
Jaden
Aaron and I walked across campus. We were almost back to the dorms when I realized that he was just as lost in his thoughts as I was. I was just beginning to really understand what sort of danger Shaylee was in. If she was a Mage, she posed a serious threat to the Council based on who her parents were alone. If she wasn’t then she was completely defenseless with a target on her back because she resembled someone the Council feared. I hoped I was strong enough to protect my friend.
“Have you thought about how you’re going to fix things with Shaylee?” I asked Aaron, trying to pry my thoughts away from the dark path they’d taken.
“I was just thinking about that now,” he replied. “I’m honestly at a loss. Do you have any ideas?”
“No,” I replied. It surprised me that he would ask for my help. “Look, Shaylee never gets mad. Ever. Yet, you somehow managed to say the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time. I don’t know how you should even begin to apologize. She’ll want the truth.”
“You know we can’t tell her.”
“Why not?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier? I know it’s the law, but we’re basically to take Shaylee and run, violating Council law anyway.”
“It’s the only way to protect her. If the Council shows up tomorrow and questions her, the only thing that might spare her life is the fact that she doesn’t know anything about Mages, magic or the Isle.”
He seemed so sure that it was safer to keep Shaylee in the dark. I sighed as we began trudging up the stairs. I disagreed with Andrew and Aaron, but I was outnumbered. It was probably best if I went along with what they wanted so we could remain a united front.
“I guess we are just going to have to lie to her for now,” I said. “You know technically, telling her we’re being weird because of her birthday isn’t exactly a lie. It’s a half-truth.” We reached my floor and I stopped to ask, “How do you deal with all this?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just so frustrating and scary, you know? I don’t understand how you’ve dealt with everything all these years.”
“I keep a journal,” he said. “Sometimes writing things down has been the only way I’ve kept my sanity. Sometimes it was the only proof I had that it was all real.”
As Aaron looked at me sadly, I decided I’d asked enough questions for one night.
“Well, goodnight,” I said.
“Do what you can,” he replied. I immediately knew he was hoping I could smooth the way for his apology to Shaylee.
“I’ll try,” I promised.
I walked away from him, wondering if I could do anything to make things easier for him. I knew I could find a way to convince Shaylee to forgive me, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be so easy for Aaron.
When I opened my door to darkness, I was gripped with sudden panic, fearing that Shaylee was gone. I then saw that Shaylee was in bed. It was only eight o’clock. Shaylee never fell asleep so early. I took that as a bad sign. Although I was relieved, I didn’t have to face her and could put off telling her more lies for a few more hours, I was concerned by just how upset she must really be to have already gone to bed.
***
The next morning, I got up before Shaylee and went upstairs to see Aaron. He opened the door before my fist came down to knock a second time. I walked into his room and got right to the point.
“I was just wondering if you came up with a plan,” I said. “Shaylee was already in bed when I got back last night, which I don’t know if I have to tell you or not, is pretty bad. She had another dream, but it wasn’t bad enough that I needed to wake her, so I haven’t spoken to her at all.”
Aaron sat down on his bed, looking defeated. I sat down next to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. The gesture made me feel awkward and uncomfortable so I removed my hand after only a few seconds. He looked at me with such sadness, I wondered if he’d slept at all or just spent the whole night worrying.
“You know her best. If you don’t have any ideas, I don’t know what I should do,” he said.
The hopelessness in his voice concerned me.
“I don’t know her best,” I replied. “I just have a better handle on how to deal with this sort of thing. I’ve been living with her for three years now.”
“I know,” he said.
“It would be easy for me to tell you how to fix this if you had the exact same relationship with her that I do, but you don’t. The way she looks at you puts you into an entirely different category. I don’t know how to fix this.”
“Every idea I have just seems dumb and…not enough,” he said.
“That’s because it won’t be the full truth no matter what you say to her,” I said. “How would you have won Sophia over after a fight?”
I was genuinely curious.
